Exposition of the Whole Bible

being a mighty angel, and that he might be heard. far and near: and faid thus, bew down the tree; remove this mighty monarch from his throne; take © away his government from him: this is faid to fellow-angels employed in the affairs of providence, and the execution of them, to bring about an event fo momentous: and cut off bis branches, take away his provinces, the feveral parts of his dominion from him: fhake off his leaves; caufe his deputygovernors to fhake off their allegiance to him: and featter his fruit, the revenues of his vaft empire, and let others take them: /ét the beafts get away from under it, and the fowls from bis branches; thofe that have either voluntarily betook themfelves to him for protection; or have been carried captive by him, and have lived under his fhadow; whether of the more barbarous nations, or more civilized, as the Fews; let them take the opportunity of withdrawing from him, and returning to their own lands; fee Fer. li. g.

¥. 15. Neverthelefs, leave the fiump of bis rocts in the earth, &c.] Let him not be utterly deftroyed, or his life taken away; but let him continue in being, tho’ in a forlorn condition, yet with hope of reftoration; for a tree may be cut down to the ftump, and yet revive again, od xiv. 7, 8, 9. and let his kingdom remain: even with a band of iron and brafs, which fome think was done to preferve it, and to fhew that his kingdom remained firm and immoveable; but that is meant by the former claufe, ¥. 26. rather the allufion is to his diftraéted condition afterwards related; ic being ufual to bind madmen with chains of iron or brafs to keep them from hurting themfelves and others, asin Mark v. 4: in the tender grafs of the field; where his dwelling fhould be, not in Badylon, and in his fine palace, living fumptuoufly as he now did; but in the field, grazing there tike a beaft, and like one that is teddered and confined to a certain place: and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, fuggefting that this would not only be his cafe in the day-time; but that he fhould lie all night in the field, and his body be wet all over with the dew that falls in the night, as if he had been dipped in a dyer’s vat, as the word “ fignifies; and Yerchi fays, it has the fignification of dipping; and not be in a ftately chamber, and ona bed-of down, but on a plot of grafs, expofed to all the inclemencies of the air: and let bis portion be with the beafts, in the grafs of the earth, inftead of feeding on royal dainties, as he had all his days, let him eat grafs like the beafts of the field, as it feems he did. - “_ g

¥. 16. Let his heart be changed from man’s, &c.} Not as to the fubftance, but as to the quality: and let a beaft’s heart be given unto him, from an human heart, let it he changed into a brutal one; let him be deprived of the ufe of reafon, and have na more exercife of it than a brute has; let him be wholly governed by the animal fenfes, and behave. end act as a beaft does; be. as fenfelefs, ftupid and favage as that: and fuch an heart Nebuchadnezzar had; not that his rational foul departed from him, then he mutt have died; but the powers of it were fadly vitiated and depraved; his underftanding, imagining himfelf to be a beaft, not a man; his judgment, in not diftinguifhing the aétions of —

¥. 14. He cried aloud, &c.] Or, with flrength', ' beaft from thofe of a man his memory of things patt utterly failed; he forgot what he had been, and was; his will, inclination and fancy, were towards brutal things, and ran upon defarts, fields and grafs, and he fhunned the fociety of men: aad Jet jeven times pafs over bim whilft in this condition; let him remain fo long in it; not feven months, as Abarbinel, and others; nor feven half years, or three years and a half, as fome in Theodoret; dividing the year into two parts, fummer and winter; and {uppole, that feven of thefe feafons pafied over him before he recovered; but feven years are meant, as Farchi, Saadieh and Facchiades, as the phrafe is ufed in ch. vii. 25. and xii. 7. {6 many years the temple of Solomen was building, which Nebuchadnexzar had deftroyed, and fo long this madnefs muft remain upon him: no notice is taken of this affair by heathen writers, only Abydenus * fays, that being under a divine afflatus, he foretold the deftruction of the Babylonian empire by a Perfian mule (meaning Cyrus), and by a Mede, and immediately aPaus-o he difappeared; which fome have underftood of this time of his madnefs, which quickly followed upon this dream.

¥.17. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, &c.] That is, the cutting down the tree, and what is fignified by it, was with the advice, confent and approbation of the watchers, by whom is generally underftood angels; not that they were the authors of this decree, but approvers of it; and were ready, not only to fubfcribe it, but to execute it; it being againft a wicked man, and an oppreflor of the Lord’s people: they are reprefented as affeffors with God; called into a confultation with him; alluding to the manner of kings and princes, who have their privy council, whom they advife with on occafion; tho’ properly fpeaking nothing of this nature is to be attributed to God, only after the manner of men; fee 1 Kings Xxii. 19—22: and the demand by the word of the holy ones; the fame as.before in other words; watchers and holy ones being the fame, the holy angels; fee the note ony. 13. and the decree and the demand the fame; or the reque/? °, or petition; which fhews what concern they had in the decree; they only requefted it might pafs or be carried into execution; thd’ fome underftand this of faints on earth, who, in their prayers and fupplications, requefted for the judgments of God. to come down upon this proud monarch: tho’ after all it may be beft to interpret the whole of the three perfons in the Godhead, who are perfectly pure and holy, effentially and inderivatively; and may be called watchers, becaufe they watch over the good, to bring it upon the Lord’s people; and over the evil, to bring it upon their enemies; and to them well agree the decree and the demand; and the rather this may be thought to be the true fenfe, fince this decree is called the decree of the Moft High, ¥. 24. and who is exprefled in the next claufe: to the intent that the living may know that the Moft High ruleth in the kingdom of men; tho’ men have kingdoms on earth, and multitudes fubject to them, yet they are not abfolute fovereigns; there is a God that is higher than they, at whofe controul they are, and does whatfoever he pleafes ‘in their kingdoms, of which the event fignified in this dream was a proof; and would be brought about on purpofe to make it appear, that thofe that live on earth, (for as for the dead they know nothing what is done on it) both princes and people. might be,fufficiently convinced of the truth of it: and kivelh it to whomfoever be will; that is, the kingdom; he takes it from one, and ‘gives it to another 5 pulls down one, and fets up another, as he pleafes; fee ch. ii. 21: and fetteth up over it the bafeft of men or,. the loweft of men? men of the meaneit and loweft rank and condition of life, as David was taken from the fheep-fold, and made king of J/rael; perhaps refpect is had to Nebuchadnezzar himfelf; not to his perfon, as Saadiah, who fays, he was fhort and iow of ftature; but to his after-ftate and condition, when he was taken from among the beafts of the field, and reftored to his throne and kingdom.

¥. 18. This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have

Jeen, &c.] So things were reprefented to him by a vifion in a dream: now thou, O Beltefoazzar, de» clare the interpretation thereof at.once, directly; as he was well aflured he could, by what he had already done; having both told him his dream when forgotten by him, and the meaning of it; and therefore doubted not but he could interpret his dream being told him: forafinuch as all the wife men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation; he had fent for them, even all of them; he had told them his dream, but they could not interpret it; fee ¥. 6, 7: but thou art able, for the fpirit of the holy gods is in thee, he not only knew his ability from former experience, but for the reafon here given; of which he might have more proofs than one, that the fpirit, not of impure deities, of the gods and daemons of the heathens, but of the one true, living and holy God, who knows all things, dwelt in him; fee ¥. 19. Then Daniel (whofe name was Beltefhazzar) was aftonied for one hour, &c.] Not at the difficulty of interpreting the dream, which was plain and eafy to him; but at the fad and fhocking things he faw plainly by the dream were coming upon the king: and tho’ he was a wicked prince, and juftly deferved fuch treatment; yet Daniel having received many favours from him, both for himfelf, and for his people, could not but be con+ cerned for the unhappy condition, and miferable circumftances he would be brought into; and thus he continued for the fpace of an hour like one thunder-ftruck, filled with amazement, quite ftupid, dumb and filent: and, bis thoughts troubled him; both about what fhould befal the king, and how he fhould make it known to him: the king fpake and faid, Beltefoazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof trouble thee; he faw by his countenance the confufion he was in, and imagined there was fomething in the dream which portended evil, and made him backward to relate it; and therefore encouraged him to tell it, be it what it would: Beltehazzar anfwered and faid, my lord, the dream be to them that bate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies; which is as if he had faid, I could have wifhed, had it been the will of God, that what is fignified by the dream might have befallen not the king, but his enemies: this he faid, not merely as a courtier, but as one that heartily wifhed and prayed for his peace and profperity; and to fhew that he had no ill will to the king king in the interpretation of the dream, but was his hearty faithful fervant and minifter; and yet fuggefts that fomething very dreadful and diftreffing was intended for him; and hereby he prepared him the better to receive: it.

¥. 20, 21. The tree which thou faweft, &c.| In thefe two verfes is related part of the dream which refpects the flourifhing eftate of Nebuchadnezzar y. 22. It is thou, O king, that art grown, and become ftrong, &c.] Here begins the interpretation of the dream; the tree was an emblem of king Nebuchadnezzar, of his greatnefs, and growing power and ftrength: for thy greatne/s is grown, and reacheth unto heaven; he over-topped all the kings of the earth, exceeding them in honour and power, and afpired to deity itfelf; fee the note on y. 11: and thy dominion to the end of the earth; as far as Hercules’s pillars, as Strabo * fays he came. Grotius interprets’ it, as far as the Ca/pian and Euxine-fea, and the Atlantic ocean.

¥. 23. And whereas the king faw a watcher, and an holy one, 8c.) Here is related another part of the dream, which refpects the cutting down of the tree, or the miferable condition the king fhould be brought into; fee ¥. 13, 14, 15, 16.

Vv. 24. This is the interpretation, O king, &c.] Of this part of the dream, namely, what follows in the two next verfes: and this is the decree of the Moft High; called before the decree of the watchers, ¥. 17. and is no other than the decree of that fovereign and abfolute being, whofe purpofes are unfruftrable: «which is come upon my lord the king; the decree had paft concerning him, and would be moft certainly fulfilled; and becaufe of the certainty of it, it is reprefented as if it was; for it would shortly and furely come upon him, exactly as it was determined, and by the dream fignified.

y. 25. That they fhall drive thee from men, &c.] From converfation with men, as unfit for it; from ‘ his court and palace, from his nobles and princes. Saadiah interprets this of the angels: it may be rendered imperfonally or -paffively, as in ¥, 33. thou Joalt be driven from men*; not by his family, his wife and children; or by his nobles, who are afterwards faid to feek him; but by the moft high God, and to fhew his power over him; and it may be by iteans of his miniftring angels; or he was

«driven: by his: own fancy and imagination, which was fuffered.of God to prevail over him, judging himfelf not: a: man, but.a beaft; and foit was moft agreeable to him to live with beafts, and not men: and thy dwelling fhall be with the beafts of the field; in the open air, or in fome den and cavern, inftead of being in his court, and among his nobles; a ftrange change of condition indeed! and in which he was’ preferved by divine providence: ‘and they foall make thee to eat grafs as oxen, imagining himfelf to be a beaft, he fhould choofe this fort of food, and eat it; and feed upon it with a guft, as if he had really been one; and befides, having no other food, would be obliged to eat: this, as well as his degenerate and depraved imagination led him to | it: and they fhall wet thee with the dew of béaven;

ftrip him of his cloaths; and leave him naked; fo, that he fhould have nothing:to fhelter him from! the dew and _ rain, and other inclemencies; of the’

heavens; and this his frenzy might lead him to do of himfelf: and Jeven-ctimes fhall pafs over thee; which fome underftand of weeks, others of months,

‘as there was a poffibility, and even a”

derit, if it may be an bealing of thine error 5 th others of the feafons of winter and fummer; but it is beft to interpret it of feven whole years; fee the note on ¥. 16: till thou know that the Moft High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomfoever he will; this was done, as for the inftruction of men’in general, fo of Nebuchadnezzar in particular; that his proud heart and haughty fpirit might be brought down, and be made to acknowledge that there was a God higher than he, that judgeth in the earth, and that rules and over-rules, and difpofes of all things in it according to his ~ will and pleafure; fee ¥. 17.

¥. 26. And whereas they commanded to leave the fiump of the tree-roots, &c.| That is, the watchers ‘and the holy ones; or it was commanded: this was the order given by the Moft High: thy kingdom foall be fure unto thee, fignifying that another - king fhould not be fet up in his room; and tho’ the kingdom and adminiftration of it would depart from him for a while, yet it would be’ reftored again, and be firm and ftable: after that theu foalt have known that the heavens do rule; that is, that God, who is the maker of the heavens, and dwells there, is known and acknowledged by thee to rule on the earth; from the government of which he was defirous of excluding him, and taking it to himfelf; fee Luke xv. 18.;

ceptable to thee, &c.] Since this is the true interpretation of the dream, and fuch evils are like to befal thee according to it; permit me, tho’ thou art a king, and I am thy minifter_or fervant,-to give thee fome advice; and let it be taken in good part, as done with a good defign, and a hearty concern for thy welfare: and break off thy fins by righteoufnefs; this advice carries in it a tacit charge of fins, and a reproof for them; which fhows the faithfulnefs of Daniel: thefe fins probably, befides pride, intemperance, luxury, and uncleannefs, were tyranny, rapine, violence, and oppreffion of his fubjects, to which righteoufnefs is oppofed; and by which, that is, by a courfe and feries.of righteous living, by adminiftring public juftice, and giving to every one their due, he is advifed to break off his finful courfe of life; to break off the yoke of his fins upon his neck; to ceafe from doing evil, and to learn to do well: and thine iniquities by Jbewing mercy to the poor; to his poor fubjeéts, and efpecially to the poor captives the Jews, Daniel might chiefly bear upon his mind, whom the king had ill ufed, fhewn no compaffion to, and had greatly diftreffed; but is now counfelled to relieve their wants, and give generoufly to them out of the vaft.

treafures he was mafter of: if it may be a lenghtening of thy tranquillity; peace or profperity; perhaps by fuch a conduct there may be a reprieve fora while, the evil portended and threatened by this dream may be deferred for a time; and tho’ the decree of the Moft High cannot be altered, yet the execution of it may be protracted, and profperity be lengthene out. © Daniel could not affire the king: of this; bu of it, as in the cafe of Niniveb, and othe who} ruin was;threatened, and yet upon repentan prolonged; it was highly adviléable to try: periment, and make'ufe of fuch a cond hope of it; and the rather, fince the h in of princes, and their reformation, ‘tho’ b t. nal, is obferved by the Lord, as in the cafe

the pardon of thy fins, that they may be forgiven thee; fee 47s vill. 22. _;

¥. 28. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.] All that was fignified in the dream, his madnefs, the removal of him from the admini- {tration of government, and the brutal life he lived for feven years; for this was not a mere parable or fiction, as fome have thought, framed to -defcribe the ftate and punifhment of a proud man, but was a real fact; tho’ it is not made mention of by any hiftorians, excepting what has been obferved before out of dbydenus, yet there is no reafon to doubt of the truth ef it, from this relation of Daniel; and is further confirmed, by his obferving the fame to Belazzar his grandfon fome years after it was done, as a known thing, and as an unqueftionable matter of fact, ch. v. 20, 21.

¥. 29. At the end of twelve months, &c.] After the dream, and the interpretation of it; which, according to Bifhop Ufrer *, Dean Prideaux ', and Mr. Whifton*, was in the year of the-Yulian period 4145, and before Chrift 569, and in the 36th year of his reign: one whole year, a fpace of time, either which God gave him to repent in, or which he obtained by attending for a while to Daniel’s advice: he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon; or, upon the palace“; upon the roof of it, which in the eaftern countries was ufually flat and plain; and fo Abydenus *, in the above cited place, reprefents him, ws ovalas ems ta Bao An, as afcending upon his royal palace; when after he had finifhed his oration on it, he difappeared. From hence he could take a full view of the great city of Babylon, which {welled him with pride and vanity, and which he expreffed in the next verfe; fee the note on ¥. 4. where alfo mention is made of his palace, the new one built by him. palace of the kings of Babylon ftood on the eaft fide of the river Euphrates, exactly over-againtt it, as Dean Prideaux ’ obferves; on the other fide of the river ftood the new palace Nebuchadnezzar built. The old one was four miles in circumference; but this new one was eight miles, encompaffed with three walls, one within another, and ftrongly fortified; and in it were hanging-gardens, one of the wonders of the world, made by him for the pleafure of his wife Amyitis, daughter of Afyages king of Media; who being taken with the mountainous and woody parts of her native country, and retaining an inclination for them, defired fomething like it at Babylon, and to gratify her herein, this furprifing work was made: tho’ Diodorus Siculus * fays, it was made by a Syrian king he does not name, for the fake of his concubine; and whofe account of it, and which is given from him by Dean Prideaux*, and the authors of the Univer/al Hiftory’, is this, and in the words of the latter:

“¢ thefe gardens are faid to contain a fquare of four plethra, or four hundred feet on each fide, and to have confifted of terraces one above another, carried up to the height of the wall of the. city; the afcent, from terrace to terrace, being by fteps ten feet wide. The whole pile confifted of fubftantial arches upon arches, and was ftrengthened by a wall furrounding it on

on the tops of the arches was laid a bed or pavement of ftones, fixteen feet long, and four feet broad; over this was a layer of reed, mixed with a great quantity of bitumen; and over this two courfes of brick, clofely cemented with plafter; and over all thefe were thick fheets of lead, and on thefe the earth or mould of the’ garden. This floorage was defigned to retain the moifture of the mould; which was fo deep as tO give root to the greateft trees which were planted on every terrace, together with great variety of other vegetables, pleafing to the eye; upon the uppermoft of thefe terraces was a re- ** fervoir, fupplied by a certain engine with water ‘< from the river, from whence the gardens at the *‘ other terraces were fupplied.” And it was ei-

ther on the roof of the palace as before obferved, or perhaps it might be upon this uppermoft terrace, that Nebuchadnezzar was walking, and from whence he might take a view of the city of Babylon; the greatnefs of which as fet forth by him, he prided himfelf with, in the following words:

¥. 30. The king fpake and faid, &c.] Either within himfelf, or to his nobles about him; or perhaps to foreigners he had took up with him hither, to fhew the grandeur of the city: is not this great Babylon, that I have built; he might well call it great, for, according to /4riffotle *, it was more like a country than a city; it was, as Pliny 4 fays, fixty miles in compafs within the walls, and Herodotus * affirms, it was four hundred and fourfcore furlongs round, and fuch the greatnefs of it, and fo beautified, as no other city was he. ever knew; fee the note on Jer. li. 58. tho’ the king feems to have gone too far, in afcribing the building of it to himfelf; at leaft he was not the original builder of it; for it was built many hundreds of years before he was born, by Nimrod or Belus, who were the fame, Gen. x. 10. and was much increafed and ftrengthened by Semiramis, the wife of his fon Ninus; wherefore to her fometimes the building of it is afcribed; but inafmuch as it might be in after-times greatly neglected by the Afyrian kings, Niniveb being the feat of their empire; Nebuchadnezzar, when he came to the throne, and efpecially after he had enriched himéelf with the {poils of the conquered nations, greatly enlarged, beautified, and fortified it: and Bero/us ‘ relates, that he not only adorned the temple ot Be/ therewith,: but of the city, which was of old, he made a. new one, and fortified it, built three walls within, and as many without; and another royal palace contiguous to his father’s, which greatly exceeded it; and hanging-gardens in it, which looked at a diftance like mountains, for the pleafure of his wife; and now becaufe he had done fo much to the repairing, enlarging, and fortifying of this city, he takes the honour to himfelf of being the builder of it: and this was. done, he fays, for the houfe of the king: dom; that it might be the feat of the empire, and a proper place for the royal family to dwell in, to have their palace, and, keep their court in: dy the might of my power; thro’ the great riches he was poflefied of, which he employed in many great works, as before related, to the advantage of this every fide, twenty-two feet thick; and the floors on each of them were laid in this order: city; he takes all to himfelf, and excludes all infirft ftruments, and even God himfelf; tho’ unlefs the

Lord build the city, in vain the builders build, Pf. exxvii. 1: for the honour of my majefty; not fo much for the benefit of the city, for the good of his fubjeéts, as for the honour and glory of himfelf; to fhew his riches, power, and grandeur, and to make his name immortal to future ages.

y. 31. While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from beaven,, &c.] Before the king had done fpeaking in the above boafting manner, an articulate voice from heaven was heard by him, and all about him, formed by the angels, and much like what the Fews call Bath-Kol; fee Aés xii. 21, 22, 23. fo bydenus *, in the account he gives of Nebuchadnezzar’s oration to the people, relates, that when the king had fpoke it, wapaxenux nPauso, immediately he difappeared: faying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is [poken, the kingdom is departed from thee, that is, the adminiftration of it; for he was not depofed, or declared to be no longer king; his office was not taken away from him, and another king fet upon the throne; only the adminiftration was taken into other hands, either of his wife or fon, or his nobles; he being unfit for it, till fuch time as his reafon returned to him. ’

y¥. 32. And they fall drive thee from men, &c.] According to the interpretation of the dream given by Deniel, which this voice from heaven confirms; fee the note on ¥. 25. where the fame things are faid as here.

¥. 33. The fame hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, &c,] - Whence it appears, that this was a true hiftory, and a matter of fact, and not a parable or allegory, as Origen thought, defcribing, the fall of Lucifer or fatan; but relates what befel Nebuchadnezzar himfelf: nor was the change real as to foul and body; for then he would not have been the fame perfon, not Nebuchadnezzar, and fo not he himfelf punifhed, but the beaft into which he was changed: and tho’ there was a {trange alteration, both in his body and mind; in fome parts of his bedy, and perhaps in his voice, in his fenfes of feeling, tafting and {melling, in his palate, and appetite, and ftomach; in his rational powers, underftanding, judgment, and memory; fo that he acted like a beaft, and chufing to live as one; yet fo as to retain the effential parts of a man: his cafe was, that at once he fell raving mad and diftraéted, when they firft bound him with chains, that he might not hurt himfelf and others, and afterwards turned him loofe into the woods among the wild beafts; or perhaps into one of his parks, among the deer, hares, foxes, and fuch like creatures; whither he might incline to go, fanfying himfelf to be a beaft, and delight to be among them: and be was driven from men, and did eat grafs as oxen, which he did by choice: fo ben Ezra reports of one in the ifland of Sardinia, who fled from his parents, and loft his reafon, and lived among deer for many years, and went upon his hands and feet like them; and the king of the ifland going a hunting one day, caught many deer, and among them this man, that was taken for one: his parents came and owned him, and fpoke to him, but he anfwered not; they fet before him bread and wine, to eat and drink, but he refufed; they then gave him grafs with the deer, and he eat that; and in the middle of the night made his efcape to the deer of the field again. And his body was wet with the dew of beaven; lying all night in the woods or fields without cloathing: #2 his bair wes grown like eagles feathers thick,_ black, and ftrong; the hairs of his head having not been cut, nor his beard fhaved for feven years: the Sep~ tuagint and Arabic verfions read, as lions: and bis nails like birds claws; the nails of his fingers and toes were hard, long and fharp, like theirs, having not been cut during this time; this fhows that the feven times are not to be underftood of weeks or months, but of years. Some have underftood all this as a real metamorphofis, and that Nebuchadnexzar was Changed into a beaft; the upper part of him was the form of an ox, and the lower part that of a lion, as Epiphanius", fo Cyril‘ fays of him, that he was changed into a beaft, lived in a defart, had the nails and hair of a lion, eat grafs like an ox; for he was a beaft, not knowing who gave him the kingdom; and fo others; clofely adhering to the letter of the text, but wrongly, for reafons before given: nor is it to be afcribed merely to any natural difeafe of body, or melancholy in him, by which the fancy may be fo difturbed, as for a perfon to imagine himfelf a beaft; for tho’ this was his cafe, yet not thro’ any difeafes, fuch as is called the lycanthropy; and much lefs to any witchcraft, or any diabolical art, exercifed on him;

but to the mighty hand of God, taking away the ° ufe of his reafon, and throwing him into madnefs and diftraction, for the demonftration of his power, and humbling the pride of an infolent monarch; not but that God could, if it had been his pleafure, have changed him into a brute, as he turned Lots wife into a pillar of falt; and as a certain wicked nobleman in Mu/covy was turned into a black dog, barking and howling, upon uttering horrible blafphemies againft God for fome judsment upon him, as C/uverius * relates, who had it, he fays, from both ear and eye-witnefles of it; but fuch a judgment was not inflicted on Neduchadnezzar, nor are fuch things ufual. Heredotus' reports, tho’ he himfelf did not credit it, of fome people among the Scythians, that were every year, for a few days, changed into wolves, and then returned to their former fhape again; and Pomponius Mela ™ relates the fame, of the fame people; and the poets frequently fpeak of fuch tranfmutations; but thefe are all fictions and delufions.

y¥. 34. And at the end of the days, &c.] Of the time fixed in the dream; that is, at the end of feven years, as Yarchi rightly interprets it: this, according to Bifhop Ujber*, Dean Prideaux e, and Mr. Whifton *, was in the year of the Julian period ~

4150, and before Chrift 563, in the 42d year of his reign; after which he lived but one year, reigning from the death of his father 43 years, and according to the Fewi/h accounts 45; they reckoning from the beginning of his partnerfhip in the kingdom with his father, and his firft coming with an army into Syria. I Nebuchadnezzar lift up mine eyes unto beaven; for during the feven years he eat grafs hike an ox, his eyes were fixed upon the earth, looking out for his food, and tpt if he went on all four as the beafts do; but now ftanding upright, in his ere&t form as a man, he looked upwards; tho’ this phrafe does not merely defign his looking up to the heavens, and viewing them with his bodily eyes; but his fenfe and confideration of the divine majefty in heaven, his praying to him, lifting up the eyes being a prayer-ge- {ture, and his devotion towards him: and mine underfianding returned to me; his underftanding as a man, which he had been deprived of during this time; and fo came to know in what ftate and condition he was, by whom brought into it, and for what reafon: and I blefjed the Moft High; the mott high God, he whofe name alone is Jehovah, the God of gods, who is higher than the higheft; him the king bleffed for returning his underftanding and reafon to him, and reftoring him to his fenfes; for which he had juft caufe to be thankful; for a greater blefling cannot be enjoyed: and I praifed and honoured bim that liveth for ever, the living and true God, the author of life to all that have it, and who upholds in it; who lives in and of himfelf, and for evermore; which no mere man, even the moft exalted and dignified does: whofe dominion is an everlafting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation; fee the note on

¥. 35. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, &c.| That is, by the moft high God, in comparifon of him; and that not only the common people, but magiftrates, princes, and kings, and evendo gteat a monarch as Nebuchadnezzar they are like mere non-entities, nothing as to exiftence, fubftance, greatnefs, glory and duration, when compared with him: for this is to be underftood not abfolutely as in themfelves; for as fuch they are fomething; their bodies are fomething in their original, and efpecially in their make, form, and conftitution, and even in their diffolution; and their fouls are yet more valuable, are of more worth than the whole world, being immaterial and immortal; but comparatively with refpect to God, in whom they live, and move, and have that being they have, and by whom they are fupported in it; all whofe glory and grandeur is fading and pafling away, and their continuance is but very fhort; and all nothing with God, the Being of beings, whofe glory is inconceivable, and with whom a thoufand years are as one day, and who is from everlafting to everlafting: and this is meant chiefly of the rational inhabitants of the earth; not of the beafts of the field, the cattle on a thoufand hills, and the innumerable reptiles of the earth, which alfo are the inhabitants of it; but of men, the principal ones, and of all of thefe, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; not as in their own account, and that of others; for they are fomething, in their own efteem, and feem fo in the eyes of others, who judge according to the outward appearance; but they are nothing in the account of God: and as this is true of them in things: natural and civil, it is much more fo in things fpiritual, or relating to everlafting falvation: in thefe, men.are nothing, and counted as nothing; no ufe is made of them, or any account is had of any thing done by them; thefe have no caufal influence in their falvation; they are nothing in God’s choice of them to eternal life, which is all of mere fovereign grace; nothing in redemption, which ‘is only by Jefus Chrift, nothing in regeneration, which is alone by the Spirit and grace of God; nothing in juftification, which is not by the works of the law, but by the righteoufnefs of Chrift; in fhort, they are nothing in their falvation from firft to laft, which is all of grace, and not of works. Farchi and Saadiab interpret this of an atom or mote in a fun-beam, which is feen flying about, but can’t be laid hold- on, having no fubftance, and difappears when the fun fhines not; fee J. xl.

15,17. And he doth according to bis will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants. of the earth; he orders the angels, which are the hoft of heaven, to ftand:or go where he pleaies; and he difpofes of men on earth, and puts them into fuch ftations, and fuch conditions and. circumftances, and appoints them fuch bufinefs and fervices as he thinks meet. The angels are tbe army of heaven, or the heavenly hoft; fo called for their number, there being legions of them, even an innumerable company; and for their military ufe, being employed to fight for the people of God, to encamp about them, and proteét them: thofe who formerly belonged to them, that finned againtft God, he caft them down to hell, without fhewing them any mercy; and the reft he chofe and confirmed in Chrift, and all according to his fovereign will; and thefe he makes ufe of according to his pleafure, to minifter to the heirs of falvation in life, to convoy their fouls to heaven at death, and to gather in all the elect at the laft day.. The inbabitants of the earth, are the men of it, as before, with whom he does as he pleafes in things temporal and civil, making fome rich, and others poor; raifing fome to great honour and dignity, whilft others live in meannefs, poyerty, and difgrace: and in things {piritual; he loves whom he will; he chufes whom he pleafes; he redeems whom he thinks fit from among men; he regenerates and calls by his grace, of his own will; and reveals Chrift, and the great things of the gofpel, to whom it feems good in his fight; he does what he will with his own; he beitows grace and glory on whomfoever he pleafes, as free-grace-gifts, without any merit of the creature, according to his fovereign will and pleafure. And none can fiay bis hand; {top his power, refift his will, or hinder him from acting, or caufe him.to ceafe from his work, which he is bent upon; his will in both worlds is fovereign and arbitrary, and his power unconhtroulable. It was fo in creation, he faid, and it was done; it is fo in providence, he does what he pleafes; there’s nothing done without his, knowledge and will, and there’s no counfel againft the Lord: it is fo in his works of grace; in the great work of redemption; no difficulties could difcourage or hinder Chrift from the performance of that arduous work, he being the mighty God: and in the work of grace upon the heart of a finner, when God begins to work, none can let; not corruptions within, nor fatan without; nor can any thing hinder the carrying of it on; not indwelling fin, nor the {nares of the world, nor the temptations of fatan. The purpofes of God cannot be difannulled; his hand cannot be held, ftopped, or turned back from the execution of them; he’ll do his will and his work. in the world, and in his churches, and on particular perfons, maugre all the oppofition of men and devils. Or fay unto him, what doft thou? what is this thou haft done? and wherefore haft thou done it? why was it not done in another form and manner, and for other ends and purpofes? fee Tf. xiv. g. all fuch like queftions are vain and foolifh, and are defpifed by the Lord; he gives no account of his matters unto the children of men. Some may with wonder fay, what has God wrought? but none ought to fay in a complaining and murmuring way, what doft thou? and fhould they, it is of no avail, he will do what he pleafes. Dddd ¥. 36.

y¥. 36. At the fame time my reafon returned unto me, &c.] Or, my underfianding», this he repeats, not only to exprefs the certainty of it, but the fenfe he had of the greatnefs of the favour, and of which what he faid at this time is a full proof: and for the glory of sty kingdom, mine honour and brighinefs returned unto me; or form‘, as the Septuagint; his majeftic form, that royal majefty that appeared in his countenance formerly, returned again; which graced him as a king, and made for the glory of his kingdom, and the adminiftration of his office. Farchi renders it, and to the glory of my kingdom I returned and to the fame purpofe the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic verfions. ‘This whole claufe is wanting in the Syriac verfion. ‘archi interprets brightnefs, of the form of his countenance; and Facchiades of the light of it, the fparkling luftre and majefty of it. A ftrange change and alteration this! And my counfellors and my lords fought unto me; who very likely had the adminiftration of government in their hands during this time; and as the dream, and the intepretation, were publickly known, and they had feen the firft part of it fulfilled in the king’s madnefs and miferable ftate, they had reafon to believe the latter part alfo, and therefore waited for the accomplifhment of it at the end of feven years; when they fought for him, and fought unto him, very probably by the direction of Daniel, who was at the head of them; and this may be the reafon why another prince was not fet upon the throne, becaufe they expected his return to it at the expiration of thefe years; and in the mean while held the reins of government in their own hands, but now delivered them up to him: and I was eftablifbed in my kingdom, as Daniel had told him in the interpretation of his dream, that his kingdom fhould be fure to him, y. 26: and excellent majefty was added unto me, Or, more majehy *; he had more’ honour and grandeur than he had before; more refpeét was fhown him, and homage paid him: his latter end, like 70b’s, was greater than his beginning.

¥. 37. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praife, and extol, and honour the king of beaven, &c.] Now he knew that the heavens ruled, and that there was a God anid a King there, above all gods and kings; who had brought him low, and raifed him up again, and to whom were owing all] his prefent glory and magnificence, and therefore worthy of his higheft praifes; and which he in the moft public manner gave, by words before his lords and counfellors, and by writing under his own hand, by this edié and proclamation: al/ whofe works are truth, and bis ways judgment, every thing he does in providence, and every ftep he takes therein, are according to truth and righteoufnefs; he is true to his word, and tighteous in his works, as he had been to him: aud thofe that walk in pride, he is able to ebafe; not only that fhow it now and then, but always, and in every thing; in their looks and geftures, in their talk and walk, and throughout the hE D Chin #36 whole of their converfation; in whom it is public vifible, notorious, and conftant; but let them carry their heads ever fo high, and be as proud and haughty as they will, God is able to humble them; he has various ways of doing it. Such as are proud of their outward beauty, or the ftrength of their bodies, he can, by fending a difeafe- upon them, make their beauty to confume like a moth, and weaken their ftrength in the way; fuch as are elated with their wealth and fubftance, and with honours conferred upon them, or dignity they are — raifed to, he can foon ftrip them of all their riches ~ by one providence or another, and bring down thofe that ftand in flippery places of honour and dignity to deftruétion in a moment; and fuch as. pride and plume themfelves with their wit and — knowledge, the natural endowments of their mind, he can take away their reafon and underftanding from them, as he did trom this monarch, and put them upon a level with brutes: fiich who boaft of their own righteoufnefs and good works, and, truft in themfelves, that they are righteous and holy perfons, and defpife others; and think to be juftified and faved by them, and not to be beholden to any other, but be their own faviours; thefe the Lord, by his Spirit, can humble, by fhewing them the impurity of their nature; their impotence to that which is fpiritually good; the imperfection of their beft righteoufnefs to juftify them in his fight; fo that they fhall appear to be polluted and defiled creatures, who thought themfelves very holy; and to be very weak and infufficient of themfelves, to do any thing fpiritually good, who gloried in the power and ftrength of their free-will; and fee that their beft works are no other than filthy rags, and to be renounced in the bufinefs of their juftification and falvation: in fhort, he humbles by fhewing them that all their temporal good things are owing to the good providence of God, and are dependent on it;. and that all they have in {pirituals is owing to the'grace « of God, and not to any defert of theirs; in confequence of which they become meek and lowly, and walk humbly with their God, who before walked in the pride of their hearts, and in the va- — nity of their minds. And a power to do this is peculiar to God himfelf; none but God can look upon him that is proud, and abafe him, and bring him low; and fooner or later, by one means, or in one way or another, he will ftain the pride of all glory: it is his ufual way to abafe him that exalts himfelf, and exalt him that humbles himfelf; _ fee Fob xl. 11, 12. JL xxiii. 9g. Matt. xxiii. 12. Luke xiv. 11. pride being a moft hateful fin to him, contrary to his nature and glory, to his grace and to his gofpel; the firft fin of angels and men. And of abafement and humiliation of fuch proud ones, Nebuchadnezzar was an inftance in various refpects; who was one of the proudeft monarchs. upon earth, yet was humbled with a witnefs; but after all, whether truly converted is a queftion.

<i 8 HIS chapter gives an account of a feaft made by king Belhazzar, attended with drunkennefs, idolatry, and profanation of the veffels taken out of the temple at Yeru/alem, y. 1, 2, 3, 4. and of the difpleafure of God, fignified by an hand-writing on the wall, which terrified the king, and caufed him to fend in hafte for the aftrologers, €@c. to read and interpret it, but they could not, ¥. 5, 6, 7, 8. in this diftrefs which appeared in the countenances of him and his nobles, the queen-mother advifes him to fend for Daniel, of whom fhe gives a great encomium, ¥. 9, 10, 11, 12. upon which he was brought in to the king, and promifed a great reward to read and interpret the writing; the reward he flighted, but promifed to read and interpret the writing, y. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. and after putting him in mind of what had befallen his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, and charging him home with pride, idolatry, and profanation of the veflels of the Lord, ¥. 18—23. reads and interprets the writing to him, y¥. 24— 28. when he had honour done him, and was preferred in the government, ¥. 29. and the chapter is concluded with an account of the immediate accomplifhment of ancient prophecies, and of this hand-writing, in the flaying of the king of Bady- Jon, in the diffolution of the Badylonifh monarchy, and the poffeffion of it by Darius the Mede, y.

y. 1. Belhazzar the king made a great feaft, &c.] This king was not the immediate fucceflor of Nebuchadnezzar, but Evil-Merodach, Fer. lii. 3t. who according to Ptolemy’s canon reigned two years; then followed Nerigliffar, his fifter’s hufband, by whom he was flain, and who ufurped the throne, and reigned four years; he died in the beginning of his fourth year, and left a fon called Ladorofoarchod, who reigned but nine months, which are placed by Ptolemy to his father’s reign, and therefore he himfelf is not mentioned in the canon; and then followed this king, who by Ptolemy is called Nabonadius; by Berofus, Nabonnedust, by Abydenus *, Nabannidochus, by Herodotus”, Labynitus; and by Yofephus*, Naboandelus, who according to him is the fame with Belhazzar; whom fome confound with the fon of Nerigliffar; others take him to be the fame with Evil-Meredach, becaufe he here immediately follows Nebuchadnezzar, and is called his fon, ¥. 11, 13, 18. and others, that he was. a younger brother, fo Yarchi and Theodoret; but the truth is, that he was the fon of Evil-Merodach, and grandfon of Nebuchadnezzar, which agrees with the prophecy in Yer. xxvii. 7. for tho’? Nebuchadnezzar is called his father, and he his fon, ¥. 2, 11, 13, 18, 22. this is faid after the manner of the eaftern nations, who ufed to call anceftors fathers, and their more remote pofterity fons. He had his name Belhazzar, from the idol Be/, and may be rendered, Bel’s treafurer, though, according to Saediah, the word fignifies a searcher of treafures, of his anceftors, or of the houfe of God. Hillerus tranflates it, Bel hath bid-