Exposition of the Whole Bible

to the times of Antiochus, three hundred years after, Facchiades; or rather of the Fewi/> year, the month this, yea to the refurreétion of the dead, and the end of all things: or, a great hoff, or army*; a vaft appearance of things were reprefented to him; not an hoft of angels, as Saadiah, but a vaft number of facts, like an army of them, and which refpected armies and battels; or it may denote the force, power and efficacy of the word that was true, which fhould not fail, but be certainly fulfilled: and he underftood the thing, and bad underftanding of the vifion; that is, Daniel underftood the word », or words of the prophecy, in which it was exprefied; they were clear and plain, and not obfcure, dark and doubtful; and he had a clear view of the feveral parts of it, of the whole feries of things, the connexion of facts, and their de— pendence on one another, and their certain accomplifhment; he faw them in their order, as they were prefented to him in vifion and prophecy; and was not at any lofs about the meaning of any part of them, or the words by which they were fignified.

¥. 2.. In thofe days I Danicl was mourning, &c.] Either on account of what had been revealed to him in the laft vifion or prophecy of the feventy weeks; by which it appeared what wickednefs the people of the ews would be guilty of in cutting off the Meffiah; and what defolations would come upon their land, city and temple for fuch ufage of him: as alfo becaufe of the prefent cafe of his people; many of them continuing in the country of Babylon, when they had liberty to return to their land: or becaufe of the hindrance the ews met with in rebuilding their city and temple, who had returned thither; of which Daniel had an account, and which caufed him to mourn in fecret: and fo he continued ¢hree full weeks; or, three weeks of days; fo called, to diftinguifh them from weeks of years, mentioned in the preceding chapter.

¥. 3. I ate no pleafant bread, &c.] Or, bread of defires*; fuch as was made of the fineft of the wheat, and was ate in the courts of princes where Daniel was: according to fome Fewi/h Rabbins in Ben Melech, hot bread is meant; but in general it means the beft of bread, fuch as had good qualities to make it defirable; and this Daniel refrained from, whilft he was humbling and afflicting himfelf on this forrowful occafion, but ate coarle bread, black and branny: weither came flefh nor wine in my mouth; not delicate meat, as of fifh, fowl, deer, and the like, as Saadiah obferves; but contented himfelf with meaner fare; nor did he drink generous wine, as he had ufed to do, living in a king’s court, and which his old age made neceffary for him, fince he could come at it; but he abftained from it, and other lawful pleafures of nature, the more to give himfelf up to acts of devotion and contemplation: zeither did I anoint my felf at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled; which was wont to be frequently done by the Fews, efpecially at feafts; and by the Perfians every day, among whom he now was; but this he refrained from, as was ufual in times of fafting and humiliation; fee Matt. vi. 17.

“¥. 4. And in the four and twentieth day of the Jirft month, &c.] Of the third year of Cyrus, as

Ab or Nifan, which anfwers to part of our March and April; fo that Daniel’s faft began.on the third day of the month, and lafted to the twenty-fourth, in which time was the Jewi/h paffover; and by this it feems it was not now kept; and perhaps in thofe times was not ufed to be obferved by the Fews in a foreign land: as I was by the fide of the great river, which is Hiddekel,; the fame with the Tigrés, called by both names from the fwiftnefs and rapidity of its motion, Hiddekel fignifying both fharp and {wift; and Jigris in the Perfien language, a dart; fee Gen. ii. 14.- This is the fame river, the Targum of Fonathan on Gen. ii. 14. calls Diglath; and is by Phay ° called Digito, who obferves that it has the name of Tigris from its fwiftnefS; fo he fays the Medes call an arrow; likewife’ Curtius takes notice of the fame, and fays that it is named

Tigris from.the celerity with which it flows; for in the Perfian language they call a dart Tigris: fo 37 fignifies in the Hebrew language fharp or polifhed, as an arrow is; and 5p /zwift, as an arrow flies, and both make Hiddekel: now this river was near Shujban, where Daniel refided; nay, Benjamin of Tudela * fays, that the river Hiddekel divides the city of Shufban, over which is a bridge, on one fide of which Yews dwelt at the time he was there; unlefs he means that it cuts and divides the province of Elam in Perfia, he had before been fpeak-’

ing of; and fo Diodorus Siculus > fays, that both Euphrates and Tigris pafs thro’ Media into Mefapotamia; wherefore it is no wonder to hear of Daniel by the fide of the river Hiddekel or Tigris > here Daniel was, not in vifion, but in perfon, having others with him, as appears from a following verfe; by it he was walking, contemplating, praying or converfing. tyr ¥. 5. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, &e.4 Being excited to it, by an object prefented, of an unufual appearance, which engaged his attention, and caufed him to look wifhly at it: aad debold, a certain man clothed in linen; not Gabriel, but the Son of God, the Meffiah; who, tho’ not as yet incarnate, yet was fo in the counsel and purpofe of God; had agreed in covenant to be man, was promifed and prophefied of as fuch; and now appeared in an human form, as he frequently did be= fore his incarnation, as a pledge of it, and fhewing his readinefs to affume human nature » he) pears here clothed. in linen, ‘in the habit of a prieit’; which office he fuftains, and executes by the facrifice of himfelf, and by his prevalent interceflion; and may denote his purity and innocence, ‘as well as direé&t us to his fpotlefs righteoufnefs she is the author of, which is like fine linen, clean and white, Rev. xix. 8: whofe loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz, or of Fez, which is the beft.

Some take it to be the fame with the gold of Ophir, often fpoken of in {cripture; fo the Zar- lemy ‘ makes mention of a river called’ Phafs in the ifland of Taprobane or Zetlan, where Bochart « feems to think Ophir was, from whence the gold of that name came; and the fame me geographer + takes notice of a city and river of the fame name in Colchis; perhaps the fame with Pifox, which encompafied Havilab, where was good gold, Gen. ii. 14, 12. and both Strado ™ and Phny" fay, that much gold was found in that country, and taken out of rivers there; and was fo plentiful, that even chambers were made of gold. Some think that this was an ifland in India called Paz or Topaz, and might with the ews go by all three names, Paz, Topaz, and Upbaz°; however it is certain, that very fine gold, even the fineft gold, is here defigned: and the loins of this illuftrious perfon ‘being girded with a girdle made of it, as it may be expreffive of his royal dignity, fo likewife of his readinefs to do any fervice he was employed in, as man and Mediator; and efpecially the great work of man’s redemption and falvation, for the fake of which he would really become man, as he has, as well as now he appeared as one; fee Rev. i. 13. where Chrift is faid to be girt with a golden girdle, and fuch an one was this; and which is to be underitood, not of his girdle as a king, which is a girdle of faithfulnefs and righteoufnefs, Jf xi. 5. all his adminiftrations of government being juft and true; tho’ fuch a girdle well fuits him, and his character in the difcharge of every office, as well as his kingly office; nor of his girdle as a prophet, which is the girdle of truth, which all his taithful minifters-are girt with, Eph. vi. 14. and he, in a more eminent manner, who is full of grace and truth, and by whom both came, and who is truth itfelf; but of his girdle as a prieft; for as fuch is he here habited, and fuch a girdle the priefts ufed to wear,.even the girdle of the ephod, made of gold, blue, purple, and fine twined linen, Exod. xxviii. 8. and this is the girdle of love, which conftrained Chrift to become the furety and fubftitute of his people; to take upon him their nature, and their fins; to offer himfelf a facrifice for them, and to be their advocate with the Father; and the form and matter of this girdle being round about him, and of gold, may denote the perfection, duration and eternity of his love. ¥. 6. His body alfo was like the beryl, &c.] ‘That is, that part of it which was not covered with the linen: garment, and was feen, was like fuch a precious ftone, faid to be of an azure and fky colour, fignifying he was the Lord from heaven; tho’, according to its name, it fhould be of a fea colour, greenifh; and fo, according to fome, the beryl is. Cocceius thinks the fardonyx is meant, which is of a fiefh colour, and fo more fit to exprefs the comelinefs of an human body; the beryl being of a different colour, feems not fo apt to fet forth the agreeable colour of a man. Braunius® is of opinion, that the chry/olite is meant, a ftone of a golden colour; and takes the fenfe to be, that fuch was the luftre of the golden girdle about his loins, that the reft of the parts of the body about it, appeared as if all of gold: and his face the appearance of lightening; exceeding bright, vety dazzling to the eye, and ftriking terror to the mind; expreffive of fomething very awful and majeftic; and agrees well with Chrift the fun of righteoufnefs, whofe face or countenance at his transfiguration on the mount, and when Sher faw _him in a vifionary way, was as the fun fhineth in his ftrength, in the fummer-folftice, or at noonday, Matt. xvii. 2. Rev. i. 16. from whom is all the light of knowledge and truth, of joy, peace and comfort, of grace and glory; and which darts as {wiftly and as powerfully from him as the rays of the fun, or as lightening from one end of the heaven to the other; and irradiates and illuminates as brightly and clearly: and bis eyes as lamps of » Sire, denoting his omnifcience of all perfons and things; and how piercing and penetrating his eyes are into the affairs of men and ftates, by whom they are clearly feen, and to whom they are exactly known; and how fierce and terrible his wrath is towards his enemies, and whofe looks mutt inject dread and terror into them; fee Rev. xix. 12: and his arms and his feet like in colour to polifbed brafs 5° denoting his great ftrength for action, his ftability and firmnefs, and the glory of his power, in trampling upon his enemies, and fubduing them; efpecially as difplayed in the redemption of his people, when his own arm wrought falvation for them; when he came travelling in the greatnefs of his ftrength, and.trod the wine-prefs. of his Father’s wrath alone; when he fet his feet on the necks of his and his peoples enemies, and got an -entire victory over fin, fatan, and the world, under whofe feet they are, and ever will be fubjeét: and the voice of bis words; not of the law, which was a voice of words, which they that heard intreated they might hear no more, and were very fonorous and dreadful; but rather of the gofpel, of the words and doctrines of grace and truth, which proceeded out of the mouth of Chrift, and were fuch as were wondered at; which is a voice of love, grace and mercy, fweet, charming and alluring, powerful and efficacious; and the words of it are the words of peace, pardon, righteoufhefs, life and falvation; yea, this voice of Chrift may take in his voice and words of commands, his ordinances and inftitutions, which he requires an obedience unto; and even his threatnings of wrath and ruin to wicked men, as well as his gracious and precious promifes to his people: and this voice of his is faid to be like the voice. of a multitude; of a great many men together; whofe voice is heard a long way off, and is very ftrong and powerful: or, as the voice of noife*; which may be underftood, either of the noife of a multitude of men, or of the fea, or of many waters; fee Rev. i. 15. and may intend the power and efficacy of his words, whether in his doctrines, or in his judgments, in a way of grace and comfort, or of wrath and vengeance. a ¥. 7. And I Daniel alone faw the vifion, &c.] The object or perfon defcribed; tho’ he was not alone when he faw it, yet he alone faw it; the

‘eyes of his body and mind being quicker than

‘the reft, the Lord ftrengthening and enlightening both; for this was a peculiar and diftinguifhing favour granted to him: for the men that were with me faw not the vifion; at leaft not fo clearly and diftin@ly as Daniel did; they might have fome confufed fight of an object that appeared very terrible, but being ftruck with confternation, they had not prefence of mind to look at it; and fo could neither form nor retain fcarce any idea of it: or their eyes might be held, and their fight clouded; or be ftricken with a kind of blindnefs, or want of fight for a time, as the men of Sodom were; or the object was of fuch a nature, that without fpecial illumination it could not be feen: the like hap- happened to Efi/ha’s young man, who faw not. the chariots and horfes of fire the prophet did, and to the men that were with the apoftle Paul, 2 Kings vi. 17. Ads ix.'7. who thefe mem were, that were with Daniel, is not material to know; whether they were. his three companions, who had been caft into the fiery flirnace; or the prophets Haggai, Zechariab, and Malachi, as Farchi and Saadiah fay from their Rabbins *; neither of which-are likely, fince thefe being good men and prophets, would doubtlefs have been favoured with the fame vifion: but rather they were the fervants of Daniel, who waited upon him, he being now a gréat man in the Perfian court; and thefe men being very likely heathens, profane'and unregenerate men, ‘were not fit and prepared to fee fuch a vifion: but a great quaking fell-upon them, or for, fo Noldius; giving a reafon why they faw not, becaufe of the great fear and trembling upon them; either at the glimmering fight of this ftrange appearance, which they knew not what to make of; or rather at the found of his voice, which was fo very loud and terrible: fo that they fled to bide themfelves; among the trees that grew upon the banks of the Tigris, as ddam among the trees of the garden; or in fome wood or foreft hard by; or in fome caves ard dens, which might be near at hand: this not only fhows the confufion and confternation they were in, as the Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it, they fled with terror; or thro’ it, as the Syriac verfion; but ferves to confirm the truth of the vifion, that it was not a mere fancy and imagination of Daniel.

¥. 8. Therefore I was left alone, and faw this great vifion, &c.} Which was great indeed, both with refpect to the object now feen, and with ‘refpect to the fubject-matter, the things afterwards revealed, the nature, ufe, and importance of them; and it was fo wifely ordered by the Lord, that the men with Daniel fhould be feized with a pannic, and flee and leave him alone; that they being removed from him, he might have the fecrets of the Lord revealed to him as a peculiar fayourite of his, and heat and fee the things he did: and there remained

_ no firength in me; either thro’ the intenfenefs of his mind upon the object before him, and to what he faid; or thro’ the awe he was ftruck with at the fight of him; his blood running back to the heart to fecure that; his nerves loofened; his hands weak and hanging down; his knees feeble, and fpirits faint, juft ready to fink and fwoon away: for my comelinefs was turned in me into corruption; the form of his countenance was marred; his forehead wrinkled; his eyes funk; the fprightlinefs and vivacity of them gone; his cheeks turned pale; his lips quivering; his joints trembling; his vigour and health impaired; all nature convulfed;

and he lifelefs and {piritlefs, like a dead carcafs:

and Iretained no ftrength; or, retrained * it not; his ftrength; could not keep it from going out of him, either of body or mind; he could not rally the powers of nature, fo deprefied was he with the vifion: all which is obferved, both to exaggerate the greatnefs of the vifion, and the favour and goodnefs of God after fhown him; as well as to obferve the weaknefs of human nature, not being able to bear the fight of a divine perfon, or fuch difcoveries the Lord is fometimes pleafed ta make, without be- ing ftrengthened and fupported in an extraordinary’:

¥: 9. Yet beard I the voice of bis a ie ia ee]

Tho’ he ‘was ftruck with fo much awe, and his fpirits fo, greatly deprefied, and his body reduced.

to fo low a condition; yet he was capable of attending to the voice, and of hearing the. articulate founds pronounced, and of underftanding what was faid: and when I heard the voice of bis words, then was lin a deep fleep om my face, and my face toward the ground; as foon as-he heard his words, he fell upon his face to the ground, either in a way of worfhip and adoration,. of prayer and fupplication, jas the dradic verfion fuggefts; or thro’ awe and reverence of the fpeaker, as well as thro” faintnefs of fpirits,; and thefe being quite exhaufted as it were, might be the reafon of his falling into a deep _ fleep; unlefs it can be thought he was lulled into it, thro’ the fweetnefs of the voice he heard.

Not the hand of the man clothed with linen, whofe voice he heard, and whofe hand was: like polifhed brafs, ¥. 6. but the hand of one diftinét from him, one of his attendants, ch. xii. 5, 6. that had the fimilitude of the fons of men, ¥. 16. and whofe - hand was fofter, and nearer an human one; very probably the hand of the angel Gaériel in human form, who had touched him before, when in the like circumftances, ch. viii. 16, 18: which fet me upon my knees, and upon the palms of my hands; or, which cau/ed him to move; from the proftrate condition in which he was, and raifed him up a litéle, upon his hands and knees; fo that with a little difficulty he might be able to raife himfelf to ftand upright. ’

defirable man, lovely to God and men; the, fame epithet Gabriel gives him, ch. ix. 22, 23. which confirms the fentiment, that it is he that touched Daniel, and is here fpeaking, diftiné& from the elorious perfon. before defcribed: underftand the ° words that I {peck unto thee; attend unto them, in ~ order to underftand them; and which he was fent to give him an underftanding of, asin chy viii. 16. which is a further confirmation that this is Gabriel: and fiand upright, being upon his hands and knees, ¥. 10. but now is bid to fand on his fanding *, or his ftation, upon his feet, in an ereét po- {fture, which was fitteft for attention, and moft decent and becoming a hearer and learner of the mind of God, from one.of- his meflengers’; and therefore, the more to excite him to duch a pofture, he adds, for unto thee am I now fent, of —

God, and. particularly to the prophet,- and. thar after three weeks fafting and mourning:) this is another proof, that not the glorious perion before de- {cribed, but an angel of his, is meant, fince he is faid to be fent to Daniel:.aud when be had fpoken this word unto me, I fiood, trembling; he got wp and f{tood upon his feet, as the angel had bid him, but trembling and tottering, not yet recovered from his fainting fit; like a man that has been ill, and got” upon his legs again, trembles and totters as he goes or ftands: ard alfo, tho’ the angel was Kind,

‘and ferviceable to him, fet him on his knees and the appearance of fuch a divine meflenger had fuch

_ &c.] Perceiving him to fhake and tremble, and

GhiseeViyo=—16i DAN TR - LZ). ae the Son of God, an inéreated angel; who is one, of the firft of the chief princes*,; fuperior to’ angels, in nature, name, and office; he came to help Gadbrielz not as-a fellow-creature, but as the Lord of hofts; not as a fellow-foldier, but as general of the armies in heaven and earth, as fuperior to him in wifdom and ftrength; and he helped him, by giving him frefh counfels, orders, and ‘inftrictions, which he following fuccéeded: and I remained there with the kings of Perfia, with the king of Perfa and his’ nobles, putting into execution the orders Michael had given him, and fo baffled the defigns of the evil fpirir; and this retarded him from being with the prophet one and twenty days.’ The Septuagint and Arabic verfions very wrongly render the words; and I left him there with the kings of Perfia; as if Michael was left there by Gabriel, where— an effe& upon him, as we find fuch Appearances ufed to have on good men., ¥. 12. Then faid he unto me, fear not, Daniel, to be intimidated at his preferice, he fpeaks comfortably to him, and encourages him to lay afide his fears, that he might be more capable of attending to what he was about to fay to him; and which had a tendency of themfelves to remove his fears, and increafé his confidence in the Lord » for from the firfi day thou didft fet thine heart to underfiand not fo much the former vifions which he had an underftanding of, as the future ftate of his people; or rather, the reafon of their prefent diftreffed condition, being hindered by their enemies in rebuilding their city’and temple: aad to chajften thyfelf before thy God; to humble himfelf in prayer, and to affi& himfelf by fafting: thy words were heard; his prayers were heard, and an anfwer ordered to be given, the very firft’ day he began to pray, and faft, and mourn, tho’ it was now full three wecks fince; juft as at the beginning of his former fupplications, Gabriel had a commandment to go and -fhew him that they were heard, ch. ix. 23: and I am come forth for thy words’, on account of his prayers, to bring an anfwer to them; the reafor why he came no fooner, when it was three weeks fince he received his order, is as follows:

¥. 13. But the prince of the kingdom of Perfia withftood mé one and twenty days, &c.| Which was juft the time Daniel had been mourning and fafting, ¥. 2. and the angel had had his inftrudctions to acquaint him with the Lord’s anfwer to his prayers: by the prince of the kingdom of Perfia, is not to be underftood the ‘then reigning king of Perfia, Gyrus, or his fon Cambyfes, who either of them would have been called rather king of Perfia; nor were they able to withftand an angel, and fuch ‘an one as Gaériel; nor is a good angel meant, the ‘tutelar one-of this kingdom; for it cannot be reafonably thought that good angels fhould militate againft one another; but an evil angel, either fatan, the prince and god of this world, or one of his principal angels under him, employed by him to do what mifchief -he could in the court of Perfia, againft the people of God the Fews; and with this fenfe agree the contefts afcribed to fatan and the angel of the Lord concerning Fofhua, Zech. iii. 1, 2, 3. and to Michael and the. devil difputing about the body of Mojes, Fude ¥. 9. and to Michael and his angels, and the devil and his angels, ‘warring in heaven, ‘Rev. xii. 7, 8. now Gabdriel’s -bufinefs in the court of Perfiaz, was to work upon the minds of the king of Perfia and: his’ nobles, and to influence their counfels, and put them on fuch meafures as would be in favour of the Jews, and be encouraging to them to go on in the rebuilding of their city and temple: in this he was withftood and oppofed by an evil fpirit that counter-worked hini; by exafperating the fpirit of Camdyes againft them; by ftirring up the Samaritans to corrupt the-Perfian courtiers with gifts, to take their part againft the ews; and by influencing them to accept of their gifts, and aét in their your; and this bufinefs on the angel’s hands, to oppofe thefe meafures, detained him at the Perfan court for the three weeks Daniel had been fafting and praying: but lo, Michael one of the chief princes came to help me; called in the New Teftament an arch-angel, the prince of angels, the head ‘of all principality and power; and is no other than as it was juft the reverfe. © y.14. Now I am come to make thee to underffand what shall befal thy people in the latter days, &c.]} ‘The conteft being over with the prince of Per/ia, and having got an advantage, and carried his point in favour of the Fews; he came directly to Daniel, to inform him of what fhould befal the people of the Fews in the fucceeding monarchies, efpecially in the times of Antiochus; and even of all that fhould befal them until the Mefiah came, as Aben Ezra rightly interprets it; for the laft days generally defign the days of the Meffiah; fee Gen. xlix. 1. Jf ii. 2: for yet the vifion is for many days; before it will be accomplifhed; reaching not only to the times of Antiochus, three hundred years after this, but even to the times of antichrift, of whom he was a type; and to the’ refurrection of the dead, and the end of time, as the two. next chapters fhew; fee Hab. ii. 3.

y.15. And when he had fpoken fuch words unto me, &c.] As before related, concerning the conteft between him and the prince of Perfia; and efpecially concerning what would befal the people of the Fews in the latter day: I fet my face toward the ground, not being able to look up; his eyes were fixed upon the earth like one confounded and thunder-ftruck, filled with amazement and wonder: and I became dumb; not able to fpeak a word, as is the cafe of perfons fometimes in furprize,. or thro’ excefs of any of the paffions: this arofé’ either from the majefty of the angel; or rather from the nature and importance of the things he faid or from a confcioufnefs of his own impurity, and fo of his unworthinefs to converfe with fo exalted a creature, and to be favoured with fuch fecrets. The Arabic verfion is, and I fupplicated; very wrongly.

y. 16. And bebold, one like the fimilitude of the fons of. men, &cc.] Not the man clothed with linen, or Chrift; but either the fame angel Gabriel, who appeared more manifeftly to him in an human form; or another of the attendants of Chrift, who alfo had the fimilitude of a man: touched my lips, with his hand, as the prophet J/aiah’s were by a feraph, with a live coal fromthe altar, J/. vi. 7. thereby reftoring him to his fpeech, and giving fa-! him freedom and boldnefs to make ufe of it; and removing from him his impurity, and a fenfe of it, — occafioned his filence: then I opened my moath, and fpake; freely, and yet with all becoming modefty: and faid unto him that flocd before me, O Lord; the angel that appeared in the likenefs of a man, and ftood before the’prophet, and touched Chrift!his lips, whom he calls Lord; not becaufe of fo-

$36 vereignty and dominion over him, which belong to Chrift, as the creator of all things, and head of the church; but for honour’s fake, being a noble and exalted creature: dy the vifion my forrows are turned upon mes on fight of the glorious object reprefented to him in the viGon, pains feized his body in all parts of it, fharp and pungent, like thofe of a woman in travail. Guffetius ’ interprets it of the knuckle-bones, which turned in the pan peated for the greater encouragement: and when.

he had {poken unto me, Iwas ftrengthencd, divine power going along with his word; the prophet found his bodily ftrength renewed, his fpirits revived, his heart chearful, and his foul comforted, and all fear and dread removed from him; which was Owing to the energy of divine grace; for otherwife not only men, but angels too, would fpeak in vain: and faid, let my Lord fpeak, for thou haft of them, like the hinges of a door, of which the word /frengthened me and fo was able to bear the fight is ufed, Prov. xxvi. 14. and this thro’ the tendons being loofed by the diffipation of the fpirits; and this fenfe the Vulgate Latin verfion gives countenance to, my joints are difjolued, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions are, my inward parts or bowels are turned in me: and I have retained no firength; fee the note on ¥. 8.

¥.17. For how can the fervant of this my Lord, talk with this my Lord? &c.| Or, talk with that my Lord*? pointing to the man clothed in linen, who appeared fo glorious, and whom Daniel knew to be more than a man; and therefore he who was a mere mortal, finful man, and reckoned himfelf a fervant of the angel of the Lord that was now before him, and had touched him, and was converfing with him, and to whom he was greatly inferior; muft be: very unfit and unworthy to have converfation with one that was infinitely above him; with fuch an one, his Lord, as Noldius * renders it, as Chrift the fon of God, the head of angels, King of kings, and Lord of lords; what was he, duft and afhes, that he fhould fpeak unto him, or be admitted to any difcourfe with him? fo fenfible was he of the greatnefs of Chrift, and of his own frailty, finfulnefs, and nothingnefs: for as for me firaightway, there remained no firengib in me, as foon as ever he faw this great and glorious perfon; fee the note on y. 8: neither is there breath left in me; when he fainted away, and became like a dead man; and tho’ he was raifed up again, and fet upon his feet, and had a little recovered his fpeech, yet it was with great difficulty that he breathed and fpoke; as it is with men when their fpirits are greatly oppreffed, it is as if their life and foul were gone out of them, and they move more like dead than living men.

¥. 18. Then there came again and touched me, one like the appearance of a man, &c,| Or one likea man again touched him; the fame that touched him before, ¥. 16. perhaps Gabriel, fince he ufes the fame language in the following verfe, as he does ¥. 11: and he flrengthened me both in body and mind, by his free and familiar converfation _ with him, and the comfortable words he fpoke to him, a divine power accompanying them for that purpofe.

‘¥. 19. And faid, O man, greatly beloved, &c.] Or, man of defires, as before, ¥. 11. which fhews it to be the fame here {peaking as there, and probably Gadriel: fear not, for a man has nothing to fear from men or devils, that is beloved of the Lord; and efpecially from good angels, how glorious and majeftic foever they are: peace be unto thee, all profperity of body and foul; inward peace of mind, a freedom from all hurry of thought, and commotion of the paffions, and eternal peace and Joy in the world to come: ‘be frrong, yea be ftrong; take heart, pull up the fpirits, be of good cou- of him, fupport in his prefence, and hear his words,, and take in what he faid, which before he was unfit for; fo an angel may be an inftrament of ftrengthening a faint, yea a prophet, and even our Lord Jefus Chrift himfelf as man, Lwke xxii. 43. -

¥. 20. Then faid he, knoweft thou wherefore I come unto thee? &c.} He had told him before, ¥. 12, 14. that it was on account of his,prayers, and to bring an anfwer to them; and particularly to inform him what would befal his people in the latter day; and now left, thro’ the hurry of his fpirits, he had not obferved it, or had forgot it, he reminds him of it, to ftir up his defire the more after the knowledge of particulars, which-he was now about to relate unto him: end now wall I return to fight with the prince of Perfia, the evil fpirit in the court of Perfia, he had been contefting with before, and had got the better of by the help of Michael, but fince this good angel had been ° with Damiel, the evil one had been working upon the king and counfellors of Perfia, and had wrought them up to an indifference unto, or carelefinefs about, the affairs of the people of the Jews, and to liften to their adverfaries, whereby the building of the city and temple went on heavily and flowly 5 and fo things were, thro’ the evil influence of fatan, more or lefs, until the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus: and indeed, fatan was continually foliciting mifchief againft the Fews, and flirring up ene~ mies to them in the court of Pez/ia, as long as that monarchy lafted, tho’ he had not always the wifhedfor fuccefs; the times of E/fher and Mordecai are a proof of this: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia fall come; meaning, when he was gone forth from the court of Perfia, having done his bufinefs he was fent about; confounded the fchemes, and baffled the defigns of the evil fpirit, conquered him, and obliged him to give way, and ceafe from being troublefome any more, and obtained peace and reft for the Fews, and fettled their affairs: the Perfan monarchy being tranflated to the Grecians, the evil fpirit began to work among therm, to put them on doing mifchief to the people of God; as in Alexander himfelf, who fet out againit them, but was pacified by the meeting of the high-prieft; and more efpecially in his fucceffors; and above all in Antiochus,-who was a violent perfecutor of them; which this claufe, as well as the following prophecy, has a refpéét. unto. 4 ey xy. 21. But Iwill foew that which is noted in the fcripture of truth, &c.] Not in the written word, tho’ there are many things relating to what fhould — befal the ‘ews in the latter day, efpecially in Deut.

xxviii. but in the decrees and purpofes of God, which are fometimes fignified by a book, and things written in it; becaufe fo particular and diftinét, and fo fure and certain, and which will be moft truly, rage, play the man; be ftrong in the Lord, and in his grace, and fear nothing: the word is reinfallibly, and punctually performed: thefe are oted, marked, engraven, in the eternal mind of - tT S98 COy cum Domino meo illo, Pagninus, Montanus, Minis Junius &

God; they are im writing, and they are truth », as it may be rendered, fince there is a diftinguifhing accent between /cripture and truth; they are written in the book of God’s decrees, and are his true and faithful words and fayings, and will moft furely be accomplifhed: now theJe are the deep things of God, which angels themfelves know nothing of, _ till they are revealed unto them: the angel here having a revelation of fuch of them as concerned the future monarchies of the earth, and the cafe of the Fews under them, promifes to fhew them to Daniel; which was the work he was appointed to do: and there is none that holdeth with me in thefe things, but Michael your prince, Chrift, the prince of the kings of the earth, he was the prince, protector, and guardian of the people of the Fews; he is the angel that went before them in the wildernefs, and guarded them in it, and guided them into the land of Canaan; he is the angel of God’s prefence, that bore, carried, and faved them all the days of old, and was their king and their God,

"N this chapter the angel makes good his promife to Daniel, that he would thew him what was written in the feripture of truth, concerning the monarchies of the earth, and what would befal his people the ews in the latter days; and after he had obferved, that he had ftrengthened and confirmed Darius the Mede, who was the firft king of the then prefent flourifhing monarchy, ¥. 1. he foretels the number of the kings of Per/ia, and particularly defcribes the fourth, ¥. 2. predicts the rife of the Grecian monarchy under Alexander the Great, and the difpofition of it after his death, ¥. 3, 4. and then proceeds to give an account’ of the two principal kingdoms of that monarchy, into which it was divided, the Seleucide and Lagide; and of their kings, the king of Egypt, and the king of Syria, under the names of the king of the fouth, and the king of the north, and of their power and agreement, ¥. 5, 6. and then of their various wars between themfelves and others, and the fuccefs of them, ¥. 7—20. and particularly of Antiochus, his character and manner of coming to the kingdom, and of his wars with the king of Egypt, and the iffue of them, ¥. 21—29. and of his perfecution of the Yews, and the diftrefs he fhould bring on them, and the ufe it fhould be of to the godly ameng them, y¥. 30—35. and then his antitype, antichrift, is defcribed; the weftern antichrift, his character and actions, ¥. 36—39. then the eaftern, his power, wealth and riches, fall and ruin, ¥. 40—45. ih:!

y. 1. Alfo I, in the firft year of Darius the Mede, &c.] Thefe words more properly belong to the ding chapter, and fhould have concluded that, and the eleventh chapter fhould have begun in the next verfe; and they are not the words of Daniel, as Yerom and others; but of the angel telling Daniel, not only what he had been lately doing, and would do in the court of Perfia for his people; but what he’ had done in the beginning of that m- narchy, the very firft year that Darius the Mede became king of Babylon, and head of the whole mo-

> PDS an33 Dee ns quod exaratum eft in fcripto, in feripto verace, Pifcator.

their defender and deliverer ftill; he took their part, and was on their fide; yea he was on the fide of, and took part with them that were for them,. the holy angels; and there was none but him that exerted his power, and ftrengthened Gabriel to ac& for them, in shefe things relating to their peace and profperity: or, againft thee‘, as it may be rendered, againft the princes of Perfia and Greece, the evil fpirits that worked in thefe kingdoms, in the children of difobedience there; and had it not been for him, and the exertion of his mighty power, it would have been foon all over with the people of the Fews; as it would be now with the church of Chrift, of which they were typical, but the Lord is on their fide; Michael the arch-angel, and his angels under him, fight for it, protect and defend it; and fince he is for his people, who fhall be againft them? or to what purpofe will an oppofition be? the gates of hell cannot prevail againft the church of God, the faints of the Moft High, By ME narchy; fee ch. v. 30, 31. the Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it, im the, firft year of Cyrus; which was the fame time; for Darius and. Cyrus reigned together, Even J flood to, confirm, and to Jivengthen him; not Michael your prince, as Farchi; for he being no other than the Son of God, an increated angel, needed not the help and affiftance of a created one, nor could receive any ftrength and confirmation from fuch an one; unlefs this is to be underftood, not with refpect to Michael himfelf abftraétly confidered, but asin relation to the people of the Fews, on whofe fide Michael was; and fo this angel took part with him and them, and as his minifter ferved them both, in defending them, and taking care of their affairs at this time; fo Facchiades paraphrafes it, to confirm and ftrengthen J/rael: but it feems rather to, defign Darius, and the fenfe to be, that this angel ftrengthned Darius and Cyrus in their good intentions, to let the people of Hrae/ go free,.and giye them full liberty and encouragement to go into their own land, and rebuild their city and temple;..about which fome doubts.and”hefitations might arife in their minds, and objections be, made, by fome of their nobles and courtiers.to it, being moved and influenced by an. evil fpirit,, the adverfary of this good angel; but he attended them fo clofely, and fo ftrongly fuggefted to them.what they fhould do in this cafe, that he carried his, point on behalf of the Fews; for this, refpects not fo much the deftruction of the Chaldean monarchy, and the eftablifhing the Perfian monanchy op the ruins of it, and fettling Darius on the throne, and ftrengrhening his kingdom. and intereft, as the confirmation of him and Cyrus in their defigns in fayour of the Jews. The Syriac verfion is, jrom the firft. this Darius. the Mede; be rafe up to help me, aud aff me as it the angel was ftill {peaking of Michac/, who came to his help againft the prince of Perfz, and was the only one that held with him, and had done fo from the beginning of the Perfan empire; but the Hebrew text will not admit of fuch a’ tranflation. yn;

v7 by ae 2. © poe by contra illos,

¥. 2. And now will I foew thee the truth, &c.) And nothing but the truth; what will moft certainly come to pafs, and may be depended on, even what is written in the book of God’s decrees, the feripiure of truth, and which would appear in providence in after-times; and this he propofed to deliver to him, not in figurative, dark, and ob- {cure expreffions, but clearly and plainly, in language eafy to be underftood: behold, there shail fiand up yet three kings in Perfia; which were Cyrus, who reigned alone after the death of Darius the Mede, his uncle; Cambyfes, the fon of Cyrus, and Darius Hyftafpis. There was another between Cambyfes and Darius, called Smerdis the magician, who reigned but feven months, and being an impoftor is left out, as he is in Ptolemy’s canon; not that thefe were all the kings of Perfia after Darius the Mede; for, according to the above canon, there:

reigned fix more after them; but becaufe thefe kings had a connexion with.the Yews, and under them their affairs had different turns and changes, refpecting their reftoration and fettlement, and the building of their city and temple; as alfo becaufe thefe kings /food, and the monarchy under them was ftrong and flourifhing, whereas afterwards it. began to decline;; and chiefly it is for the fake of the fourth king that thefe are obferved, who laid the foundation of the deftruétion of the Pei rfian monarchy by the Grecians. And the fourth fhall be far richer than they all; this is Xerxes, who exceeded his predeceffors in wealth and, riches; enjoying what they by their conquefts, or otherwife, had amaffed together, to which he greatly added: Cyrus had collected a vaft deal of riches from various nations, efpecially from Babylon; God gave him the treafures of darknefs, and hidden riches of fecret places, If. xlv. 3. Camby/es increafed the flore by his victories, and the plunder of temples whereever he came; out of the flames of which were faved 3c0 talents of gold, and 2300 talents of filver, which he carried away, together with the famous circle of gold that encompafied the tomb of king Ozymandias*: and Darius, the father of Xerxes, laid heavy taxes upon the people, and hoarded up his money; hence he was called by the Perfians xamnrG *, the huckfter or hoarder: and Xerxes came into it all, and fo became richer than them all; of whom Fuftin fays ‘, “* fi regem “* fpectes; divitias, non ducem laudes: quarum tanta copia in regno ejus fuit, ut cum flumina multitudine confumerentur, opes tamen regize fupereflent.” And by bis ftrength thro’ bis) riches, he frail fiir up all againft the realm of Grecia; thro’ his vaft riches, which are the finews of war, he collected a prodigious army out of all provinces, which he raifed to make war againft the Grecians; being moved'to it by Mardonius, a relation of his, who was very ambitious of being at the head of a large army £; three years were {pent in preparing for this expedition, and forces were gathered out of all parts of the then known habitable world; out of all the weft, under Hamilcar general of fie Carthaginians, with whom he made a league; and out of all the eaft under his own command: his army, according to Fuftin*, confifted of feven hundred thoufand of his own, and three hundred thoufand auxiliaries; Diodorus Siculus ‘ makes it much lefs, all things, and fet himfelf to be y deity.