Commentary on Daniel 1 part 8/11

And he says that both its horns were shattered, since the Medes and the Persians were named together at the same time, Cyrus being the first to reign—a Mede on his mother's side, and a Persian on his father's;

and since their first king bore both these appellations, of necessity their subjects too named the same people both Medes and Persians.

For both kingdoms came together into one rule.

And the outside historians too name the same people both Persians and Medes.

'And thus,' he says, 'when the horns of the ram had been shattered'—8

'The he-goat of the goats was magnified exceedingly.' For when the Persian, or rather Median, kingdom had been overthrown, Alexander took up the dominion over all;

but he too, having lived on only a short time, met the end of his life.

'And when he was in his strength, the great horn was shattered.' After that greatest victory, he says, Alexander received the common end of men.

And there came up, he says, four horns beneath it toward the four winds of heaven. By the four horns he hints at the four kings who succeeded Alexander at one and the same time.

For Ptolemy the son of Lagus received the rule of Egypt;

and Seleucus Nicanor held Babylon and the other regions extending as far as Syria;

Antigonus ruled over Asia, and Antipater over Macedonia;

though, as some of the historians hold, it was Philip, also called Arrhidaeus, who was likewise Alexander's brother.

It should be noted that he also beheld the third beast having four heads, and the he-goat, after the breaking of the one horn, growing four horns;

so that it is clear that the same things are signified both by the he-goat and by the third beast.

And out of one, he says, of the horns there came forth one strong horn. He means Antiochus Epiphanes, who was the son of Antiochus surnamed the Great.

And he marched, he says, against the Jews also, and overthrew the holy mother-city;

for he called it 'power,' on account of the divine grace that at that time was flourishing in the temple.

And making this more plain, he added:

And it was magnified even unto the power of heaven, and there fell to the earth some of the power, and of the stars, and it trampled them down. These things the book of Maccabees, both the first and the second, teaches us more plainly, and Josephus the historian too has recorded them accurately; and we too shall recount briefly the things concerning him.

When some of the priestly line rose up in faction against him who was at that time high priest of the Jews, those who coveted this office came to Antiochus and persuaded him to change the Jewish polity into a Greek one, and to build a gymnasium in the city.

When these things came to pass, the godly were in mourning, seeing the open transgression of the laws, while the rest of the crowd fearlessly trampled upon the divine law, and outraged the commandment of circumcision.

And when the faction grew more violent, Antiochus arrived and slew very many of the godly, and even dared to set foot within the innermost sanctuary of the temple.

All the votive offerings, the cups and bowls and mixing-vessels, and the golden table, and the golden altar of incense, and the lampstands wrought of gold, and, in a word, all the instruments of the divine liturgy,

for he sees through the horn Antiochus himself, that it was magnified even unto the power of heaven—that is to say, he employed his madness against the very God of all, to whom both the people and the temple were dedicated.

And there fell to the earth some of the power and of the stars, and it trampled them down. For very many of the people, transgressing the law of God, fell from the rank of the heavenly ones, and were trampled under this tyranny, having brought about their own ruin.

He named them stars on account of the conspicuous and shining splendor of their piety.

And he hints also at the promise made to Abraham:

For I will make, he says, thy seed as the stars of heaven. For it was not enough, he says, that he trampled down many of those called stars, but also — [verse] eleven.

It was exalted even unto the ruler of the power. For with rage and madness he employed himself against God Himself and the King of this very power—that is, of the holy people.

And doing these things, he says, he continued, until the chief captain should deliver the captivity — that is to say, until we obtain succor from above, and through the appointed archangel obtain our protection and salvation.

Then he is more plainly instructed beforehand concerning the things that Antiochus would dare to do.

And through him, he says, the sacrifice was disturbed by transgression. For he did not permit the sacrifices according to the law to be offered, but compelled these to be performed in the Greek manner.

That it also came to pass, and it prospered with him. For so far no hindrance arose to check his madness.

And the sanctuary, he says, shall be laid waste, and there was given, he says, sin upon the sacrifice, and righteousness was cast down to the ground, and it wrought, and it prospered. For, employing madness and tyranny, he dared to defile the altar by using an unlawful sacrifice, and rendered the divine temple desolate of its adornment, and trampled the laws of righteousness, bringing unjust slaughter upon the godly; and for the time, he says, he prospered in doing these things.

I heard a certain holy one speaking, and one holy one said to the Phelmouni who was speaking:

How long shall the vision endure, and the sacrifice that is taken away, and the sin of desolation that is given, and the sanctuary, and the power be trampled down together? The word 'Phelmouni' signifies in the Greek tongue 'a certain one.'

And the tongue of the Syrians, which is akin to the Hebrew, bears witness to these things.

Unto evening and morning, two thousand and three hundred days, and the sanctuary shall be cleansed. He called the beginning of the calamities 'evening,' and the end of the calamities 'morning';

since the sorrowful things resembled night and darkness.

From now, he says—from the beginning of the evils—until the end, so great is the span of time.

And these days, when reckoned up, make the number of six years and six months, according to the Hebrew reckoning;

for the calamity held sway over the Jews for so long a time.

And behold, there stood before me as it were the appearance of a man. And I seemed, he says, to behold a man.

And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, and said:

for one using a human voice, and commanding him who stood beside me—whom he also named Gabriel—to interpret to me the enigmas of the revelation.

And he came, he says, and stood close by where I stood. At once, he says, being commanded, he arrived and stood near me.

And when he came, I was terrified, and I fall upon my face. These things suffice to refute the arrogance of Eunomius, who boasts of knowing the very essence of God.

For if so great a prophet could not bear the vision of angels—and that measured to the capacity of the beholder—what is more impious or more abominable than those who pride themselves on knowing the very essence of God? But let us return to the subject before us.

For yet the vision is for the appointed time's end. Do not suppose, he says, that these things reach their fulfillment in the present time;

for after a great number of years these things shall come to pass.

For when the appointed time is fulfilled, then each of these things shall receive its end.

And while he spoke with me, I fall upon my face to the ground, and he touched me, and set me upon my feet.

Behold, I make known to thee the things that shall be in the last of the wrath upon the sons of thy people;

for yet it abides for the appointed time's end. Seeing me, he says, fallen down first from fear, he raised me up, then consoled me, making known that for this cause he had come—namely, to foretell to me who longed for them the things that should be, and what things through the wrath of God again would befall my people.

Then, wishing to remove the fear that pressed upon me, he made known that after a time these things would come to pass;

and he interpreted to me each of the things I had beheld, saying:

And the he-goat, he says, of the goats is the king of the Greeks;

and the great horn that was between his eyes, that is the first king. He means Alexander.

And that it was broken, and four horns stood beneath it, four kings shall arise from his nation, but not in his strength. For after his death, he says, his kingdom shall be divided into four kingdoms;

yet though the reigning ones are four, they shall not be able to accomplish what he accomplished, but shall be seen to be far inferior to his might.

And at the last, he says, of their kingdom, when their sins are fulfilled. Whenever, he says, they push on to the height of impiety, and transgress beyond the measures of my longsuffering.

There shall arise a king shameless of countenance, and understanding dark sentences.

(v. 24.) And his strength shall be mighty, but not in his own strength. Through these words he hints at the craftiness of Antiochus, and, besides the craftiness, at the power he had acquired.

Then, teaching that he would do these things only because God, of course, permitted it, he necessarily added:

But not in his own strength. And to the Assyrian too God says through Isaiah the prophet:

Shall the axe boast itself without him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw be exalted without him that draweth it? So also here, he says, that Antiochus shall dare these things, not as one who is powerful, but because God permits it.

And wondrously, he says, he shall destroy, and shall prosper, and shall do his pleasure, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

(v. 25.) And the yoke of his collar shall he direct aright. That is to say, nothing shall be a hindrance to him, but whatsoever he wills, these things shall he do.

for often those who live in impiety and lawlessness prosper exceedingly while daring most lawless deeds.

Therefore the yoke of his collar, he says, shall he direct aright—that is to say, whatsoever he commands his subjects, he shall compel them to fulfill these things.

Then, foretelling his craftiness and treachery:

and afterward he compelled them also to sacrifice;

and he made use also of wheedling words, attempting to deceive the godly, and he promised royal gifts, longing to see all men transgressing the law.

And upon the destruction of many, he says, shall he stand fast. That is to say, he shall employ persistence until he sees many destroying their own salvation.

And not content with his madness against men, And against the prince, he says, of princes shall he stand up. That is to say, against the very King of kings and Lord of lords shall he employ his rage, attempting to defile the temple dedicated to Him.

And showing the license given to him against the Jews, And like eggs, he says, in the hand shall he crush them. So, he says, with much ease shall he work all these things, as if one should wish to crush eggs in his hand.

And here he hints also at the negligence of the Jews themselves, and that, having themselves neglected the things of God, they were forsaken by God, and became stripped of the providence from above.

'And the vision of the evening and of the morning that has been spoken is true.' That is to say: the appointed time for these calamities is beyond all doubt true.

But since there is a long stretch of time in between, He says: 'And do you seal up the vision, for it shall be for many days.' That is to say: Leave it obscure to the many;

for to you, as one who longs for these things, I have made them plain before the events themselves come to pass.

But even so, though I was in this condition, I continued to administer the affairs entrusted to me by the king, no one knowing the cause of my illness.

This man knew how to speak also in company with the blessed Paul:

'Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?' And this:

'To weep with those who weep, and to rejoice with those who rejoice.' And this:

'If one member suffers, all the members suffer together.' Being of such a disposition, and cherishing this tender affection toward his fellow servants, when he learned of the calamities that would in many generations to come overtake his fellow servants, he continued lamenting and bewailing them;

and this though he knew full well that he himself would experience none of these things, but would before long depart from the present life.

It befits us also to have this same love toward those of our own kind and our fellow servants, and to be of the same mind toward one another, and to imitate the mutual sympathy of the members;

since we have been called members of one another, and have been deemed worthy to be named the body of Christ.

To Him be the glory unto the ages of ages.

And what has now been read agrees also with what was said earlier.

It is clear that he was not a Mede on both sides, I mean on his father's side and his mother's side;

yet nevertheless he reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, when Belshazzar had been slain by night by a divine stroke after his impiety.

And the time was fulfilled under Cyrus, king of the Persians, as the blessed Esdras says;

for immediately at the beginning of his book, after the preface, having briefly mentioned the capture of Jerusalem, and the enslavement of the fatherland, and the deportation of the captives to Babylon, he added:

'And they were servants to him and to his sons, until the Persians reigned, to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths; all the time of its desolation it kept Sabbath, to the fulfilment of seventy years, in the first year of the reign of Cyrus of the Persians, to the accomplishment of the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.' And the most divine Jeremiah likewise says thus:

'Behold, I send and take the family of the north, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon my servant, and I will bring him against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all the nations round about them, and I will utterly lay them waste to destruction, and to a hissing, and to an everlasting reproach, and I will take from them the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the scent of perfume, and the light of the lamp; and all its land shall be for destruction, and they shall serve among the nations seventy years.'

'And when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will visit upon the king of Babylon, and upon that nation, says the Lord, their iniquities, and upon the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make them an everlasting desolation.' The blessed Jeremiah, then, intimated that the time of the captivity would be fulfilled at the overthrow of the Chaldean kingdom;

but Esdras made this even clearer, having made mention of Cyrus.

And we find the most divine Zachariah reckoning this time in yet another way.

'And the angel of the Lord answered and said:

O Lord Almighty, how long will You have no mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah, which You have overlooked? This is the seventieth year.' And some, sick with unbelief, suppose that the holy prophets are at variance with one another;

but those who have been nurtured on the sacred oracles, being enlightened by the divine grace, discover the harmony of the holy prophets.

Come then, having implored to attain to that radiance, let us make it plain to those who do not know.

The time of the captivity, then, they have all set down in agreement, both the divine Jeremiah, and the God-inspired Zachariah, and the blessed Esdras;

for they have all set down the number of seventy years;

For those about the blessed Jeremiah and Esdras, reckoning from the beginning of the first captivity, reasonably delimit the seventy years up to Cyrus, king of the Persians.

For indeed it was in his reign that the divine temple was in truth rebuilt.

Under Jehoiakim, son of Josiah king of Judah, the second under Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, and the third under Zedekiah, brother of Jehoiakim and uncle of Jeconiah, they necessarily obtain the return three times as well.

So, from the time the first captives were taken, the period of seventy years is fulfilled under Cyrus the Persian.

For even if He should promise good things ten thousand times over, yet if we render ourselves unworthy of the gift, we become an obstacle to the divine bounty.

This God says also through Ezekiel the prophet:

'And I prayed,' he says, 'to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said:

O Lord God, the great and wonderful, who keeps the covenant and the mercy for those who love You, and keep Your commandments.' And he calls Him great and wonderful, as being able to do great and wonderful things.

For the divine men are wont to assign the divine appellations from His works of power.

And he said that He too keeps the covenant and the mercy for those who love Him, calling to mind the promises made to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.

And praying with all exactness, he teaches that He does not keep it without qualification, but for those who love Him, and keep His commandments.

'For if anyone,' he says, 'transgresses Your ordinances, he renders himself unworthy of Your promises.'

'For we have sinned,' he says, 'we have done wrong, we have acted impiously and have turned aside from Your commandments and from Your judgements.' And most fittingly, having applied to God those honourable and wonderful appellations, he attached to themselves those that are diametrically opposite.

And he was not content to say 'we have sinned,' but added also 'we have done wrong and have acted impiously,' having become ungrateful toward Your benefactions.

'And we acted impiously,' having chosen other gods in place of You, lifeless, senseless, possessing no power whatever.

Then, showing the constant care of God toward them, and the great insensibility of the people, he added:

'And we did not hearken to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, and to our rulers, and to our fathers, and to all the people of the land.' For Your grace did not cease watching over us, and conversing through the prophets, now with kings and rulers, now with priests and teachers (for these he called 'fathers'), and often with all the people;

but even when these things were so, we persisted in gainsaying.

Having come into shame, we accuse our own ingratitude.

For to You no harm at all accrued from our impiety;

but we have received the fruits of our own seeds, and pitiably so; for while accusing his own kinsmen, he joins himself also to the transgressors.

'To us,' he says, 'belongs the shame of face, and to our kings, and to our rulers, and to our fathers, who have sinned against You.' And each of these is sufficient to bend even the most savage to mercy, much more the most gentle and most loving of mankind.

for these he named 'fathers.'

And showing the justice of the punishment, he added:

'Who have sinned against You.' But we indeed have received fruits worthy of our lawlessness;

'but to the Lord our God belong compassions and propitiations.' For it befits You, being gentle and loving toward mankind, to deal with us in mercy and pity.

And continuing in the accusation of the lawlessness (for he had heard God saying through another prophet:

'Declare your iniquities first, that you may be justified'), he makes the people's lawlessness his own, and takes up the accusation of it, while proclaiming the divine mercy.

'For we have departed,' he says, 'and have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets.' For being enlightened, he says, by the prophets, and led toward what is fitting, we persisted the whole time in gainsaying.

'And all Israel transgressed Your law, and turned aside so as not to hear Your voice.' For if some had transgressed, but others had become exact keepers of Your laws, they would not have endured this calamity;

but since the lawlessness was ventured in common by all, he reasonably says:

'For I will lift up,' He says, 'My hand to heaven, and I will swear by My right hand, and will say:

I live for ever; for I will sharpen My sword like lightning, and My hand shall lay hold on judgement, and I will take vengeance, and will render recompense in justice to My enemies, and to those who hate Me I will render recompense;

I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh, from the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the head of the rulers of the nations.' And a little before these he says:

'That oath, then,' he says, 'and the curse written in the law of Moses, has come to its fulfilment upon us.'

'And He has established His words, which He spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, to bring upon us great evils.' And showing the excess of the evils, 'Such,' he says, 'as has not happened under all heaven, according to what has been done in Jerusalem.' For I find no precedent, he says, for our evils.

Then, teaching the infallibility of the divine prediction:

'As it is written,' he says, 'in the law of Moses.' And displaying the justice of the punishment, 'All,' he says, 'these evils have come upon us, and we did not entreat the face of the Lord our God, to turn back from our iniquities, and to understand in all Your truth, O Lord.' For not even when so many and so great calamities were brought upon us did we consent to make use of repentance, and to cease from our former lawlessness, and to serve You by the keeping of the laws.

'The Lord our God has watched over our wickedness, and has brought it upon us.' For as though shaking off some sleep, that is His longsuffering, He brought upon us the punishment worthy of our deeds;

and He is just, and worthy of no blame for what He has done;

but we, having lived in impiety and wickedness, drew the punishment upon ourselves.

Having thus made the accusation of the lawlessness, he thereafter supplicates and asks for the loving-kindness.

'And now, O Lord our God, who didst bring forth thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and madest thyself a name, as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity.'

'O Lord, according to all thy mercy, let thy wrath, I beseech thee, be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain.' He calls to remembrance the former benefits, drawing down mercy by the gratitude of that recollection; and he says:

'For indeed, having wrought countless wonders and inflicted punishments upon the Egyptians, thou didst free thy people from that bitter servitude, so that the fame of the wonders that were done ran out to all men, and thy power became manifest to all.'

'And since we have sinned and have shown ourselves unworthy of thy loving-kindness, we entreat thee that thy city may be counted worthy of thy sparing mercy, and that mountain also, which by thy manifestation thou didst declare holy.'

And since the people were unworthy to obtain these things, most fittingly he added:

And continuing in prayer he says:

'Incline, he says, O my God, thine ear, and hear;

open thine eyes, and behold our desolation, and that of thy city.' And, still further making the city his own before God, he said:

'Upon which thy name has been called.' Now the words, 'Incline thine ear, and open thine eyes,' mean: 'Turn not away from my supplication, but with graciousness hear my prayer.'

For he himself also knows that the Divine is incorporeal; yet, being a man, he does not otherwise know how to converse with God.

But since each man sees through his eyes and hears through his ears, he has ascribed these things also to the incorporeal God, thus naming his energies.

'For it is not in our own righteousnesses that we cast down our supplication before thee, but upon thy manifold compassions, O Lord.' 'For it is not,' he says, 'trusting in our own righteousnesses that we ask thy loving-kindness, but relying upon thy mercy that we dare to make our petition.'

'Hear then, O Lord; be merciful, O Lord; give heed, O Lord;

delay not for thine own sake, O my God.' And it is worthy to marvel at the order of the things spoken.

For he entreats God, first to hear the prayer and not to thrust away his supplication;

then, having heard, to become merciful; and having become merciful, to give heed graciously; and having shown his own graciousness, to fulfil and accomplish the supplication.

'Delay not' means: 'Put not off the petition to another time, but forthwith count us worthy of thy manifestation.'

'For thine own sake,' he says, 'O my God.' 'For neither am I,' he says, 'worthy to receive this grace;

but because thy name has been called upon thy city and upon thy people.' Having thus asked, and with so great earnestness offered the supplication on behalf of his kinsmen, and having entreated that God would not delay, he immediately enjoys the divine answer.

'For while I was yet speaking, and praying, and confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel, and casting my supplication before the Lord my God;

and while I was yet speaking in prayer, behold, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in my vision at the beginning, came flying.' 'While offering this supplication,' he says, 'and accusing our common transgression, before I had yet put an end to the prayer, I see Gabriel flying and running toward me;

and I knew who he was, having previously beheld him in a dream.

'Gabriel, make that man to understand the vision.'

And he has called him a 'man,' having given the appellation from his appearance.

For indeed in that dream he says:

'Behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.' For which cause here also he says:

'Behold, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in my vision at the beginning, came flying.' And he said that he too flew, swiftly cleaving the air, beholding him running toward him.

'And he touched me about the hour of the evening sacrifice.' That is, at the time of the evening worship, or for as long a space as the evening worship occupies.

'And he spoke with me, and said:

In the beginning of thy supplication the word went forth, and I am come to declare it unto thee, for thou art a man greatly beloved;

but do thou attend carefully to the things spoken;

for the things to be told are deeper than after the manner of man.

that is, these things shall be spoken enigmatically, and thou hast need of exact consideration in order to understand them.

Now it is enigmatically that divine things are spoken and written, that the things revealed to the saints may not be plain to all;

for thus would they have become contemptible, being alike known by all.

And he calls him 'a man greatly beloved' (a man of desires), either as one who had given himself over to fasting and hardship, and manfully contended against the desires of the body; or as one desiring to know, and longing to learn, the things that should befall the people; or because he is lovely and exceedingly to be desired, sending forth the flashing beams of virtue.

Having thus roused the prophet to the understanding of the things to be spoken, the divine archangel proffers his teaching.