Exposition of the Whole Bible

HIS chapter contains Daniel’s vifion of the four beafts. The time, place, manner, writing, and declaration of the vifion, ¥. 1. the rife of the beafts, and the defcription of them, ¥. 2— 8. the judgment of God upon them, efpecially the laft, and the delivery of univerfal monarchy to his Son, ¥. 9—14. the interpretation of the vifion at the requeft of Daniel, being greatly affected with it, ¥. 15—18. a particular enquiry of his about the fourth beaft, concerning which a full account is given, ¥. 19—27. all which caufed in him many thoughts of heart, and reflections of mind, ¥. 28, y¥. 1. In the firft year of Belfhazzar king of Babylon, &c.] Daniel having finifhed the hiftorical part of his book, and committed to writing what was neceflary concerning himfelf and his three companions, and concerning Nebuchadnezzar, Belfhazzar, and Darius the Mede; proceeds to the prophetic part, and goes back to the firft year of Bel bazzar’s reign, feventeen years before his death, and the fall of the Babylonifh monarchy laft mentioned; for fo long Belhazzar reigned, according to Fo/e- Jephus *; and with which agrees the canon of P/olemy, who afcribes fo many years to the reign of Nabonadius, the fame with Behazzar: he began to reien, according to Bifhop Uber “, Dean Prideaux *, and Mr. Whifton », in the year of the ‘ulian period 4159, and before Chrift 555; and in the firft year of his reign, Daniel had the dream ot the four monarchies, as follows: Dauiel had a dream; as Nebuchadnezzar before had, concerning the fame things, the four monarchies of the world, and the kingdom of Chrift, only reprefented in a different manner: or, few a dream”; in his dream he had a vifion, and objeéts were prefented to his fancy as if he really faw them, as follows: and vifions of bis head came upon his bed; as ‘he lay upon his bed, and deep fleep was fallen on him, things in a vifionary way were exhibited to him, very wonderful and furprizing, and which made ftrong impreffions upon him: then he wrote the dream, awaking out of his fleep, and perfectly remembring the dream he had dreamt, and recol- Jecting the feveral things he had feen in it; that they might not be loft, but tranfmitted to pofterity for their ufe and benefit, he immediately committed them to writing: and told the fum of the - matters; the whole of what he had dreamt and feen; or however the fum and fubftance of it, the more principal parts of it, the moft interefting things in it, and of the greateft importance: when it was day-light, and he rofe from his bed, and went out of his chamber, he called his friends together, and told them by word of mouth what he had feen in his dream the night paft; or read what he had written of it, which was ‘as fol-

¥. 2. Daniel [pake and faid, I faw in my vifton by night, &c.| He declared he had had a vifion by night, and this was the fubftance of it: and behold the four winds of the heaven firove upon the great fea; the eaft, weft, north, and fouth winds, broke out from-their feveral quarters, and rufhed in upon the great fea; either the Mediterranean, fo called in comparifon of the fea of Sodom, and the fea of Tiberias in Fudea, or upon the waters of the main ocean, and raifed up its waves, and feemed: as it were to be ftriving and fighting with them, and put them into a ftrange agitation; by which may be meant the whole world, and the kingdoms and nations of it, becaufe.of its largenefs, inconftaney, inftability, and difquietude;' fee Rev. xvii. 15. Uf Ivii. 20. and by the four winds fome underitand the angels, either good or bad, concerned in the affairs of providence on earth, either by divine order or permiffion; or rather the kings of the earth raifing commotions in it, ftriving and fighting with one another, either to defend or enlarge their dominions; and which have been the means in providence of the rifing up of fome great ftate or monarchy, as after appears..

¥. 3. And four great beafts came up from the fea, &c.] Which are afterwards interpreted of four kings or kingdoms, ¥. 17. which rofe up in the world, not at once, but fucceffively, and out of the fea or world, thro’ the commotions and agitations of it; and thefe are.the four monarchies, Babylonian, Perfian, Grecian, and Roman; compared to Zeafts, becaufe of the rapine and violence, ‘cruelty, oppreffion, and tyranny, by which they were obtained, fet up, fupported, and maintained; and to great ones, being not like fingle feparate kingdoms, as the kingdom of J/rael, and the like, but confifting of many kingdoms and nations, and fo like beafts of an enormous fize: diverfe one fram another; in their fituation, language, manner, {trength, and power; hence exprefled by divers forts of beafts, as the lion, bear, leopard, @c/ as in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream by different metals, y. 4. The firft was like a lion, &c.] ‘That which rofe up firft, the kingdom of the Babylonians, as the Syriac verfion exprefies it, or the Affyrian monarchy, founded by Nimrod, increafed by the Afjrians, and brought to its height under Nebuchadnezzar by the Babylonians and Chaldeans; this is faid to be like a (on for its ftrength and power, for its greatnefs, dignity, and majefty; the fame.

with the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream;- fee Fer. iv. 7. andl. 17: and had eagles qwings, denoting the celerity and fwiftnefs with which Webuchadnezzar tan, or rather flew, over feveral kingdoms and countries, and added them to his empire; fee Fer. iv. 13. and xlviii. 40. and xlix. 22: and I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked it was retarded and ftopped in its conquefts; it couid fly no farther, nor make any new acquifitions;

yea, it was deplumed and {tripped of fome of its.

dominions, the Medes and Perfians falling off, and _ making war with it: and it was lifted up from the earth, or, with which it was lifted up from the.

earth *, with which wings it raifed itfelf up, ahd lifted itfelf above other kingdoms and nations; but now were plucked, and could not foar aloft as

Sy ae P Gh, vik #¢,6) Di A N formerly; its glory and majefty, power and ftrength, _ were leffened, whole provinces revolting, as in the times of Evil-merodach, NerighifJar and Belfhazzar: and made fland upon the feet as a man; it did not fly like an eagle as before, and over-run countries, and wafte them; or go upon all four, as a beatt; but ftood on its feet, its two hinder legs, like a man; fignifying, that it abated in the reigns of the above princes, of its ftrenigth and fiercenefs, and became more mild and tractable, and was reducéd within bounds like other kingdoms: and a wnan’s heart was given to it; inftead of a lion-like heart, that was bold and intrepid, and feared nothing, it became weak and fearful, and timorous like the heart of man, efpecially in. Bel/bazzar’s time; not only when he faw the hand-writing on the wall, to which Facchiades refers this; but when he was fo fearful of Cyrus that he fhut himfelf up in Babylon, and durft not ftir out to give him battel, as. Xenophon ” relates; and when the city was taken, the Badylonians were obliged to deliver up their arms, employ themfelves in tilling their fields, and to pay tribute to the Perfians, and always falute them as their lords and mafters, as the fame hiftorian * fays; fee Fer. li. 30.. ¥. 5. And bebold, another beaf, a fecond, like to @ bear, &c.| Another monarchy, and which fucceeded the former,*and rofe up upon the ruins‘ of it, the Medo-Perfian monarchy; and fo the Syriac verfion prefixes to this verfe by way of explana- ‘tion, ** the kingdom of the Medes;” like to a bear, lefs generous and {trong than the lion; more rough and uncivil, but equally cruel and voracious; which defcribes the Medes and Perfians as a fierce and cruel people, and lefs polifhed, and more uncivilized, than the Chaldeans + and anfwers to the filver breafts and arms in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; fee J/- xiii. 17, 18. Fer. li. 27, 28: and it raifed up itfelf on one fide; either of the lion, the firft beaft it deftroyed; or rather on one fide of itfelf, on the fide of Perfia; from whence Cyrus eame, who was the principal inftrument of raifing this empire to the pitch it was brought unto. Some render it, and it raifed up one government“; one empire out of many nations and kingdoms it fubdued: and it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it; that is, three ribs covered with flefh, which it was devouring; the bear being very voracious, and a great flefh-eater: thefe, according to fome, fignity three kings that followed Darius the Mede, Cyrus, Abafuerus, and Darius, fo Farchi and Facchiades,; and according to Ferom, three kingdoms, the Babylonian, Median, and Perfran: but neither of thefe kings nor kingdoms can be faid to be in its mouth, and between its teeth, as ground and devoured by it, ‘unlefs the Badylonian; wherefore it is better interpreted by others, as Theodoret, the three parts of the world it con- * quered, weitward, northward and fouthward, ch.viii. 4. tho’ it is beft of all, with Sir J/aac Newton and bifhop Chandler, to underftand by them Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt; which countries were ground and opprefied by the Medes and Perfians, as the ribs of any creature are ground in the mouth of a bear: and they faid thus unto it, arife, devour much fle; which Ferom refers to Haman’s orders to deftroy the ews in the times of Ahafuerus, but it is much better applied by others to Cyaxares or Darius fending for Cyrus to take upon him the comimand of his army; and to the Hyrcanians, Gobryas, and others inviting him to avenge them on the Babylonians, promifing to join and affift him, as Xenophon * relates: or rather this is to be interpreted of the divine will; and of the conduét of providence by means of angels ftirring up the fpirit of Cyrus, and of the Medes and Perfians, to attack and fubdue many nations, and particularly the Babylonians, and fill themfelves with their wealth and fubftance; hence they are ftiled the Lord’s fantified, whom he ordered and called to fuch fervice j fee J. xiii. 3.

¥. 6. After this, I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, 8c.] Another beaft, another monarchy, a third monarchy fucceeding the Perfian monarchy, and which rofe up on the ruins of that; Darius king of the Perfians being beat by Alexander king of Macedon, who was the inftrument of fetting up the Grecian monarchy here intended; compared td a leopard, a f{maller creature thdn a lion; fignifying that this monarchy arof¢ from a fimall ‘beginning 3 and a crafty one, Alexander having many wife counfellors of his father’s about him, tho’ he himfelf was rafh and hafty; and 4 fpotted one, denoting the various virtues and vices of Alexander; and his inconftancy in thetn; formetimes exercifing the one, and fometimes the other; or rather the different nations, and the manners of them he conquered, of which this empire confifted; not to fay any thing of the cruelty and fwiftnefs of this creature, which are both to be obferved in this conqueror: which bad upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; denoting the fwiftnefs of d/exander in his conquefts; who in a few years made himfelf mafter of the whole world, at leaft as he thought, whofe empire was greater than that of Ne~ buchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, to. whom only two wings of an eagle are given, ¥. 4. Says Ferom, *« nothing was more fwift than the conqueft of Alexander, from Illyricum and the Adriatic-fea, unto the Indian ocean, and the river Ganges; he rather ran thro’ the world by victories than by battels, and in fix years fubdued part of Europe, all Afia even unto India,” to which may be added all Egypt, Syria and Paleftine. <Arimazes being matter of a rock in Sogdiana, which was thought ‘inacceffible and impregnable, <lexander fent a meflenger to him to demand the, delivery of it to him; but among other things he proudly faid, he afked the meffenger with a fneer if Alexander could fly; which, when the meffenger reported, nettled him much, that he fhould be infulted becaufe he had not wings; and vowed that the next night he would make him believe that the Macedonians did fly; and accordingly they found ways and means to get to the top of it, which, when the governor faw, he declared that dlewander’s foldiers had wings ': the beajt alfo had four heads; which fignify the four kingdoms into which the Grecian empire was divided after Alexander’s death, under four of his generals, who were heads or governors of them: Macedonia under Antipater, or, as others, Cafander, Egypt under Ptolemy; Syria under Seleucus; and Afa under Antigonus, or, as others, Lyfimachus: and dominion was given to it; the dominion of the whole world, or however avery large dominion and this was given of pita and according to his will, and the ordering of his providence; for to nothing elfe can it be afcribed, that with thirty thoufand men Alexander thould beat an army of fix hundred thoufand; and. with fuch an handfu] of men fubdue fo many kingdoms and nations, and that in the fpace of a few years. ¥.7. After this, I Jaw in the night-vifions, and behold, a fourth beaft, &&c.|} Not in another night, as ‘farchi; but in the fame night, and in the fame vifions of it; only after he had feen the other three fucceffively, then laft. of all he faw this fourth beaft; and more being faid of this than of the reft, fhews that this was the principal thing in the vifion to be obferved, as being to endure until, and having a clofe connexion with, the kingdom of the Meffiah; which arifing fhall deftroy it, and take place of it: this is not the Turkifh empire, as Aben Ezra, and others; nor the kingdom of the Se/eucide, as Grotius, and others; to which neither the characters, nor the duration of it, agree; but the Roman empire, which fucceeded the Grecian, fo Gorionides*: dreadful and terrible, and frong exceedingly; exceeding powerful, as the Roman empire was, and terrible to all the kingdoms of the earth; its arms, wherever they came, ftruck terror among the nations, and threw them into a pannic, killing, wafting, robbing.all they met with"; and efpecially it, was terrible to chriftians, by their perfecutions of them,.as both Reme pagan and Kome papal have been. Rome has its name from ftrength with the Greeks, and from height with the Hebrews, as Jerom ‘oblerves: it had great iron teeth, which may defign its generals and emperors, fuch as Scipio, Pompey, Fulius Cafar, and others; which crufhed and devoured all that came in their way:

this monarchy anfwers to the legs and feet of iron.

in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: it devoured and brake in pieces, and ftamped the refidue with the feet of it; it devoured nations, broke kingdoms in pieces, and brought them in fubjection to them; reducing them to the greateft fervitude, and obliging them to pay heavy taxes and tribute: é was diverfe from all the beafis that were, before it, in its original, language, laws, cuftoms, and forms of government; it was fuch a monfter, that no name could be given it; there was no one beaft in nature to which it could be compared; it had all the ill properties of the other beafts, for craft, cruelty, oppreffion and tyranny; and therefore Fobz defcribes this fame beaft as being like a leopard, having the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion, Rev. xiii. 2: and it bad ten horns; which are explained of ten kings or kingdoms, ¥. 24. the fame with the ten toes in Nebuchadnexzar’s dream, and with the ten kings that received power as kings with the beaft, or ten kingdoms, into which the Roman empire was divided about the time of the rife of antichrift, Rev. xvii. 12, fee the note there,

¥.8,. I confidered the horns, 8cc,] The ten horns of the fourth beaft; thefe the prophet particularly looked at, took fpecial notice of them, carefully obferved them, their number, form and fituation, and pondered in his mind what fhould be the meating of them; and bebold; while he was attentive to thefe, and thinking within himfelf what they fhould be, fomething {till more wonderful prefented: there came up among them another little horn; not Titus Vefpafian, as Jarchi; nor the Turki empire, as Saadiah, nor Antiochus Epiphanes, as many chriftian interpreters; for not a fingle perfon or king is meant by a horn, but a kingdom or ftate, and a fucceffion of governors; as by the other ten’ horns, are meant ten kings or kingdoms; befides: this little horn is a part of the fourth, and not the third bealt, to which Antiochus belonged; and was to rife up, not in the third or Grecian monarchy, as he did, but in the fourth and Roman monarchy;

and was to continue until the {piritual coming of -

Chrift, or until his kingdom in a fpiritual fenfe takes place; which is not true of him: and fince no other has appeared in the Roman empire; to whom the characters of this horn agree, but antichrift, or the pope of Rome, he may be well thought to be intended. Jreneus *, an ancient chri- {tian writer, who lived in the fecond century, interprets it of antichrift; of whom having faid many things, has thefe words: ‘* Daniel having refpect ‘** to the end of the laft kingdom, that is, the laft ten kings, among whom their kingdom fhould be divided, upon whom the fon of perdition fhall come; he fays, that ten horns fhall be upon the beaft, and another little horn. fhould. rife up in the midft of them; and three horns of the firft be rooted out before him; and dehold, faith he, in this born were eyes as the eyes of man, &c. of whom again the apoftle Paul,. in 2 Thef. declaring together the caufe of his coming, thus fays, and then fhall the wicked one be revealed,” &c. and in a following chapter ', the fame writer obferves, ‘‘ Fobn the difciple of ‘*¢ the Lord in the Revelation hath yet more manifettly fignified of the laft time, and of thofe ten kings in it, among whom the empire that now reigns (the Roman empire) fhall be divided 5 declaring what fhall be the ten horns, which were feen by Daniel, faying, the ten horns which thou Jaweft are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, &c. therefore it is manifeft, that of thefe he that is to come fhall flay three, and the reft fhall be fubjeét to him, and he fhail be the eighth among them;” and Yerom on the place fays, that this is the fenfe of “ all eccle- ‘* fiaftical writers, that when the Roman empire is ‘* deftroyed, there fhall be ten kings who hall divide it among them; and an eleventh fhall arife, a little king, who fhall conquer three of the ten kings; and having flain them, the other feven fhall fubmit their necks to the conqueror;””_ who, he further obferves, is not a devil or damon, but a man, the man of fin, and fon of perdition; fo as that he dare to fit in the temple of God, making himfelf as if he was-God: now to the Roman antichritt every thing here faid anfwers: he is a horn poflefied of power, ftrength, authority and dominion, of which the horn is an emblem; a little one, which rofe from fmall beginnings, and came to his ecclefiaftic power from a common_ paftor or bifhop, to be a metropolitan of J/aly, and. then univerfal bifhop; and to his fecular power, which at firft was very {mall, and fince increafed; and yet, in comparifon of. other horns or kingdoms, but little; tho’ being allowed to exercife a power within others, is, or at leaft has been, very for-.

midable: this come up among the other horns; when the northern barbarous nations broke into the em-_ pire, and fet up ten kingdoms in it, this little horn fprung up among them; and while they were forming kingdoms for themfelves, he was con- — triving one for himfelf; they rofe at the fame time, and reigned together; fee Rev. avi Tah

before whom there were three of the firft horns pluckt up by the roots; before whom three kings or kingdoms fell, and were fubdued as in ¥. 20, 24. which, according to Mr. Mede ", were the kingdoms of the Greeks, of the Longobards, and of the Franks but according to Sir J/aac Newton", they were the exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lombards, and the fenate and dukedom of Rome, or according to the prefent bifhop of Clogher °, the Campagnia of Rome, the exarchate of Ravenna, and the region of Pentapolis, which were plucked up by Pipim and Charlemagne kings of France, and given to the pope; and were confirmed to him by their fucceffor Lewis the Pious, and is what is called the patrimony of St. Peter; in memory of which a piece of Mo/aic work was made and put up in the pope’s palace, reprefenting S%. Peter with three keys in his lap; fignifying the three keys of the three parts of his patrimony; and to thew his fovereignty over them, the, pope to this day wears a triple crown: a#d bebold, in this born were eyes like the eyes of man; in fome montftrous births there have been eyes in the knees, and in the belly above the navel *; but never was there known fuch a moniter as this, to have a horn, and eyes in the horn; horns fome monfters have had, but not eyes in them: thefe may defign the pretended fanétity and religion of the pope of Rome or antichrift, who, tho’ a beaft would be thought to be a man, a religious creature; or his pretended modefty, humanity and courtefy, when he is all the reverfe; of rather his infight into the fcriptures he makes pretenfions to, fetting himfelf up as an infallible judge of them, and of all controverfies: tho’ they feem better to defign what he really has, than what he pretends to; and may denote his penetration and fagacity, his craft and cunning, and fharp looking out to get power and dominion, temporal and fpiritual; and his watchfulnefs to keep it, that it is not encroached upon, and took away from him; and alfo all means and inftruments by which he infpects his own and others affairs; particularly the order of the Fe/uits, which are his eyes every where, fpies in all kingdoms and courts, and get intelligence of what is done in the councils and cabinets of princes: how many eyes this horn had, is not faid; nor is it eafy to fay how many the pope of Rome has; he has as many as Argus, and more too, and thefe fharp and pietcing: and a mouth {peaking great things; as that he is Chrift’s vicar on earth, Pefer’s fucceffor, head of the church, and univerfal bifhop; that he is infallible, and cannot err; that he has all power in heaven, earth and hell, that he can forgive fin, grant indulgences, make new laws, and bind the confciences of men; difpenfe with the laws of God and men; difpofeof kingdoms, and remove and fet up kings at pleafure, with many others of the like kind; fee Rev. xiii. 5, 6.; y¥. 9. I bebeld till the thrones were caft down, 8c.) On which the governors of the above monarchies fat; and thofe of the ten kings, fignified by the ten horns; and alfo that of the little horn. The prophet kept looking on the objects before him, till he in his dream, and the vifions of the night, faw all thofe empires and kingdoms demolifhed, and all rule, power and authority put down, and way made for the glorious kingdom of the Meffiah, and his faints with him; to this fenfe Aben Ezra, Saadiah and Facchiades interpret the word uled; but the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Arabic verfions render it, until the thrones were fet up; for the judges to fit uponto try, judge and concemn the four beafts or monarchies; in order to make way for the kingdom of the fon of man to take place in the {pirituality and glory of it: here are more thrones than one; fee Rev. xx. 4. one for the ancient of days, and another for him who was like to the fon of man, brought near before him; and fo the Jews * fay, here were two thrones pitched and prepared, one for the ancient of days, and another for David, that is, the Meffiah, or fon of David; and fo Yarchi paraphrafes the words, ‘* the thrones were pitched and prepared to fit upon in judgment;” and this fenfe is confirmed by the ufe of the word in Ezra vii. 24. and in the Zargum on 2 Kings xviii. 14. Fer. i. 15: and to this agrees beft the following claufe: and the ancient of days did fit, on one of the thrones pitched, as chief judge: this is to be under- {tood of God the Father, as diftinét from the Meffiah, the Son of God, faid to be like the fon of man brought unto him, ¥. 13. and is fo called, not only becaufe he is from everlafting, and without beginning of days; but chiefly becaufe he is permanent, and endures for ever; his years fail not, and of his days there will be no ends and he will be when thefe empires, fignified by the four beafts, will be no more; and very fit to be judge of them, becaufe of his confummate wifdom and prudence, fignified alfo by this phrafe; and the divine Father of Chrift is ftill more proper, becaufe it is in Chrift’s caufe, the judgment will proceed; and_ this in order to introduce him openly into his dominions in the world: whofe garment was white as Jnow,; denoting the purity of his nature, the brightnefs of his majefty, and his incorruptnefs in judgment: and the hair of bis bead like the pure wool; fignifying his venerablenefs, gravity, wifdom, and ripenefs of judgment; being wonderful in counfel, and excellent in working: his throne was like the fiery flame; expreffive of him, as awful and formidable, as a confuming fire; and of his piercing judgment, and the feverity of it: and his wheels as burning fire; the wheels of his throne; alluding to fuch feats and thrones as were made to turn about, and to be moved from place to place; denoting the power and providence of God every where; the clear view he has of all things, in all places; and his fwiftnefs in the execution of his judgments.

¥y. 10. A fiery fiream iffued and came forth from before him, &c.| Or, a river of fire*; which denotes the copious judgments of God, the abundance of them; the full flow of his wrath, and the fiercenefs of it; and alfo its rapidity, which cannot be refifted and ftopped: thonfand thoufands minifired unto him; attended upon him, waiting his orders, and ready to execute them; an innumerable company of angels, P/: ciii. 20, 21: and ten thou- [and times ten thoufand ftood before him, to-be judged by him; the numerous inhabitants of the feveral monarchies with their kings particularly all the antichriftian ftates, and the worfhippers. of the beaft,

© Inquiry into the time wm» Ga 255: Be PET, FED whom the whole world went after, Rev. xii. 3, 8. and xiv. 10, 11: the judgment was fet, that 1s, the court was fet; the judge was upon the bench, and all his affeffors and apparitors about him, and that miniftred to him: and the books were opened, both to take the trial in writing, and to produce evidence againft the criminals; the book of God’s purpofes and decrees concerning thefe beafts; the book of prophecies relating to them; the book of God’s remembrance, and of their own confciences, with refpect to the evils committed by them; and the book of records, ftatutes and laws thade in fuch cafes; even the book of the fcriptures, which contains the revelation of the will of God, In fome things there is a likenefs between this and the jaft and future judgment, and in other things a difagreement; the judge in both is a divine perfon, the eternal God, omnifcient, omnipotent, holy, juft and true, which is abfolutely neceffary for carrying on fuch a procefs; none but God over all is equal to fuch a work: in the faft judgment, as in this, there will be thrones; the throne of God and of the Lamb, particularly a great white throne, a fymbol of purity, juftice and equity, on which the judge himfelf will fit, and execute judgment, from whofe prefence the earth and heaven will flee away; and befides, there will be other thrones for the martyrs of Jefus, and true profeffors of his name, to fit upon as fpectators, witnefles and approvers of the folemn procedure, and fhall reign with Chrift a thoufand years: likewife the number of the perfons judged, as here, will be very great, even innumerable; all, both fmall and great, as to age or dignity, will ftand before the judge, to be judged by him, and receive their fentence from him; and there will be books for that purpofe, as here, even the fame, and particularly the book of life, in which, if a man’s name is not written, he will be caft into the lake of fire; fee Rev. xx. 4, tI, 12, 15. but in other things they differ; here the judge is God the Father, the firft perfon in the Trinity, called the ancient of days, diftinguifhed from Chrift, faid to be like the fon of man; whereas, the laft and future judgment will be committed to the Son of God, the fecond perfon, who is ordained judge of quick and dead; and who will comea fecond time to judge the world in righteoufnefs; and tho’-the defcription of the ancient of days will agree well enough with him, he having the fame glorious perfeétions his Father has, which qualify him for a judge; fee Rev. i. 14. yet it is certain not he, but his divine Father is intended: nor in the account of the future judgment is there any mention of a frery fream iffuing forth before him, as here, for the burning of the body of the beaft; unlefs the lake of fire may be thought to anfwer to it, into which will be caft all fuch who have no part in the Lamb, nor a name in his book of life: however, the accounts of both are very awful and ftriking; and this may be confidered as a type, example, prefage and pledge of the future judgment; this will be at the beginning of the fpiritual reign of Chrift, when anuchrift will be deftroyed with the breath of his mouth, and the brightnefs of his coming; the judgment of the faints will be at the beginning of his perfonal reign, even’ of the quick and dead, thofe that will be found alive, and thofe that will be raifed from the dead, at his appearing and kingdom; and the judgment of the wicked will be ar the clofe of it, or at the end of the millennium; fee Rev. xx. 4, 6, 12. ox

¥. 11. I bebeld then, lecaufe of the voice of the great words, which the horn fpake, &c.] Or, from the voice‘; from the time it was heard, the prophet continued looking to fee what would be the iffue of all this; efpecially from the time he heard the little horn fpeak fuch blafphemous things againft God, arid Chrift, and his people, whicli were fo intolerable, that he concluded fome notice.

would be taken of them in a way of correction and punifhment; arid the rather, whert he faw the judge appear with fo mach majefty and grandeur, and dll things prepared for a judicial procefs: I beheld even till the beaft was flain, the fourth beaft; the Roman monarchy, to which a period will be put, and be utterly abolifhed in every form and fhape, and with it the little horn or papacy; when the beaft on which the whore of Rome fits and rules, and by whom fhe is fupported, will go into perdition; and fhe herfelf fhall be made defolate and naked, her flefh eat, and fhe burned with fire by the ten horns or kings that fhall rife up againft her, being filled with hatred to her, Rev. xvii. 3, 8,16: and bis body deftroyed, and given to the burning flame; when Rome with all its power and wealth fhall ceafe, and be no more, the whole body of the antichriftian ftates fhall perifh; the city of Rome.

fhall be burnt with fire; the beaft and falfe prophet fhall be taken and caft into a lake of fire burning with brimftone, Rev. xviii. 8. and xix. 20.: y. 12. As concerning the reft of the beafts, &c.} The other three, which reprefent the Babylonian, Perfian and Grecian monarchies: they had their dominion taken away; not at this time, when the fourth beaft or Roman empire is deftroved, but long ago; and not together, but fucceffively; the dominion was taken away from the Babylonians, and -given to the Perfans; and then their dominion was taken away, and given to the Grecians; and after that the dominion of the Grecians was taken away from them, and given to the Romans: the prophet having obferved what became of the fourth beaft, he was moft intent upon, juft in a few words takes notice of the fate of the other three, before this: yet their lives were prolonged for a feafon and time, thefe monarchies did not at once become extinét, as the fourth beaft or monarch will, but by degrees; and the kingdoms of which they confifted are ftill in being, tho’ in another form of government, and in different hands; whereas, when the fourth monarchy is deftroyed, all.

rule and authority will be put down, and the kingdom be given to Chrift and his faints, as follow: - y¥. 13. I faw in the night-vifions, &c.] Very probably the fame night in which he had the dream and vifion of the four beafts; but this that follows being a new object prefented, is introduced and prefaced after this manner; as well as bein fomething wonderful and worthy of attention, has a behold prefixed to it: and behold, one like the fon

of man came with the clouds of heaven, not Judas,

Maccabeus, as Porphyry; nor the Roman peop as Grotius; nor the people of Irael, as Aben Ezra; nor the people of the famts of the Moft High, ‘as Cocceius; but the Meffiah, as moft chriftian interpreters, and even the Fews themfelves, both ancient and modern, allow. In the ancient book of Zobar v, it is faid, ‘< in the times of the Meffiah, [rael «« fhall be one people to the Lord, and he fhall “« make them one nation in the earth, and they Father’s defighation and appointment, and his open glory, to be King and Lord over all: and they brought bim near before bir; not Elijah the

‘¢ fhall rule above and below; as it is written, de- ‘© bold, one like the fon of man came with the clouds ‘< of heaven; this is the king Meffiah, of whom * itis written, and in the days of thefe kings fhall “< the God of heaven fet up a kingdom which frall “© never be deftroyed, &c. ch. ii. 44.” So in the Talmud ™, this prophecy is thus reconciled with another, concerning the Meffiah, in Zech. ix. 9. to what R. Alewander faid, R. Fofhua ben Levi objects what is written, and bebold one like to the fon of man came with the clouds of heaven, and it is written, poor and riding upon an afs; which is thus adjufted, ** if they (the //raelites) are worthy, he “¢ (the Meffiah) comes with the clouds of heaven; *¢ but if they are not worthy, he comes poor and *: riding on an afs,” and fo it is interpreted in theit ancient Midra/bes *, or expofitions, as well as in more modern ones: archi on the text fays, ‘* he “¢ is the Meffiah;” and fo R. Saadiah Gaon and Facchiades, this is Meffiah our righteoufnefs; and Aben Ezra obferves, that this is the fenfe R. ejoua gives, that one like to the fon of man, is the Meffiah; and he adds, it is right, only along with him muft be joined the holy people, who are the Ffraelites: and with the Jews, Anani, which fignifies clouds, is the name of the Meffiah, founded upon this text, in the Targum of 1 Chron. iii. 24. where mention is made of the name of a perfon, Anani, it is added, ‘** who is the Meffiah that is to be «¢ revealed; fo in an ancient book called Tanchuma”, {peaking of Zerudbadel, it is afked, from whence did he fpring? it is anfwered from David, as it is faid 1 Chron. iii. 10. and Solomon’s fon was Rehoboam, &c. and fo all in the line are mentioned unto Anani, ¥. 24. and then it is afked, who is this Avani? this is the Meffiah, as it is faid, Dan. vii. 13. and I faw in the vifions of the night, and behold, one like to the fon of man came with the clouds of heaven. He is faid to be as, or like the fon of man, in agreement with the ftile of thefe vifions, ¥. 4, 5, 6. or becaufe as yet he was not really incarnate, only appeared in an human form; or this as is not a note of fimilitude, but of truth and reality, as in Fobn i. 14. Matt. xiv. 5. Phil. ii. 7, 8. or becaufe he was more than a man: and his coming with the clouds of heaven, denotes the majefty, vifibility and fwiftnefs with which he came to take open poflefiion of his kingdom and glory. Saadiab interprets them of the angels of heaven, with which he will be attended: and came to the ancient of days; his divine Father, from whom as man and Mediator, he receives his mediatorial kingdom, is invefted with it, and inftated into it; fee Rev. v. 7. this is not to be underftood of his firft coming in the flefh, which was from his Father, and not to him; nor of his afcenfion to heaven, exaltation and feffion at the right-hand of God, when he indeed received the kingdom from the Father, and was made and declared Lord and -Chrift; but this feems to refpect what fhall be upon the deftruétion of the fourth beaft, when Chrift fhali receive and take to himfelf his great power, and reign, and more vifibly appear by his rophet, as Yacchiades, rather the angels, as 5 Ee or the faints by their prayers, who haften to, and haften thereby the coming and kingdom of Chrift in a more fpiritual and glorious manner; or it may be rendered imperfonally, ‘* he was brought ** near before him,” as by the Septuagint, Syriac and Arabic verfions.

¥. 14. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, 8c.) That is, a large, powerful and glorious kingdom; not but that he had a kingdom) before, but now it will be more extenfive, and appear in greater glory: this will be fulfilled when the kingdoms of this world fhall become his, and all nations fhall ferve and worfhip him, Rev. xi. 15. and xv. 3, 4. as follows: that all people, nations and languages fhould ferve him; embrace his gofpel, fubmit to his ordinances, férve and worfhip him in every religious duty; every people, of all nations, and of every Ianguage under heaven; which will be the cafe when the everlafting gofpel will be preached to them all with fuccefs, Rev. xiv. 6. Pf. lxxii. 11: bis dominion is an ever~ lafting dominion; it fhall never have an end, as the reft of the monarchies, fignified by the four beafts, have had, or will have; fee Pf xlv. 6. Jf ix. 7: which fhall not pafs away, or be removed from one to another, like the above monarchies: and his kingdom, that which fhall not be deftroyed; or corrupted *, abolifhed and brought to nothing, as the faid monarchies were éne by another; and, at laft, all of them by the ftohe cut out of the mountain; fee Dan. ii. 44.

y. 15. I Daniel was grieved in my Jpirit, in the midft of my body, &c.| Or foeath*; the foul being in the body as a fword in its fcabbard; where it was cut” and pierced, as the word fignifies; and was wounded, diftrefled and grieved at the vifion feen; not at the fight of the fon of man, and the glorious and everlafting kingdom given to him; but of the four beafts, and efpecially the laft, and more particularly the little horn, and the look, and words, and actions of that, as well as the awful fcene of judgment prefented to his view: and the vifions of my bead troubled me; the things he faw, which appeared to his fancy 4s real things, gave him a great deal of uneafinefs, and chiefly becaufe he did not underftand the meaning of them; it was not fo much the things themfelves, as ignorance of them that cut him to the heart, and grieved and troubled him; for what is more fo to an inguifitive mind, that has got a hint of fomething great and ufeful to be known, but can’t as yet come to the knowledge of it?

y. 16. I came near unto one of them that ftood by, &c.]| To one of ‘the angels that attended, either the throne of judgment, or the fon of man in his approach to his divine Father: and afked him the truth of all this, the fubftance of thefe vifions; what thefe images prefented to his view, were fhadows and reprefentations of; fo type and truth, fhadow and fubftance, are oppofed to each other, The real meaning of all this was what he afked, nor need any be afhamed to afk of whomfoever they can hope to get knowledge of truth, and efpecially of iuperiors, of the angels of the churches, or paftors of them: fo be told me, and madé me know the interpretation of the things; he interpreted every thing in the vifion.to him, and, gaye him the true meaning and real defign of the whole, as follows: this was afked and told, not when Daniel was awake, and was~confidering of what he.had dreamed; but in his dream, in his vifion by night; this was all tranfaéted in a vifionary way, both the things and the interpretation of them...;

y¥. 17. Thefe great beafts which are four,.are four kings, &c.].. Or kingdoms, as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic verfions; and fo, farchi, Aben Ezra, and Saadiah fo.,the fourth beaft is called the fourth kingdom, -¥..23.. or a fucceffion of kings in four kingdoms or monarchies, comparable to beafts for their ftrength, cruelty and tyranny; thefe are the words of him. that ftood by, of one of the angels Daniel applied,to;, to know the. meaning of his dream; ‘and;might be better rendered, as to thefe* great beasts which are four; for their quality beafts, for their quantity great, and for number four.,. The meaning) is, four kings foall arife out of the earth; or kingdoms; which have an earthly criginal,and foundation; are fupported by earthly and worldly means, and,with earthly and worldly views; and are different from the kingdom of Chrift and his faints, which is not! of the world, tho’ it may be in it; this explains what is meant by the great fea, from whence,thefe’

beafts are faid to come up, y. 3. nor is it any material obje€tion that the firft of thefe kingdoms, the Babylonian, was rifen already, and almoft at an end; fince the denomination is taken from the larger number; three of them were to arife, and the firft was of the fame original with them; thus *tis faid, ch. xi. 2. that three kings of Pexfia fhould ftand up, and yet Cyrus, who was one of them, reigned already., y. 18. But the faints of the Moft High, &c.]} Or, of the moft high ones *, Father, Son, and Spirit; feparated by God the Father in election, and in that fenfe his faints, or fanctified ones, Jud. ¥. 1. and redeemed by the Son,,and fanctified with his blood, or their fins atoned by it, and to whom he is made fanctification, and fo his faints, Hed. xiii. 12. 1 Cor. i. 30. and fanétified by the Spirit, who in converfion implants principles of grace and ho- Jinefs in them, 1 Cor. vi. 11. or, the faints of high *, places or things; who are born from above, and are called with an high and heavenly calling, towards which they are preffling, reckoning themfelves ftrangers here below: thefe /hall take the kingdom; or receive‘ it, as afree gift from God; and not by force, and rapine, and violence, as the beafts did: and poffefs the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever; after the four monarchies are deftroyed, a fifth kingdom fhall be fet up; and this will be given to, and’ put into the poffeffion of the faints; they fhall have the rule and government in the world, even in the whole world, as-well as reign with Chrift fpiritually; which manner of rule fhall laft long; and then after the firft refurreCtion they fhall reign with him a thoufand, years on earth, and afterwards in heaven to all eternity. ‘There is another rendring, and fenfe of the words given, andithey (the beatts) shall receive; the kingdom, of the \faints.of the, Mo tigh *y 8cee and fo Saadiab interprets,them, ‘* and thefe |king-

“< doms fhall. receive the kingdom of. U/raelj, who

“* are the faints of the Moft High, until theiworld way go. many. others, who,underitand, the words. of thofe feveral monarchies, pofleffing: the Jand of ~ Judea, and ruling over it;,.and of the, continuance of it inthehands of Papifis or Turks, foria lon time, even.until the:.glorious kingdom -of;Chri takes. place 3, but this:does, not agreeswith the accentuation of the words, their form of conftruction, — their connexion, \and flrong manner, ofexpreffion, for ever and ever; and, efpecially, if compared with

¥. 19. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beaft, &c,]. What it seprefented, what kingdom or monarchy was meant ‘by it; for,by the above anfwer of the angel; he underftood the:four beaits fignified four kings or kingdoms;, the three firft he pretty well underftood);,.at leaft he swas' not fo folicitous. about them,.as. about the: fourth; and this he was defirous of havinga very. pafticular and exact account of; it, threatning, by, its appearance; a great deal of trouble to the-world, and efpecially,to, the church of God:,,which wasedivers the other three beafts: exceeding dreadful;. to other kingdoms and nations: whofe teeth were of iron; of. thefe parts of its defcription, fee ony. 7: and his nails of brafsy this.is,a.new cireumftance, not before mentioned, and here added with gteat propriety; wails belonging. to a beaft of prey, and thefe faid to be of bra/s, to denote its ftrength, cruelty and voracioufnels in tearing its prey to pieces; and moreover,.to fhew that this. kingdom has fomewhat of the. nature. of the, thirdsor Gre- nezzar’s dream; fome out of that kingdom being taken into the Roman militia, as J eodoret obferves; and foldiers are to a king, what nails are to a beaft: which devoured, brake in pieces, and famped the refidue with his feet; fome kingdoms and provinces were deftroyed by it, and the reft were made fubject to. it; fee ¥. 7. ’ » told

¥. 20. And of the ten horns, &c.},. That is, Daniel defired to know the truth of the ten horns, or the meaning of them, what they fignified, and who they pointed at, of which in y. 7. here it is added, chat were in bis heed;. obferving fituation of them; tho’ the horns of a. beaft could which came.up, and before whom three fell; particularly he was very defirous to know the meaning of a fingle horn, which rofe up among the reft, and before which three of the. other horns fell, bei plucked up by the roots: even of that horn that fee the note on ¥. 8: whofe look was more flout than the other horns; either than his fellow-bifhops, claiming an authority over them, as being univerfal bifhop; or than the kings and princes of fetting up himfelf above all that is called pays and kings; taking to himfelf all power in eaven, and in earth; a power to depofe kings, — cian monarchy, faid. to be of brafs in Nebuchad- - hardly be thought to. be elfewhere: and of the other © his fellows than the other beafts, or rather, than had eyes, and a mouth that /pake very great.things; -.

Chviiy.21r—24, D AN JT E S01 and abfolve their fubjeéts from alleciance to them, and even over the confciences’ Of men’; fo that his look is'more bold and impudent thah ‘others, as well as more fierce and terrible, threatening kings and’kingdoms'with ‘his bulls, ‘anathema’s, ‘and interdicts: or, whofe appearance is greater than bis fellows in pomp and fplendor, making a greater fhow and figure than the kings of ‘the earth, and claiming a fuperiority over them. eT.

y. 21. °F bebeld, and the fame born made war with | the faints, &c.], ‘The fame little horn before deferibed; not Antiochus Epiphanes, who made war with the Yews,’as many think; or the Roman Ce-| fars, that perfecuted the church of Chrift, as others; nor Titus Vefpafian, who fought again{t J/rael, as Saadiah; but antichrift, or the pope of Rome; and ‘this ‘refers: to’ the'wars of the popes with the /a/- denfes, which began in the year 1160, and conti nued long, and with the two witneffés at the clofe of their 'teftimony, Rev. xi. 7.\and xiii. 7. this Deniel had-a view of in vifion’;’ not whilft he was enquiring of the angel, but before, tho’ not mentioned till now; and was a’ reafon he was fo very inquifitive about this little horn, becaufe of its war with the*faints, and its fuccefs, as follows: and prevailed again; them, as the popes and their abettors did againft the Walden/es and Albigenfes, whom they flew in’ great numbers, and got the vi€tory “over; as the beaft alfo, the fame with this little horn, will overcome the witnefles, and flay them, Rev. xi. 7. |

¥. 22. Until the ancient of days came, &c.] Not locally, by change of place, he being the omniprefent God; but in a providential way, to check and put a ftop to the power and prevalency of the little horn over the faints; for this is the terminus or erd of that; which puts a period to it; for when the ancient of days comes in the exertion of his ower and providence, he will come and fit as a judge upon this little horn or antichrift, and judge, and condemn, and punifh it; fee ¥.9, 11: and judgment was given to the faints of the Moft High; their characters vindicated from all calumny and falfe afperfions; their adverfaries condemned and punifhed; and power, dominion, and authority, _ given to them with Chrift; fee ¥. 27. Fobn v. 22: - and the time came that the faints poffeffed the kingdom; as in ¥. 18. fee the note there; till which time the little horn or antichrift will reign and rage, and prevail over the faints, but no longer. y. 23. Thus be faid, &c.| The perfon that ftood by, the angel, of whom Daziel made his enquiries, and who anfwered him, as follows: the fourth beaft foall be the fourth kingdom on earth, which fhows that the angel by four kings, y.17. meant four kingdoms, that fhould fucceffively arife in the earth, and out of it, one after another; and this kingdom is not the kingdom of the Seleucidz, nor the Turkifh, but the Roman empire; for this is to continue until the kingdom of Chrift takes place; fee ¥. 7: which fhall be divers from all kingdoms, from the kingdoms and monarchies that were before it; particularly as a kingdom, in its form of overnment, both when pagan, and when papal; ee ¥. 7: and fhall devour the whole earth, and foall tread it down, and break it in pieces; not the whole land of Fudea only, as fome read and interpret it; but the whole world, which the Romans became mafters of; and the phrafes ufed denote the deftruction and defolation they tjade, wherever,they carried their.arms, and the cruelty and, tyranny, they, exercifed, and the,vaft. profufion of blood made by them, both among the. heathens they fubdued,. and the chriftians they perfecuted. - ¥. 24. Aud the ten horns out of this kingdom, are ten kings that Jhall arife, &c.]. Or ten kingdoms | which fprung out of the Roman empire,.or, into which it was broken and divided upon the. diffolution of it, about A. D..476; which, according to Mr, Mede *, were thus divided, A. D. 456, 1. Britons; 2. Saxons 3. Franks; 4. Burgundians, 5. Wifi- £oths;. 6. Suevians and Alanes,; 7. Vandals, 8..Almanes; 9..Ofrogoths; 10. Greeks. The lift bifhop Lloyd' has given of them is, 1. Hunns, who ere¢ted their kingdom in that part of Pannonia and: Dacia, which was from them called Hungary, about A. D. 356.— 2. Offrogoths, who fettled themfelves ‘in the countries that reach from Rhetia to Mejia, even to Thrace, about 377; and afterwards came, into Italy under Alaricus, in 410.— 3. Wifigoths, who fettled in the fouth parts of France, and in, Catalonia, about 378.— 4. Franks, who feized upon part of Germany. and Gaul, A.D. 410.— 5. Vandals, who fettled in Spain; afterwards fet up their kingdom in Africa, A. D. 407;>their king Genfericus facked Rome, 455.—- 6. Suevians, and Alans, who feized the weftern parts of Spain, A. D. 4075, and invaded Italy, 457.—.7. Burgundians, who came out of Germany, into that part of Gaul called from them Burgundy, 407.—. 8. Herules, Rugians, and Tkoringians, who fettled in Italy under Odgacer, about A. D. 476.— 9g, Saxons, who made themfelves mafters of Great-Britain about the fame time, 476.— 10, Longobards, called likewife Gopide, who fettled in Germany about Magdeburg, A. D. 383; and afterwards fucceeded the Herul and Thuringi in Hungary, about the year 826. Sir Tfaac Newton ™ reckons the ten kingdoms in the following order: 1. the kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa;—2. of the Suevians in Spain;—3. of the Wifigeths;—4. of the Alans in Gallia;—5. of the Burgundians;—6. of the Franks;—7. Of the Britons;—8. Of the Hunns; —g. of the Lombards;—10. of Ravenna; who gives an account of the feveral kings of thefe kingdoms; and thefe, as the fame learned writer fays*, whatever was their number afterwards, they are ftill called the ew kings from their firft number; and tho’ they have not always been in the fame form and order, yet they have been generally about, if not exactly the fame number; as they are now near the fame; and may be thus reckoned, as the kingdoms of France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Great-Britain, Sardinia, Denmark, the two Sicilies, Swedeland, Pruffia, and Poland;, of which fee more on the note on Rev. xvii. 12. And another fail rife after thee, not Titus Vefpafian, as Farchi and Saadiah; nor the nation of Gog and Magog, as Facchiades; but the pope of Rome or antichrift, who came to his power as univerfal bifhop, and as a horn or temporal prince, after the above kingdoms arofe; not after they were at an end, but after they were conftituted and eftablifhed, as it was proper they fhould firft be; fince they were to giye their ftrength, power, and kingdom, to the antichriftian beaft, by which it became a horn or temporal prince, Rev. xvii. 13. The Septuagint render it, behind them; which Mr. Mede ° interprets prets of his fpringing up unawares, imperceptibly, unnoticed, and unobferved by them, till he overtopped them. And he fhall be divers from the firft; from the firft ten horns, kings or kingdoms; having, befides a fecular power and temporal authority, an ecclefiaftical and {piritual one; a power not only over the bodies and eftates of men, but over their fouls and confciences; and even over the other horns and kingdoms, which they had not over one another; and fo was different from them all: and be fhall fubdue three kings, defigned by the three horns plucked up by’the roots, and which fell before him; of which fee the note on ¥. 8.

y¥. 25. And be fhall [peak great words azainft the Moft High, &c.] Or, at the fide of the Moft High?, fetting himfelf up as a rival, and upon an equality with him; taking the names and characters of ho~ linefs, infallibility, yea of deity itfelf, unto him; claiming a power to forgive fin, which is peculiar to God; and preferring his own laws, doftrines, and traditions, to the word of God: and /hall wear out the faints of the Moft High, by his wars with them, and murders and maffacres of them; by taking away their lives and their fubftance; fo leffening their numbers, and weakening their ftrength and power, wear them out, as a garment is wore “out, as the word ‘ fignifies; utterly confume and deftroy them, at leaft in his own apprehenfions, which will be the cafe when the witneffes will be flain, Rev. xi. 8, 9, to. and efpecially will wear out their patience, or however thoroughly exercife it. The word, in the 4radic language, fignifies to afi and handle roughly; and fuch ufage the faints have met with more or lefs, in all ages, from the man of fin. nd think to change times and laws; to alter the forms and conftitutions of kingdoms, and the cuftoms and ufages of them; yea, to fet up and pull down kings at pleafure; fee ch. ii. 21. or to change the ufe of times and feafons, by fetting apart days as holy for canonized faints; and appointing fuch days in a week, and fuch a féafon in the year, for abftinence from meats; and even to change the laws of God and man, by difpenfing with both, and making new ones of his own: and they fhall be given into bis hand, either the faints he makes war with, and wears out, who fhall be overcome by him; or the times and Jaws, which he fhall not only have it in his mind and purpofe to change, but fhall have it in his power to do it, and fhall do it: until a time, and times, and the dividing of time, by a time is meant a year, the longeft part of time; by times, two years; and the dividing of time, half a year; in all three years and a half, which is the fame with 1260 days, or 42 months, the time of the witnefles prophefying in fackcloth, and of the reign of antichrift; fo long fhall he continue, exercifing his power and authority, his wrath, and rage, and blafphemy, and no longer; fee Rev. xi. 2, 3. and xii. 14. and xiii. 5.

¥. 26. But the judgment foall fit, &c.] As in y¥.

near to him, fhall fic as judges, attended by the holy angels: and they fkall take away his dominion, to confume, and to deftrey it unto the end, either the angels, or rather the faints of the Moft High; particularly the chriftian princes, into whofe hearts God will put it to hate the whore, eat her flefh, and burn her with fire; fo that there fhall be an utter end of antichrift; he fhall be ftripped of all his power and authority,; his deftruétion will be inevitable and irrecoverable; he fhall never come out of it; it fhall continue to the end of the world, to the end of time. ¥. 27. And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatnefs of the kingdom under the whole heaven, fhail be given to the people of the faints of the Moft High, &c.] Not only the dominion that fhall be taken away from the little horn or antichrift, and from all the antichriftian ftates, but the dominion of all others throughout all the earth, and under the whole heaven, fhall be given to the people of God, and the true profelfors of faith in Chrift. The kingdoms of this world will become Chrifi’s, and chriltian princes will be kings of them every where 3 and not only the royal power and authority will be vefted with them, but all the grandeur and ftate belonging to them will be theirs; as well as all the faints in general fhall reign in a piritual manner with Chrift, enjoying all ordinances, ° and all religious liberties, as well as civil, and be free from all perfecutions: Whofe kingdom is an everlafting kingdom, and all dominions fkall ferve and obey him; the people of the faints of the Moft High, all thall be fubject to them, all dominions, and the governors of them; or Chrift the head of therm, under and with whom they reign. So Szadiab * paraphrafes it, ‘« the kingdom of the king ‘* Meffiah is an everlafting kingdom, and. his go- ‘¢ vernment is to generation and generation, and *¢ all dominions fhall ferve and obey him.” This fpiritual reign of Chrift, which will take place in a more glorious manner at the deftru€tion of antichrift, will continue until the millennium, or the perfonal reign of Chrift begins; and after that will be the ultimate glory, in which Chriit and his people will reign to all eternity,; ' ¥. 28. Hitherto isthe end of ihe matter, Sze.) Of the angel’s words, and of the interpretation of thofe things Daniel was defirous of being informed about, and of the whole dream and vifion Denie/ had; and indeed this is the end and iffue of all events in providence, the kingdom and glory of Chrift with his people: as for me Daniel, with refpect to his frame of mind, and the ftate of his’ body, when he awaked from this dream, and reflected upon it, and efpecially upon that part of it which affected the people of God: my cogitations much troubled me, when he thought of thefe powerful monarchies, their ftrength and cruelty, and what the people of God would fuffer under them, and efpecially under the fourth beaft or monarchy, and more particularly under the little horn or an- 10. the court fhall fit, the judge fhall take the bench, and all things be prepared for the arraignment, trial, condemnation, and punifhment of the little horn or antichrift, when the above time is up; God the Father, the ancient of days, and Chrift, faid to be like the fon of man, brought tichrift: and my countenance changed in me, turned pale; he looked forrowful and dejeéted, becaufe of the afflictions of God’s people; tho’ the iffue of them, one would have thought, would have infpired him with joy and pleafure: dut J kept the — matter in my heart, laid it up in his memory;

‘pondered it in his mind; meditated upon it; and; well weighed the feveral ‘things obferved to him; that he might be thoroughly mafter.of them, and make them known to. others, and leave them in writing for the benefit of the church of God in future ages,

HIS chapter contains the vifion of a ram and he-goat, and the interpretation of it. It begins with obferving the time and place of the vifion, ¥. 1, 2. then defcribes the ram feen, by the place of his fituation; by his two horns; and by his pufhing feveral ways with fo much force and fury, that none could ftand before him, or deliver out of his hands, ¥. 3, 4. next the he-goat appears, andis defcribed by the part from whence he came; the fwiftnefs of his motion; the notable horn between his eyes; and his running to the ram in great fury, {miting him between his horns, cafting him to the ground, and trampling upon him, and none to deliver, ¥. 5, 6, 7. but after waxing great and powerful, its horn was broken, and four more rofe up in its ftead, and out of one of them a little horn, ¥. 8, 9. which little horn is defcribed by its power and prevalence to the fouth and to the eaft, towards the pleafant land, the hoft of heaven, and the prince of the hoft; and by it the ftars were caft down and trampled upon, the daily fa- -erifice made to ceafe, the place of the fanctuary caft down, and truth itfelf, ¥. 9, 10, 11, 12. and upon enquiry it appeared, that thefe facred things were to continue in this defolate condition unto 2300 days, ¥. 13, 14. Daniel being defirous of knowing the meaning of this vifion, the angel Gabriel is ordered by Chrift, to give him an. underftanding of it; who drew near to him, and awaked him out of his fleep, and gave him the interpretation of it, ¥. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. which is as follows; the ram, with two horns, fignifies the kings of Media and Perfia; the-rough goat, the king of Greece; and the great horn the firft king, Alexander the Great; and the four horns, four kingdoms which rofe up out of the Grecian empire upon his death, ¥. 20, 21, 22. and the little horn a king of fierce countenance, Antiochus Epiphanes; who is defcribed by his ¢raft and cunning, by his power and might, and by the deftruction he fhould make, ¥. 23, 24, 25. this vifion the angel affures the prophet was true, and bids him fhut it up, -fince it was for many days, ¥. 26. upon which Daniel fainted, and was fick for a time, but afterwards recovered, fo as to be able to do the king’s bufinefs; but aftonifhed at the vifion himfelf, and which was not underftood by others, y. 27.

¥.1. Inthe third year of the reign of king Belfhazzar, &c.| Which fome fay * was the laft year of his reign; but, according to P/olemy’s canon, he reigned feventeen years; and fo fays Yofephus*, however, this, as well as the preceding vifion, were feen before what happened recorded in the fifth and fixth chapters. The following vifion was feen by Daniel, according to Bifhop Ufber “ and Dean Prideaux *, in the year of the Fulian period 4161, and before Chrift 553: Mr. Bedford’ places it in 5525 and Mr. Whifton*, very wrongly, in 537, two | years after the death of Bel/bazzar.. The prophet having, in the preceding chapters, related what concerned the Chaldeans, he wrote in the Chaldee language; but now.hence. forward, writing of things which concerned the Yews more efpecially, and the church and people of God in after-times, he writes in the Hebrew tongue. 4 vi/iou appeared unto me, even to me Daniel; and not another; which is faid for the certainty of it; whether. it was feen by him waking, or in a dream as the former vifion, is not certains it feems rather as if he was awake at firft, tho’ he afterwards fell proftrate to the ground, and.into a deep fleep;, yet the Syviac verfion takes it to be a. dream, and fo renders the firft claufe of the next verfe: after that which appeared to me at the. firft, at the beginning, of Belhazzar’s reign, in.the firft. year,of its recorded in the preceding chapter; which was concerning the four monarchies in. general, and particularly. concerning the fourth or Roman monarchy,of which a large account is given; and the Cha/dean monarchy being near at an end, here the two monarchies between, namely, the Perfian and Grecian, are in this vifion defcribed, ¥. 2. And I faw in a vifion, &c.} The following things: and it came to pafs when I faw, that 1 was at Shufhan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam not in reality, but fo it feemed to him in the vifion; as Ezekiel, when in Babylon, feemed in the vifions of God to be at Feru/alem, ch. viii. 3. This city Shufban, or Sua, as it is called by other writers, and fignifies a /ily, was fo called from the plenty of lilies that grew about, it, or becaufe of the pleafantnefs of it; it was the metropolis of the country Sufaua, which had its name from it, and was afterwards the royal feat of the kings of Perfa. This was firft made fo by Cyrus; for Strabo * fays, that he and the Per/fans having overcome the Medes, obferving that their own country was fituated in the extreme parts, and Sufa more inward, and nearer to other nations, being, as he fays, between. Pexfia and Babylon, fet his royal palace in it; approving both the nearnefs of the country, and the dignity of the city. Here the kings of Perfia laid up their treafures, even prodigious large ones; hence Ariffagoras told Cleomenes, that if he could.take that city, he would vie, and might contend with, Fupier for riches»; for hither Cyrus carried whatever money he had in Perfia, even forty thoufand talents, fome fay fifty «. Alexander 4, when he took this city, found a vaft quantity of riches in it. It is called here a palace, and. fo it is fpoken of by Herodotus *, Diodorus Siculus *, Paufanias *, Pliny*, and others, as a royak city, where were the refidence and palace of the kings of Perfia, but the royal palace was not. in it at this time; the kings of Badylon had a paace,

314 TF A lace, and kept their court at Bebylon, where Dadiel was; but in vifion it feemed to him that he was in Shujban, and which was reprefented to him as a palace, as it would be, and as the metropolis of the kingdom of Perfia, which he had a view of in its future Aourifhing condition, and as deftroyed by Alexander; for as before obferved, it was Cyrus that firft made it a royal city; whereas this vifion was ih the third year of Bei/hazzar king of Babylon. Some verfions render it, a tower or cafile; and fo feveral writers; as Strabo ', Plutarch“, and Pliny’, {peak of the tower or caftle in it. Diodorus Siculus ™ fays, when Antigonus took the tower of Su/a, he found in it a golden vine, and a great quantity of other works, to the value of fifteen thoufand talents; and out of crowns, and other gifts and fpoils, he made up five thoufand more. And Pohbdius * relates, that tho’ Molon took the city, yet could not take the fortrefs, and was obliged to raife the fiege, fo ftrong it was. It muft be a miftake of Pliny°, that this city was built by Darius Hyftafpes; he could only mean, it was rebuilt, or rather enlarged by him, fince it was in being long before his time, and even a royal city in the times of Cyrus. Strabo * fays, it was built by Tithon the father of Memnon, was in compafs an hundred and twenty furlongs, of an oblong figure, and the tower was called after his father’s name Memmnonia, and Shufhan itfelf is called by Herodotus *, Sufa Memnonia. At this day, with the common people, it goes by the name of Tufter*. The eaft gate of the mountain of the houfe, which led to the temple at Ferufalem, was called Shufhan. Some fay * there was a building over this gate, on which the palace of Shu/han was pourtrayed, from whence it had its name. The reafon of this portrait is differently given; the ‘fewi/b commentators on the Mifaah * commonly fay, that this was ordered by the kings of Per/ia, that the people of J/rae might ftand in awe of them, and not rebel againft them. Their famous lexicographer * fays, that this was done, that the J/raeltes, when they faw it, might remember their captivity in it. But a chronolo- er” of theirs gives this as the reafon, that the children of the captivity made this figure, that they might remember the miracle of Purim, which was made in Shufban; and this, he fays, is a good interpretation of it. This city was in the province of Elam; that is; Perfia, as it is alfo called, If. xxi. 6. for Fofepbus * fays, the Perfians had their original from the Elamites, or Elameans,; and Pliny” obferves, that Elymais joined to Perfia; and the country of Sufiane, fo called from Su/a its chief city, was, according to Strabo* and Ptolemy *, apart of Perfa: and bere Daniel in vifion thought himfelf to be; and a very fuitable place for him to have this vifion in, which fo much concerned the affairs of Perfia. And I faw in a vifion, and 1 qwas by the river Ulai; that is, in vifion; it feemed to the prophet that he was upon the banks of the river Ulai, the fame with the Euleus of Strabo °, Pliny «, Ptolemy *, and others, which ran by, and farréunded the city of Shufhan, or Sufa; the water

PETE: Chi viii’ ¥? 35a of which was fo light, as Strado * obferves, that it; was had in great requeft, and the kings of Perfia would drink of no other, and carried it with them wherever they went. Herodotus‘ and Curtius ®* make mention of the river Choa/pes, as running by Sufa, and fay the fame things of its water, from whence it might be concluded it was one and the fame river, called by different names. tho’ Strabo takes notice of them together, as if they were diftin€; yet he, from Polycletus *, makes them, with Tigris, to difembogue into the fame lake, and from thence into: the fea. The river which runs by Shufban, ° now called Soufter, according to Monfieur Thevenot ', is Caron, and comes from the hills about it, and is thought to be the Choa/pes of the ancients; near to which, as he was told, is a hill, that now goes by the name of Choa/p; fo that upon the whole, they feem to be one and the fame river *, Fofepbus fays', that Daniel had this vifion in the plain of Suja, the metropolis of Perfia, as he went out with his friends, that is, out of the city: and the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, by the gate Ulai; a gate of the city of Shufban fo called: and fo Saadiah Gaon interprets it a gate; but the former fenfe is beft.

¥. 3. Then I lifted up mine eyes, &e.] To fee what was to be feen in this place, where he in the vifion was brought; he lift up the eyes of his un—, derftanding, being enlightened by the vifion of prophecy, and the eyes of his body, to which’ objects of corporal things formed in the dancy were” reprefented: and faw, and behold, he faw fomething wonderful in a vifionary way, and which ftruck his mind, and raifed his attention: there ftood before the river; the river Ulai, near Shafhan, the palace, the feat of the kings of Perfa,’ to the” eaft: a ram, which had two horns; a fymbol of the kingdom of the Medes and Perfians, fignified by the two horns, ¥. 20. an emblem of power and. dominion, and fometimes ufed to fignify kings and kingdoms; fee ch. vii. 24. and thefe as united in one monarchy, under one monarch, Cyras, and continued in his fucceffors unto the times of Alexander; and therefore called a ram, or one ram ™, 4s in the original; and which in found has fome likenefs to Elam or Perfia: and this kingdom or mo-’ narchy may be fignified by it, partly becaufe of its ftrength and power, and partly becautfe of its: riches, as fome think, as well as becaufe it is afighting creature; and it may be chiefly, becaufe this monarchy was mild, and kind, and gentle to the fewi/b nation: and it is very remarkable, that according to Ammianus Marcellinus *, the ram was the royal enfign of the Perfians,; whofe kings ufed to wear for a diadem, fomething made of gold, in the fhape of a ram’s head, fet with little ftones: and the two horns were high, grew ftrait up on high, and fo were different from the ufual horns of a ram, which are cfooked; denoting the great power, authority, wealth, and riches, thefe two kingdoms rofe up unto: Sut one was higher than the other, and the higher came up laft,; 1 think the words might be rendered better, and the firft was

» IMN Sy aries unus, V.L.

higher than the fecond, but it afcended or grew up higher at laft°, the kingdom of the Medes was the firft kingdom, and it was at firft fuperior to the kingdom of Perfia; but afterwards the kingdom of Perfia became greater than that, under Cyrus and his fucceflors: and Sir ¥ohn Chardin fays °, that rams heads with horns, one higher than another, are ftill to be feen in the ruins of Per/epolis: ¥. 4. I faw the ram pufbing weftward, and northward, and foutbward, &c.J That is, with his horns, as rams do; thefe kingdoms ufing all their power and f{trength, wealth and riches, in fighting with, and fubduing nations, and pufhing on their conquefts in all parts here mentioned; to the weft, Babylon, Syria, Afia, and part of Greece; to the north, Jberia, Albania, Armenia, Scythia, Colchis, and the inhabitants of the Ca/pian fea; and to the fouth, Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and India; all which places were conquered by Cyrus and his fucceffors. No mention is made of the eaft, becaufe this ram ftood in the eaft, facing the weft, and at the right and left were the north and fouth, and fo Cyrus is faid to come from the eaft, J - xlvi.

11. So that no beaft might ftand before him; no not the firft beaft, the Babylonian monarchy, which fell into the hands of Cyrus; nor any other king or kingdom, he and his fucceffors fought againft: neither was there any that could deliver out of bis hand, or power; Cre/us, the rich king of Lydia, and other allies of the king of Badylon, affifted him againft Cyrus, and endeavoured to prevent his falling into his hands, but all in vain: det be did according to bis will, and became great; none being able to oppofe him, he carried his arms where he leafed, and impofed what tribute he thought fir, and obliged them to do whatever was his will; and fo became great in power and dignity, in riches and wealth: this monarchy was very large and extenfive, and very rich and wealthy, in the times of Cyrus and his fucceffors; and efpecially in the times of Darius, the laft monarch of it, conquered by Alexander, who is defcribed, as fol- _ Jows: ¥. 5. And as I was confidering, &c.| The ram, and the ftrange things done by him; wondering that a creature of fo little ftrength, comparatively with other beafts, fhould be able to do fuch exploits: and thinking with himfelf what fhould be the meaning of all this, and what would be the iffue of it, dehold, an he-goat came from the weft; which is interpreted of the king or kingdom of Grecia, which lay to the weft of Perfia; and a kingdom may be faid to do what one of its kings did; particularly Alexander king of Macedon in Greece, who with the Grecian army under him, marched from thence to fight the king of Perfa; and which might be fignified by an be-goat, becaufe of its ftrength, its comelinefs in walking, and its being the guide and leader of the flock: and alfo jp Panay nnn. Travels, Alexander was remarkable for the agility of his body; as appeared by his mounting ee «eg & 3% it is retharkable; that the arms of Mdacedo#; ot the enfipns carried before their armies, were a goat; ever fince the days of ‘Carands; who following a flock of goats, was directed to Edeffa; a‘city of Macedon, and took it; and ftom this circumftance of the goats, called it Aigeus, and the people Zgeades, which fignifies goats;'and put the goat in his arms %. On the face of the whole earth, all that lay between Greece and’ Perfia, all Afia; yea, all the whole world, at leaft as Alexander thought, who wept becaufe thére was not anothet world to conquer: hence ‘fuvenal fays*, anus Pelleeo juveni non fufficit orbis; one world was not enough for this young mah. And touched not the ground; as he went; he feemed rather to fly in the air, than to walk upon thé earth; with fuch fwiftnefs did’ Alexander run over the world; amd make his conquefts: in fix or eight years time he conquered the kingdom of the Medes and Perfians; Babylon, Egypt, and all the neighbouring nations; and afar off, Greece; Thrace, Illyricum, and even the greateft part of the then known world: hence the third or Grecian monarchy under him, is faid to be like a leopard, with four wings of a fowl on its back *, ch. vii. 6. fee the note there? he conquered coun= tries as foon almoft as another could have tra= velled over them; in hig marches he was {wift and indefatigable. A/fanus* reports, that he march-’ ed, clad in armour, thricé four htndréd, that is, twelve hundred furlongs, upon a ftretch; ‘and before his army could take any reft, fought’ his enemies, and conquered them. Some render the words, whom no man touched in the earth"; that is, none could oppofe, refift, and ftop him; he bore down, and carried all before him; there was no coming at him, fo as to touch him, or hurt him; he was fo fwift in his motions, and fo powerful in his army. And the goat bad a notable born detween bis eyes; Or, @ horn of vifion, which in ¥. 24. is interpreted of the firft king of Greece, ¥. 21. that is, when it became a monarchy; who was Alexander the Great; and very properly called a horn, being poffeffed of great power and authority; and-a notable one, very remarkable and famous, as he has been in all ages fince: a horn of vifion”, as it may be rendered; a very vifible and confpicuous one, to be feen afar off, and which attraéted the eyes of all unto it: its fituation was detqween the eyes of thé goat, denoting his fagacity, wifdom, prudence; craft, and cunning; being attended and furrounded with his father Péi/ip’s wife counfellors, as Parmenio, Philotas, Clitus, and others. It is remarkable; that by the 4rabs Alexander is called Dulcarnaim, or Dbilcarnain,; that is, one having two horns *: the reafon of which was, he affected to be the fon of Fupiter’ Hammon, and therefore at feafts and public entertainments would put on the purple and horns of Hammon: hence, as Clemens of Alexandria. obferves ’, he is by the ftatuaries reprefented as his horfe Bucephalus *, to the admiration of his father, and all that beheld him; as well as famous for the quick marches of his army, and his very fwift and expeditious execution of his defigns. Plurimum pedum celeritate pollebat; he greatly excelled in fwiftnefs of foot, fays the hiftorian: and again, armatu/que de navi, tripudianti fimilis profiluit; he leaped armed out of the thip; like one that danced +. -And he himfelf, ipeaking of the countries he had conquered, fays, guat tanta welocitate domuimus: and elfewhere, cujus velocitatem nemo valuiffet effugere. And of Beffus it is faid, that Alexandri celeritate perterritus. And Cobares, the magician, calls him, velocifimus rex t. And another hiftorian fays ||, that having obferved the enemies city forfook by them, fine ullo fatellite defiliit in planitiem urbis: and again, tanta celeritate infiructo paratogte exercitu Greciam oppre (fit, ut Quem venire non fenferant, videre fe vix crederent, t Var. Hift. 1. 10. c. 4 “ YAIRI NI xo quem nemo aittingebat in terra, Junius & Tremellius. ymin Pp cornu vifionis, Montanus; vifibile, five vifendum, Vatablus; confpicuum; lunius & Tremellius, Pifcator. * See Gregory, de AZris & Epochis; c. 11, p. 158, 159. Y Pyotreptic. ad Gentes, p. 36.

horned, of wearing horns; but then, as Aruodius * and_others take notice, Hammon is made by the painters and ftatuaries to have raim’s horns; whereas it feems more likely that Alexander’s were goat’s horns, fince the goat was in the arms of Macedon; and fo Pyrrbus, king of Epirus, who mimicked Alexander in his armour, is faid to have goat’s horns on his helmet, upon the top of his creft *; and to fuch enfigns is the allufion here.

¥. 6. And he came to the ram that had two horns, &c.] Alexander being chofen and made by the ftates of Greece captain-general of all Greece againft the Perfians; marched from thence with his army, paffed the Helle/pont, and entered into the kingdom of the Medes and Perfians, fignified by the ram with two horns, and came up to Darius Codomanuus, poffefied of this large monarchy, and at the head of a numerous army: which I bad feen ftanding before the river; the river Ulat, near to Shujban, the royal feat of the kings of Perfia; here Darius ftood in his royal majefty and dignity, as the defender of his empire, and unconcerned at the attempt of Alexander, having nothing to fear, as he thought, from fuch a puny adverfary: and ran unio bim in the fury of bis power; or, heat of bis power»; which denotes the hafte Alexander made with his army into 4a; his eager defire, and the fervour of his mind to engage with the Perfians: the hiftorian fays, that he paffed the Hel/e pont into

Afia, incredibli ardore mentis accenfus; fired with an incredible ardour of mind: and a little after, having conquered the rebels of Pifdia, he marched againft Darius, fummo mentis ardore; with the greateft ardour of mind, and with no lefs alacrity °; which exactly agrees with the facred text. The running of the he-goat to the ram in an hoftile way, is defcribed in allufion to the manner of thofe creatures when they fight with one another, or attack an enemy.

y. 7. And I faw him come clofe unto the ram, &c,] Tho’ the diftance between Greece and Perfia was very great, and many rivers and mountains in the way, which feemed unpaffable,; Alexander got over them all, and came up to Darius, and fought feveral battles with him, and entirely defeated him, tho’ greatly inferior in number to him, as follows: and be was moved with choler againft him; exceedingly imbittered again{ft him; exafperated and provoked to the laft degree by the proud and {cornful meflage he fent him; calling himfelf king of kings, and a-kin to the gods, and Alexander his fervant; ordering his nobles to take Philip’s madding ftripling, as he called him in contempt, and whip him with children’s rods, and clothe him in purple, and deliver him bound to him; then fink his fhips with the mariners, and tranfport all his foldiers to the further part of the Red-/ea‘*: and Jmote the ram in three battels, in each of which the Perfians were {mitten and routed by the Grecians: firft at the river Granicus, where Alexander with thirty thoufand foot, and five thoufand horfe, met the Pezfians, tho? more than five times his number, being, as Yuftin * fays, fix hundred thoufand, and got the victory over them; here twenty thoufand of the Perfan foot, and two hundred and fifty of their horfe, were flain, and not more than nt 4 Plutarch. in vita Pyrrhi. cum ardore virium fuarum, Cocceius; in zftu roboris fui, Michaelis.

thirty-nine of the Macedonians killed §: Plutarch * fays, it was reported that the Per/ians loft twenty thoufand foot, and two thoufand five hundred horfe; and from Ariftebulus he fays, that the Macedonians loft only thirty-four men, of which twelve were footmen: and Diodorus Siculus * relates, that the Perfians loft more than ten thoufand foot, and not lefs than two thoufand horfe, and more than twenty thoufand were taken: according to Fu/tin', of Alexander’s army there only fell nine foot, and a hundred and twenty horfe: others fay, that of the Macedonians, twenty-five men of Alexander’s own troop fell in the firft attack, about fixty other of the horfe were killed, and thirty of the foot *; fo different are the accounts of the flain in this battel; however, the victory appears to be very great, whereby Sardis, with all Darixs’s rich furniture, fell into the hands of AV/exander, and all the provinces of the lefier 4fa fubmitted to him. The next battel was fought at Jus in Cilicia, where Darius had an army, according to Plutarch’, confifling of fix hundred thoufand men according to Fufin™, four hundred thoufand foot, and a hundred thoufand horfe, which was routed by-Alexander, when a hundred thouiand of the Perfan foot, and ten thoufand of their horfe, were flain; and only on Alexander's fide, five hundred and four of the foot wounded, thirty-two wanting, and a hundred and fifty of the horfe killed "; here alfo the ° accounts vary; Plutarch ° fays above a hundred and ten thoufand of the Perfans were flain: according to Diodorus Siculus », there fell of them an hundred and twenty. thoufand foot, and not lefs than ten thoufand horfe; and of the Macedonians, three hundred foot, and about an hundred and fifty horfe: according to Arrian °, the Perfians loft tem thoufand horfe, and ninety thoufand foot: according to Fu/tin', fixty-one thoufand foot, and ten. thoufand horfe, were flain, and forty thoufand taken; and of the Macedonians, there fell.one hundred and thirty foot, and one hundred and fifty horfe; but be it as it will, the victory was exceeding great, whereby the camp of Darius, his mother, wife, and children, and all his riches at Damafcus, fell into the hands of Alexander, with all Syria. The third and laft battel was fought near Arbela, or rather at Gaugamela in Alpria, when Alexander with fifty thoufand men, beat Darius with an army of eleven hundred thoufand men; Plutarch * fays ten hundred thoufand; forty thoufand of which were flain, and of the Macedonians only three hundred or lefs were wanting‘; according to rrian" thirty thoufand were flain; but

Diodorus Siculus” fays ninety thoufand; this was © the decifive battel; after this Babylox and Perfepolis were taken by Alexander, and he became matter of the whole empire, which is intended in the next claufe: and brake his two horns, conquered the Medes and Perfians, the two kingdoms united in one monarchy, but now deftroyed; another monarchy, the Grecian, took its place: and there was no power in the ram to fiand before him; there was no ftrength in the whole empire fufficient to refift, oppofe, and ftop him; tho’ vaft armies were collected together, thefe were foon broken and routed, and Darius at the head of them was forced to fly, and make his efcape in the beft manner he could: but he cajt him down to the ground, and fiamped upon him, not Darius perfonally, for he was flain by Beffiis, one ‘of his own captains; but the Per/ian empire, it ceafed to be, and was no longer in the hands of the Perfians, but was taken trom them by Alexander, and all the glory and majetty of it were defaced and defpifed; the famous city and palace of Perfepolis were burnt in a drunken ft, at the inftigation of Thais the harlot: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of bis hand; not his armies, nor his generals, nor his allies, nor his offers to Alexander of his daughter in marriage, and part of his kingdom; all were in vain, and to no purpofe; he and his whole empire fell into the conqueror’s hands, and there was no remedy againft it. was in his way to Yerufalem, Faddus the high-prieft met and accompanied him into the city and temple, and fhewed him this prophecy of Daniel, that fome one of the Grecians fhould abolifh the empire of the Perfians, and thinking himfelf to be intended, was greatly pleafed. Gurionides ¥ fays the highprieft, whom he calls Ananias, faid to Alexander on fhewing him the prophecy, thou art this hegoat, and Darius is the ram; and thou fhalt trample him to the ground, and take the kingdom out of his hand;+and he greatly ftrengthened the heart of the king.

y¥. 8. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great, &c.] The Grecian monarchy under Alexander became very powerful, and was very extenfive; he not only conquered the Perfian empire, but alfo the Indies, yea the whole world as he imagined; and indeed he did bring into fubjection to him the greateft part of the then known world; and he was very great in his own efteem, at lealt, reckoned himfelf Lord of the world, called himfelf the fon of Yupiter Ammon, and affected to be worfhipped as a god: and when he was ftrong, the great born was broken, when the Grecian monarchy was eftablifhed, and became very powerful, and reached to the greateft part of the earth, then Alexander the firft king of it, a great horn, and powerfyll monarch, died, or was ‘broken; not as the two horns of the ram, by the power of the enemy; not by violence, but by intemperance, in a drunken fit, or as was fufpected, by poifon; and that when he was in the height ofhis glory, fwelled with his victories; and that in the prime of his days, when in his full ftrength, being in the thirty third year of his age: and for it, or in the room and ftead of it *, came up four notable ones; or, four horns of vifion*; very famous and confpicuous, like that in ¥. 5. which were the four kingdoms into which the empire.was. divided fome time after Alexander’s death, and the four kings that were over them: the kingdoms were thofe of Egypt, Greece, Afia, and Syria. Ptolemy was king of Egypt, to which belonged Lybia, Paleftine, Arabia, and Celefyria, Caffonder was king of Macedonia and Greece. Lyfimachus was king of fa, to which belonged Thrace, Bithynia, and. other places; and Seleucus was king of Syria, and of the eaftern countries: thefe are the tour heads of the leopard or third beaft, which fignifies the Grecian monarchy, ch. vii. 6. and thefe were toward the four winds of

Fofepbus * fays, that when Alexander ye & 317 heaven; eaft, weft, north, and fouth: Egypt with its appendages lay to the fouth,; 4f@ and what delonged to that to the north; Macedoxia and Greece to the weit; and Syria to the eaft’: and thus was the Grecian empire divided into four kingdoms among the fucceflors of Alexander: there were fome partitions of it before this into provinces among governors, under the brother and fon of Alewander; ° but after the battel of Jp/us, in which Antigonus, one of Alexander’s captains, and very principal, active and ambitious man, was fldin, and his army routed; the four confederate princes againft him, above named, divided by confent the empire between them into feparate kingdoms, and became really, and not in title only, kings of them °; which is what is here prophefied of.

¥. 9. And out of one of them came forth a little - horn, &c.} Meaning not the kingdom of Titus Velpafian, as Farchi; nor the kingdom of the Turks, as Saadiah, but the kingdom of Antiochia, as Aben Ezra and Facchiades; or rather Antiochus Epiphanes, who {fprung from the kingdom of the Se/eucide in Syria, or from Seleucus king of Syria, one of the four horns before-mentioned: this is that finful root, faid to come out from thence, 1 Mac. i, 11, Called a born, becaufe he had fome power and authority, and which he ufurped and increafed in; tho’ but a /ttle one in comparifon of Alexander the great horn; or at his beginning, being an hoftage at Rome, from whence he got away by {tealth, and feized the kingdom of Syria, which belonged to his elder brother’s fon, whom he dif+ poffefied of it; and by mean, artful and deceitful methods got it into his hands, who had no right unto it, nor any princely qualities for it: which waxed exceeding great toward ihe fouth; towards Egypt, which lay fouth of Syria; into which Antiochus entered, and fought againft P/olemy Philometer king of it, took many cities, and befieged Alenandria, and in all probability would have fubdued the whole country, had not the Romans * reftrained him, by fending their embaffador Popilus to him, who obliged him to defift and depart; fee 1 Mac. i. 17, 18, 19, 20: and toward the eaft, towards Armenia.and Perfia, the Atropatit in Media, and the countries beyond the Euphrates, whom he made tributary to him; fee 1 Adae. iii. 91. and vi. 1,2: and toward the pleafant land; the land of Fudea, fo called becaufe of its delightful fituation, and great fruitfulnefs; and becaufe, God chofe it above all others for his habitation; where his word, and worfhip, and ordinances were obferved and enjoyed; and where the Meffiah fhould be born and dwell; into this Antiochus led his army, and greatly afflicted and diftrefled it; he made himfelf matter of moft places in Galilee and Fudea. The Arabic verfion reads, toward the weft; no mention is made of the north, becaufe there he hinifelf reigned; Syria being north to Egypt, as that was fouth to Syria; hence afterwards the king of Egypt is called the king of the fouth, and the king of. Syria the king of the north.

¥.10. And it waxed great, even to the hoft of heaven, &c.] The people of the Jews, the-army of the living God, the church militant, among whom were many of the citizens of heaven, whote names are written there; fuch was the infolence of this

88. 2 PYM loco ejus, vel illius, Junius

this king; as to moleft and difturb them: and it caft down {ome of the hoft, and of the ftars to the ground, and fiamped upon them, fome of the common people he perfecuted and deftroyed, or prevailed upon them, either by threats or flatteries, to relinquifh their religion; and even fome of the frars, the lights of the people, the priefts and Levites that miniftred unto them; or the princes, priefts and elders of the people whom he flew, as facchiades interprets it; or removed from their pofts, fo that they could not do their office; or they turned apoftates, and thofe that did not, he barbaroufly put to death, and infulted over them, and ufed them in a very contemptuous menner, as old Eleazar, the mother, and her feven fons; fee 2 Maccab.

y.11. Yea, be magnified himfelf even to the prince of the boft, &c.] Either the high-prieft Oxzas, whom he difpoffefled of his office, and put Fa/on a wicked man into it; or Judas Maccabeus, the prince of the Yewi/h nation; or rather, as facchiades, God himfelf, the Lord God of J/rael, the king, prince, governor and defender of them, whom Antiochus blafphemed; whofe worfhip he put a {top to; and whofe temple he profaned, and illuifed his people; all which was againft God him-

. felf, and is a proof of the pride and infolence of this king: and by’bim the daily facrifice was taken away; the lambs in the morning and evening were forbid to be facrificed; or they could not be offered, becaufe the altar was pulled down or profaned; and fo all other facrifices were made to ceafe, as well as this, which is put for all: or, from him *, the prince, the daily facrifice was taken away, either from the prieft, who ufed to offer it 5 or from God, to whom it was offered: and the place of bis fanétuary was caft down, not that the temple was deftroyed by him, but it was profaned and rendered ufelefs; the worfhip of God was not carried on in it, but the image of Fupiter was fet up in it, and it was devoted to the fervice of an idol; yea, the altar was pulled down, and all the vefféls and ornaments of the temple were taken away and deftroyed; fee 1 Maccad. i. 22. Se. and iil. 45, 52.

y¥.12. And an hoft was given him againft the daily facrifice, by reafon of tranfgreffion, &c.} Which fome interpret of a garrifon of foldiers placed by Antiochus, thro’ his fin and wickednefs, to hinder the oblation of the daily facrifice, as Grotius: others, of an hoft of apoftates among the Fews, who advifed Antiochus againft the daily facrifice, and to kill fwine, and offer them on the altar, as Facchiades; or rather it may be rendered, and the hoft was given over, or delivered, i.e. to the enemy, becaufe of the tranfgreffion againft the daily facrifice °; that is, becaufe of the tranfgreffion of the priefts, or the people in neglecting the daily facrifice, the hoft or people of the Fews were delivered up into the hands of Antiochus; or they were delivered up together with the daily facrifice, for their fins *. The word pyay is by Farchi and Ben Melech interpreted, a fet time,*a fixed time which fhall have anénd; and Ca/vin inclines to this fenfe, that tho’ the daily facrifice would be taken away, becaufe of the tranfgreffion of the people, yet it was only when that time was up; and fo is fpoken for the _ comfort of the Lord’s people: and it caft down the truth to the ground; that is, the little horn Aa- - tiochus, or his holt and army; he did all that in~ him lay to extirpate and abolifh true religion and godlinefs; he cut in pieces the copies of the book of the law, and burnt them, called the law of © truth in Mal. ii. 6. as Facchiades oblerves, and put to death the profeffors of the truth 5 and thewed all the contempt of true doétrine and worfhip he was capable of; fee 1 Mac. i. 59, 60: and it practifed, and profpered,; he did what he pleafed, and he fucceeded in his attempts for a while, there being none to oppofe him.

y. 13. Then 1 heard one faint fpeaking, &c.] An angel, either a created angel, pure and holy in his nature, as Gabriel; or the increated angel Jefus Chrift, the Word of God; what he was fpeaking of, is not faid; perhaps Daniel did not hear what he faid, tho’ he heard him fpeaking, or perceived that he fpake; yet did not underftand what he faid, or what was the fubject of his difcourfe; very probable it was fomething relative to the vifion now feen: and another faint faid unto that certain faint that fpake, another angel faid to him that fpake, whofe name is unknown, only called fuch a one, or Palmoni, which fome render, the wonderful numberer, or the numberer of fecrets, or that bas all fecrets numbered *®,°and apply it to Chrift, whofe name is Pele, wonderful; the eternal Word of God, that is in the bofom of. the Father, and knows all fecrets, and the number of times and feafons, how long they will laft; what created angels know not, he does; and therefore they apply to him for inftruction and knowledge in hidden things: bow long foail be the vifton concerning the daily facrifice, and the tranfgreffion of defolation, to give both the fanéiuary and the hoft to be trodden under foot? that is, how long will this vifion laft? or when will this prophecy be at an end, and have its full and final accomplifhment? how long will the facrifice be taken away, or made to ceafe? how long will that tranfgreffion, that abomination, making the temple defolate, the image of upiter Olympius fet up by dntiochus, continue in it? how long fhali it be given to him, or he be’ permitted to tread under foot, and ufe in the moft contemptuous manner the temple of the Lord and his people?

y. 14. And he faid unto me, &c.| That is, Palmoni the wonderful perfon, to whom the angel put. the above queftion, gave the anfwer to it; not unto the angel that aiked it, but,unto Daniel that ftood by; knowing that it was for his and his people’s fake the queftion was afked, and therefore gave the anfwer to him, as follows: unto two thou- Jand and three hundred days, or fo many mornings and evenings *; which fhows that not fo many years,’ as Facchiades, and others, are meant; but natural days, confifting of twenty-four hours, and which

“make fix years, three months, and eighteen days and reckoning from the 15th day of the month Cifleu, in the year 145 of the Seleucide, in which Antiochus fet wp the abomination of defolation upo the altar, 1 Maccad. i. 57. to the victory obtained over Nicanor by Fudas, on the 13th day of the month Adar, Anno 151, are juft 2300 days; which for a certain time, and would be reftored again day the ews kept as an annual feaft, in comme-

-eywpa Sonn Sy yApn Vatablus. f

MIDY? exercitufque traditus eft propter tran{greflionem contra res circa illud juge fcc, Et exercitus tradetur una cum facrificie jugi ob prevaricationem, Michaelis. 4 2Asg ova ya ay vefpero-tnatutitia, Ca-. (| Jive ee tnoration of that victory; afid from that time en- Joyed peace and reft from war‘: this way goes L’Empereur after Capellus; but others begin from the defection of the people from the pure religion by Menelaus, Anno 141; tho’ Antiochus did not énter on his itipieties till the following year; and reckoning from the 6th day of the 6th month in that year, to the 25th day of Cifleu in the year 148, whén the Yews offered the daily facrifice on the new altar of burnt-offerings, 1 Maccad, iv. 52. were juft fix years, three months, and eighteen days: and fo it follows, and then fhall the fanétuary be cleanfed, as it was by Judes Maccabéus at the time above-mentioned; when he purified the holy places, fanctified the courts, rebuilt the altar, renewed the vefléls of the fanctuary, and put all in theit proper places; fee 1 Maccab.iv.41—s51. Indeed, as 4utiochus was a type of antichrift, and his perfecution, of that defolation made by antichrift in the church; thefe 2300 days may be confidered as fo many years, which will bring it down to the end of the fixth millennium, or thereabout; when it may be hoped there will be a new face of things upon the fanctuary and church of God,’and a cleanfing of it from all corruption in doétrine, difcipline, worfhip and converfation. ¥. 15. And it came to pafs when I, even I Daniel had feen the vifion, &c.} ‘The whole of the preceding vifion, concerning the ram, he-goat, and little horn, and what were done by them; the prophet not only affirms he faw this vifion, but repeats the affirmation, expreffing his own name, partly for the fake of emphafis, and partly for the greater confirmation of his words; wherefore it was a moft impudent thing in Porphyry to fay, that the true Dawie/ never faw this vifion; but what is here related, was written after /utiochus’s reign, and falfly afcribed to him. It being fo clear a prophecy concerning Alexander, and the deftruction of the Perfian empire by him; this acute, fpiteful heathen had no other way of evading the evidence of it in favour of true religion, but by this falfe and lying affertion: and I fought for the meaning; that is, of the vifion; for a more perfect, clear and explicit meaning of it; fomething he had Jearnt concerning the latter part of it, relating to the defolation of the temple, and the continuance of it, from what pafied between the two faints or angels; but he was defirous of knowing more; which he either fignified by making application to the angel that ftood near him; or rather by fecret ejaculations in prayer to God; and he, who is afterwards defcribed as a man, tho’ the eternal God that knows all things, knew the fecret defires of his foul, and immediately took care they fhould be anfwered: then bebold,' there ftood before me as the appearance of a man; not really a man, but in form and appearance; not Gadriel, or any created angel in human form, in which angels fometimes appeared; but the eternal Son of God, who was to be incarnate, and was often feen in the form of a man before his incarnation; in like manner he was now feen by Daniel, right over-againft “ whom he ftood: this is the fame with the {peaking faint, or Palmoni the wonderful one in ¥. 13. Facchiades fays, this is the holy bleffed God; as it is indeed the Jumanuel, God that was to be manifefted in the flefh.