tter know what she must expect.
      
cedar in Lebanon--often eighty feet high, and the diameter of the space covered by its boughs still greater: the symmetry perfect. Compare the similar image ( Eze 17:3; Da 4:20-22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p7.1").
      
with a shadowing shroud--with an overshadowing thicket.
      
top ... among ... thick boughs--rather [Hengstenberg], "among the clouds." But \iEnglish Version\iagrees better with the \iHebrew.\iThe \itop,\ior \itopmost shoot,\irepresents the king; the \ithick boughs,\ithe large resources of the empire.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p9.2"4. waters ... little rivers--the Tigris with its branches and "rivulets," or "conduits" for irrigation, the source of Assyria's fertility. "The deep" is the ever flowing water, never dry. Metaphorically, for Assyria's resources, as the "conduits" are her colonies.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p10.1"5. when he shot forth--because of the abundant moisture which nourished him in shooting forth. But see \iMargin\i.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p11.1"6. fowls ... made ... nests in ... boughs--so Eze 17:23; Da 4:12\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p12.1". The gospel kingdom shall gather all under its covert, for their good and for the glory of God, which the world kingdoms did for evil and for self-aggrandizement ( Mt 13:32\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p12.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p12.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p12.4"8. cedars ... could not hide him--could not outtop him. No other king eclipsed him.
      
were not like--were not comparable to.
      
garden of God--As in the case of Tyre ( Eze 28:13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p15.1"), the imagery, that is applied to the Assyrian king, is taken from Eden; peculiarly appropriate, as Eden was watered by rivers that afterwards watered Assyria ( Ge 2:10-14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p15.2"). This cedar seemed to revive in itself all the glories of paradise, so that no tree there outtopped it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p15.3"9. I ... made him--It was all due to \iMy\ifree grace.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p16.1"10. thou ... he--The change of persons is because the language refers partly to the cedar, partly to the person signified by the cedar.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p17.1"11.Here the literal supersedes the figurative.
      
shall surely deal with him--according to his own pleasure, and according to the Assyrian's (Sardanapalus) desert. Nebuchadnezzar is called "the mighty one" ( \iEl,\ia name of God), because he was God's representative and instrument of judgment ( Da 2:37, 38\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p19.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p19.2"12. from his shadow-- \iunder\iwhich they had formerly \idwelt\ias their covert ( Eze 31:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p20.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p20.2"13.Birds and beasts shall insult over his fallen trunk.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p21.1"14. trees by the waters--that is, that are plentifully supplied by the waters: nations abounding in resources.
      
stand up in their height--that is, trust in their height: \istand upon\iit as their ground of confidence.Fairbairnpoints the \iHebrew\idifferently, so as for "their trees," to translate, "(And that none that drink water may stand) \ion themselves,\i(because of their greatness)." But the usual reading is better, as Assyria and the confederate states throughout are compared to strong trees. The clause, "All that drink water," marks the ground of the trees' confidence "in their height," namely, that they have ample sources of supply.Maurer, retaining the same \iHebrew,\itranslates, "that neither their \iterebinth trees\imay stand up in their height, nor all (the other trees) that drink water."
      
to ... nether ... earth ... pit--( Eze 32:18; Ps 82:7\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p24.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p24.2"15. covered the deep--as mourners cover their heads in token of mourning, "I made the deep that watered the cedar" to wrap itself in mourning for him. The waters of the deep are the tributary peoples of Assyria ( Re 17:15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p25.1").
      
fainted--literally, were "faintness" (itself); more forcible than the verb.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p26.1"16. hell--Sheol or Hades, the unseen world: equivalent to, "I cast him into oblivion" (compare Isa 14:9-11\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p27.1").
      
shall be comforted--because so great a king as the Assyrian is brought down to a level with them. It is a kind of consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p28.1"17. his arm, that dwelt under his shadow--those who were the helpers or tool of his tyranny, and therefore enjoyed his protection (for example, Syria and her neighbors). These were sure to share her fate. Compare the same phrase as to the Jews living under the protection of their king ( La 4:20\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p29.1"); both alike "making flesh their arm, and in heart departing from the Lord" ( Jer 17:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p29.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p29.3"18.Application of the parabolic description of Assyria to the parallel case of Egypt. "All that has been said of the Assyrian consider as said to thyself. To whom art thou so like, as thou art to the Assyrian? To none." The lesson on a gigantic scale of Eden-like privileges abused to pride and sin by the Assyrian, as in the case of the first man in Eden, ending in ruin, was to be repeated in Egypt's case. For the unchangeable God governs the world on the same unchangeable principles.
      
thou shall lie in ... uncircumcised--As circumcision was an object of mocking to thee, thou shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, slain by their sword [Grotius]. Retribution in kind ( Eze 28:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p31.2").
      
This is Pharaoh--Pharaoh's end shall be the same humiliating one as I have depicted the Assyrian's to have been. "This" is demonstrative, as if he were pointing with the finger to Pharaoh lying prostrate, a spectacle to all, as on the shore of the Red Sea ( Ex 14:30, 31\Q="x.xxvi.xxxii-p32.1").
      

\C3="Chapter 32" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p0.1"CHAPTER 32
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p1.1" Eze 32:1-32\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p2.1".Two Elegies over Pharaoh, One Delivered on the First Day( Eze 32:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p2.3"),THE Other on the Fifteenth Day of the Same Month, the Twelfth of the Twelfth Year.
      
1.The twelfth year from the carrying away of Jehoiachin; Jerusalem was by this time overthrown, and Amasis was beginning his revolt against Pharaoh-hophra.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p3.1"2. Pharaoh--"Phra" in Burmah, signifies the king, high priest, and idol.
      
whale--rather, any monster of the waters; here, the crocodile of the Nile. Pharaoh is as a lion on dry land, a crocodile in the waters; that is, an object of terror everywhere.
      
camest forth with thy rivers--"breakest forth" [Fairbairn]. The antithesis of "seas" and "rivers" favorsGrotiusrendering, "Thou camest forth from the sea \iinto\ithe rivers"; that is, from thy own empire into other states. However, \iEnglish Version\iis favored by the "thy": thou camest forth with \ithy\irivers (that is, with thy forces) and with thy feet didst fall irrecoverably; so Israel, once desolate, troubles the waters (that is, neighboring states).
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p6.3"3. with a company of many people--namely, the Chaldeans ( Eze 29:3, 4; Ho 7:12\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p7.1").
      
my net--for they are My instrument.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p8.1"4. leave thee upon the land--as a fish drawn out of the water loses all its strength, so Pharaoh (in Eze 32:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p9.1", compared to a water monster) shall be ( Eze 29:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p9.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p9.3"5. thy height--thy hugeness [Fairbairn]. The great heap of corpses of thy forces, on which thou pridest thyself. "Height" may refer to \imental elevation,\ias well as bodily [Vatablus].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p10.3"6. land wherein thou swimmest--Egypt: the land watered by the Nile, the the source of its fertility, wherein thou swimmest (carrying on the image of the crocodile, that is, wherein thou dost exercise thy wanton power at will). Irony. The land shall still afford seas to swim in, but they shall be seas of blood. Alluding to the plague ( Ex 7:19; Re 8:8\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p11.1").Havernicktranslates, "I will water the land with \iwhat flows from thee,\ieven thy blood, reaching to the mountains": "with thy blood \ioverflowing\ieven to the mountains." Perhaps this is better.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p11.3"7. put thee out--extinguish thy light ( Job 18:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p12.1"). Pharaoh is represented as a bright star, at the extinguishing of whose light in the political sky the whole heavenly host is shrouded in sympathetic darkness. Here, too, as in Eze 32:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p12.2", there is an allusion to the supernatural darkness sent formerly ( Ex 10:21-23\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p12.3"). The heavenly bodies are often made images of earthly dynasties ( Isa 13:10; Mt 24:29\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p12.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p12.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p12.6"9. thy destruction--that is, tidings of thy destruction (literally, "thy breakage") carried by captive and dispersed Egyptians "among the nations" [Grotius]; or, \ithy broken people,\iresembling one great \ifracture,\ithe ruins of what they had been [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p13.3"10. brandish my sword before them--literally, "in their faces," or sight.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p14.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p14.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p14.3"13.(See on). The picture is ideally true, not to be interpreted by the letter. The political ascendency of Egypt was to cease with the Chaldean conquest [Fairbairn]. Henceforth Pharaoh must figuratively no longer \itrouble the waters by man or beast,\ithat is, no longer was he to flood other peoples with his overwhelming forces.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p15.4"14. make their waters deep--rather, "make ... \ito subside\i"; literally, "sink" [Fairbairn].
      
like oil--emblem of \iquietness.\iNo longer shall they descend violently on other countries as the overflowing Nile, but shall be still and sluggish in political action.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p17.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p17.2"16.As in Eze 19:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p18.1". This is a prophetical lamentation; yet so it shall come to pass [Grotius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p18.3"17.The second lamentation for Pharaoh. This funeral dirge in imagination accompanies him to the unseen world. Egypt personified in its political head is ideally represented as undergoing the change by death to which man is liable. Expressing that Egypt's supremacy is no more, a thing of the past, never to be again.
      
the month--the twelfth month ( Eze 32:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p20.1"); fourteen days after the former vision.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p20.2"18. cast them down--that is, predict that they shall be \icast down\i(so Jer 1:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p21.1"). The prophet's word was God's, and carried with it its own fulfilment.
      
daughters of ... nations--that is, the nations with their peoples. Egypt is to share the fate of other ancient nations once famous, now consigned to oblivion: Elam ( Eze 32:24\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p22.1"), Meshech, &c. ( Eze 32:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p22.2"), Edom ( Eze 32:29\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p22.3"), Zidon ( Eze 32:30\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p22.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p22.5"19. Whom dost thou pass in beauty?--Beautiful as thou art, thou art not more so than other nations, which nevertheless have perished.
      
go down,&c.--to the nether world, where all "beauty" is speedily marred.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p24.1"20. she is delivered to the sword--namely, by God.
      
draw her--as if addressing her executioners: drag her forth to death.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p26.1"21.( Eze 31:16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p27.1"). Ezekiel has before his eyes Isa 14:9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p27.2", &c.
      
shall speak to him--with "him" join "with them that help him"; \ishall speak to him and his helpers\iwith a taunting welcome, as now one of themselves.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p28.1"22. her ... his--The abrupt change of gender is, because Ezekiel has in view at one time the \ikingdom\i(feminine), at another the \imonarch.\i"Asshur," or Assyria, is placed first in punishment, as being first in guilt.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p29.1"23. in the sides of the pit--Sepulchres in the East were caves hollowed out of the rock, and the bodies were laid in niches formed at the sides.Maurerneedlessly departs from the ordinary meaning, and translates, "extremities" (compare Isa 14:13, 15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p30.2").
      
which caused terror--They, who alive were a terror to others, are now, in the nether world, themselves a terrible object to behold.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p31.1"24. Elam--placed next, as having been an auxiliary to Assyria. Its territory lay in Persia. In Abraham's time an independent kingdom ( Ge 14:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p32.1"). Famous for its bowmen ( Isa 22:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p32.2").
      
borne their shame--the just retribution of their lawless \ipride.\iDestroyed by Nebuchadnezzar ( Jer 49:34-38\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p33.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p33.2"25. a bed--a sepulchral niche.
      
all ... slain by ... sword,&c.--( Eze 32:21, 23, 24\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p35.1"). The very monotony of the phraseology gives to the dirge an awe-inspiring effect.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p35.2"26. Meshech, Tubal--northern nations: the Moschi and Tibareni, between the Black and Caspian Seas.Herodotus[3.94], mentions them as a subjugated people, tributaries to Darius Hystaspes (see Eze 27:13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p36.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p36.3"27. they shall not lie with the mighty--that is, they shall not have separate tombs such as mighty conquerors have: but shall all be heaped together in one pit, as is the case with the vanquished [Grotius].Havernickreads it interrogatively, "Shall they not lie with the mighty that are fallen?" But \iEnglish Version\iis supported by the parallel ( Isa 14:18, 19\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p37.3"), to which Ezekiel refers, and which represents them as \inot\ilying as mighty kings lie in a grave, but cast out of one, as a carcass trodden under foot.
      
with ... weapons of war--alluding to the custom of burying warriors with their arms ( 1 Maccabees 13:29\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p38.1"). Though honored by the laying of "their swords under their heads," yet the punishment of "their iniquities shall be upon their bones." Their swords shall thus attest their shame, not their glory ( Mt 26:52\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p38.2"), being the instruments of their violence, the penalty of which they are paying.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p38.3"28. Yea, thou--Thou, too, Egypt, like them, shalt lie as one vanquished.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p39.1"29. princes--Edom was not only governed by kings, but by subordinate "princes" or "dukes" ( Ge 36:40\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p40.1").
      
with their might--notwithstanding their might, they shall be brought down ( Isa 34:5, 10-17; Jer 49:7, 13-18\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p41.1").
      
lie with the uncircumcised--Though Edom was circumcised, being descended from Isaac, he shall lie with the uncircumcised; much more shall Egypt, who had no hereditary right to circumcision.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p42.1"30. princes of the north--Syria, which is still called by the Arabs the north; or the Tyrians, north of Palestine, conquered by Nebuchadnezzar ( Eze 26:1-28:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p43.1"), [Grotius].
      
Zidonians--who shared the fate of Tyre ( Eze 28:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p44.1").
      
with their terror they are ashamed of their might--that is, notwithstanding the terror which they inspired in their contemporaries. "Might" is connected byMaurerthus, "Notwithstanding the terror which resulted from their might."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p45.2"31. comforted--with the melancholy satisfaction of not being alone, but of having other kingdoms companions in his downfall. This shall be his only comfort--a very poor one!
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p46.1"32. my terror--the \iMargin\ior \iKeri.\iThe \iHebrew\itext or \iChetib\iis " \ihis\iterror," which gives good sense ( Eze 32:25, 30\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p47.1"). " \iMy\iterror" implies that God puts \iHis\iterror on Pharaoh's multitude, as they put "their terror" on others, for example, under Pharaoh-necho on Judea. As "the land of the living" was the scene of "their terror," so it shall be God's; especially in Judea, He will display His glory to the terror of Israel's foes ( Eze 26:20\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiii-p47.2"). In Israel's case the judgment is temporary, ending in their future restoration under Messiah. In the case of the world kingdoms which flourished for a time, they fall to rise no more.
      

\C3="Chapter 33" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p0.1"CHAPTER 33
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p1.1" Eze 33:1-33\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p2.1".Renewal of Ezekiel's Commission, Now that He Is Again to Address His Countrymen, and in a New Tone.
      
Heretofore his functions had been chiefly threatening; from this point, after the evil had got to its worst in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the consolatory element preponderates.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p3.1"2. to the children of thy people--whom he had been forbidden to address from Eze 24:26, 27\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p4.1", till Jerusalem was overthrown, and the "escaped" came with tidings of the judgment being completed. So now, in Eze 33:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p4.2", the tidings of the fact having arrived, he opens his heretofore closed lips to the Jews. In the interval he had prophesied as to foreign nations. The former part of the chapter, at Eze 33:2-20\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p4.3", seems to have been imparted to Ezekiel on the evening previous ( Eze 33:22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p4.4"), being a preparation for the latter part ( Eze 33:23-33\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p4.5") imparted after the tidings had come. This accounts for the first part standing without intimation of the date, which was properly reserved for the latter part, to which the former was the anticipatory introduction [Fairbairn].
      
watchman-- Eze 33:1-9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p5.1"exhibit Ezekiel's office as a spiritual watchman; so in Eze 3:16-21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p5.2"; only here the duties of the earthly watchman (compare 2Sa 18:24, 25; 2Ki 9:17\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p5.3") are detailed first, and then the application is made to the spiritual watchman's duty (compare Isa 21:6-10; Ho 9:8; Hab 2:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p5.4"). "A man of their coasts" is a man specially chosen for the office \iout of their whole number.\iSo Jud 18:2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p5.5", "five men \ifrom their coasts\i"; also the \iHebrew\iof Ge 47:2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p5.6"; implying the care needed in the choice of the watchman, the spiritual as well as the temporal ( Ac 1:21, 22, 24-26; 1Ti 5:22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p5.7").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p5.8"3. the sword--invaders. An appropriate illustration at the time of the invasion of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p6.1"4. blood ... upon his own head--metaphor from sacrificial victims, on the heads of which they used to lay their hands, praying that their guilt should be upon the victims.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p7.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p7.2"6. his iniquity--his negligence in not maintaining constant watchfulness, as they who are in warfare ought to do. The thing signified here appears from under the image.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p8.1"7. I have set thee a watchman--application of the image. Ezekiel's appointment to be a watchman spiritually is far more solemn, as it is derived from God, not from the people.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p9.1"8. thou shalt surely die--by a violent death, the earnest of everlasting death; the qualification being supposed, "if thou dost not repent."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p10.1"9.Blood had by this time been shed ( Eze 33:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p11.1"), but Ezekiel was clear.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p11.2"10. be upon us--that is, their guilt remain on us.
      
pine away in them--if we suffer the penalty threatened for them in Eze 24:23\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p13.1", according to the law ( Le 26:39\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p13.2").
      
how should we ... live?--as Thou dost promise in Eze 33:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p14.1"(compare Eze 37:11; Isa 49:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p14.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p14.3"11.To meet the Jews' cry of despair in Eze 33:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p15.1", Ezekiel here cheers them by the assurance that God has no pleasure in their death, but that they should repent and live ( 2Pe 3:9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p15.2"). A yearning tenderness manifests itself here, notwithstanding all their past sins; yet with it a holiness that abates nothing of its demands for the honor of God's authority. God's righteousness is vindicated as in Eze 3:18-21 and Eze 18:1-32\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p15.3", by the statement that each should be treated with the closest adaptation of God's justice to his particular case.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p15.4"12. not fall ... in the day that he turneth--( 2Ch 7:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p16.1"; see Eze 3:20; 18:24\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p16.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p16.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p16.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p16.5"15. give again that he had robbed--( Lu 19:8\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p17.1").
      
statutes of life--in the obeying of which life is promised ( Le 18:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p18.1"). If the law has failed to give life to man, it has not been the fault of the law, but of man's sinful inability to keep it ( Ro 7:10, 12; Ga 3:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p18.2"). It becomes life-giving through Christ's righteous obedience to it ( 2Co 3:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p18.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p18.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p18.5"17. The way of the Lord--The Lord's way of dealing in His moral government.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p19.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p19.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p19.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p19.4"21. twelfth year ... tenth month--a year and a half after the capture of the city ( Jer 39:2; 52:5, 6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p20.1"), in the eleventh year and fourth month. The one who escaped (as foretold, Eze 24:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p20.2") may have been so long on the road through fear of entering the enemy's country [Henderson]; or, the \isingular\iis used for the \iplural\iin a collective sense, "the escaped remnant." Compare similar phrases, "the escaped of Moab," Isa 15:9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p20.4"; "He that escapeth of them," Am 9:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p20.5". Naturally the reopening of the prophet's mouth for consolation would be deferred till the number of the escaped remnant was complete: the removal of such a large number would easily have occupied seventeen or eighteen months.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p20.6"22. in the evening--(see on). Thus the capture of Jerusalem was known to Ezekiel by revelation before the messenger came.
      
my mouth ... no more dumb--that is, to my countrymen; as foretold ( Eze 24:27\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p22.1"), He spake ( Eze 33:2-20\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p22.2") in the evening before the tidings came.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p22.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p22.4"24. they that inhabit ... wastes of ... Israel--marking the blindness of the fraction of Jews under Gedaliah who, though dwelling amidst regions laid waste by the foe, still cherished hopes of deliverance, and this without repentance.
      
Abraham was one ... but we are many--If God gave the land for an inheritance to Abraham, who was but one ( Isa 51:2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p24.1"), much more it is given to us, who, though reduced, are still many. If he, with 318 servants, was able to defend himself amid so many foes, much more shall we, so much more numerous, retain our own. The grant of the land was not for his sole use, but for his numerous posterity.
      
inherited the land--not actually possessed it ( Ac 7:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p25.1"), but had the right of dwelling and pasturing his flocks in it [Grotius]. The Jews boasted similarly of their Abrahamic descent in Mt 3:9 and Joh 8:39\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p25.3".
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p25.4"25. eat with the blood--in opposition to the law ( Le 19:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p26.1"; compare Ge 9:4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p26.2"). They did so as an idolatrous rite.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p26.3"26. Ye stand upon your sword--Your dependence is, not on right and equity, but on force and arms.
      
every one--Scarcely anyone refrains from adultery.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p28.1"27. shall fall by the sword--The very object of their confidence would be the instrument of their destruction. Thinking to "stand" by it, by it they shall "fall." Just retribution! Some fell by the sword of Ishmael; others by the Chaldeans in revenge for the murder of Gedaliah ( Jer 40:1-44:30\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p29.1").
      
caves--( Jud 6:2; 1Sa 13:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p30.1"). In the hilly parts of Judea there were caves almost inaccessible, as having only crooked and extremely narrow paths of ascent, with rock in front stretching down into the valleys beneath perpendicularly [Josephus, \iWars of the Jews,\i1.16.4].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p30.3"28. most desolate--( Jer 4:27; 12:11\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p31.1").
      
none ... pass through--from fear of wild beasts and pestilence [Grotius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p32.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p32.3"30.Not only the remnant in Judea, but those at the Chebar, though less flagrantly, betrayed the same unbelieving spirit.
      
talking against thee--Though going to the prophet to hear the word of the Lord, they criticised, \iin an unfriendly spirit,\ihis peculiarities of manner and his enigmatical style ( Eze 20:49\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p34.1"); making these the excuse for their impenitence. Their talking was not directly " \iagainst\i" Ezekiel, for they professed to like his ministrations; but God's word speaks of things as they really are, not as they appear.
      
by the walls--in the public haunts. In the East groups assemble under the walls of their houses in winter for conversation.
      
in the doors--privately.
      
what is the word--Their motive was curiosity, seeking pastime and gratification of the ear ( 2Ti 4:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p37.1"); not reformation of the heart. Compare Johanan's consultation of Jeremiah, to hear the word of the Lord without desiring to \ido\iit ( Jer 42:1-43:13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p37.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p37.3"31. as the people cometh--that is, in crowds, as disciples flock to their teacher.
      
sit before thee--on lower seats at thy feet, according to the Jewish custom of pupils ( De 33:3; 2Ki 4:38; Lu 10:39; Ac 22:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p39.1").
      
as my people--though they are not.
      
hear ... not do--( Mt 13:20, 21; Jas 1:23, 24\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p41.1").
      
they show much love--literally, "make love," that is, act the part of lovers. Profess love to the Lord ( Mt 7:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p42.1").Geseniustranslates, according to \iArabic\iidiom, "They do the delights of God," that is, all that is agreeable to God. \iVulgate\itranslates, "They turn thy words into a song of their mouths."
      
heart goeth after ... covetousness--the grand rival to the love of God; therefore called "idolatry," and therefore associated with impure carnal love, as both alike transfer the heart's affection from the Creator to the creature ( Mt 13:22; Eph 5:5; 1Ti 6:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p43.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p43.2"32. very lovely song--literally, a "song of loves": a lover's song. They praise thy eloquence, but care not for the subject of it as a real and personal thing; just as many do in the modern church [Jerome].
      
play well on an instrument--Hebrew singers accompanied the "voice" with the harp.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p45.1"33. when this cometh to pass--when My predictions are verified.
      
lo, it will come--rather, "lo it \iis\icome" (see Eze 33:22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxiv-p47.1").
      
know--experimentally, and to their cost.
      

\C3="Chapter 34" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p0.1"CHAPTER 34
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p1.1" Eze 34:1-31\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p2.1".Reproof of the False Shepherds; Promise of the True and Good Shepherd.
      
Having in the thirty-third chapter laid down repentance as the necessary preliminary to happier times for the people, He now promises the removal of the false shepherds as preparatory to the raising up of the Good Shepherd.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p3.1"2. Jer 23:1 and Zec 11:17\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p4.1"similarly make the removal of the false shepherds the preliminary to the interposition of Messiah the Good Shepherd in behalf of His people Israel. The "shepherds" are not prophets or priests, but \irulers\iwho sought in their government their own selfish ends, not the good of the people ruled. The term was appropriate, as David, the first king and the type of the true David ( Eze 34:23, 24\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p4.2"), was taken from being a shepherd ( 2Sa 5:2; Ps 78:70, 71\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p4.3"); and the office, like that of a shepherd for his flock, is to guard and provide for his people. The choice of a \ishepherd\ifor the first king was therefore designed to suggest this thought, just as Jesus' selection of \ifishermen\ifor apostles was designed to remind them of their spiritual office of catching men (compare Isa 44:28; Jer 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 23:1, 2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p4.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p4.5"3. fat--or, by differently pointing the \iHebrew,\i"milk" [ \iSeptuagint\i]. Thus the repetition "fat" and "fed" is avoided: also the eating of "fat" would not probably be put before the "killing" of the sheep. The eating of sheep's or goats' milk as food ( De 32:14; Pr 27:27\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p5.1") was unobjectionable, had not these shepherds milked them too often, and that without duly "feeding" them [Bochart], ( Isa 56:11\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p5.3"). The rulers levied exorbitant tributes.
      
kill ... fed--kill the rich by false accusation so as to get possession of their property.
      
feed not ... flock--take no care of the people ( Joh 10:12\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p7.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p7.2"4. The diseased--rather, those \iweak\ifrom the effects of "disease," as "strengthened" (that is, with due nourishment) requires [Grotius].
      
broken--that is, fractures from wounds inflicted by the wolf.
      
brought again ... driven away--( Ex 23:4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p10.1"). Those "driven away" by the enemy into foreign lands through God's judgments are meant ( Jer 23:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p10.2"). A spiritual reformation of the state by the rulers would have turned away God's wrath, and "brought again" the exiles. The rulers are censured as \ichiefly\iguilty (though the people, too, were guilty), because they, who ought to have been foremost in checking the evil, promoted it.
      
neither ... sought ... lost--Contrast the Good Shepherd's love ( Lu 15:4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p11.1").
      
with force ... ruled--( Ex 1:13, 14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p12.1"). With an Egyptian bondage. The very thing forbidden by the law they did ( Le 25:43\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p12.2"; compare 1Pe 5:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p12.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p12.4"5. scattered, because ... no shepherd--that is, none worthy of the name, though there were some \icalled\ishepherds ( 1Ki 22:17; Mt 9:36\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p13.1"). Compare Mt 26:31\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p13.2", where the sheep were scattered when the true Shepherd was smitten. God calls them " \iMy\isheep"; for they were not, as the shepherds treated them, \itheir\ipatrimony whereby to "feed themselves."
      
meat to all ... beasts--They became a prey to the Syrians, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p14.1"6. every high hill--the scene of their idolatries sanctioned by the rulers.
      
search ... seek--rather, "seek ... search." The former is the part of the superior rulers \ito inquire after: to search out\iis the duty of the subordinate rulers [Junius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p16.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p16.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p16.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p16.5"10. I will require my flock--( Heb 13:17\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p17.1"), rather, "I require," &c., for God already had begun to do so, punishing Zedekiah and the other princes severely ( Jer 52:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p17.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p17.3"11. I ... will ... search--doing that which the so-called shepherds had failed to do, I being the rightful owner of the flock.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p18.1"12. in the day that he is among-- \iin the midst of\i( \iHebrew\i) His sheep that had been scattered. Referring to Messiah's second advent, when He shall be "the glory \iin the midst of\iIsrael" ( Zec 2:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p19.1").
      
in the cloudy ... day--the day of the nation's calamity ( Joe 2:2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p20.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p20.2"13. And I will bring them out from the people,&c.--( Eze 28:25; 36:24; 37:21, 22; Isa 65:9, 10; Jer 23:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p21.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p21.2"14. good pasture--( Ps 23:2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p22.1").
      
high mountains of Israel--In Eze 17:23; 20:40\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p23.1", the phrase is "the mountain of the height of Israel" in the \isingular\inumber. The reason for the difference is: \ithere\iEzekiel spoke of the central seat of the kingdom, Mount Zion, where the people met for the worship of Jehovah; \ihere\ihe speaks of the kingdom of Israel at large, all the parts of which are regarded as possessing a moral elevation.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p23.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p23.3"16.In contrast to the unfaithful shepherds ( Eze 34:4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p24.1"). The several duties neglected by \ithem I\iwill faithfully discharge.
      
fat ... strong--that is, those rendered wanton by prosperity ( De 32:15; Jer 5:28\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p25.1"), who use their strength to oppress the weak. Compare Eze 34:20\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p25.2", "the fat cattle" ( Isa 10:16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p25.3"). The image is from fat cattle that wax refractory.
      
with judgment--that is, justice and equity, as contrasted with the "force" and "cruelty" with which the unfaithful shepherds ruled the flock ( Eze 34:4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p26.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p26.2"17. you, ... my flock--passing from the rulers to the people.
      
cattle and cattle--rather, "sheep and sheep"; \iMargin,\i"small cattle," or "flocks of lambs and kids," that is, I judge between one class of citizens and another, so as to award what is right to each. He then defines the class about to be punitively "judged," namely, "the rams and he-goats," or "great he-goats" (compare Isa 14:9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p28.1", \iMargin;\i Zec 10:3; Mt 25:32, 33\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p28.2"). They answer to "the fat and strong," as opposed to the "sick" ( Eze 34:16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p28.3"). The rich and ungodly of the people are meant, who imitated the bad rulers in oppressing their poorer brethren, as if it enhanced their own joys to trample on others' rights ( Eze 34:18\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p28.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p28.5"18, 19.Not content with appropriating to their own use the goods of others, they from mere wantonness spoiled what they did not use, so as to be of no use to the owners.
      
deep waters--that is, "limpid," as deep waters are generally \iclear.\iGrotiusexplains the image as referring to the usuries with which the rich ground the poor ( Eze 22:12; Isa 24:2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p30.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p30.3"19. they eat--scantily.
      
they drink--sorrowfully.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p32.1"20. fat ... lean--the rich oppressors ... the humble poor.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p33.1"21. scattered them abroad--down to the time of the carrying away to Babylon [Grotius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p34.2"22.After the restoration from Babylon, the Jews were delivered in some degree from the oppression, not only of foreigners, but also of their own great people ( Ne 5:1-19\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p35.1"). The full and final fulfilment of this prophecy is future.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p35.2"23. set up--that is, raise up by divine appointment; alluding to the declaration of God to David, "I will \iset up\ithy seed after thee" ( 2Sa 7:12\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p36.1"); and, "Yet have I set My king on My holy hill of Zion" ( Ps 2:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p36.2"; compare Ac 2:30; 13:23\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p36.3").
      
one shepherd--literally, "a Shepherd, one": singularly and pre-eminently \ione:\ithe only one of His kind, to whom none is comparable ( So 5:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p37.1"). The Lord Jesus refers to this prophecy ( Joh 10:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p37.2"), "I amTHEGood Shepherd." Also "one" as uniting in one the heretofore divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and also "gathering together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth" ( Eph 1:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p37.4"); thus healing worse breaches than that between Israel and Judah ( Col 1:20\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p37.5"). "God by Him reconciling all things unto Himself, whether things in earth or in heaven."
      
David--the antitypical David, Messiah, of the seed of David, which no other king after the captivity was: who was \ifully,\iwhat David was only in a degree, "the man after God's own heart." Also, David means \ibeloved:\iMessiah was truly God's \ibeloved\iSon ( Isa 42:1; Mt 3:17\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p38.1"). Shepherd means \iKing,\irather than religious instructor; in this pre-eminently He was the true David, who was the \iShepherd King\i( Lu 1:32, 33\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p38.2"). Messiah is called "David" in Isa 55:3, 4; Jer 30:9; Ho 3:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p38.3".
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p38.4"24. my servant--implying fitness for ruling in the name of God, not pursuing a self-chosen course, as other kings, but acting as the faithful administrator of the will of God; Messiah realized fully this character ( Ps 40:7, 8; Isa 42:1; 49:3, 6; 53:11; Php 2:7\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p39.1"), which David typically and partially represented ( Ac 13:36\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p39.2"); so He is the fittest person to wield the world scepter, abused by all the world kings ( Da 2:34, 35, 44, 45\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p39.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p39.4"25. covenant of peace ... evil beasts ... to cease ... dwell safely--The original promise of the law ( Le 26:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p40.1") shall be realized for the first time fully under Messiah ( Isa 11:6-9; 35:9; Ho 2:18\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p40.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p40.3"26. them and the places round about my hill--The Jews, and Zion, God's hill ( Ps 2:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p41.1"), are to be sources of blessing, not merely to themselves, but to the surrounding heathen ( Isa 19:24; 56:6, 7; 60:3; Mic 5:7; Zec 8:13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p41.2"). The literal fulfilment is, however, the primary one, though the spiritual also is designed. In correspondence with the settled reign of righteousness internally, all is to be prosperity externally, fertilizing showers (according to the promise of the ancient covenant, Le 26:4; Ps 68:9; Mal 3:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p41.3"), and productive trees and lands ( Eze 34:27\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p41.4"). Thus shall they realize the image of Eze 34:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p41.5"; namely, a flock richly pastured by God Himself.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p41.6"27. served themselves of them--availed themselves of their services, as if the Jews were their slaves ( Jer 22:13; 25:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p42.1"; compare Ge 15:13; Ex 1:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p42.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p42.3"28. dwell safely--( Jer 23:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p43.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p43.2"29. plant of renown--Messiah, the "Rod" and "Branch" ( Isa 11:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p44.1"), the "righteous Branch" ( Jer 23:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p44.2"), who shall obtain for them "renown."Fairbairnless probably translates, "A plantation for a name," that is, a flourishing condition, represented as a garden (alluding to Eden, Ge 2:8-11\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p44.4", with its various trees, good for food and pleasant to the sight), the planting of the Lord ( Isa 60:21; 61:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p44.5"), and an object of "renown" among the heathen.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p44.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxv-p44.7"31. ye my flock ... are men--not merely an explanation of the image, asJeromerepresents. But as God had promised many things which mere "men" could not expect to realize, He shows that it is not from \iman's\imight their realization is to be looked for, but fromGod, who would perform them for His covenant-people, " \iHis\iflock" [Rosenmuller]. When we realize most our weakness and God's power and faithfulness to His covenant, we are in the fittest state for receiving His blessings.
      

\C3="Chapter 35" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p0.1"CHAPTER 35
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p1.1" Eze 35:1-15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p2.1".Judgment on Edom.
      
Another feature of Israel's prosperity; those who exulted over Israel's humiliation, shall themselves be a "prey." Already stated in Eze 25:12-14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p3.1"; properly repeated here in full detail, as a commentary on Eze 34:28\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p3.2". The Israelites "shall be no more a prey"; but Edom, the type of their most bitter foes, shall be destroyed irrecoverably.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p3.3"2. Mount Seir--that is, Idumea ( Ge 36:9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p4.1"). Singled out as badly pre-eminent in its bitterness against God's people, to represent all their enemies everywhere and in all ages. So in Isa 34:5; 63:1-4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p4.2", Edom, the region of the greatest enmity towards God's people, is the ideal scene of the final judgments of all God's foes. "Seir" means "shaggy," alluding to its rugged hills and forests.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p4.3"3. most desolate--literally, "desolation and desolateness" ( Jer 49:17\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p5.1", &c.). It is only in their national character of foes to God's people, that the Edomites are to be utterly destroyed. A \iremnant\iof Edom, as of the other heathen, is to be "called by the name of God" ( Am 9:12\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p5.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p5.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p5.4"5. perpetual hatred--( Ps 137:7; Am 1:11; Ob 10-16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p6.1"). Edom perpetuated the hereditary hatred derived from Esau against Jacob.
      
shed \ithe blood of,\i&c.--The literal translation is better. "Thou hast \ipoured\iout the children of Israel"; namely, like water. So Ps 22:14; 63:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p7.1", \iMargin;\i Jer 18:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p7.2". Compare 2Sa 14:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p7.3".
      
by the force of the sword--literally, "by" or "upon the hands of the sword"; the sword being personified as a devourer whose "hands" were the instruments of destruction.
      
in the time that their iniquity had an end--that is, had its consummation ( Eze 21:25, 29\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p9.1"). Edom consummated his guilt when he exulted over Jerusalem's downfall, and helped the foe to destroy it ( Ps 137:7; Ob 11\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p9.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p9.3"6. I will prepare thee unto blood--I will expose thee to slaughter.
      
sith-- \iold\iEnglish for "seeing that" or "since."
      
thou hast not hated blood--The \iHebrew\iorder is, "thou hast hated not--blood"; that is, thou couldst not bear to live without bloodshed [Grotius]. There is a play on similar sounds in the \iHebrew; Edom\iresembling \idam,\ithe \iHebrew\ifor "blood"; as "Edom" means "red," the transition to "blood" is easy. Edom, akin to blood in name, so also in nature and acts; "blood therefore shall pursue thee." The measure which Edom meted to others should be meted to himself ( Ps 109:17; Mt 7:2; 26:52\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p12.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p12.3"7. cut off ... him that passeth--that is, every passer to and fro; "the highways shall be unoccupied" ( Eze 29:11; Jud 5:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p13.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p13.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p13.3"9. shall not return--to their former state ( Eze 16:55\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p14.1"); shall not be restored. The \iHebrew\itext ( \iChetib\i) reads, "shall not \ibe inhabited\i" (compare Eze 26:20; Mal 1:3, 4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p14.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p14.3"10.So far from being allowed to enter on Israel's vacated inheritance, as Edom hoped ( Eze 36:5; Ps 83:4, 12; Ob 13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p15.1"), it shall be that he shall be deprived of his own; and whereas Israel's humiliation was temporary, Edom's shall be perpetual.
      
Lord was there--( Eze 48:35; Ps 48:1, 3; 132:13, 14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p16.1"). Jehovah claimed Judea as His own, even when the Chaldeans had overthrown the state; they could not remove Him, as they did the idols of heathen lands. The broken sentences express the excited feelings of the prophet at Edom's wicked presumption. The transition from the "two nations and two countries" to "it" marks that the two are regarded as one whole. The last clause, "and Jehovah was there," bursts in, like a flash of lightning, reproving the wicked presumption of Edom's thought.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p16.2"11. according to thine anger--( Jas 2:13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p17.1"). As thou in anger and envy hast injured them, so I will injure thee.
      
I will make myself known among them--namely, the Israelites. I will manifest My favor to them, after I have punished thee.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p18.1"12, 13. blasphemies ... against ... Israel ... against me--God regards what is done against His people as done against Himself ( Mt 25:45; Ac 9:2, 4, 5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p19.1"). Edom \iimplied,\iif he did not express it, in his taunts against Israel, that God had not sufficient power to protect His people. A type of the spirit of all the foes of God and His people ( 1Sa 2:3; Re 13:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p19.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p19.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p19.4"14.( Isa 65:13, 14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p20.1"). "The whole earth" refers to \iJudea and the nations that submit themselves to Judea's God;\iwhen these rejoice, the foes of God and His people, represented by Edom \ias a nation,\ishall be desolate. Things shall be completely reversed; Israel, that now for a time mourns, shall then rejoice and for ever. Edom, that now rejoices over fallen Israel, shall then, when elsewhere all is joy, mourn, and for ever ( Isa 65:17-19; Mt 5:4; Lu 6:25\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p20.2").Havernickloses this striking antithesis by translating, "According to the joy of the whole land (of Edom), so I will make thee desolate"; which would make Eze 35:15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p20.4"a mere repetition of this.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p20.5"15.( Ob 12, 15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvi-p21.1").
      

\C3="Chapter 36" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p0.1"CHAPTER 36
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p1.1" Eze 36:1-38\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p2.1".Israel Avenged of Her Foes, and Restored, First to Inward Holiness, Then to Outward Prosperity.
      
The distinction between Israel and the heathen (as Edom) is: Israel has a covenant relation to God ensuring restoration after chastisement, so that the heathen's hope of getting possession of the elect people's inheritance must fail, and they themselves be made desolate ( Eze 36:1-15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p3.1"). The reason for the chastisement of Israel was Israel's sin and profanation of God's name ( Eze 36:16-21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p3.2"). God has good in store for Israel, for His own name's sake, to revive His people; first, by a spiritual renewal of their hearts, and, next, by an external restoration to prosperity ( Eze 36:22-33\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p3.3"). The result is that the heathen shall be impressed with the power and goodness of God manifested so palpably towards the restored people ( Eze 36:34-38\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p3.4").
      
1, 2. mountains of Israel--in contrast to " \iMount\iSeir" of the previous prophecy. They are here personified; Israel's elevation is moral, not merely physical, as Edom's. Her hills are "the everlasting hills" of Jacob's prophecy ( Ge 49:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p4.1"). "The enemy" (Edom, the singled-out representative of all God's foes), with a shout of exultation, "Aha!" had claimed, as the nearest kinsman of Israel (the brother of their father Esau), his vacated inheritance; as much as to say, the so-called "everlasting" inheritance of Israel and of the "hills," which typified the unmoved perpetuity of it ( Ps 125:1, 2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p4.2"), has come to an end, in spite of the promise of God, and has become "ours" (compare De 32:13; 33:15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p4.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p4.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p4.5"3.Literally, "Because, even because."
      
swallowed you up--literally, "panted after" you, as a beast after its prey; implying the greedy cupidity of Edom as to Israel's inheritance ( Ps 56:1, 2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p6.1").
      
lips of talkers--literally, "lips of \ithe tongue,\i" that is, of the slanderer, the man of tongue. Edom slandered Israel because of the connection of the latter with Jehovah, as though He were unable to save them. De 28:37, and Jer 24:9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p7.1"had foretold Israel's reproach among the heathen ( Da 9:16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p7.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p7.3"4.Inanimate creatures are addressed, to imply that the creature also, as it were, groans for deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God ( Ro 8:19-21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p8.1") [Polanus]. The completeness of the renewed blessedness of all parts of the land is implied.
      
derision--( Ps 79:4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p9.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p9.2"5. to cast it out for a prey--that is, to take the land for a prey, its inhabitants being cast out. Or the land is compared to a prey cast forth to wild beasts.Fairbairnneedlessly alters the \iHebrew\ipointing and translates, "that they may plunder its pasturage."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p10.2"6. the shame of the heathen--namely, the shame with which the heathen cover you ( Ps 123:3, 4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p11.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p11.2"7. lifted ... mine hand--in token of an oath ( Eze 20:5; Ge 14:22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p12.1").
      
they shall bear their shame--a \iperpetual\ishame; whereas the "shame" which Israel bore from these heathen was only for a time.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p13.1"8. they are at hand to come--that is, the Israelites are soon about to return to their land. This proves that the primary reference of the prophecy is to the return from Babylon, which was "at hand," or comparatively near. But this only in part fulfilled the prediction, the full and final blessing in future, and the restoration from Babylon was an earnest of it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p14.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p14.2"10. wastes builded-- Isa 58:12; 61:4; Am 9:11, 12, 14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p15.1", where, as here ( Eze 34:23, 24\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p15.2"), the names of David, Messiah's type, and Edom, Israel's foe, are introduced in connection with the coming restoration.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p15.3"11. do better ... than at your beginnings--as in the case of Job ( Job 42:12\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p16.1"). Whereas the heathen nations fall irrevocably, Israel shall be more than restored; its last estate shall exceed even its first.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p16.2"12. to walk upon you--O mountains of Israel ( Eze 36:8\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p17.1")!
      
thee ... thou--change from \iplural\ito \isingular:\iO hill of Zion, singled out from the other mountains of Israel ( Eze 34:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p18.1"); or land.
      
thou shall no more ... bereave them \iof men\i--Thou shalt no more provoke God to bereave them \iof children\i(so the ellipsis ought to be supplied, as Ezekiel probably alludes to Jer 15:7\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p19.1", "I will bereave them \iof children\i").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p19.2"13. Thou land devourest up men--alluding to the words of the spies ( Nu 13:32\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p20.1"). The land personified is represented as doing that which was done in it. Like an unnatural mother it devoured, that is, it was the grave of its people; of the Canaanites, its former possessors, through mutual wars, and finally by the sword of Israel; and now, of the Jews, through internal and external ills; for example, wars, famine (to which Eze 36:30\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p20.2", "reproach of \ifamine\iamong the heathen," implies the allusion here is).
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p20.3"14. bereave--so the \iKeri,\ior \iHebrew Margin\ireads, to correspond to "bereave" in Eze 36:13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p21.1"; but "cause to fall" or "stumble," in the \iHebrew\itext or \iChetib,\ibeing the more difficult reading, is the one least likely to come from a corrector; also, it forms a good transition to the next subject, namely, the moral \icause\iof the people's calamities, namely, their \ifalls,\ior \istumblings\ithrough sin. The latter ceasing, the former also cease. So the same expression follows in Eze 36:15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p21.2", "Neither shalt thou cause thy nations to \ifall\iany more."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p21.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p21.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p21.5"17. removed woman--( Le 15:19\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p22.1", &c.).
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p22.2"18, 19. The reason for their removal was their sin, which God's holiness could not let pass unpunished; just as a woman's legal uncleanness was the reason for her being \iseparated\ifrom the congregation.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p23.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p23.2"20. profaned my holy name, when they--the heathen
      
said to them--the Israelites.
      
These,&c.--The Israelites gave a handle of reproach to the heathen against God, who would naturally say, These who take usury, oppress, commit adultery, &c., and who, in such an abject plight, are "gone forth" as exiles "out of His land," are specimens of what Jehovah can or will effect, for His people, and show what kind of a God this so-called holy, omnipotent, covenant-keeping God must be! ( Isa 52:5; Ro 2:24\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p26.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p26.2"21. I had pity for mine holy name--that is, I felt pity for it; God's own name, so dishonored, was the primary object of His pitying concern; then His people, secondarily, through His concern for it [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p27.2"22. not ... for your sakes--that is, not for any merit in you; for, on the contrary, on your part, there is everything to call down continued severity (compare De 9:5, 6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p28.1"). The sole and sure ground of hope was God's regard to "His own name," as the God of covenant grace ( Ps 106:45\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p28.2"), which He must vindicate from the dishonor brought on it by the Jews, before the heathen.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p28.3"23. sanctify--vindicate and manifest as holy, in opposition to the heathen reproaches of it brought on by the Jews' sins and their punishment (see on).
      
sanctified in you--that is, in respect of you; I shall be regarded in their eyes as the Holy One, and righteous in My dealings towards you ( Eze 20:41; 28:22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p30.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p30.2"24.Fulfilled primarily in the restoration from Babylon; ultimately to be so in the restoration "from all countries."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p31.1"25.The \iexternal\irestoration must be preceded by an \iinternal\ione. The change in their condition must not be superficial, but must be based on a radical renewal of the heart. Then the heathen, understanding from the regenerated lives of God's people how holy God is, would perceive Israel's past troubles to have been only the necessary vindications of His righteousness. Thus God's name would be "sanctified" before the heathen, and God's people be prepared for outward blessings.
      
sprinkle ... water--phraseology taken from the law; namely, the water mixed with the ashes of a heifer sprinkled with a hyssop on the unclean ( Nu 19:9-18\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p33.1"); the thing signified being the cleansing blood of Christ sprinkled on the conscience and heart ( Heb 9:13, 14; 10:22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p33.2"; compare Jer 33:8; Eph 5:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p33.3").
      
from all your idols--Literal idolatry has ceased among the Jews ever since the captivity; so far, the prophecy has been already fulfilled; but "cleansing from \iall\itheir idols," for example, covetousness, prejudices against Jesus of Nazareth, is yet future.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p34.1"26. new heart--mind and will.
      
spirit--motive and principle of action.
      
stony heart--unimpressible in serious things; like the "stony ground" ( Mt 13:5, 20\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p37.1"), unfit for receiving the good seed so as to bring forth fruit.
      
heart of flesh--not "carnal" in opposition to "spiritual"; but impressible and docile, fit for receiving the good seed. In Eze 18:31\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p38.1"they are commanded, " \iMake you\ia new heart, and a new spirit." Here God says, "A new heart will \iI give\iyou, and a new spirit will \iI put\iwithin you." Thus the responsibility of man, and the sovereign grace of God, are shown to be coexistent. Man cannot make himself a new heart unless God gives it ( Php 2:12, 13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p38.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p38.3"27. my spirit--( Eze 11:19; Jer 32:39\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p39.1"). The partial reformation at the return from Babylon ( Ezr 10:6, &c.; Ne 8:1-9:38\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p39.2") was an earnest of the full renewal hereafter under Messiah.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p39.3"28. ye ... my people, ... I ... your God--( Eze 11:20; Jer 30:22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p40.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p40.2"29. save ... from all ... uncleannesses--the province of Jesus, according to the signification of His name ( Mt 1:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p41.1"). To be specially exercised in behalf of the Jews in the latter days ( Ro 11:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p41.2").
      
call for ... corn--as a master "calls for" a servant; all the powers and productions of nature are the servants of Jehovah ( Ps 105:16; Mt 8:8, 9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p42.1"). Compare as to the subordination of all the intermediate agents to the Great First Cause, who will give "corn" and all good things to His people, Ho 2:21, 22; Zec 8:12\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p42.2".
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p42.3"30. no more reproach of famine among the heathen--to which their taunt ( Eze 36:13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p43.1"), "Thou land devourest up men," in part referred.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p43.2"31. remember your ... evil ways--with shame and loathing. The unexpected grace and love of God, manifested in Christ to Israel, shall melt the people into true repentance, which mere legal fear could not ( Eze 16:61, 63; Ps 130:4; Zec 12:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p44.1"; compare Jer 33:8, 9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p44.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p44.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p44.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p44.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p44.6"35. they shall say--The heathen, who once made Israel's desolation a ground of reproach against the name of Jehovah Himself ( Eze 36:20, 21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p45.1"); but now He so vindicates its sanctity ( Eze 36:22, 23\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p45.2") that these same heathen are constrained to acknowledge Israel's more than renewed blessedness to be God's own work, and a ground for glorifying His name ( Eze 36:36\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p45.3").
      
Eden--as Tyre (the type of the world powers in general: so Assyria, a cedar "in the garden of God, Eden," Eze 31:8, 9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p46.1"), in original advantages, had been compared to "Eden, the garden of God" ( Eze 28:13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p46.2"), from which she had fallen irrecoverably; so Israel, once desolate, is to be as "the garden of Eden" ( Isa 51:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p46.3"), and is to be so unchangeably.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p46.4"36. Lord ... spoken ... do it--( Nu 23:19\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p47.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p47.2"37. I will yet for this be inquired of--so as to grant it. On former occasions He had refused to be inquired of by Israel because the inquirers were not in a fit condition of mind to receive a blessing ( Eze 14:3; 20:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p48.1"). But hereafter, as in the restoration from Babylon ( Ne 8:1-9:38; Da 9:3-20, 21, 23\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p48.2"), God will prepare His people's hearts ( Eze 36:26\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p48.3") to pray aright for the blessings which He is about to give ( Ps 102:13-17, 20; Zec 12:10-14; 13:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p48.4").
      
like a flock--resuming the image ( Eze 34:23, 31\Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p49.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxvii-p49.2"38. As the holy flock--the great flock of choice animals for sacrifice, brought up to Jerusalem at the three great yearly festivals, the passover, pentecost, and feast of the tabernacles.
      

\C3="Chapter 37" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p0.1"CHAPTER 37
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p1.1" Eze 37:1-28\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p2.1".The Vision of Dry Bones Revivified, Symbolizing Israel's Death and Resurrection.
      
Three stages in Israel's revival present themselves to the prophet's eye. (1) The new awakening of the people, the resurrection of the dead ( Eze 37:1-14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p3.1"). (2) The reunion of the formerly hostile members of the community, whose contentions had affected the whole ( Eze 37:15-28\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p3.2"). (3) The community thus restored is strong enough to withstand the assault of Gog, &c. ( Eze 38:1-39:29\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p3.3") [Ewald].
      
1. carried ... in the spirit--The matters transacted, therefore, were not literal, but in vision.
      
the valley--probably that by the Chebar ( Eze 3:22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p5.1"). The valley represents Mesopotamia, the scene of Israel's sojourn in her state of national deadness.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p5.2"2. dry--bleached by long exposure to the atmosphere.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p6.1"3. can these bones live? ... thou knowest--implying that, humanly speaking, they could not; but faith leaves the question of possibility to rest with God, with whom nothing is impossible ( De 32:39\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p7.1"). An image of Christian faith which believes in the coming general resurrection of the dead, in spite of all appearances against it, because God has said it ( Joh 5:21; Ro 4:17; 2Co 1:9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p7.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p7.3"4. Prophesy--Proclaim God's quickening word to them. On account of this innate power of the divine word to effect its end, prophets are said to \ido\ithat which they \iprophesy as about to be done\i( Jer 1:10\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p8.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p8.2"5. I ... cause breath to enter into you--So Isa 26:19\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p9.1", containing the same vision, refers \iprimarily\ito Israel's restoration. Compare as to God's renovation of the earth and all its creatures hereafter by His breath, Ps 104:30\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p9.2".
      
ye shall live--come to life \iagain.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p10.1"6. ye shall know that I am the Lord--by the actual proof of My divinity which I will give in reviving Israel.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p11.1"7. noise--of the bones when coming in mutual collision. Perhaps referring to the decree of Cyrus, or the noise of the Jews' exultation at their deliverance and return.
      
bones came together--literally, " \iye\ibones came together"; as in Jer 49:11\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p13.1"( \iHebrew\i), " \iye\iwidows of thine shall trust in Me." The second person puts the scene vividly before one's eyes, for the whole resurrection scene is a \iprophecy in action\ito render more palpably to the people the prophecy in word ( Eze 37:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p13.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p13.3"8.So far, they were only cohering in order as unsightly skeletons. The next step, that of covering them successively with sinews, skin, and flesh, gives them beauty; but still "no breath" of life in them. This may imply that Israel hereafter, as at the restoration from Babylon was the case in part, shall return to Judea unconverted at first ( Zec 13:8, 9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p14.1"). Spiritually: a man may assume all the semblances of spiritual life, yet have none, and so be dead before God.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p14.2"9. wind--rather, \ithe spirit\iof life or \ilife-breath\i( \iMargin\i). For it is distinct from "the four \iwinds\i" from which it is summoned.
      
from the four winds--implying that Israel is to be gathered from the four quarters of the earth ( Isa 43:5, 6; Jer 31:8\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p16.1"), even as they were "scattered into all the winds" ( Eze 5:10; 12:14; 17:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p16.2"; compare Re 7:1, 4\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p16.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p16.4"10.Such honor God gives to the divine word, even in the mouth of a man. How much more when in the mouth of the Son of God! ( Joh 5:25-29\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p17.1"). Though this chapter does not \idirectly\iprove the resurrection of the dead, it does so \iindirectly;\ifor it takes for granted the future fact as one recognized by believing Jews, and so made the image of their national restoration (so Isa 25:8; 26:19; Da 12:2; Ho 6:2; 13:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p17.2"; compare \iNote,\isee on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p17.5"11. Our bones are dried--( Ps 141:7\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p18.1"), explained by "our hope is lost" ( Isa 49:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p18.2"); our national state is as hopeless of resuscitation, as marrowless bones are of reanimation.
      
cut off for our parts--that is, so far as we are concerned. There is nothing in us to give hope, like a withered branch "cut off" from a tree, or a limb from the body.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p19.1"12. my people--in antithesis to "for our parts" ( Eze 37:11\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p20.1"). The hope that is utterly gone, if looking at \ithemselves,\iis sure for them in \iGod,\ibecause He regards them as \iHis\ipeople. Their covenant relation to God ensures His not letting death permanently reign over them. Christ makes the same principle the ground on which the literal resurrection rests. God had said, "I am the God of Abraham," &c.; God, by taking the patriarchs as \iHis,\iundertook to do for them all that Omnipotence can perform: He, being the ever living God, is necessarily the God of, not dead, but living persons, that is, of those whose bodies His covenant love binds Him to raise again. He can--and because He can--He will--He must [Fairbairn]. He calls them " \iMy\ipeople" when receiving them into favor; but " \ithy\ipeople," in addressing His servant, as if He would put them away from Him ( Eze 13:17; 33:2; Ex 32:7\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p20.3").
      
out of your graves--out of your politically dead state, primarily in Babylon, finally hereafter in all lands (compare Eze 6:8; Ho 13:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p21.1"). The Jews regarded the lands of their captivity and dispersion as their "graves"; their restoration was to be as "life from the dead" ( Ro 11:15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p21.2"). Before, the bones were in the open plain ( Eze 37:1, 2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p21.3"); now, in the graves, that is, some of the Jews were in the graves of actual captivity, others at large but dispersed. Both alike were nationally dead.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p21.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p21.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p21.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p21.7"16. stick--alluding to Nu 17:2\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p22.1", the tribal rod. The union of the two rods was a prophecy in action of the brotherly union which is to reunite the ten tribes and Judah. As their severance under Jeroboam was fraught with the greatest evil to the covenant-people, so the first result of both being joined by the spirit of life to God is that they become joined to one another under the one covenant King, Messiah-David.
      
Judah, and ... children of Israel his companions--that is, Judah and, besides Benjamin and Levi, those who had joined themselves to him of Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, Asher, Zebulun, Issachar, as having the temple and lawful priesthood in his borders ( 2Ch 11:12, 13, 16; 15:9; 30:11, 18\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p23.1"). The latter became identified with Judah after the carrying away of the ten tribes, and returned with Judah from Babylon, and so shall be associated with that tribe at the future restoration.
      
For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim--Ephraim's posterity took the lead, not only of the other descendants of Joseph (compare Eze 37:19\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p24.1"), but of the ten tribes of Israel. For four hundred years, during the period of the judges, with Manasseh and Benjamin, its dependent tribes, it had formerly taken the lead: Shiloh was its religious capital; Shechem, its civil capital. God had transferred the birthright from Reuben (for dishonoring his father's bed) to Joseph, whose representative, Ephraim, though the younger, was made ( Ge 48:19; 1Ch 5:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p24.2"). From its pre-eminence "Israel" is attached to it as "companions." The "all" in this case, not in that of Judah, which has only attached as "companions" "the children of Israel" (that is, some of them, namely, those who followed the fortunes of Judah), implies that the \ibulk\iof the ten tribes did not return at the restoration from Babylon, but are distinct from Judah, until the coming union with it at the restoration.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p24.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p24.4"18.God does not explain the symbolical prophecy until the Jews have been stimulated by the type to consult the prophet.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p25.1"19.The union effected at the restoration from Babylon embraced but comparatively few of Israel; a future complete fulfilment must therefore be looked for.
      
stick of Joseph ... in the hand of Ephraim--Ephraim, of the descendants of Joseph, had exercised the rule among the ten tribes: that rule, symbolized by the "stick," was now to be withdrawn from him, and to be made one with the other, Judah's rule, in God's hand.
      
them--the " \istick\iof Joseph," would strictly require "it"; but Ezekiel expresses the sense, namely, the ten tribes who were subject to it.
      
with him--that is, Judah; or "it," that is, the stick of Judah.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p29.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p29.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p29.3"22. one nation--( Isa 11:13; Jer 3:18; Ho 1:11\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p30.1").
      
one king--not Zerubbabel, who was not a king either in fact or name, and who ruled over but a few Jews, and that only for a few years; whereas the King here reigns for ever.Messiahis meant ( Eze 34:23, 24\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p31.2"). The union of Judah and Israel under King Messiah symbolizes the union of Jews and Gentiles under Him, partly now, perfectly hereafter ( Eze 37:24; Joh 10:16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p31.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p31.4"23.( Eze 36:25\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p32.1").
      
out of ... their dwelling-places--( Eze 36:28, 33\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p33.1"). I will remove them from the scene of their idolatries to dwell in their own land, and to serve idols no more.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p33.2"24. David--Messiah (See on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p34.3"25. for ever--( Isa 60:21; Joe 3:20; Am 9:15\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p35.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p35.2"26. covenant of peace--better than the old legal covenant, because an unchangeable covenant of grace ( Eze 34:25; Isa 55:3; Jer 32:40\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p36.1").
      
I will place them--set them in an established position; no longer unsettled as heretofore.
      
my sanctuary--the temple of God; spiritual in the heart of all true followers of Messiah ( 2Co 6:16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p38.1"); and, in some literal sense, in the restored Israel ( Eze 40:1-44:31\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p38.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p38.3"27. My tabernacle ... with them--as foretold ( Ge 9:27\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p39.1"); Joh 1:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p39.2", "The Word ... \idwelt\iamong us" (literally, "tabernacled"); first, in humiliation; hereafter, in manifested glory ( Re 21:3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p39.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p39.4"28.( Eze 36:23\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p40.1").
      
sanctify Israel--set it apart as holy unto Myself and inviolable ( Ex 19:5, 6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxviii-p41.1").
      

\C3="Chapter 38" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p0.1"CHAPTER 38
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p1.1" Eze 38:1-23\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p2.1".The Assault of Gog, and God's Judgment on Him.
      
The objections to a \iliteral\iinterpretation of the prophecy are--(1) The ideal nature of the name Gog, which is the root of Magog, the only kindred name found in Scripture or history. (2) The nations congregated are selected from places most distant from Israel, and from one another, and therefore most unlikely to act in concert (Persians and Libyans, &c.). (3) The whole spoil of Israel could not have given a handful to a tithe of their number, or maintained the myriads of invaders a single day ( Eze 38:12, 13\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p3.1"). (4) The wood of their invaders' weapons was to serve for fuel to Israel for seven years! And \iall\iIsrael were to take seven months in burying the dead! Supposing a million of Israelites to bury each two corpses a day, the aggregate buried in the hundred eighty working days of the seven months would be three hundred sixty millions of corpses! Then the pestilential vapors from such masses of victims before they were all buried! What Israelite could live in such an atmosphere? (5) The scene of the Lord's controversy here is different from that in Isa 34:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p3.2", Edom, which creates a discrepancy. (But probably a different judgment is alluded to). (6) The gross carnality of the representation of God's dealings with His adversaries is inconsistent with Messianic times. It therefore requires a non-literal interpretation. The prophetical delineations of the divine principles of government are thrown into the familiar forms of Old Testament relations. The final triumph of Messiah's truth over the most distant and barbarous nations is represented as a literal conflict on a gigantic scale, Israel being the battlefield, ending in the complete triumph of Israel's anointed King, the Saviour of the world. It is a \iprophetical\iparable [Fairbairn]. However, though the \idetails\iare not literal, the distinctiveness in this picture, characterizing also parallel descriptions in writers less ideally picturesque than Ezekiel, gives probability to a more definite and generally literal interpretation. The awful desolations caused in Judea by Antiochus Epiphanes, of Syria (1 Maccabees; andPorphyry, quoted byJeromeon Ezekiel), his defilement of Jehovah's temple by sacrificing swine and sprinkling the altar with the broth, and setting up the altar of Jupiter Olympius, seem to be an earnest of the final desolations to be caused by Antichrist in Israel, previous to His overthrow by the Lord Himself, coming to reign (compare Da 8:10-26; 11:21-45; 12:1; Zec 13:9; 14:2, 3\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p3.6").Grotiusexplains Gog as a name taken from Gyges, king of Lydia; and Magog as Syria, in which was a city called Magog [Pliny, 5.28]. What Ezekiel stated more generally, Re 20:7-9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p3.9"states more definitely as to the anti-Christian confederacy which is to assail the beloved city.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p3.10"2. Gog--the prince of the land of Magog. The title was probably a common one of the kings of the country, as "Pharaoh" in Egypt. Chakan was the name given by the Northern Asiatics to their king, and is still a title of the Turkish sultan: "Gog" may be a contraction of this. In Ezekiel's time a horde of northern Asiatics, termed by the Greeks "Scythians," and probably including the Moschi and Tibareni, near the Caucasus, here ("Meshech ... Tubal") undertook an expedition against Egypt [Herodotus, 1.103-106]. These names might be adopted by Ezekiel from the historical fact familiar to men at the time, as ideal titles for the great last anti-Christian confederacy.
      
Magog--( Ge 10:2; 1Ch 1:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p5.1"). The name of a land belonging to Japheth's posterity. \iMaha,\iin Sanskrit, means "land." Gog is the ideal political head of the region. In Re 20:8\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p5.2", Gog and Magog are two peoples.
      
the chief prince--rather, "prince of \iRosh,\i" or " \iRhos\i" [ \iSeptuagint\i]. The Scythian Tauri in the Crimea were so called. The Araxes also was called "Rhos." The modern Russians may have hence \iassumed\itheir name, as Moscow and Tobolsk from Meshech and Tubal, though their \iproper\iancient name was \iSlavi,\ior \iWends.\iHengstenbergsupports \iEnglish Version,\ias "Rosh" is not found in the Bible. "Magog was Gog's original kingdom, though he acquired also Meshech and Tubal, so as to be called their \ichief prince.\i"
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p6.2"3.His high-sounding titles are repeated to imply the haughty self-confidence of the invader as if invincible.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p7.1"4. turn thee back--as a refractory wild beast, which thinks to take its own way, but is bent by a superior power to turn on a course which must end in its destruction. Satan shall be, by overruling Providence, permitted to deceive them to their ruin ( Re 20:7, 8\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p8.1").
      
hooks into thy jaws--( Eze 29:4; 2Ki 19:28\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p9.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p9.2"5. Persia ... Libya--expressly specified byAppianas supplying the ranks of Antiochus' army.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p10.2"6. Gomer--the Celtic Cimmerians of Crim-Tartary.
      
Togarmah--the Armenians of the Caucasus, south of Iberia.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p12.1"7.Irony. Prepare thee and all thine with all needful accoutrements for war--that ye may perish together.
      
be ... a guard unto them--that is, \iif thou canst.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p14.1"8. thou shall be visited--in wrath, by God ( Isa 29:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p15.1"). Probably there is allusion to Isa 24:21, 22\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p15.2", "The host of the high ones ... shall be gathered ... as prisoners ... in the pit ... and \iafter many days shall they be visited.\i" I therefore prefer \iEnglish Version\itoGrotiusrendering, "Thou shalt get \ithe command\i" of the expedition. The "after many days" is defined by "in the latter years," that is, in the times just before the coming of Messiah, namely, under Antiochus, before His first coming; under Antichrist, before His second coming.
      
the mountains of Israel ... always waste--that is, waste during the long period of the captivity, the earnest of the much longer period of Judea's present desolation (to which the language "always waste" more fully applies). This marks the impious atrocity of the act, to assail God's people, who had only begun to recover from their protracted calamities.
      
but it is brought ... and they shall dwell--rather, "And they (the Israelites) were brought ... dwelt safely" [Fairbairn]. \iEnglish Version\imeans, "Against Israel, which has been waste, but which (that is, whose people) is now (at the time of the invasion) brought forth out of the nations where they were dispersed, and shall be found by the invader dwelling securely, so as to seem an easy prey to him."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p17.2"9. cloud to cover the land--with the multitude of thy forces.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p18.1"10. an evil thought--as to attacking God's people in their defenseless state.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p19.1"11. dwell safely--that is, securely, without fear of danger (compare Es 9:19\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p20.1"). Antiochus, the type of Antichrist, took Jerusalem without a blow.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p20.2"12. midst of the land--literally, "the navel" of the land ( Jud 9:37\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p21.1", \iMargin\i). So, in Eze 5:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p21.2", Israel is said to be set "in the midst of the nations"; not physically, but morally, a central position for being a blessing to the world: so (as the favored or "beloved city," Re 20:9\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p21.3") an object of envy.Grotiustranslates, "In the \iheight\iof the land" (so Eze 38:8\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p21.5"), "the mountains of Israel," Israel being morally elevated above the rest of the world.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p21.6"13. Sheba,&c.--These mercantile peoples, though not taking an active part against the cause of God, are well pleased to see others do it. Worldliness makes them ready to deal in the ill-gotten spoil of the invaders of God's people. Gain is before godliness with them ( 1 Maccabees 3:41\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p22.1").
      
young lions--daring princes and leaders.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p23.1"14. shalt thou not know it?--to thy cost, being visited with punishment, while Israel dwells safely.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p24.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p24.2"16. I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me--So in Ex 9:16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p25.1", God tells Pharaoh, "For this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p25.2"17. thou he of whom I have spoken in old time--Gog, &c. are here identified with the enemies spoken of in other prophecies ( Nu 24:17-24; Isa 27:1\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p26.1"; compare Isa 26:20, 21; Jer 30:23, 24; Joe 3:1; Mic 5:5, 6; Isa 14:12-14; 59:19\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p26.2"). God is represented as addressing Gog at the time of his assault; therefore, the "old time" is the time long prior, when Ezekiel uttered these prophecies; so, he also, as well as Daniel ( Da 11:1-45\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p26.3") and Zechariah ( Zec 14:1-21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p26.4") are included among "the prophets of Israel" here.
      
many years--ago.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p27.1"18. fury shall come up in my face--literally, "nose"; in \iHebrew,\ithe idiomatic expression for \ianger,\ias men in anger breathe strongly through the nostrils. Anthropopathy: God stooping to human modes of thought ( Ps 18:8\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p28.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p28.2"19. great shaking--an earthquake: physical agitations after accompanying social and moral revolutions. Foretold also in Joe 3:16\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p29.1"; (compare Hag 2:6, 7; Mt 24:7, 29; Re 16:18\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p29.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p29.3"20. fishes--disturbed by the fleets which I will bring.
      
fowls,&c.--frightened at the sight of so many men: an ideal picture.
      
mountains--that is, the fortresses on the mountains.
      
steep places--literally, "stairs" ( So 2:14\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p33.1"); steep terraces for vines on the sides of hills, to prevent the earth being washed down by the rains.
      
every wall--of towns.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p34.1"21. every man's sword ... against his brother--I will destroy them partly by My people's sword, partly by their swords being turned against one another (compare 2Ch 20:23\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p35.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p35.2"22. plead--a forensic term; because God in His inflictions acts on the principles of His own immutable \ijustice,\inot by arbitrary impulse ( Isa 66:16; Jer 25:31\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p36.1").
      
blood ... hailstones, fire--( Re 8:7; 16:21\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p37.1"). The imagery is taken from the destruction of Sodom and the plagues of Egypt (compare Ps 11:6\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p37.2"). Antiochus died by "pestilence" ( 2 Maccabees 9:5\Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p37.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xxxix-p37.4"
\C3="Chapter 39" \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p0.1"CHAPTER 39
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p1.1" Eze 39:1-29\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p2.1".Continuation of the Prophecy against Gog.
      
1.Repeated from Eze 38:3\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p3.1", to impress the prophecy more on the mind.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p3.2"2. leave but the sixth part of thee-- \iMargin,\i"strike thee with six plagues" (namely, pestilence, blood, overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, brimstone, Eze 38:22\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p4.1"); or, "draw thee back with an hook of six teeth" ( Eze 38:4\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p4.2"), the six teeth being those six plagues. Rather, "lead thee about" [Ludovicus De Dieuand \iSeptuagint\i]. As Antiochus was led (to his ruin) to leave Egypt for an expedition against Palestine, so shall the last great enemy of God be.
      
north parts--from the extreme north [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p5.2"3. bow--in which the Scythians were most expert.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p6.1"4, 5.(Compare Eze 39:17-20\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p7.1").
      
upon the mountains of Israel--The scene of Israel's preservation shall be that of the ungodly foe's destruction.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p8.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p8.2"6. carelessly--in self-confident security.
      
the isles--Those dwelling in maritime regions, who had helped Gog with fleets and troops, shall be visited with the fire of God's wrath in their own lands.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p10.1"7. not let them pollute my holy name--by their sins bringing down judgments which made the heathen think that I was unable or unwilling to save My people.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p11.1"8. it is come ... it is done--The prediction of the salvation of My people, and the ruin of their enemy, is come to pass--is done: expressing that the event foretold is as certain as if it were already accomplished.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p12.1"9, 10.The burning of the foe's weapons implies that nothing belonging to them should be left to pollute the land. The \iseven\iyears ( \iseven\ibeing the sacred number) spent on this work, implies the completeness of the cleansing, and the people's zeal for purity. How different from the ancient Israelites, who left not merely the arms, but the heathen themselves, to remain among them [Fairbairn], ( Jud 1:27, 28; 2:2, 3; Ps 106:34-36\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p13.2"). The desolation by Antiochus began in the one hundred and forty-first year of the Seleucidæ. From this date to 148, a period of six years and four months ("2300 days," Da 8:14\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p13.3"), when the temple-worship was restored ( 1 Maccabees 4:52\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p13.4"), God vouchsafed many triumphs to His people; from this time to the death of Antiochus, early in 149, a period of seven months, the Jews had rest from Antiochus, and purified their land, and on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month celebrated the Encænia, or feast of dedication ( Joh 10:22\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p13.5") and purification of the temple. The whole period, in round numbers, was seven years. Mattathias was the patriotic Jewish leader, and his third son, Judas, the military commander under whom the Syrian generals were defeated. He retook Jerusalem and purified the temple. Simon and Jonathan, his brothers, succeeded him: the independence of the Jews was secured, and the crown vested in the Asmonean family, in which it continued till Herod the Great.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p13.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p13.7"11. place ... of graves--Gog found only a grave where he had expected the spoils of conquest.
      
valley--So vast were to be the masses that nothing but a deep valley would suffice for their corpses.
      
the passengers on the east of the sea--those travelling on the high road, east of the Dead Sea, from Syria to Petra and Egypt. The publicity of the road would cause many to observe God's judgments, as the stench (as \iEnglish Version\itranslates) or the multitude of graves (asHendersontranslates, "it shall \istop the passengers\i") would arrest the attention of passers-by. Their grave would be close to that of their ancient prototypes, Sodom and Gomorrah in the Dead Sea, both alike being signal instances of God's judgments.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p16.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p16.3"13. I ... glorified--in destroying the foe ( Eze 28:22\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p17.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p17.2"14. with the passengers--The men employed continually in the burying were to be helped by those happening to pass by; all were to combine.
      
after the end of seven months shall they search--to see if the work was complete [Munster].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p19.2"15.First " \iall\ithe people of the land" engaged in the burying for seven months; then special men were employed, at the end of the seven months, to search for any still left unburied. The passers-by helped them by setting up a mark near any such bones, in order to keep others from being defiled by casually touching them, and that the buriers might come and remove them. Denoting the minute care to put away every relic of heathen pollution from the Holy Land.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p20.1"16.A city in the neighborhood was to receive the name Hamonah, "multitude," to commemorate the overthrow of the multitudes of the foe [Henderson]. The multitude of the slain shall give a name to the city of Jerusalem after the land shall have been cleansed [Grotius]. Jerusalem shall be famed as the conqueror of multitudes.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p21.3"17.( Re 19:17\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p22.1").
      
sacrifice--Anciently worshippers feasted on the sacrifices. The birds and beasts of prey are invited to the sacrificial feast provided by God (compare Isa 18:6; 34:6; Zep 1:7; Mr 9:49\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p23.1"). Here this sacrifice holds only a subordinate place in the picture, and so is put last. Not only shall their bones lie long unburied, but they shall be stripped of the flesh by beasts and birds of prey.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p23.2"18. rams ... lambs ... goats--By these various animal victims used in sacrifices are meant various ranks of men, princes, generals, and soldiers (compare Isa 34:6\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p24.1").
      
fatlings of Bashan--ungodly men of might ( Ps 22:12\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p25.1"). Bashan, beyond Jordan, was famed for its fat cattle. Fat implies prosperity which often makes men refractory towards God ( De 32:14, 15\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p25.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p25.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p25.4"20. my table--the field of battle on the mountains of Israel ( Eze 38:8, 20\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p26.1").
      
chariots--that is, charioteers.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p27.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p27.2"22. So the house of Israel shall know ... Lord--by My interposition for them. So, too, the heathen shall be led to fear the name of the Lord ( Ps 102:15\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p28.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p28.2"23. hid I my face--( De 31:17; Isa 59:2\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p29.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p29.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p29.3"25. bring again the captivity--restore from calamity to prosperity.
      
the whole house of Israel--so " \iall\iIsrael" ( Ro 11:26\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p31.1"). The restorations of Israel heretofore have been partial; there must be one yet future that is to be \iuniversal\i( Ho 1:11\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p31.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p31.3"26. After that they have borne their shame--the punishment of their sin: after they have become sensible of their guilt, and ashamed of it ( Eze 20:43; 36:31\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p32.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p32.2"27. sanctified in them--vindicated as holy in My dealings with them.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p33.1"28.The Jews, having no dominion, settled country, or fixed property to detain them, may return at any time without difficulty (compare Ho 3:4, 5\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p34.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xl-p34.2"29. poured out my Spirit upon ... Israel--the sure forerunner of their conversion ( Joe 2:28; Zec 12:10\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p35.1"). The pouring out of His Spirit is a pledge that He will hide His face no more ( 2Co 1:22; Eph 1:14; Php 1:6\Q="x.xxvi.xl-p35.2").
      

\C3="Chapter 40" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p0.1"CHAPTER 40
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p1.1" Eze 40:1-49\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p2.1".The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth, Give an Ideal Picture of the Restored Jewish Temple.
      
The arrangements as to the land and the temple are, in many particulars, different from those subsisting before the captivity. There are things in it so improbable physically as to preclude a \ipurely\iliteral interpretation. The general truth seems to hold good that, as Israel served the nations for his rejection of Messiah, so shall they serve him in the person of Messiah, when he shall acknowledge Messiah ( Isa 60:12; Zec 14:17-19\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.1"; compare Ps 72:11\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.2"). The ideal temple exhibits, under Old Testament forms (used as being those then familiar to the men whom Ezekiel, a priest himself, and one who delighted in sacrificial images, addresses), not the precise literal outline, but \ithe essential character\iof the worship of Messiah as it shall be when He shall exercise sway in Jerusalem among His own people, the Jews, and thence to the ends of the earth. The very fact that the whole is a vision ( Eze 40:2\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.3"), not an oral face-to-face communication such as that granted to Moses ( Nu 12:6-8\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.4"), implies that the directions are not to be understood so precisely literally as those given to the Jewish lawgiver. The description involves things which, taken literally, almost involve natural impossibilities. The square of the temple, in Eze 42:20\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.5", is six times as large as the circuit of the wall enclosing the old temple, and larger than all the earthly Jerusalem. Ezekiel gives three and a half miles and one hundred forty yards to his temple square. The boundaries of the ancient city were about two and a half miles. Again, the city in Ezekiel has an area between three or four thousand square miles, including the holy ground set apart for the prince, priests, and Levites. This is nearly as large as the whole of Judea west of the Jordan. As Zion lay in the center of the ideal city, the one-half of the sacred portion extended to nearly thirty miles south of Jerusalem, that is, covered nearly the whole southern territory, which reached only to the Dead Sea ( Eze 47:19\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.6"), and yet five tribes were to have their inheritance on that side of Jerusalem, \ibeyond\ithe sacred portion ( Eze 48:23-28\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.7"). Where was land to be found for them there? A breadth of but four or five miles apiece would be left. As the boundaries of the land are given the same as under Moses, these incongruities cannot be explained away by supposing physical changes about to be effected in the land such as will meet the difficulties of the purely literal interpretation. The distribution of the land is in equal portions among the twelve tribes, without respect to their relative numbers, and the parallel sections running from east to west. There is a difficulty also in the supposed separate existence of the twelve tribes, such separate tribeships no longer existing, and it being hard to imagine how they could be restored as distinct tribes, mingled as they now are. So the stream that issued from the east threshold of the temple and flowed into the Dead Sea, in the rapidity of its increase and the quality of its waters, is unlike anything ever known in Judea or elsewhere in the world. Lastly, the catholicity of the Christian dispensation, and the spirituality of its worship, seem incompatible with a return to the local narrowness and "beggarly elements" of the Jewish ritual and carnal ordinances, disannulled "because of the unprofitableness thereof" [Fairbairn], ( Ga 4:3, 9; 5:1; Heb 9:10; 10:18\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.9"). "A temple with sacrifices now would be a denial of the all-sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ. He who sacrificed before confessed the Messiah. He who should sacrifice now would solemnly deny Him" [Douglas]. These difficulties, however, may be all \iseeming,\inot real. Faith accepts God's Word as it is, waits for the event, sure that it will clear up all such difficulties. Perhaps, as some think, the beau ideal of a sacred commonwealth is given according to the then existing pattern of temple services, which would be the imagery most familiar to the prophet and his hearers at the time. The minute particularizing of details is in accordance with Ezekiel's style, even in describing purely ideal scenes. The old temple embodied in visible forms and rites spiritual truths affecting the people even when absent from it. So this ideal temple is made in the absence of the outward temple to serve by description the same purpose of symbolical instruction as the old literal temple did by forms and acts. As in the beginning God promised to be a "sanctuary" ( Eze 11:16\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.11") to the captives at the Chebar, so now at the close is promised a complete restoration and realization of the theocratic worship and polity under Messiah in its noblest ideal (compare Jer 31:38-40\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.12"). In Re 21:22\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.13""no temple" is seen, as in the perfection of the new dispensation the accidents of place and form are no longer needed to realize to Christians what Ezekiel imparts to Jewish minds by the imagery familiar to them. In Ezekiel's temple holiness stretches over the entire temple, so that in this there is no longer a distinction between the different parts, as in the old temple: parts left undeterminate in the latter obtain now a divine sanction, so that all arbitrariness is excluded. So that it is be a perfect manifestation of the love of God to His covenant-people ( Eze 40:1-43:12\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.14"); and from it, as from a new center of religious life, there gushes forth the fulness of blessings to them, and so to all people ( Eze 47:1-23\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.15") [FairbairnandHavernick]. The temple built at the return from Babylon can only very partially have realized the model here given. The law is seemingly opposed to the gospel ( Mt 5:21, 22, 27, 28, 33, 34\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.18"). It is not really so (compare Mt 5:17, 18; Ro 3:31; Ga 3:21, 22\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.19"). It is true Christ's sacrifice superseded the law sacrifices ( Heb 10:12-18\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.20"). Israel's province may hereafter be to show the essential identity, even in the minute details of the temple sacrifices, between the law and gospel ( Ro 10:8\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p3.21"). The ideal of the theocratic temple will then first be realized.
      
1. beginning of the year--the ecclesiastical year, the first month of which was Nisan.
      
the city ... thither--Jerusalem, the center to which all the prophet's thoughts tended.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p5.1"2. visions of God--divinely sent visions.
      
very high mountain--Moriah, very high, as compared with the plains of Babylon, still more so as to its \imoral\ielevation ( Eze 17:22; 20:40\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p7.1").
      
by which--Ezekiel coming from the north is set down \iat\i(as the \iHebrew\ifor "upon" may be translated) Mount Moriah, and sees the city-like frame of the temple stretching \isouthward.\iIn Eze 40:3\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p8.1", "God brings him thither," that is, close up to it, so as to inspect it minutely (compare Re 21:10\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p8.2"). In this closing vision, as in the opening one of the book, the divine hand is laid on the prophet, and he is borne away in the visions of God. But the scene there was by the Chebar, Jehovah having forsaken Jerusalem; now it is the mountain of God, Jehovah having returned thither; there, the vision was calculated to inspire terror; here, hope and assurance.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p8.3"3. man--The Old Testament manifestations of heavenly beings as \imen\iprepared men's minds for the coming incarnation.
      
brass--resplendent.
      
line--used for longer measurements ( Zec 2:1\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p11.1").
      
reed--used in measuring houses ( Re 21:15\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p12.1"). It marked the straightness of the walls.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p12.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p12.3"5.Measures were mostly taken from the human body. The \igreater cubit,\ithe length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, a little more than two feet: exceeding the ordinary \icubit\i(from the elbow to the wrist) by an hand-breadth, that is, twenty-one inches in all. Compare Eze 43:13, with Eze 40:5\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p13.1". The \ipalm\iwas the full breadth of the hand, three and a half inches.
      
breadth of the building--that is, the boundary wall. The imperfections in the old temple's boundary wall were to have no place here. The buildings attached to it had been sometimes turned to common uses; for example, Jeremiah was imprisoned in one ( Jer 20:2; 29:26\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p14.1"). But now all these were to be holy to the Lord. The gates and doorways to the city of God were to be imprinted in their architecture with the idea of the exclusion of everything defiled ( Re 21:27\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p14.2"). The east gate was to be especially sacred, as it was through it the glory of God had departed ( Eze 11:23\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p14.3"), and through it the glory was to return ( Eze 43:1, 2; 44:2, 3\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p14.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p14.5"6. the stairs--seven in number ( Eze 40:26\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p15.1").
      
threshold--the sill [Fairbairn].
      
other threshold--Fairbairnconsiders there is but one threshold, and translates, "even the one threshold, one rod broad." But there is another threshold mentioned in Eze 40:7\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p17.2". The two thresholds here seem to be the upper and the lower.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p17.3"7. chamber--These chambers were for the use of the Levites who watched at the temple gates; \iguard-chambers\i( 2Ki 22:4; 1Ch 9:26, 27\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p18.1"); also used for storing utensils and musical instruments.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p18.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p18.3"9. posts--projecting column-faced fronts of the sides of the doorway, opposite to one another.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p19.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p19.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p19.3"12. space--rather, "the boundary."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p20.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p20.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p20.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p20.4"16. narrow--latticed [Henderson]. The ancients had no glass, so they had them latticed, narrow in the interior of the walls, and widening at the exterior. "Made fast," or "firmly fixed in the chambers" [Maurer].
      
arches--rather, "porches."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p22.1"17. pavement--tesselated mosaic ( Es 1:6\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p23.1").
      
chambers--serving as lodgings for the priests on duty in the temple, and as receptacles of the tithes of salt, wine, and oil.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p24.1"18.The higher pavement was level with the entrance of the gates, the lower was on either side of the raised pavement thus formed. Whereas Solomon's temple had an outer court open to alterations and even idolatrous innovations ( 2Ki 23:11, 12; 1Ch 20:5\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p25.1"), in this there was to be no room for human corruptions. Its compass was exactly defined, one hundred cubits; and the fine pavement implied it was to be trodden only by clean feet (compare Isa 35:8\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p25.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p25.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p25.4"20-27.The different approaches corresponded in plan. In the case of these two other gates, however, no mention is made of a building with thirty chambers such as was found on the east side. Only one was needed, and it was assigned to the east as being the sacred quarter, and that most conveniently situated for the officiating priests.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p26.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p26.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p26.3"23. and toward the east--an elliptical expression for "The gate of the inner court was over against the (outer) gate toward the north (just as the inner gate was over against the outer gate) toward the east."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p27.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p27.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p27.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p27.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p27.5"28-37.The inner court and its gates.
      
according to these measures--namely, the measures of the outer gate. The figure and proportions of the inner answered to the outer.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p29.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p29.2"30.This verse is omitted in the \iSeptuagint,\ithe Vatican manuscript, and others. The dimensions here of the inner gate do not correspond to the outer, though Eze 40:28\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p30.1"asserts that they do.Havernick, retaining the verse, understands it of another porch looking inwards toward the temple.
      
arches--the porch [Fairbairn]; the columns on which the arches rest [Henderson].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p31.3"31. eight steps--The outer porch had only \iseven\i( Eze 40:26\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p32.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p32.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p32.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p32.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p32.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p32.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p32.7"37. posts--the \iSeptuagint\iand \iVulgate\iread, "the porch," which answers better to Eze 40:31-34\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p33.1". "The arches" or "porch" [Maurer].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p33.3"38. chambers ... entries--literally, "a chamber and its door."
      
by the posts--that is, \iat\ior \iclose by\ithe posts or \icolumns.\i
      
where they washed the burnt offering--This does not apply to all the gates but only to the north gate. For Le 1:11\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p36.1"directs the sacrifices to be killed north of the altar; and Eze 8:5\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p36.2"calls the north gate, "the gate of the altar." And Eze 40:40\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p36.3"particularly mentions the \inorth gate.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p36.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p36.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p36.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p36.7" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p36.8"43. hooks--cooking apparatus for cooking the flesh of the sacrifices that fell to the priests. The hooks were "fastened" in the walls within the apartment, to hang the meat from, so as to roast it. The \iHebrew\icomes from a root "fixed" or "placed."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p37.1"44. the chambers of the singers--two in number, as proved by what follows: "and their prospect (that is, the prospect of \ione\i) was toward the south, (and) one toward the north." So the \iSeptuagint.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p38.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p38.2"46. Zadok--lineally descended from Aaron. He had the high priesthood conferred on him by Solomon, who had set aside the family of Ithamar because of the part which Abiathar had taken in the rebellion of Adonijah ( 1Ki 1:7; 2:26, 27\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p39.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p39.2"47. court, an hundred cubits ... foursquare--not to be confounded with the inner court, or court of Israel, which was open to all who had sacrifices to bring, and went round the three sides of the sacred territory, one hundred cubits broad. This court was one hundred cubits square, and had the altar in it, in front of the temple. It was the court of the priests, and hence is connected with those who had charge of the altar and the music. The description here is brief, as the things connected with this portion were from the first divinely regulated.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p40.1"48, 49.These two verses belong to the forty-first chapter, which treats of the temple itself.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xli-p41.1"49. twenty ... eleven cubits--in Solomon's temple ( 1Ki 6:3\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p42.1") "twenty ... \iten\icubits." The breadth perhaps was ten \iand a half;\i 1Ki 6:3\Q="x.xxvi.xli-p42.2"designates the number by the \ilesser\inext round number, "ten"; Ezekiel here, by the \ilarger\inumber, "eleven" [Menochius]. The \iSeptuagint\ireads "twelve."
      
he brought me by the steps--They were \iten\iin number [ \iSeptuagint\i].
      

\C3="Chapter 41" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p0.1"CHAPTER 41
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p1.1" Eze 41:1-26\Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p2.1".The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
      
1. tabernacle--As in the measurement of the outer porch he had pointed to Solomon's \itemple,\iso here in the edifice itself, he points to the old \itabernacle,\iwhich being eight boards in breadth (each one and a half cubits broad) would make in all twelve cubits, as here. On the interior it was only ten cubits.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p3.1"2. length thereof--namely, of the holy place [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p4.2"3. inward--towards the most holy place.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p5.1"4. thereof--of the holy of holies.
      
before the temple--that is, before, or in front of the most holy place (so "temple" is used in 1Ki 6:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p7.1"). The angel went in and measured it, while Ezekiel stood in front, in the only part of the temple accessible to him. The dimensions of the two apartments are the same as in Solomon's temple, since being fixed originally by God, they are regarded as finally determined.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p7.2"5. side chamber--the singular used collectively for the plural. These chambers were appendages attached to the outside of the temple, on the west, north, and south; for on the east side, the principal entrance, there were no chambers. The narrowness of the chambers was in order that the beams could be supported without needing pillars. The plan is similar to that of the hall at Koyunjik, a large central hall, called the oracle, with smaller rooms built round it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p8.1"6. might ... hold, but ... not hold in ... wall of the house-- 1Ki 6:6\Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p9.1"tells us there were rests made in the walls of the temple for supports to the side chambers; but the temple walls did not thereby become part of this side building; they stood separate from it. "They entered," namely, the beams of the chambers, which were three-storied and thirty in consecutive order, entered into the wall, that is, were made to lean on rests projecting from the wall.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p9.2"7. the breadth ... so increased from the lowest ... to the highest--that is, the breadth of the interior space above was greater than that below.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p10.1"8. foundations ... six ... cubits--the substructure, on which the foundations rested, was a full reed of six cubits.
      
great--literally, "to the extremity" or root, namely, of the hand [Henderson]. "To the joining," or point, where the foundation of one chamber ceased and another began [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p12.3"9. that which was left--There was an unoccupied place within chambers that belonged to the house. The buildings in this unoccupied place, west of the temple, and so much resembling it in size, imply that no place was to be left which was to be held, as of old, not sacred. Manasseh ( 2Ki 23:11\Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p13.1") had abused these "suburbs of the temple" to keeping horses sacred to the sun. All excuse for such abominations was henceforth to be taken away, the Lord claiming every space, and filling up this also with sacred erections [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p13.3"10. the chambers--that is, of the priests in the court: between these and the side chambers was the wideness, &c. While long details are given as to the chambers, &c., no mention is made of the ark of the covenant.Fairbairnthus interprets this: In future there was to be a perfect conformity to the divine idea, such as there had not been before. The dwellings of His people should all become true sanctuaries of piety. Jehovah Himself, in the full display of the divine Shekinah, shall come in the room of the ark of the covenant ( Jer 3:16, 17\Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p14.2"). The interior of the temple stands empty, waiting for His entrance to fill it with His glory ( Eze 43:1-12\Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p14.3"). It is the same temple, but the courts of it have become different to accommodate a more numerous people. The entire compass of the temple mount has become a holy of holies ( Eze 43:12\Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p14.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p14.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p14.6"12-15.Sum of the measures of the temple, and of the buildings behind and on the side of it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p15.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p15.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p15.3"15. galleries--terrace buildings. On the west or back of the temple, there was a separate place occupied by buildings of the same external dimensions as the temple, that is, one hundred cubits square in the entire compass [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p16.2"16. covered--being the highest windows they were "covered" from the view below. Or else "covered \iwith lattice-work.\i"
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p17.1"17. by measure--Measurements were taken [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p18.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p18.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p18.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p18.5"21. appearance of the one as the appearance of the other--The appearance of the sanctuary or holy of holies was similar to that of the temple. They differed only in magnitude.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p19.1"22. table ... before the Lord--the altar of incense ( Eze 44:16\Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p20.1"). At it, not at the table of showbread, the priests daily ministered. It stood in front of the veil, and is therefore said to be "before the Lord." It is called a table, as being that at which the Lord will take delight in His people, as at a feast. Hence its dimensions are larger than that of old--three cubits high, two broad, instead of two and one.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p20.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p20.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p20.4"25. thick planks--a thick-plank work at the threshold.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlii-p21.1"
\C3="Chapter 42" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p0.1"CHAPTER 42
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p1.1" Eze 42:1-20\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p2.1".Chambers of the Priests: Measurements of the Temple.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p2.3"2. Before the length of an hundred cubits--that is, before "the separate place," which was that length ( Eze 41:13\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p3.1"). He had before spoken of chambers for the officiating priests on the north and south gates of the inner court ( Eze 40:44-46\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p3.2"). He now returns to take a more exact view of them.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p3.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p3.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p3.5"5. shorter--that is, the building became \inarrower\ias it rose in height. The chambers were many: so "in My Father's house are many mansions" ( Joh 14:2\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.1"); and besides these there was much "room" still left (compare Lu 14:22\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.2"). The chambers, though private, were near the temple. Prayer in our chambers is to prepare us for public devotions, and to help us in improving them.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.7" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.8" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.9" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.10" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.11" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.12" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p4.13"16. five hundred reeds--the \iSeptuagint\isubstitutes "cubits" for "reeds," to escape the immense compass assigned to the whole, namely, a square of five hundred rods or three thousand cubits (two feet each; Eze 40:5\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p5.1"), in all a square of one and one-seventh miles, that is, more than all ancient Jerusalem; also, there is much space thus left unappropriated.Fairbairnrightly supports \iEnglish Version,\iwhich agrees with the \iHebrew.\iThe vast extent is another feature marking the ideal character of the temple. It symbolizes the great enlargement of the kingdom of God, when Jehovah-Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem, and from thence to the ends of the earth ( Isa 2:2-4; Jer 3:17; Ro 11:12, 15\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p5.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p5.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p5.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p5.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p5.7"20. wall ... separation between ... sanctuary and ... profane--No longer shall the wall of partition be to separate the Jew and the Gentile ( Eph 2:14\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p6.1"), but to separate the sacred from the profane. The lowness of it renders it unfit for the purpose of defense (the object of the wall, Re 21:12\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p6.2"). But its square form (as in the city, Re 21:16\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p6.3") is the emblem of the kingdom that cannot be shaken ( Heb 12:28\Q="x.xxvi.xliii-p6.4"), resting on prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone.
      

\C3="Chapter 43" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p0.1"CHAPTER 43
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p1.1" Eze 43:1-27\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p2.1".Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
      
Everything was now ready for His reception. As the Shekinah glory was the peculiar distinction of the old temple, so it was to be in the new in a degree as much more transcendent as the proportions of the new exceeded those of the old. The fact that the Shekinah glory was not in the second temple proves that it cannot be that temple which is meant in the prophecy.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p3.1"2. the way of the east--the way whereby the glory had departed ( Eze 11:22, 23\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p4.1"), and rested on Mount Olivet (compare Zec 14:4\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p4.2").
      
his voice ... like ... many waters--So \iEnglish Version\irightly, as in Eze 1:24\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p5.1", "voice of the Almighty"; Re 1:15; 14:2\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p5.2", prove this. Not asFairbairntranslates, "its noise."
      
earth his glory--( Re 18:1\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p6.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p6.2"3. when I came to destroy the city--that is, to pronounce God's word for its destruction. So completely did the prophets identify themselves with Him in whose name they spake.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p7.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p7.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p7.3"6. the man--who had been measuring the buildings ( Eze 40:3\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p8.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p8.2"7. the place--that is, " \ibehold\ithe place of My throne"--the place on which your thoughts have so much dwelt ( Isa 2:1-3; Jer 3:17; Zec 14:16-20; Mal 3:1\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p9.1"). God from the first claimed to be their King politically as well as religiously: and He had resisted their wish to have a human king, as implying a rejection of Him as the proper Head of the state. Even when He yielded to their wish, it was with a protest against their king ruling except as His vicegerent. When Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem, He shall then first realize the original idea of the theocracy, with its at once divine and human king reigning in righteousness over a people all righteous ( Eze 43:12; Isa 52:1; 54:13; 60:21\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p9.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p9.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p9.4"9. carcasses of their kings--It is supposed that some of their idolatrous kings were buried within the bounds of Solomon's temple [Henderson]. Rather, "the carcasses of their \iidols,\i" here called "kings," as having had lordship over them in past times ( Isa 26:13\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p10.2"); but henceforth Jehovah, alone their rightful lord, shall be their king, and the idols that had been their "king" would appear but as "carcasses." Hence these defunct kings are associated with the "high places" in Eze 43:7\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p10.3"[Fairbairn]. Le 26:30 and Jer 16:18\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p10.5", confirm this. Manasseh had built altars in the courts of the temple to the host of heaven ( 2Ki 21:5; 23:6\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p10.6").
      
I will dwell in the midst ... for ever--( Re 21:3\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p11.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p11.2"10. show the house ... that they may be ashamed of their iniquities--When the spirituality of the Christian scheme is \ishown\ito men by the Holy Ghost, it makes them "ashamed of their iniquities."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p12.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p12.2"12. whole ... most holy--This superlative, which had been used exclusively of the holy of holies ( Ex 26:34\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p13.1"), was now to characterize the entire building. This all-pervading sanctity was to be " \ithe\ilaw of the (whole) house," as distinguished from the Levitical law, which confined the peculiar sanctity to a single apartment of it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p13.2"13-27.As to the altar of burnt offering, which was the appointed means of access to God.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p14.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p14.2"15. altar-- \iHebrew, Harel,\ithat is, "mount of God"; denoting the high security to be imparted by it to the restored Israel. It was a high place, but a high place \iof God,\inot of idols.
      
from the altar--literally, "the lion of God," \iAriel\i(in Isa 29:1\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p16.1", "Ariel" is applied to Jerusalem).Menochiussupposes that on it four animals were carved; the lion perhaps was the uppermost, whence the horns were made to issue.Geseniusregards the two words as expressing the "hearth" or fireplace of the altar.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p16.4"16. square in the four squares--square on the four sides of its squares [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p17.2"17. settle--ledge [Fairbairn].
      
stairs--rather, "the ascent," as "steps" up to God's altar were forbidden in Ex 20:26\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p19.1".
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p19.2"18-27.The sacrifices here are not mere commemorative, but propitiatory ones. The expressions, "blood" ( Eze 43:18\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p20.1"), and "for a sin offering" ( Eze 43:19, 21, 22\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p20.2"), prove this. In the \iliteral\isense they can only apply to the second temple. Under the Christian dispensation they would directly oppose the doctrine taught in Heb 10:1-18\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p20.3", namely, that Christ has by one offering for ever atoned for sin. However, it is \ipossible\ithat they might exist with a \iretrospective\ireference to Christ's sufferings, as the Levitical sacrifices had a \iprospective\ireference to them; not propitiatory in themselves, but memorials to keep up the remembrance of His propitiatory sufferings, which form the foundation of His kingdom, lest they should be lost sight of in the glory of that kingdom [De Burgh]. The particularity of the directions make it unlikely that they are to be understood in a merely vague spiritual sense.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p20.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p20.6"20. cleanse--literally, "make expiation for."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p21.1"21. burn it ... without the sanctuary--( Heb 13:11\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p22.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p22.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p22.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p22.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p22.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p22.6"26. Seven days--referring to the original directions of Moses for seven days' purification services of the altar ( Ex 29:37\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p23.1").
      
consecrate themselves--literally, "fill their hands," namely, with offerings; referring to the mode of consecrating a priest ( Ex 29:24, 35\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p24.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p24.2"27. I will accept you--( Eze 20:40, 41; Ro 12:1; 1Pe 2:5\Q="x.xxvi.xliv-p25.1").
      

\C3="Chapter 44" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p0.1"CHAPTER 44
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p1.1" Eze 44:1-31\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p2.1".Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p2.3"2. shut ... not be opened--( Job 12:14; Isa 22:22; Re 3:7\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p3.1"). "Shut" to the people ( Ex 19:21, 22\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p3.2"), but open to "the prince" ( Eze 44:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p3.3"), he holding the place of God in political concerns, as the priests do in spiritual. As a mark of respect to an Eastern monarch, the gate by which he enters is thenceforth shut to all other persons (compare Ex 19:24\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p3.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p3.5"3. the prince--not King Messiah, as He never would offer a burnt offering for Himself, as the prince is to do ( Eze 46:4\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p4.1"). The prince must mean the civil ruler under Messiah. His connection with the east gate (by which the Lord had returned to His temple) implies, that, as ruling under God, he is to stand in a place of peculiar nearness to God. He represents Messiah, who entered heaven, the true sanctuary, by a way that none other could, namely, by His own holiness; all others must enter as sinners by faith in His blood, through grace.
      
eat bread before the Lord--a custom connected with sacrifices ( Ge 31:54; Ex 18:12; 24:11; 1Co 10:18\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p5.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p5.2"4-6.Directions as to the priests. Their acts of desecration are attributed to "the house of Israel" ( Eze 44:6, 7\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p6.1"), as the sins of the priesthood and of the people acted and reacted on one another; "like people, like priest" ( Jer 5:31; Ho 4:9\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p6.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p6.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p6.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p6.5"7. uncircumcised in heart--Israelites circumcised outwardly, but wanting the true circumcision of the heart ( De 10:16; Ac 7:51\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p7.1").
      
uncircumcised in flesh--not having even the outward badge of the covenant-people.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p8.1"8. keepers ... for yourselves--such as you yourselves thought fit, not such as I approve of. Or else, "Ye have not \iyourselves\ikept the charge of My holy things, but have set \iothers as\ikeepers of My charge in My sanctuary for yourselves" [Maurer].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p9.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p9.3"10, 11. Levites ... shall ... bear--namely, the punishment of
      
their iniquity ... Yet they shall be ministers--So Mark, a \iLevite,\inephew of Barnabas ( Ac 4:36\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p11.1"), was punished by Paul for losing an opportunity of bearing the cross of Christ, and yet was afterwards admitted into his friendship again, and showed his zeal ( Ac 13:13; 15:37; Col 4:10; 2Ti 4:11\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p11.2"). One may be a believer, and that too in a distinguished place, and yet lose some special honor--be acknowledged as pious, yet be excluded from some dignity [Bengel].
      
charge at the gates--Better to be "a doorkeeper in the house of God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness" ( Ps 84:10\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p12.1"). Though standing as a mere doorkeeper, it is in the \ihouse\iof God, which hath foundations: whereas he who \idwells\iwith the wicked, dwells in but shifting \itents.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p12.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p12.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p12.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p12.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p12.6"15. Zadok--The priests of the line of Ithamar were to be discharged from ministrations in the temple, because of their corruptions, following in the steps of Eli's sons, against whom the same denunciation was uttered ( 1Sa 2:32, 35\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p13.1"). Zadok, according to his name (which means "righteous") and his line, were to succeed ( 1Ki 2:35; 1Ch 24:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p13.2"), as they did not take part in the general apostasy to the same degree, and perhaps [Fairbairn] the prophet, referring to their original state, speaks of them as they appeared when first chosen to the office.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p13.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p13.5"17. linen--symbolical of purity. Wool soon induces perspiration in the sultry East and so becomes uncleanly.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p14.1"18. bonnets--turbans.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p15.1"19. not sanctify the people with their garments--namely, those peculiarly priestly vestments in which they ministered in the sanctuary.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p16.1"20. Neither ... shave ... heads--as mourners do ( Le 21:1-5\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p17.1"). The worshippers of the Egyptian idols Serapis and Isis shaved their heads; another reason why Jehovah's priests are not to do so.
      
nor suffer ... locks to grow long--as the luxurious, barbarians, and soldiers in warfare did [Jerome].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p18.2"21. Neither ... wine--lest the holy enthusiasm of their devotion should be mistaken for inebriation, as in Peter's case ( Ac 2:13, 15, 18\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p19.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p19.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p19.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p19.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p19.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p19.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p19.7" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p19.8"28. I am their inheritance--( Nu 18:20; De 10:9; 18:1; Jos 13:14, 32\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p20.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p20.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p20.3"30. give ... priest the first ... that he may cause the blessing to rest--( Pr 3:9, 10; Mal 3:10\Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p21.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlv-p21.2"
\C3="Chapter 45" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p0.1"CHAPTER 45
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p1.1" Eze 45:1-25\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p2.1".Allotment of the Land for the Sanctuary, the City, and the Prince.
      
1. offer an oblation--from a \iHebrew\iroot to "heave" or "raise"; when anything was offered to God, the offerer raised the hand. The special territorial division for the tribes is given in the forty-seventh and forty-eighth chapters. Only Jehovah's portion is here subdivided into its three parts: (1) that for the sanctuary ( Eze 45:2, 3\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p3.1"); (2) that for the priests ( Eze 45:4\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p3.2"); (3) that for the Levites ( Eze 45:5\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p3.3"). Compare Eze 48:8-13\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p3.4".
      
five and twenty thousand \ireeds,\i&c.--So \iEnglish Version\irightly fills the ellipsis (compare \iNote,\isee on). Hence "cubits" are mentioned in Eze 45:2\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.3", not here, implying that \ithere alone\icubits are meant. Taking each reed at twelve feet, the area of the whole would be a square of sixty miles on each side. The whole forming a square betokens the settled stability of the community and the harmony of all classes. "An holy portion of the land" ( Eze 45:1\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.4") comprised the whole length, and only two-fifths of the breadth. The outer territory in its distribution harmonizes with the inner and more sacred arrangements of the sanctuary. No room is to be given for \ioppression\i(see Eze 45:8\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.5"), all having ample provision made for their wants and comforts. All will mutually co-operate without constraint or contention.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.7" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.8" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.9" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.10" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p4.11"7.The prince's possession is to consist of two halves, one on the west, the other on the east, of the sacred territory. The prince, as head of the holy community, stands in closest connection with the sanctuary; his possession, therefore, on both sides must adjoin that which was peculiarly the Lord's [Fairbairn].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p5.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p5.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p5.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p5.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p5.6"12.The standard weights were lost when the Chaldeans destroyed the temple. The threefold enumeration of shekels (twenty, twenty-five, fifteen) probably refers to coins of different value, representing respectively so many shekels, the three collectively making up a \imaneh.\iBy weighing these together against the \imaneh,\ia test was afforded whether they severally had their proper weight: sixty shekels in all, containing one coin a fourth of the whole (fifteen shekels), another a third (twenty shekels), another a third and a twelfth (twenty-five shekels) [Menochius]. The \iSeptuagint\ireads, " \ififty\ishekels shall be your \imaneh.\i"
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p6.2"13-15.In these oblations there is a progression as to the relation between the kind and the quantity: of the corn, the sixth of a tenth, that is, a sixtieth part of the quantity specified; of the oil, the tenth of a tenth, that is, an hundredth part; and of the flock, one from every two hundred.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p7.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p7.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p7.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p7.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p7.5"18.The year is to begin with a consecration service, not mentioned under the Levitical law; but an earnest of it is given in the feast of dedication of the second temple, which celebrated its purification by Judas Maccabeus, after its defilement by Antiochus.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p8.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p8.2"20. for him that is simple--for sins of ignorance ( Le 4:2, 13, 27\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p9.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p9.2"21.As a new solemnity, the feast of consecration is to prepare for the passover; so the passover itself is to have different sacrifices from those of the Mosaic law. Instead of one ram and seven lambs for the daily burnt offering, there are to be seven bullocks and seven rams. So also whereas the feast of tabernacles had its own offerings, which diminished as the days of the feast advanced, here the same are appointed as on the passover. Thus it is implied that the letter of the law is to give place to its spirit, those outward rites of Judaism having no intrinsic efficacy, but symbolizing the spiritual truths of Messiah's kingdom, as for instance the perfect holiness which is to characterize it. Compare 1Co 5:7, 8\Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p10.1", as to our spiritual "passover," wherein, at the Lord's supper, we feed on Christ by faith, accompanied with "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Literal ordinances, though not slavishly bound to the letter of the law, will set forth the catholic and eternal verities of Messiah's kingdom.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p10.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p10.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p10.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvi-p10.5"
\C3="Chapter 46" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p0.1"CHAPTER 46
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p1.1" Eze 46:1-24\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p2.1".Continuation of the Ordinances for the Prince and for the People in Their Worship.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p2.3"2.The prince is to go through the east gate without (open on the Sabbath only, to mark its peculiar sanctity) to the entrance of the gate of the inner court; he is to go no further, but "stand by the post" (compare 1Ki 8:14, 22\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.1", Solomon standing before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the congregation; also 2Ki 11:14; 23:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.2", "by a pillar": the customary place), the court within belonging exclusively to the priests. There, as representative of the people, in a peculiarly near relation to God, he is to present his offerings to Jehovah, while at a greater distance, the people are to stand worshipping at the outer gate of the same entrance. The offerings on Sabbaths are larger than those of the Mosaic law, to imply that the worship of God is to be conducted by the prince and people in a more munificent spirit of self-sacrificing liberality than formerly.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.7" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.8" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p3.9"9.The worshippers were on the great feasts to pass from one side to the other, through the temple courts, in order that, in such a throng as should attend the festivals, the ingress and egress should be the more unimpeded, those going out not being in the way of those coming in.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p4.1"10. prince in the midst--not isolated as at other times, but joining the great throng of worshippers, at their head, after the example of David ( Ps 42:4\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p5.1", "I had gone with the multitude ... to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day"); the highest in rank animating the devotions of the rest by his presence and example.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p5.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p5.3"12-15.Not only is he to perform \iofficial\iacts of worship on holy days and feasts, but in "voluntary" offerings daily he is to show his individual zeal, surpassing all his people in liberality, and so setting them a princely example.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p6.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p6.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p6.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p6.4"16-18.The prince's possession is to be inalienable, and any portion given to a servant is to revert to his sons at the year of jubilee, that he may have no temptation to spoil his people of their inheritance, as formerly (compare Ahab and Naboth, 1Ki 21:1-29\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p7.1"). The mention of the year of jubilee implies that there is something literal meant, besides the spiritual sense. The jubilee year was restored after the captivity [Josephus, \iAntiquities,\i14.10,6; 1 Maccabees 6:49\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p7.3"]. Perhaps it will be restored under Messiah's coming reign. Compare Isa 61:2, 3\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p7.4", where "the acceptable year of the Lord" is closely connected with the comforting of the mourners in Zion, and "the day of vengeance" on Zion's foes. The mention of the prince's \isons\iis another argument against Messiah being meant by "the prince."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p7.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p7.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p7.7"19-24.Due regard is to be had for the sanctity of the officiating priests' food, by cooking courts being provided close to their chambers. One set of apartments for cooking was to be at the corners of the \iinner\icourt, reserved for the flesh of the sin offerings, to be eaten only by the priests whose perquisite it was ( Le 6:25; 7:7\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p8.1"), before coming forth to mingle again with the people; another set at the corners of the \iouter\icourt, for cooking the flesh of the peace offerings, of which the people partook along with the priests. All this implies that no longer are the common and unclean to be confounded with the sacred and divine, but that in even the least things, as eating and drinking, the glory of God is to be the aim ( 1Co 10:31\Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p8.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p8.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p8.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p8.5"22. courts joined--Fairbairntranslates, "roofed" or "vaulted." But these cooking apartments seem to have been uncovered, to let the smoke and smell of the meat the more easily pass away. They were "joined" or "attached" to the walls of the courts at the corners of the latter [Menochius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p9.3"23. boiling places--boilers.
      
under the rows--At the foot of the rows, that is, in the lowest part of the \iwalls,\iwere the places for boiling made.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlvii-p11.1"
\C3="Chapter 47" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p0.1"CHAPTER 47
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p1.1" Eze 47:1-23\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p2.1".Vision of the Temple Waters. Borders and Division of The land.
      
The happy fruit to the earth at large of God's dwelling with Israel in holy fellowship is that the blessing is no longer restricted to the one people and locality, but is to be diffused with comprehensive catholicity through the whole world. So the plant from the cedar of Lebanon is represented as gathering under its shelter "all fowl of every wing" ( Eze 17:23\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p3.1"). Even the desert places of the earth shall be made fruitful by the healing waters of the Gospel (compare Isa 35:1\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p3.2").
      
1. waters--So Re 22:1\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.1", represents "the water of life as proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." His throne was set up in the temple at Jerusalem ( Eze 43:7\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.2"). Thence it is to flow over the earth ( Joe 3:18; Zec 13:1; 14:8\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.3"). Messiah is the temple and the door; from His pierced side flow the living waters, ever increasing, both in the individual believer and in the heart. The fountains in the vicinity of Moriah suggested the image here. The waters flow eastward, that is, towards the Kedron, and thence towards the Jordan, and so along the Ghor into the Dead Sea. The main point in the picture is the rapid augmentation from a petty stream into a mighty river, not by the influx of side streams, but by its own self-supply from the sacred miraculous source in the temple [Henderson]. (Compare Ps 36:8, 9; 46:4; Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.5"). Searching into the things of God, we find some easy to understand, as the water up to the ankles; others more difficult, which require a deeper search, as the waters up to the knees or loins; others beyond our reach, of which we can only adore the depth ( Ro 11:33\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.6"). The \ihealing\iof the waters of the Dead Sea here answers to "there shall be no more curse" ( Re 22:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.7"; compare Zec 14:11\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.8").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.9" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.10" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.11" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.12" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.13" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p4.14"7. trees--not merely \ione\itree of life as in Paradise ( Ge 3:22\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p5.1"), but many: to supply immortal food and medicine to the people of God, who themselves also become "trees of righteousness" ( Isa 61:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p5.2") planted by the waters and ( Ps 1:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p5.3") bearing fruit unto holiness.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p5.4"8. the desert--or "plain," \iHebrew, Arabah\i( De 3:17; 4:49; Jos 3:16\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p6.1"), which is the name still given to the valley of the Jordan and the plain south of the Dead Sea, and extending to the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea.
      
the sea--the Dead Sea. " \iThe sea\i" noted as covering with its waters the guilty cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah. In its bituminous waters no vegetable or animal life is said to be found. But now death is to give place to life in Judea, and throughout the world, as symbolized by the healing of these death-pervaded waters covering the doomed cities. Compare as to "the sea" in general, regarded as a symbol of the troubled powers of nature, disordered by the fall, henceforth to rage no more, Re 21:1\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p7.1".
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p7.2"9. rivers--in \iHebrew,\i" \itwo\irivers." Hence Hebrew expositors think that the waters from the temple were divided into two branches, the one emptying itself into the eastern or Dead Sea, the other into the western or Mediterranean. So Zec 14:8\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p8.1". However, though this probably is covertly implied in the \iHebrew dual,\ithe flowing of the waters into the \iDead Sea only\iis expressed. Compare Eze 47:8\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p8.2", "waters ... healed," which can apply only to it, not to the Mediterranean: also Eze 47:10\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p8.3", "fish as the fish of the great sea"; the Dead Sea, when healed, containing fish, as the Mediterranean does.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p8.4"10. En-gedi ... En-eglaim--En-gedi (meaning "fountain of the kid"), anciently, Hazazon-Tamar, now Ain-Jidy; west of the Dead Sea; David's place of refuge from Saul. En-eglaim means "fountain of two calves," on the confines of Moab, over against En-gedi, and near where Jordan enters the Dead Sea ( Isa 15:8\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p9.1"). These two limits are fixed on, to comprise between them the whole Dead Sea.
      
fish ... according to their kinds--Jeromequotes an ancient theory that "there are a hundred fifty-three kinds of fishes," all of which were taken by the apostles ( Joh 21:11\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p10.2"), and not one remained uncaptured; signifying that both the noble and baseborn, the rich and the poor, and every class, are being drawn out of the sea of the world to salvation. Compare Mt 13:47\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p10.3", the gospel net; the apostles being fishermen, at first literally, afterwards spiritually ( Mt 4:19\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p10.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p10.5"11. marshes--marshy places. The region is known to have such pits and marshes. The Arabs take the salt collected by evaporation in these pits for their own use, and that of their flocks.
      
not be healed--Those not reached by the healing waters of the Gospel, through their sloth and earthly-mindedness, are given over ( Re 22:11\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p12.1") to their own bitterness and barrenness (as "saltness" is often employed to express, De 29:23; Ps 107:34; Zep 2:9\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p12.2"); an awful example to others in the punishment they suffer ( 2Pe 2:6\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p12.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p12.4"12.Instead of the "vine of Sodom and grapes of Gomorrah" ( De 32:32\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p13.1"), nauseous and unwholesome, trees of life-giving and life-restoring virtue shall bloom similar in properties to, and exceeding in number, the tree of life in Eden ( Re 2:7; 22:2, 14\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p13.2").
      
leaf ... not fade--expressing not only the unfailing character of the heavenly medicine of the tree of life, but also that the graces of the believer (as a tree of righteousness), which are the \ileaves,\iand his deeds, which are the fruits that flow from those graces, are immortal ( Ps 1:3; Jer 17:8; Mt 10:42; 1Co 15:58\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p14.1").
      
new fruit--literally, "firstlings," or first fruit. They are still, each month afresh, as it were, yielding their first-fruit [Fairbairn]. The \ifirst-born\iof a thing, in \iHebrew\iidiom, means \ithe chiefest.\iAs Job 18:13\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p15.2", "the first-born of death," that is, \ithe most fatal\ideath.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p15.3"13. \iThe redivision of the land: the boundaries.\iThe latter are substantially the same as those given by Moses in Nu 34:1-29\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p16.1"; they here begin with the north, but in Numbers they begin with the south ( Nu 34:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p16.2"). It is only Canaan proper, exclusive of the possession of the two and a half tribes beyond Jordan, that is here divided.
      
Joseph ... two portions--according to the original promise of Jacob ( Ge 48:5, 22\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p17.1"). Joseph's sons were given the birthright forfeited by Reuben, the first-born ( 1Ch 5:1\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p17.2"). Therefore the former is here put first. His \itwo\isons having distinct portions make up the whole number \itwelve\iportions, as he had just before specified " \itwelve\itribes of Israel"; for Levi had no separate inheritance, so that he is not reckoned in the twelve.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p17.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p17.4"15. Zedad--on the north boundary of Canaan.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p18.1"16. Hamath--As Israel was a separate people, so their land was a separate land. On no scene could the sacred history have been so well transacted as on it. On the east was the sandy desert. On the north and south, mountains. On the west, an inhospitable sea-shore. But it was not always to be a separate land. Between the parallel ranges of Lebanon is the long valley of El-Bekaa, leading to "the entering in of Hamath" on the Orontes, in the Syrian frontier. Roman roads, and the harbor made at Cæsarea, opened out doors through which the Gospel should go from it to all lands. So in the last days, when all shall flock to Jerusalem as the religious center of the world.
      
Berothah--a city in Syria conquered by David ( 2Sa 8:8\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p20.1"); meaning "wells."
      
Hazar-hatticon--meaning "the middle village."
      
Hauran--a tract in Syria, south of Damascus; Auranitis.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p22.1"17. Hazar-enan--a town in the north of Canaan, meaning "village of fountains."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p23.1"18. east sea--the Dead Sea. The border is to go down straight to it by the valley of the Jordan. So Nu 34:11, 12\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p24.1".
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p24.2"19. Tamar--not Tadmor in the desert, but Tamar, the last town of Judea, by the Dead Sea. Meaning "palm tree"; so called from palm trees abounding near it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p25.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p25.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p25.3"22. to the strangers--It is altogether unprecedented under the old covenant, that "strangers" should have "inheritance" among the tribes. There would not be room locally within Canaan for more than the tribes. The literal sense must therefore be modified, as expressing that Gentiles are not to be excluded from settling among the covenant-people, and that spiritually their privileges are not to be less than those of Israel ( Ro 10:12; Ga 3:28; Eph 3:6; Col 3:11; Re 7:9, 10\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p26.1"). Still, "sojourneth," in Eze 47:23\Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p26.2", implies that in Canaan, the covenant people are regarded as \iat home,\ithe strangers as \isettlers.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlviii-p26.3"
\C3="Chapter 48" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p0.1"CHAPTER 48
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p1.1" Eze 48:1-35\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p2.1".Allotment of the Land to the Several Tribes.
      
1. Dan--The lands are divided into portions of ideal exactness, running alongside of each other, the whole breadth from west to east, standing in a common relation to the temple in the center: seven tribes' portions on the north, five in the smaller division in the south. The portions of the city, the temple, the prince, and the priesthood, are in the middle, not within the boundaries of any tribe, all alike having a common interest in them. Judah has the place of honor next the center on the north, Benjamin the corresponding place of honor next the center on the south; because of the adherence of these two to the temple ordinances and to the house of David for so long, when the others deserted them. Dan, on the contrary, so long locally and morally semi-heathen ( Jud 18:1-31\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p3.1"), is to have the least honorable place, at the extreme north. For the same reason, St. John ( Re 7:5-8\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p3.2") omits Dan altogether.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p3.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p3.4"3. Asher--a tribe of which no one of note is mentioned in the Old Testament. In the New Testament one is singled out of it, the prophetess Anna.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p4.1"4. Manasseh--The intercourse and unity between the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan, and the nine and a half west of it, had been much kept up by the splitting of Manasseh, causing the visits of kinsmen one to the other from both sides of the Jordan. There shall be no need for this in the new order of things.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p5.1"5. Ephraim--This tribe, within its two dependent tribes, Manasseh and Benjamin, for upwards of four hundred years under the judges held the pre-eminence.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p6.1"6. Reuben--doomed formerly for incest and instability "not to excel" ( Ge 49:4\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.1"). So no distinguished prophet, priest, or king had come from it. Of it were the notorious Dathan and Abiram, the mutineers. A pastoral and Bedouin character marked it and Gad ( Jud 5:16\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.7" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.8" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.9" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.10" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p7.11"15-17.The five thousand rods, apportioned to the city out of the twenty-five thousand square, are to be laid off in a square of four thousand five hundred, with the two hundred fifty all around for suburbs.
      
profane--that is, not strictly sacred as the sacerdotal portions, but applied to secular uses.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.1" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.6" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.7" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.8" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p9.9"24. Benjamin--Compare Jacob's prophecy ( Ge 49:27; De 33:12\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p10.1"). It alone with Judah had been throughout loyal to the house of David, so its prowess at the "night" of the national history was celebrated as well as in the "morning."
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p10.2"25. Simeon--omitted in the blessing of Moses in De 33:1-29\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p11.1", perhaps because of the Simeonite "prince," who at Baal-peor led the Israelites in their idolatrous whoredoms with Midian ( Nu 25:14\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p11.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p11.3"26. Issachar--Its ancient portion had been on the plain of Esdraelon. Compared ( Ge 49:14\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p12.1") to "a strong ass crouching between two burdens," that is, tribute and tillage; never meddling with wars except in self-defense.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p12.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p12.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p12.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p12.5" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p12.6"31. gates--( Re 21:12\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p13.1", &c.). The twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes to imply that all are regarded as having an interest in it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p13.2" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p13.3" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p13.4" \Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p13.5"35. Lord is there-- \iJehovah-Shammah.\iNot that the city will be called so in mere name, but that the reality will be best expressed by this descriptive title ( Jer 3:17; 33:16; Zec 2:10; Re 21:3; 22:3\Q="x.xxvi.xlix-p14.1").
      
\C2="Daniel"
THE
BOOK OF DANIEL.
 \iCommentary by\iA. R. Faussett
      

\C3="Introduction"INTRODUCTION
      
Daniel,that is, "God is my judge"; probably of the blood royal (compare Da 1:3, with 1Ch 3:1\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.2", where \ia son of David\iis named so). Jerusalem may have been his birthplace (though Da 9:24\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.3", "thy holy city," does not \inecessarily\iimply this). He was carried to Babylon among the Hebrew captives brought thither by Nebuchadnezzar at the first deportation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. As he and his three companions are called ( Da 1:4\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.4") "children," he cannot have been more than about twelve years old when put in training, according to Eastern etiquette, to be a courtier ( Da 1:3, 6\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.5"). He then received a new name, by which it was usual to mark a change in one's condition ( 2Ki 23:34; 24:17; Ezr 5:14; Es 2:7\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.6"), Belteshazzar, that is, "a prince favored by Bel" ( Da 1:7\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.7"). His piety and wisdom were proverbial among his countrymen at an early period; probably owing to that noble proof he gave of faithfulness, combined with wisdom, in abstaining from the food sent to him from the king's table, as being polluted by the idolatries usual at heathen banquets ( Da 1:8-16\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.8"). Hence Ezekiel's reference to him ( Eze 14:14, 20; 28:3\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.9") is precisely of that kind we should expect; a coincidence which must be undesigned. Ezekiel refers to him not as a \iwriter,\ibut as exhibiting a character righteous and wise in discerning secrets, in those circumstances now found in his book, which are \iearlier\ithan the time when Ezekiel wrote. As Joseph rose in Egypt by interpreting Pharaoh's dreams, so Daniel, by interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's, was promoted to be governor of Babylonia, and president of the Magian priest-caste. Under Evil-merodach, Nebuchadnezzar's successor, as a change of officers often attends the accession of a new king, Daniel seems to have had a lower post, which led him occasionally to be away from Babylon ( Da 8:2, 27\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.10"). Again he came into note when he read the mystic writing of Belshazzar's doom on the wall on the night of that monarch's impious feast.Berosuscalls the last Babylonian king Nabonidus and says he was not killed, but had an honorable abode in Carmania assigned to him, after having surrendered voluntarily in Borsippa.Rawlinsonhas cleared up the discrepancy from the Nineveh inscription. Belshazzar was joint king with his father, Evil-merodach or Nabonidus (called Minus in the inscriptions), to whom he was subordinate. He shut himself up in Babylon, while the other king took refuge elsewhere, namely, in Borsippa.Berosusgives the Chaldean account, which suppresses all about Belshazzar, as being to the national dishonor. Had Daniel been a \ilate\ibook, he would no doubt have taken up the later account ofBerosus. If he gave a history differing from that current in Babylonia, the Jews of that region would not have received it as true. Darius the Mede, or Cyaxares II, succeeded and reigned two years. The mention of this monarch's reign, almost unknown to profane history (being eclipsed by the splendor of Cyrus) is an incidental proof that Daniel wrote as a contemporary historian of events which he knew, and did not borrow from others. In the third year of Cyrus he saw the visions (the tenth through twelfth chapters) relating to his people down to the latest days and the coming resurrection. He must have been about eighty-four years old at this time. Tradition represents Daniel as having died and been buried at Shushan. Though his advanced age did not allow him to be among those who returned to Palestine, yet he never ceased to have his people's interests nearest to his heart ( Da 9:3-19; 10:12\Q="x.xxvii.i-p2.15").
      
Authenticity of the Book of Daniel. Da 7:1, 28; 8:2; 9:2; 10:1, 2; 12:4, 5\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.2", testify that it was composed by Daniel himself. He does not mention himself in the first six chapters, which are \ihistorical;\ifor in these it is not the author, but the \ievents\iwhich are the prominent point. In the last six, which are \iprophetical,\ithe author makes himself known, for here it was needed, prophecy being a revelation of \iwords\ito particular men. It holds a third rank in the \iHebrew\icanon: not among \ithe prophets,\ibut in the Hagiographa (Chetubim), between Esther and Ezra, books like it relating to the captivity; because he did not strictly belong to those who held exclusively the \iprofession\iof "prophets" in the theocracy, but was rather a "seer," having the \igift,\ibut not the \ioffice\iof prophet. Were the book an interpolated one, it doubtless would have been placed among the prophets. Its present position is a proof of its genuineness, as it was \ideliberately\iput in a position different from that where most would expect to find it. Placed between Esther, and Ezra and Nehemiah, it separated the historical books of the time after the captivity. Thus, Daniel was, asBengelcalls him, the politician, chronologer, and historian among the prophets. The Psalms also, though many are prophetical, are ranked with the Hagiographa, not with the prophets; and the Revelation of John is separated from his Epistles, as Daniel is from the Old Testament prophets. Instead of writing in the midst of the covenant people, and making them the foreground of his picture, he writes in a heathen court, the world kingdoms occupying the foreground, and the kingdom of God, though ultimately made the most significant, the background. His peculiar position in the heathen court is reflected in his peculiar position in the canon. As the "prophets" in the Old Testament, so the epistles of the apostles in the New Testament were written by divinely commissioned persons for their contemporaries. But Daniel and John were not in immediate contact with the congregation, but isolated and alone with God, the one in a heathen court, the other on a lonely isle ( Re 1:9\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.4").Porphyry, the assailant of Christianity in the third century, asserted that the Book of Daniel was a forgery of the time of the Maccabees (170-164B.C.), a time when \iconfessedly\ithere were no prophets, written after the events as to Antiochus Epiphanes, which it professes to \iforetell;\iso accurate are the details. A conclusive proof of Daniel's inspiration, if his prophecies can be shown to have been \ibefore\ithe events. Now we know, fromJosephus[ \iAntiquities,\i10.11.7], that the Jews in Christ's days recognized Daniel as in the canon. Zechariah, Ezra, and Nehemiah, centuries before Antiochus, refer to it. Jesus refers to it in His characteristic designation, "Son of man," Mt 24:30\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.8"( Da 7:13\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.9"); also expressly by name, and as a "prophet," in Mt 24:15\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.10"(compare Mt 24:21, with Da 12:1\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.11", &c.); and in the moment that decided His life ( Mt 26:64\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.12") or death, when the high priest adjured him by the living God. Also, in Lu 1:19-26\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.13", "Gabriel" is mentioned, whose name occurs nowhere else in Scripture, save in Da 8:16; 9:21\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.14". Besides the references to it in Revelation, Paul confirms the prophetical part of it, as to the blasphemous king ( Da 7:8, 25; 11:36\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.15"), in 1Co 6:2; 2Th 2:3, 4\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.16"; the narrative part, as to the miraculous deliverances from "the lions" and "the fire," in Heb 11:33, 34\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.17". Thus the book is expressly attested by the New Testament on the three points made the stumbling-block of neologists--the predictions, the narratives of miracles, and the manifestations of angels. An objection has been stated to the unity of the book, namely, that Jesus quotes no part of the first half of Daniel. But Mt 21:44\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.18"would be an enigma if it were not a reference to the "stone that smote the image" ( Da 2:34, 35, 44, 45\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.19"). Thus the New Testament sanctions the second, third, sixth, seventh, and eleventh chapters. The design of the miracles in the heathen courts where Daniel was, as of those of Moses in Egypt, was to lead the world power, which seemed to be victorious over the theocracy, to see the essential inner superiority of the seemingly fallen kingdom of God to itself, and to show prostrate Israel that the power of God was the same as of old in Egypt. The first book of Maccabees (compare 1 Maccabees 1:24; 9:27, 40\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.20", with Da 12:1; 11:26\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.21", of the \iSeptuagint\i) refers to Daniel as an accredited book, and even refers to the \iSeptuagint\iAlexandrian version of it. The fact of Daniel having a place in the \iSeptuagint\ishows it was received by the Jews at large prior to the Maccabean times. The \iSeptuagint\iversion so arbitrarily deviated from the \iHebrew\iDaniel, that Theodotius' version was substituted for it in the early Christian Church.Josephus[ \iAntiquities,\i11.8.5] mentions that Alexander the Great had designed to punish the Jews for their fidelity to Darius, but that Jaddua (332B.C.), the high priest, met him at the head of a procession and averted his wrath by showing him Daniel's prophecy that a Grecian monarch should overthrow Persia. Certain it is, Alexander favored the Jews, andJosephus'statement gives an explanation of the fact; at least it shows that the Jews inJosephus'days \ibelieved\ithat Daniel was extant in Alexander's days, long before the Maccabees. With Jaddua (high priest from 341-322B.C.) the Old Testament history ends ( Ne 12:11\Q="x.xxvii.i-p3.27"). (The register of the priests and Levites was not written by Nehemiah, who died about 400B.C., but was inserted with divine sanction by the collectors of the canon subsequently.) An objection to Daniel's authenticity has been rested on a few \iGreek\iwords found in it. But these are mostly names of Greek musical instruments, which were imported by Greece from the East, rather than vice versa. Some of the words are derived from the common Indo-Germanic stock of both \iGreek\iand \iChaldee:\ihence their appearance in both tongues. And one or two may have come through the Greeks of Asia Minor to the \iChaldee.\iThe fact that from the fourth verse of the second chapter to the end of the seventh, the language is \iChaldee,\ibut the rest \iHebrew,\iis not an argument against, but for, its authenticity. So in Ezra the two languages are found. The work, if that of one author, must have been composed by someone in the circumstances of Daniel, that is, by one familiar with both languages. No native-born Hebrew who had not lived in Chaldea would know \iChaldee\iso well as to use it with the same idiomatic ease as his native tongue; the very impurities in Daniel's use of both are just such as were \inatural\ito one in his circumstances, but \iunnatural\ito one in a later age, or to one not half Hebrew, half Chaldean in residence as Daniel was. Those parts of Daniel which concern the whole world are mostly \iChaldee,\ithen the language of the world empire. So \iGreek\iwas made the language of the New Testament, which was designed for the whole world. Those affecting the Jews, mostly \iHebrew;\iand this not so impure as that of Ezekiel. His \iChaldee\iis a mixture of \iHebrew\iand \iAramaic.\iTwo predictions alone are enough to prove to us that Daniel was a true prophet. (1) That his prophecies reach beyond Antiochus; namely, he foretells the rise of \ithe four great monarchies,\iBabylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (the last not being in Daniel's time known beyond the precincts of Italy, or rather of Latium), and that no other earthly kingdom would subvert the fourth, but that it would divide into parts. All this has come to pass. No \ififth\igreat earthly monarchy has arisen, though often attempted, as by Charlemagne, Charles V, and Napoleon. (2) The time of Messiah's advent, as dated from a certain decree, His being cut off, and the destruction of the city. "He who denies Daniel's prophecies," saysSir Isaac Newton, "undermines Christianity, which is founded on Daniel's prophecies concerning Christ."
      
Characteristics of Daniel.The \ivision mode of revelation\iis the exception in other prophets, the rule in Daniel. In Zechariah ( Zec 1:1-6:15\Q="x.xxvii.i-p4.2"), who lived after Daniel, the same mode appears, but the other form from the seventh chapter to the end. The Revelation of St. John alone is perfectly parallel to Daniel, which may be called the Old Testament Apocalypse. In the \icontents\itoo there is the difference above noticed, that he views the kingdom of God from the standpoint of the world kingdoms, the development of which is his great subject. This mode of viewing it was appropriate to his own position in a heathen court, and to the relation of subjection in which the covenant-people then stood to the world powers. No longer are single powers of the world incidentally introduced, but the \iuniversal monarchies\iare the chief theme, in which the worldly principle, opposed to the kingdom of God, manifests itself fully. The near and distant are not seen in the same perspective, as by the other prophets, who viewed the whole future from the eschatological point; but in Daniel the historical \idetails\iare given of that development of the world powers which must precede the advent of the kingdom [Auberlen].
      
Significance of the Babylonian Captivity.The exile is the historical basis of Daniel's prophecies, as Daniel implies in the first chapter, which commences with the beginning, and ends with the termination, of the captivity ( Da 1:1, 21\Q="x.xxvii.i-p5.2"; compare Da 9:1, 2\Q="x.xxvii.i-p5.3"). A new stage in the theocracy begins with the captivity. Nebuchadnezzar made three incursions into Judah. The first under Jehoiakim (606B.C.), in which Daniel was carried away, subjected the theocracy to the Babylonian world power. The second (598B.C.) was that in which Jehoiachin and Ezekiel were carried away. In the third (588B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and carried away Zedekiah. Originally, Abraham was raised out of the "sea" ( Da 7:2\Q="x.xxvii.i-p5.7") of the nations, as an island holy to God, and his seed chosen as God's mediator of His revelations of love to mankind. Under David and Solomon, the theocracy, as opposed to the heathen power, attained its climax in the Old Testament, not only being independent, but lord of the surrounding nations; so that the period of these two kings was henceforth made the type of the Messianic. But when God's people, instead of resting on Him, seek alliance with the world power, that very power is made the instrument of their chastisement. So Ephraim (722B.C.) fell by Assyria; and Judah also, drawn into the sphere of the world's movements from the time of Ahaz, who sought Assyrian help (740B.C., Isa 7:1-25\Q="x.xxvii.i-p5.10") at last fell by Babylon, and thenceforth has been more or less dependent on the world monarchies, and so, till Messiah, was favored with no revelations from the time of Malachi (four hundred years). Thus, from the beginning of the exile, the theocracy, in the strict sense, ceased on earth; the rule of the world powers superseding it. But God's covenant with Israel remains firm ( Ro 11:29\Q="x.xxvii.i-p5.11"); therefore, a period of blessing under Messiah's kingdom is \inow\iforetold as about to follow their long chastisement. The exile thus is the turning point in the history of the theocracy, whichRoosthus divides: (1) From Adam to the exodus out of Egypt. (2) From the exodus to the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. (3) From the captivity to the millennium. (4) From the millennium to the end of the world. \iThe position of Daniel\iin the Babylonian court was in unison with the altered relations of the theocracy and the world power, which new relation was to be the theme of his prophecy. Earlier prophets, from the standpoint of Israel, treated of Israel in its relation to the world powers; Daniel, from Babylon, the center of the then world power, treats of the world powers in their relation to Israel. His seventy years' residence in Babylon, and his high official position there, gave him an insight into the world's politics, fitting him to be the recipient of political revelations; while his spiritual experiences, gained through Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation, Belshazzar's downfall, and the rapid decay of the Babylonian empire itself, as well as the miraculous deliverances of himself and his friends (the third through sixth chapters), all fitted him for regarding things from the spiritual standpoint, from which the world's power appears transient, but the glory of God's kingdom eternal. As his political position was the \ibody,\ithe school of magicians in which he had studied for three years ( Da 1:4, 5\Q="x.xxvii.i-p5.13") was the \isoul;\iand his mind strong in faith and nourished by the earlier prophecies ( Da 9:2\Q="x.xxvii.i-p5.14"), the \ispirit\iof his prophecy, which only waited for the spirit of revelation from above to kindle it. So God fits His organs for their work.Auberlencompares Daniel to Joseph: the one at the beginning, the other at the end of the Jewish history of revelation; both representatives of God and His people at heathen courts; both interpreters of the dim presentiments of truth, expressed in God-sent dreams, and therefore raised to honor by the powers of the world: so representing Israel's calling to be a royal priesthood among the nations; and types of Christ, the true Israel, and of Israel's destination to be a light to lighten the whole Gentile world, as Ro 11:12, 15\Q="x.xxvii.i-p5.16"foretells. As Achilles at the beginning, and Alexander at the end, of Grecian history are the mirrors of the whole life of the Hellenic people, so Joseph and Daniel of Israel.
      
Contents of the Book.Historical and biographical \iintroduction\iin \ithe first chapter.\iDaniel, a captive exile, is representative of his nation in its servitude and exile: while his heavenly insight into dreams, far exceeding that of the magi, represents the divine superiority of the covenant-people over their heathen lords. The high dignities, even in the world, which he thereby attained, typify the giving of the earth-kingdom at last "to the people of the saints of the Most High" ( Da 7:27\Q="x.xxvii.i-p6.2"). Thus Daniel's personal history is the typical foundation of his prophecy. The prophets had to experience in themselves, and in their age, something of what they foretold about future times; just as David felt much of Christ's sufferings in his own person (compare Ho 1:2-9, 10, 11; 2:3\Q="x.xxvii.i-p6.3"). So Jon 1:1-17\Q="x.xxvii.i-p6.4", &c. [Roos]. Hence biographical notices of Daniel and his friends are inserted among his prophecies. The second through twelfth chapters contain the substance of the book, and consist of \itwo parts.\iThe first (the second through seventh chapters) represents the development of the world powers, viewed from a historical point. The second (the eighth through twelfth chapters), their development in relation to Israel, especially in the future preceding Christ's first advent, foretold in the ninth chapter. But prophecy looks beyond the immediate future to the complete fulfilment in the last days, since the individual parts in the organic history of salvation cannot be understood except in connection with the whole. Also Israel looked forward to the Messianic time, not only for spiritual salvation, but also for the visible restoration of the kingdom which even now we too expect. The prophecy which they needed ought therefore to comprise both, and so much of the history of the world as would elapse before the final consummation. The period of Daniel's prophecies, therefore, is that from the downfall of the theocracy at the captivity till its final restoration, yet future--the period of the dominion of the world powers, not set aside by Christ's first coming ( Joh 18:36\Q="x.xxvii.i-p6.6"; for, to have taken the earth-kingdom \ithen,\iwould have been to take it from Satan's hands, Mt 4:8-10\Q="x.xxvii.i-p6.7"), but to be superseded by His universal and everlasting kingdom at His second coming ( Re 11:15\Q="x.xxvii.i-p6.8"). Thus the general survey of the development and final destiny of the world powers (the second through seventh chapters) fittingly precedes the disclosures as to the immediate future (the eighth through twelfth chapters). Daniel marks the division by writing the first part in \iChaldee,\iand the second, and the introduction, in \iHebrew;\ithe former, referring to the powers of the world, in the language of the then dominant world power under which he lived; the latter, relating to the people of God, in their own language. An interpolator in a later age would have used \iHebrew,\ithe language of the ancient prophets throughout, or if anywhere \iAramaic,\iso as to be understood by his contemporaries, he would have used it in the second rather than in the first part as having a more immediate reference to his own times [Auberlen].
      

\C3="Chapter 1" \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p0.1"CHAPTER 1
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p1.1" Da 1:1-21\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p2.1".The Babylonian Captivity Begins; Daniel's Education at Babylon,&C.
      
1. third year--compare Jer 25:1\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p3.1", "the \ifourth\iyear; Jehoiakim came to the throne at the \iend\iof the year, which Jeremiah reckons as the \ifirst\iyear, but which Daniel leaves out of count, being an incomplete year: thus, in Jeremiah, it is "the \ifourth\iyear"; in Daniel, "the \ithird\i" [Jahn]. However, Jeremiah ( Jer 25:1; 46:2\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p3.3") merely says, the fourth year of Jehoiakim coincided with the first of Nebuchadnezzar, when the latter \iconquered the Egyptians at Carchemish;\inot that the \ideportation of captives from Jerusalem\iwas in the fourth year of Jehoiakim: this probably took place in the end of the third year of Jehoiakim, shortly \ibefore\ithe battle of Carchemish [Fairbairn]. Nebuchadnezzar took away the captives as hostages for the submission of the Hebrews. \iHistorical\iScripture gives no positive account of this first deportation, with which the Babylonian captivity, that is, Judah's subjection to Babylon for seventy years ( Jer 29:10\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p3.5"), begins. But 2Ch 36:6, 7\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p3.6", states that Nebuchadnezzar had intended "to carry Jehoiakim to Babylon," and that he "carried off the vessels of the house of the Lord" thither. But Jehoiakim died at Jerusalem, before the conqueror's intention as to him was carried into effect ( Jer 22:18, 19; 36:30\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p3.7"), and his dead body, as was foretold, was dragged out of the gates by the Chaldean besiegers, and left unburied. The second deportation under Jehoiachin was eight years later.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p3.8"2. Shinar--the old name of Babylonia ( Ge 11:2; 14:1; Isa 11:11; Zec 5:11\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p4.1"). Nebuchadnezzar took only "part of the vessels," as he did not intend wholly to overthrow the state, but to make it tributary, and to leave such vessels as were absolutely needed for the public worship of Jehovah. Subsequently all were taken away and were restored under Cyrus ( Ezr 1:7\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p4.2").
      
his god--Bel. His temple, as was often the case among the heathen, was made "treasure house" of the king.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p5.1"3. master of ... eunuchs--called in Turkey the \ikislar aga.\i
      
of the king's seed--compare the prophecy, 2Ki 20:17, 18\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p7.1".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p7.2"4. no blemish--A handsome form was connected, in Oriental ideas, with mental power. "Children" means youths of twelve or fourteen years old.
      
teach ... tongue of ... Chaldeans--their language and literature, the Aramaic-Babylonian. That the heathen lore was not altogether valueless appears from the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses; the Eastern Magi who sought Jesus, and who may have drawn the tradition as to the "King of the Jews" from Da 9:24\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p9.1", &c., written in the East. As Moses was trained in the learning of the Egyptian sages, so Daniel in that of the Chaldeans, to familiarize his mind with mysterious lore, and so develop his heaven-bestowed gift of understanding in visions ( Da 1:4, 5, 17\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p9.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p9.3"5. king's meat--It is usual for an Eastern king to entertain, from the food of his table, many retainers and royal captives ( Jer 52:33, 34\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p10.1"). The \iHebrew\ifor "meat" implies \idelicacies.\i
      
stand before the king--as attendant courtiers; not as eunuchs.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p11.1"6. children of Judah--the most noble tribe, being that to which the "king's seed" belonged (compare Da 1:3\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p12.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p12.2"7. gave names--designed to mark their new relation, that so they might forget their former religion and country ( Ge 41:45\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p13.1"). But as in Joseph's case (whom Pharaoh called Zaphnath-paaneah), so in Daniel's, the name indicative of his relation to a heathen court ("Belteshazzar," that is, "Bel's prince"), however flattering to him, is not the one retained by Scripture, but the name marking his relation to God ("Daniel," \iGod my Judge,\ithe theme of his prophecies being \iGod's judgment\ion the heathen world powers).
      
Hananiah--that is, "whom Jehovah hath favored."
      
Shadrach--from \iRak,\iin Babylonian, "the King," that is, "the Sun"; the same root as in \iAbrech\i( Ge 41:43\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p15.1", \iMargin\i), "Inspired or illumined by the Sun-god."
      
Mishael--that is, "who is what God is?" \iWho is comparable to God?\i
      
Meshach--The Babylonians retained the first syllable of Mishael, the \iHebrew\iname; but for \iEl,\ithat is,God, substituted \iShak,\ithe Babylonian goddess, called Sheshach ( Jer 25:26; 51:41\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p17.2"), answering to the Earth, or else Venus, the goddess of love and mirth; it was during her feast that Cyrus took Babylon.
      
Azariah--that is, "whom Jehovah helps."
      
Abed-nego--that is, "servant of the shining fire." Thus, instead of to Jehovah, these His servants were dedicated by the heathen to their four leading gods [Herodotus, \iClio\i]; Bel, the Chief-god, the Sun-god, Earth-god, and Fire-god. To the last the three youths were consigned when refusing to worship the golden image ( Da 3:12\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p19.2"). The \iChaldee version\itranslates "Lucifer," in Isa 14:12\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p19.3", \iNogea,\ithe same as \iNego.\iThe names thus at the outset are significant of the seeming triumph, but sure downfall, of the heathen powers before Jehovah and His people.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p19.4"8. Daniel ... would not defile himself with ... king's meat--Daniel is specified as being the leader in the "purpose" (the word implies a \idecided\iresolution) to abstain from defilement, thus manifesting a character already formed for prophetical functions. The other three youths, no doubt, shared in his purpose. It was the custom to throw a small part of the viands and wine upon the earth, as an initiatory offering to the gods, so as to consecrate to them the whole entertainment (compare De 32:38\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p20.1"). To have partaken of such a feast would have been to sanction idolatry, and was forbidden even after the legal distinction of clean and unclean meats was done away ( 1Co 8:7, 10; 10:27, 28\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p20.2"). Thus the faith of these youths was made instrumental in overruling the evil foretold against the Jews ( Eze 4:13; Ho 9:3\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p20.3"), to the glory of God. Daniel and his three friends, saysAuberlen, stand out like an oasis in the desert. Like Moses, Daniel "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" ( Heb 11:25\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p20.5"; see Da 9:3-19\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p20.6"). He who is to interpret divine revelations must not feed on the dainties, nor drink from the intoxicating cup, of this world. This made him as dear a name to his countrymen as Noah and Job, who also stood alone in their piety among a perverse generation ( Eze 14:14; 28:3\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p20.7").
      
requested--While decided in principle, we ought to seek our object by gentleness, rather than by an ostentatious testimony, which, under the plea of faithfulness, courts opposition.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p21.1"9. God ... brought Daniel into favour--The favor of others towards the godly is the doing of God. So in Joseph's case ( Ge 39:21\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p22.1"). Especially towards Israel ( Ps 106:46\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p22.2"; compare Pr 16:7\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p22.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p22.4"10. worse liking--looking less healthy.
      
your sort--of \iyour age,\ior \iclass;\iliterally, "circle."
      
endanger my head--An arbitrary Oriental despot could, in a fit of wrath at his orders having been disobeyed, command the offender to be instantly decapitated.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p25.1"11. Melzar--rather, the steward, or chief butler, entrusted by Ashpenaz with furnishing the daily portion to the youths [Gesenius]. The word is still in use in Persia.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p26.2"12. pulse--The \iHebrew\iexpresses any vegetable grown from \iseeds,\ithat is, vegetable food in general [Gesenius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p27.2"13-15.Illustrating De 8:3\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p28.1", "Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p28.2" \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p28.3" \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p28.4" \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p28.5"17. God gave them knowledge--( Ex 31:2, 3; 1Ki 3:12; Job 32:8; Jas 1:5, 17\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p29.1").
      
Daniel had understanding in ... dreams--God thus made one of the despised covenant-people eclipse the Chaldean sages in the very science on which they most prided themselves. So Joseph in the court of Pharaoh ( Ge 40:5; 41:1-8\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p30.1"). Daniel, in these praises of his own "understanding," speaks not through vanity, but by the direction of God, as one transported out of himself. See my"Contents of the Book."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p30.4"18. brought them in--that is, not only Daniel and his three friends, but other youths ( Da 1:3, 19\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p31.1", "among \ithem all\i").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p31.2"19. stood ... before the king--that is, were advanced to a position of favor near the throne.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p32.1"20. ten times--literally, "ten hands."
      
magicians--properly, "sacred scribes, skilled in the sacred writings, a class of Egyptian priests" [Gesenius]; from a \iHebrew\iroot, "a pen." The word in our \iEnglish Version,\i"magicians," comes from \imag,\ithat is, "a priest." The Magi formed one of the six divisions of the Medes.
      
astrologers-- \iHebrew,\i"enchanters," from a root, "to conceal," pactisers of the occult arts.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ii-p35.1"21. Daniel continued ... unto ... first year of Cyrus--( 2Ch 36:22; Ezr 1:1\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p36.1"). Not that he did not continue \ibeyond\ithat year, but the expression is designed to mark the fact that he who was one of the first captives taken to Babylon, lived to see the end of the captivity. See my"Significance of the Babylonian Captivity." In Da 10:1\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p36.4"he is mentioned as living "in the third year of Cyrus." See \iMargin Note,\ion the use of "till" ( Ps 110:1, 112:8\Q="x.xxvii.ii-p36.5").
      

\C3="Chapter 2" \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p0.1"CHAPTER 2
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p1.1" Da 2:1-49\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p2.1".Nebuchadnezzar's Dream: Daniel's Interpretation of It, and Advancement.
      
1. second year of ... Nebuchadnezzar-- Da 1:5\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p3.1"shows that "three years" had elapsed since Nebuchadnezzar had taken Jerusalem. The solution of this difficulty is: Nebuchadnezzar first ruled as subordinate to his father Nabopolassar, to which time the first chapter refers ( Da 1:1\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p3.2"); whereas "the second year" in the second chapter is dated from his sole sovereignty. The very difficulty is a proof of genuineness; all was clear to the writer and the original readers from \itheir\iknowledge of the circumstances, and so he adds no explanation. A forger would not \iintroduce\idifficulties; the author did not \ithen\isee any difficulty in the case. Nebuchadnezzar is called "king" ( Da 1:1\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p3.3"), \iby anticipation.\iBefore he left Judea, he became actual king by the death of his father, and the Jews always called him "king," as commander of the invading army.
      
dreams--It is significant that not to Daniel, but to the then world ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, the dream is vouchsafed. It was from the first of its representatives who had conquered the theocracy, that the world power was to learn its doom, as about to be in its turn subdued, and for ever by the kingdom of God. As this vision opens, so that in the seventh chapter developing the same truth more fully, closes the first part. Nebuchadnezzar, as vicegerent of God ( Da 2:37\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p4.1"; compare Jer 25:9; Eze 28:12-15; Isa 44:28; 45:1; Ro 13:1\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p4.2"), is honored with the revelation in the form of a dream, the appropriate form to one outside the kingdom of God. So in the cases of Abimelech, Pharaoh, &c. ( Ge 20:3; 41:1-7\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p4.3"), especially as the heathen attached such importance to dreams. Still it is not he, but an Israelite, who interprets it. Heathendom is passive, Israel active, in divine things, so that the glory redounds to "the God of heaven."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p4.4"2. Chaldeans--here, a certain order of priest-magicians, who wore a peculiar dress, like that seen on the gods and deified men in the Assyrian sculptures. Probably they belonged exclusively to the Chaldeans, the original tribe of the Babylonian nation, just as the Magians were properly Medes.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p5.1"3. troubled to know the dream--He awoke in alarm, remembering that something solemn had been presented to him in a dream, without being able to recall the form in which it had clothed itself. His thoughts on the unprecedented greatness to which his power had attained ( Da 2:29\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p6.1") made him anxious to know what the issue of all this should be. God meets this wish in the way most calculated to impress him.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p6.2"4.Here begins the \iChaldee\iportion of Daniel, which continues to the end of the seventh chapter. In it the course, character, and crisis of the Gentile power are treated; whereas, in the other parts, which are in \iHebrew,\ithe things treated apply more particularly to the Jews and Jerusalem.
      
Syriac--the \iAramean Chaldee,\ithe vernacular tongue of the king and his court; the prophet, by mentioning it here, hints at the reason of his own adoption of it from this point.
      
live for ever--a formula in addressing kings, like our "Long live the king!" Compare 1Ki 1:31\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p9.1".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p9.2"5. The thing--that is, The dream, "is gone from me."Geseniustranslates, "The \idecree\iis gone forth from me," irrevocable (compare Isa 45:23\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p10.2"); namely, that you shall be executed, if you do not tell both the dream and the interpretation. \iEnglish Version\iis simpler, which supposes the king himself to have forgotten the dream. Pretenders to supernatural knowledge often bring on themselves their own punishment.
      
cut in pieces--( 1Sa 15:33\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p11.1").
      
houses ... dunghill--rather, "a morass heap." The Babylonian houses were built of sun-dried bricks; when demolished, the rain dissolves the whole into a mass of mire, in the wet land, near the river [Stuart]. As to the consistency of this cruel threat with Nebuchadnezzar's character, see Da 4:17\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p12.2", "basest of men"; Jer 39:5, 6; 52:9-11\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p12.3".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p12.4"6. rewards--literally, "presents \ipoured out in\ilavish profusion."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p13.1" \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p13.2"8. gain ... time--literally, "buy." Compare Eph 5:16; Col 4:5\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p14.1", where the sense is somewhat different.
      
the thing is gone from me--(See on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p15.3"9. one decree--There can be no second one reversing the first ( Es 4:11\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p16.1").
      
corrupt--deceitful.
      
till the time be changed--till a new state of things arrive, either by my ceasing to trouble myself about the dream, or by a change of government (which perhaps the agitation caused by the dream made Nebuchadnezzar to forebode, and so to suspect the Chaldeans of plotting).
      
tell ... dream, and I shall know ... ye can show ... interpretation--If ye cannot tell the past, a dream actually presented to me, how can ye know, and show, the future events prefigured in it?
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p19.1"10. There is not a man ... that can show--God makes the heathen out of their own mouth, condemn their impotent pretensions to supernatural knowledge, in order to bring out in brighter contrast His power to reveal secrets to His servants, though but "men upon the earth" (compare Da 2:22, 23\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p20.1").
      
therefore,&c.--that is, If such things could be done by men, other absolute princes would have required them from their magicians; as they have not, it is proof such things cannot be done and cannot be reasonably asked from us.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p21.1"11. gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh--answering to "no man \iupon the earth\i"; for there were, in their belief, "men \iin heaven,\i" namely, men deified; for example, Nimrod. The \isupreme\igods are referred to here, who alone, in the Chaldean view, could solve the difficulty, but who do not communicate with men. The \iinferior\igods, intermediate between men and the supreme gods, are unable to solve it. Contrast with this heathen idea of the utter severance of God from man, Joh 1:14\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p22.1", "The Word was made \iflesh,\iand \idwelt\iamong us"; Daniel was in this case made His representative.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p22.2"12, 13.Daniel and his companions do not seem to have been actually numbered among the Magi or Chaldeans, and so were not summoned before the king. Providence ordered it so that all mere human wisdom should be shown vain before His divine power, through His servant, was put forth. Da 2:24\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p23.1"shows that the decree for slaying the wise men had not been actually executed when Daniel interposed.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p23.2" \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p23.3"14. captain of the king's guard--commanding the executioners ( \iMargin;\iand Ge 37:36\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p24.1", \iMargin\i).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p24.2"15. Why is the decree so hasty--Why were not all of us consulted before the decree for the execution of all was issued?
      
the thing--the agitation of the king as to his dream, and his abortive consultation of the Chaldeans. It is plain from this that Daniel was till now ignorant of the whole matter.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p26.1"16. Daniel went in--perhaps not in person, but by the mediation of some courtier who had access to the king. His first direct interview seems to have been Da 2:25\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p27.1"[Barnes].
      
time--The king granted "time" to Daniel, though he would not do so to the Chaldeans because they betrayed their lying purpose by requiring him to tell the dream, which Daniel did not. Providence doubtless influenced his mind, already favorable ( Da 1:19, 20\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p28.1"), to show special favor to Daniel.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p28.2"17.Here appears the reason why Daniel sought "time" ( Da 2:16\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p29.1"), namely he wished to engage his friends to join him in prayer to God to reveal the dream to him.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p29.2"18.An illustration of the power of united prayer ( Mt 18:19\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p30.1"). The same instrumentality rescued Peter from his peril ( Ac 12:5-12\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p30.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p30.3"19. revealed ... in ... night vision--( Job 33:15, 16\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p31.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p31.2"20. answered--responded to God's goodness by praises.
      
name of God-- \iGod in His revelation of Himself\iby acts of love, "wisdom, and might" ( Jer 32:19\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p33.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p33.2"21. changeth ... times ... seasons--"He herein gives a general preparatory intimation, that the dream of Nebuchadnezzar is concerning the changes and successions of kingdoms" [Jerome]. The "times" are the \iphases\iand periods of \iduration\iof empires (compare Da 7:25; 1Ch 12:32; 29:30\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p34.2"); the "seasons" the \ifitting\itimes for their culmination, decline, and fall ( Ec 3:1; Ac 1:7; 1Th 5:1\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p34.3"). The vicissitudes of states, with their times and seasons, are not regulated by chance or fate, as the heathen thought, but by God.
      
removed kings--( Job 12:18; Ps 75:6, 7; Jer 27:5\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p35.1"; compare 1Sa 2:7, 8\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p35.2").
      
giveth wisdom--( 1Ki 3:9-12; Jas 1:5\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p36.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p36.2"22. revealeth--( Job 12:22\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p37.1"). So spiritually ( Eph 1:17, 18\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p37.2").
      
knoweth what is in ... darkness--( Ps 139:11, 12; Heb 4:13\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p38.1").
      
light ... him--( Jas 1:17; 1Jo 1:4\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p39.1"). \iApocalypse\i(or "revelation") signifies a divine, \iprophecy\ia human, activity. Compare 1Co 14:6\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p39.2", where the two are distinguished. The prophet is connected with the outer world, addressing to the congregation the words with which the Spirit of God supplies him; he \ispeaks\iin the Spirit, but the apocalyptic seer \iis in\ithe Spirit in his whole person ( Re 1:10; 4:2\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p39.3"). The form of the apocalyptic revelation (the very term meaning that the \iveil\ithat hides the invisible world is \itaken off\i) is subjectively either the \idream,\ior, higher, the \ivision.\iThe interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream was a preparatory education to Daniel himself. By gradual steps, each revelation preparing him for the succeeding one, God fitted him for disclosures becoming more and more special. In the second and fourth chapters he is but an interpreter of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams; then he has a dream himself, but it is only a vision in a dream of the night ( Da 7:1, 2\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p39.4"); then follows a vision in a waking state ( Da 8:1-3\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p39.5"); lastly, in the two final revelations ( Da 9:20; 10:4, 5\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p39.6") the ecstatic state is no longer needed. The progression in the \iform\ianswers to the progression in the \icontents\iof his prophecy; at first general \ioutlines,\iand these afterwards filled up with minute chronological and historical \idetails,\isuch as are not found in the Revelation of John, though, as became the New Testament, the form of revelation is the highest, namely, clear waking visions [Auberlen].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p39.8"23. thee ... thee--He ascribes all the glory to God.
      
God of my fathers--Thou hast shown Thyself the same God of grace to me, a captive exile, as Thou didst to Israel of old and this on account of the \icovenant\imade with our "fathers" ( Lu 1:54, 55\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p41.1"; compare Ps 106:45\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p41.2").
      
given me wisdom and might--Thou being the fountain of both; referring to Da 2:20\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p42.1". Whatever \iwise ability\iI have to stay the execution of the king's cruel decree, is Thy gift.
      
me ... we ... us--The revelation was given to Daniel, as "me" implies; yet with just modesty he joins his friends with him; because it was to their joint prayers, and not to his individually, that he owed the revelation from God.
      
known ... the king's matter--the very words in which the Chaldeans had denied the \ipossibility of any man on earth\itelling the dream ("not a man upon the earth can show \ithe king's matter,\i" Da 2:10\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p44.1"). Impostors are compelled by the God of truth to eat up their own words.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p44.2"24. Therefore--because of having received the divine communication.
      
bring me in before the king--implying that he had not previously been in person before the king (see on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p46.3"25. I have found a man--Like all courtiers, in announcing agreeable tidings, he ascribes the merit of the discovery to himself [Jerome]. So far from it being a discrepancy, that he says nothing of the previous understanding between him and Daniel, or of Daniel's application to the king ( Da 2:15, 16\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p47.2"), it is just what we should expect. Arioch would not dare to tell an absolute despot that he had stayed the execution of his sanguinary decree, on his own responsibility; but would, in the first instance, secretly stay it until Daniel had got, by application from the king, the time required, without Arioch seeming to know of Daniel's application as the cause of the respite; then, when Daniel had received the revelation, Arioch would in trembling haste bring him in, as if then for the first time he had "found" him. The very difficulty when cleared up is a proof of genuineness, as it never would be \iintroduced\iby a forger.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p47.3" \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p47.4"27. cannot--Daniel, being learned in all the lore of the Chaldeans ( Da 1:4\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p48.1"), could authoritatively declare the \iimpossibility\iof mere man solving the king's difficulty.
      
soothsayers--from a root, "to cut off"; referring to their \icutting\ithe heavens into divisions, and so guessing at men's destinies from the place of the stars at one's birth.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p49.1"28. God--in contrast to "the wise men," &c. ( Da 2:27\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p50.1").
      
revealeth secrets--( Am 3:7; 4:13\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p51.1"). Compare Ge 41:45\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p51.2", \iZaphnath-paaneah,\i"revealer of secrets," the title given to Joseph.
      
the latter days--literally, "in the after days" ( Da 2:29\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p52.1"); "hereafter" ( Ge 49:1\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p52.2"). It refers to the whole future, including the Messianic days, which is the final dispensation ( Isa 2:2\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p52.3").
      
visions of thy head--conceptions formed in the brain.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p53.1"29.God met with a revelation Nebuchadnezzar, who had been meditating on the future destiny of his vast empire.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p54.1"30. not ... for any wisdom that I have--not \ion account\iof any previous wisdom which I may have manifested ( Da 1:17, 20\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p55.1"). The specially-favored servants of God in all ages disclaim merit in themselves and ascribe all to the grace and power of God ( Ge 41:16; Ac 3:12\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p55.2"). The "as for me," disclaiming extraordinary merit, contrasts elegantly with "as for thee," whereby Daniel courteously, but without flattery, implies, that God honored Nebuchadnezzar, as His vicegerent over the world kingdoms, with a revelation on the subject uppermost in his thoughts, the ultimate destinies of those kingdoms.
      
for their sakes that shall make known,&c.--a \iChaldee\iidiom for, "to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king."
      
the thoughts of thy heart--thy subject of thought before falling asleep. Or, perhaps the \iprobation of Nebuchadnezzar's character\ithrough this revelation may be the meaning intended (compare 2Ch 32:31; Lu 2:35\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p57.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p57.2"31.The world power in its totality appears as a colossal human form: Babylon the head of gold, Medo-Persia the breast and \itwo\iarms of silver, Græco-Macedonia the belly and \itwo\ithighs of brass, and Rome, with its Germano-Slavonic offshoots, the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay, the fourth still existing. Those kingdoms only are mentioned which stand in some relation to the kingdom of God; of these none is left out; the final establishment of that kingdom is the aim of His moral government of the world. The colossus of metal stands on weak feet, of clay. All man's glory is as ephemeral and worthless as chaff (compare 1Pe 1:24\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p58.1"). But the kingdom of God, small and unheeded as a "stone" on the ground is compact in its homogeneous unity; whereas the world power, in its heterogeneous constituents successively supplanting one another, contains the elements of decay. The relation of the stone to the mountain is that of the kingdom of the cross ( Mt 16:23; Lu 24:26\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p58.2") to the kingdom of glory, the latter beginning, and the former ending when the kingdom of God breaks in pieces the kingdoms of the world ( Re 11:15\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p58.3"). Christ's contrast between the two kingdoms refers to this passage.
      
a great image--literally, " \ione\iimage that was great." Though the kingdoms were different, it was essentially \ione\iand the same world power under different phases, just as the image was \ione,\ithough the parts were of different metals.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p59.1"32.On ancient coins states are often represented by human figures. The head and higher parts signify the earlier times; the lower, the later times. The metals become successively baser and baser, implying the growing degeneracy from worse to worse.Hesiod, two hundred years before Daniel, had compared the four ages to the four metals in the same order; the idea is sanctioned here by Holy Writ. It was perhaps one of those fragments of revelation among the heathen derived from the tradition as to the fall of man. The metals lessen in \ispecific gravity,\ias they downwards; silver is not so heavy as gold, brass not so heavy as silver, and iron not so heavy as brass, the \iweight\ithus being arranged in the reverse of stability [Tregelles]. Nebuchadnezzar derived his authority from God, not from man, nor as responsible to man. But the Persian king was so far dependent on others that he could not deliver Daniel from the princes ( Da 6:14, 15\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p60.3"); contrast Da 5:18, 19\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p60.4", as to Nebuchadnezzar's power from God, "whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive" (compare Ezr 7:14; Es 1:13-16\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p60.5"). Græco-Macedonia betrays its deterioration in its divisions, not united as Babylon and Persia. Iron is stronger than brass, but inferior in other respects; so Rome hardy and strong to tread down the nations, but less kingly and showing its chief deterioration in its last state. Each successive kingdom incorporates its predecessor (compare Da 5:28\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p60.6"). Power that in Nebuchadnezzar's hands was a God-derived ( Da 2:37, 38\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p60.7") autocracy, in the Persian king's was a rule resting on his nobility of person and birth, the nobles being his equals in rank, but not in office; in Greece, an aristocracy not of birth, but individual influence, in Rome, lowest of all, dependent entirely on popular choice, the emperor being appointed by popular military election.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p60.8"33.As the two arms of silver denote the kings of the Medes and Persians [Josephus]; and the two thighs of brass the Seleucidæ of Syria and Lagidæ of Egypt, the two leading sections into which Græco-Macedonia parted, so the two legs of iron signify the two Roman consuls [Newton]. The clay, in Da 2:41\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p61.3", "potter's clay," Da 2:43\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p61.4", "miry clay," means "earthenware," hard but brittle (compare Ps 2:9; Re 2:27\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p61.5", where the same image is used of the same event); the feet are stable while bearing only direct pressure, but easily broken to pieces by a blow ( Da 2:34\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p61.6"), the iron intermixed not retarding, but hastening, such a result.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p61.7"34. stone--Messiah and His kingdom ( Ge 49:24; Ps 118:22; Isa 28:16\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.1"). In its relations to Israel, it is a "stone of stumbling" ( Isa 8:14; Ac 4:11; 1Pe 2:7, 8\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.2") on which both houses of Israel are broken, not destroyed ( Mt 21:32\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.3"). In its relation to the Church, the same stone which destroys the image is the foundation of the Church ( Eph 2:20\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.4"). In its relation to the Gentile world power, the stone is its destroyer ( Da 2:35, 44\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.5"; compare Zec 12:3\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.6"). Christ saith ( Mt 21:44\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.7", referring to Isa 8:14, 15\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.8"), "Whosoever shall fall on this stone (that is, stumble, and be offended, at Him, as the \iJews\iwere, from whom, therefore, He says, 'The kingdom shall be taken') shall be \ibroken;\ibut (referring to Da 2:34, 35\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.9") on whomsoever it shall fall (referring to \ithe world power\iwhich had been the instrument of \ibreaking\ithe Jews), it will (not merely \ibreak,\ibut) \igrind him to powder\i" ( 1Co 15:24\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p62.10"). The falling of the stone of the feet of the image cannot refer to Christ at His first advent, for the fourth kingdom was not then as yet divided--no toes were in existence (see on).
      
cut out--namely, from "the mountain" ( Da 2:45\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p63.1"); namely, Mount Zion ( Isa 2:2\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p63.2"), and antitypically, the heavenly mount of the Father's glory, from whom Christ came.
      
without hands--explained in Da 2:44\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p64.1", "The \iGod of heaven\ishall set up a kingdom," as contrasted with the image which was made \iwith hands\iof man. Messiah not created by human agency, but conceived by the Holy Ghost ( Mt 1:20; Lu 1:35\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p64.2"; compare Zec 4:6; Mr 14:58; Heb 9:11, 24\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p64.3"). So "not made with hands," that is, \iheavenly,\i 2Co 5:1\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p64.4"; \ispiritual,\i Col 2:11\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p64.5". The world kingdoms were reared by \ihuman\iambition: but this is the "kingdom of \iheaven\i"; "not of this world" ( Joh 18:36\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p64.6"). As the fourth kingdom, or Rome, was represented in a twofold state, first strong, with legs of iron, then weak, with toes part of iron, part of clay; so this fifth kingdom, that of Christ, is seen conversely, first insignificant as a "stone," then as a "mountain" filling the whole earth. The ten toes are the ten lesser kingdoms into which the Roman kingdom was finally to be divided; this tenfold division here hinted at is not specified in detail till the seventh chapter. The fourth empire originally was bounded in Europe pretty nearly by the line of the Rhine and Danube; in Asia by the Euphrates. In Africa it possessed Egypt and the north coasts; South Britain and Dacia were afterwards added but were ultimately resigned. The ten kingdoms do not arise until a deterioration (by mixing clay with the iron) has taken place; they are in existence when Christ comes in glory, and then are broken in pieces. The ten have been sought for in the invading hosts of the fifth and sixth century. But though many provinces were then severed from Rome as independent kingdoms, the dignity of emperor still continued, and the imperial power was exercised over Rome itself for two centuries. So the tenfold divisions cannot be looked for beforeA.D.731. But the East is not to be excluded, five toes being on each foot. Thus no point of time before the overthrow of the empire at the taking of Constantinople by the Turks (A.D.1453) can be assigned for the division. It seems, therefore, that the definite ten will be the ultimate development of the Roman empire just before the rise of Antichrist, who shall overthrow three of the kings, and, after three and a half years, he himself be overthrown by Christ in person. Some of the ten kingdoms will, doubtless, be the same as some past and present divisions of the old Roman empire, which accounts for the \icontinuity\iof the connection between the toes and legs, a gap of centuries not being interposed, as is objected by opponents of the futurist theory. The lists of the ten made by the latter differ from one another; and they are set aside by the fact that they include countries which were never Roman, and exclude one whole section of the empire, namely, the East [Tregelles].
      
upon his feet--the last state of the Roman empire. Not "upon his \ilegs.\i" Compare "in the days of these kings" (see on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p65.3"35. broken ... together--excluding a contemporaneous existence of the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God (in its \imanifested,\ias distinguished from its \ispiritual,\iphase). The latter is not gradually to wear away the former, but to destroy it at once, and utterly ( 2Th 1:7-10; 2:8\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p66.1"). However, the \iHebrew\imay be translated, "in one discriminate mass."
      
chaff--image of the ungodly, as they shall be dealt with in the judgment ( Ps 1:4, 5; Mt 3:12\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p67.1").
      
summer threshing-floors--Grain was winnowed in the East on an elevated space in the open air, by throwing the grain into the air with a shovel, so that the wind might clear away the chaff.
      
no place ... found for them--( Re 20:11\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p69.1"; compare Ps 37:10, 36; 103:16\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p69.2").
      
became ... mountain--cut out of the mountain ( Da 2:45\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p70.1") originally, it ends in \ibecoming a mountain.\iSo the kingdom of God, coming from heaven originally, ends in heaven being established on earth ( Re 21:1-3\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p70.2").
      
filled ... earth--( Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p71.1"). It is to do so in connection with Jerusalem as the mother Church ( Ps 80:9; Isa 2:2, 3\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p71.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p71.3"36. we--Daniel and his three friends.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p72.1"37. Thou ... art a king of kings--The committal of power in fullest plenitude belongs to Nebuchadnezzar personally, as having made Babylon the mighty empire it was. In twenty-three years after him the empire was ended: with him its greatness is identified ( Da 4:30\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p73.1"), his successors having done nothing notable. Not that he actually ruled every part of the globe, but that God granted him illimitable dominion \iin whatever direction his ambition led him,\iEgypt, Nineveh, Arabia, Syria, Tyre, and its Phœnician colonies ( Jer 27:5-8\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p73.2"). Compare as to Cyrus, Ezr 1:2\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p73.3".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p73.4"38. men ... beasts ... fowls--the dominion originally designed for man ( Ge 1:28; 2:19, 20\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p74.1"), forfeited by sin; temporarily delegated to Nebuchadnezzar and the world powers; but, as they abuse the trust for self, instead of for God, to be taken from them by the Son of man, who will exercise it for God, restoring in His person to man the lost inheritance ( Ps 8:4-6\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p74.2").
      
Thou art ... head of gold--alluding to the riches of Babylon, hence called "the golden city" ( Isa 14:4; Jer 51:7; Re 18:16\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p75.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p75.2"39.That Medo-Persia is the second kingdom appears from Da 5:28 and Da 8:20\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p76.1". Compare 2Ch 36:20; Isa 21:2\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p76.2".
      
inferior--"The kings of Persia were the worst race of men that ever governed an empire" [Prideaux]. Politically (which is the main point of view here) the power of the central government in which the nobles shared with the king, being weakened by the growing independence of the provinces, was inferior to that of Nebuchadnezzar, whose sole word was law throughout his empire.
      
brass--The Greeks (the third empire, Da 8:21; 10:20; 11:2-4\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p78.1") were celebrated for the \ibrazen\iarmor of their warriors.Jeromefancifully thinks that the brass, as being a \iclear-sounding\imetal, refers to the \ieloquence\ifor which Greece was famed. The "belly," in Da 2:32\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p78.3", may refer to the drunkenness of Alexander and the luxury of the Ptolemies [Tirinus].
      
over all the earth--Alexander commanded that he should be called "king of all the world" [Justin, 12. sec. 16.9;Arrian, \iCampaigns of Alexander,\i7. sec. 15]. The four successors ( \idiadochi\i) who divided Alexander's dominions at his death, of whom the Seleucidæ in Syria and the Lagidæ in Egypt were chief, held the same empire.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p79.3"40. iron--This vision sets forth the \icharacter\iof the Roman power, rather than its territorial extent [Tregelles].
      
breaketh in pieces--So, in righteous retribution, itself will at last be \ibroken in pieces\i( Da 2:44\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p81.1") by the kingdom of God ( Re 13:10\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p81.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p81.3"41-43. feet ... toes ... part ... clay ... iron--explained presently, "the kingdom shall be partly strong, partly broken" (rather, "brittle," as earthenware); and Da 2:43\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p82.1", "they shall mingle ... with the seed of men," that is, there will be power (in its deteriorated form, \iiron\i) mixed up with that which is wholly of man, and therefore brittle; power in the hands of the people having no internal stability, though something is left of the strength of the iron [Tregelles].Newton, who understands the Roman empire to be parted into the ten kingdoms already (whereasTregellesmakes them \ifuture\i), explains the "clay" mixture as the blending of barbarous nations with Rome by intermarriages and alliances, in which there was no stable amalgamation, though the ten kingdoms retained much of Rome's strength. The "mingling with the seed of men" ( Da 2:44\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p82.5") seems to refer to Ge 6:2\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p82.6", where the marriages of the seed of godly Seth with the daughters of ungodly Cain are described in similar words. The reference, therefore, seems to be to the blending of the Christianized Roman empire with the pagan nations, a deterioration being the result. Efforts have been often made to reunite the parts into one great empire, as by Charlemagne and Napoleon, but in vain. Christ alone shall effect that.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p82.7" \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p82.8" \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p82.9"44. in the days of these kings--in the days of these kingdoms, that is, of the last of the four. So Christianity was set up when Rome had become mistress of Judea and the world ( Lu 2:1\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p83.1", &c.) [Newton]. Rather, "in the days of these kings," answers to "upon his feet" ( Da 2:34\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p83.3"); that is, the ten \itoes\i( Da 2:42\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p83.4"), or ten kings, the final state of the Roman empire. For "these kings" cannot mean the four successional monarchies, as they do not \icoexist\ias the holders of power; if the fourth had been meant, the \isingular,\inot the \iplural,\iwould be used. The falling of the stone on the image must mean, \idestroying judgment\ion the fourth Gentile power, not gradual evangelization of it by grace; and the destroying judgment cannot be dealt by Christians, for they are taught to submit to the powers that be, so that it must be dealt by Christ Himself at His coming again. We live under the divisions of the Roman empire which began fourteen hundred years ago, and which at the time of His coming shall be definitely \iten.\iAll that had failed in the hand of man shall then pass away, and that which is kept in His own hand shall be introduced. Thus the second chapter is the alphabet of the subsequent prophetic statements in Daniel [Tregelles].
      
God of heaven ... kingdom--hence the phrase, "the kingdom of heaven" ( Mt 3:2\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p84.1").
      
not ... left to other people--as the Chaldees had been forced to leave their kingdom to the Medo-Persians, and these to the Greeks, and these to the Romans ( Mic 4:7; Lu 1:32, 33\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p85.1").
      
break ... all--( Isa 60:12; 1Co 15:24\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p86.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p86.2"45. without hands--(See on). The connection of the "forasmuch," &c. is, "as thou sawest that the stone," &c., this is an indication that "the great God," &c., that is, the fact of thy seeing the dreams as I have recalled it to thy recollection, is a proof that it is no airy phantom, but a real representation to these from God of the future. A similar proof of the "certainty" of the event was given to Pharaoh by the doubling of his dream ( Ge 41:32\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p87.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p87.4"46. fell upon ... face, and worshipped Daniel--worshipping God in the person of Daniel. Symbolical of the future prostration of the world power before Messiah and His kingdom ( Php 2:10\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p88.1"). As other servants of God refused such honors ( Ac 10:25, 26; 14:13-15; Re 22:8, 9\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p88.2"), and Daniel ( Da 1:8\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p88.3") would not taste defiled food, nor give up prayer to God at the cost of his life ( Da 6:7, 10\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p88.4"), it seems likely that Daniel rejected the proffered divine honors. The word "answered" ( Da 2:47\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p88.5") implies that Daniel had objected to these honors; and in compliance with his objection, "the king \ianswered,\iOf a truth, your God is a God of gods." Daniel had disclaimed all personal merit in Da 2:30\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p88.6", givingGodall the glory (compare Da 2:45\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p88.8").
      
commanded ... sweet odours--divine honors ( Ezr 6:10\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p89.1"). It is not said his command was executed.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p89.2"47. Lord of kings--The world power shall at last have to acknowledge this ( Re 17:14; 19:16\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p90.1"); even as Nebuchadnezzar, who had been the God-appointed "king of kings" ( Da 2:37\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p90.2"), but who had abused the trust, is constrained by God's servant to acknowledge that God is the true "Lord of kings."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p90.3"48.One reason for Nebuchadnezzar having been vouchsafed such a dream is here seen; namely, that Daniel might be promoted, and the captive people of God be comforted: the independent state of the captives during the exile and the alleviation of its hardships, were much due to Daniel.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iii-p91.1"49. Daniel requested--Contrast this honorable remembrance of his humble friends in his elevation with the spirit of the children of the world in the chief butler's case ( Ge 40:23; Ec 9:15, 16; Am 6:6\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p92.1").
      
in the gate--the place of holding courts of justice and levees in the East ( Es 2:19; Job 29:7\Q="x.xxvii.iii-p93.1"). So "the Sublime \iPorte,\i" or "Gate," denotes the sultan's government, his counsels being formerly held in the entrance of his palace. Daniel was a chief counsellor of the king, and president over the governors of the different orders into which the Magi were divided.
      

\C3="Chapter 3" \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p0.1"CHAPTER 3
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p1.1" Da 3:1-30\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p2.1".Nebuchadnezzar's Idolatrous Image; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego Are Delivered from the Furnace.
      
Between the vision of Nebuchadnezzar in the second chapter and that of Daniel in the seventh, four narratives of Daniel's and his friends' personal history are introduced. As the second and seventh chapters go together, so the third and sixth chapters (the deliverance from the lions' den), and the fourth and fifth chapters. Of these last two pairs, the former shows God's nearness to save His saints when faithful to Him, at the very time they seem to be crushed by the world power. The second pair shows, in the case of the two kings of the first monarchy, how God can suddenly humble the world power in the height of its insolence. The latter advances from mere self-glorification, in the fourth chapter, to open opposition to God in the fifth. Nebuchadnezzar demands homage to be paid to his image ( Da 3:1-6\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p3.1"), and boasts of his power ( Da 4:1-18\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p3.2"). But Belshazzar goes further, blaspheming God by polluting His holy vessels. There is a similar progression in the conduct of God's people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refuse \ipositive\ihomage to the image of the world power ( Da 3:12\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p3.3"); Daniel will not yield it even a \inegative\ihomage, by omitting for a time the worship of God ( Da 6:10\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p3.4"). Jehovah's power manifested for the saints against the world in individual histories (the third through sixth chapters) is exhibited in the second and seventh chapters, in world-wide prophetical pictures; the former heightening the effect of the latter. The miracles wrought in behalf of Daniel and his friends were a manifestation of God's glory in Daniel's person, as the representative of the theocracy before the Babylonian king, who deemed himself almighty, at a time when God could not manifest it in His people as a body. They tended also to secure, by their impressive character, that respect for the covenant-people on the part of the heathen powers which issued in Cyrus' decree, not only restoring the Jews, but ascribing honor to the God of heaven, and commanding the building of the temple ( Ezr 1:1-4\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p3.5") [Auberlen].
      
1. image--Nebuchadnezzar's confession of God did not prevent him being a worshipper of idols, besides. Ancient idolaters thought that each nation had its own gods, and that, in addition to these, foreign gods might be worshipped. The Jewish religion was the only exclusive one that claimed \iall\ihomage for Jehovah as the \ionly\itrue God. Men will in times of trouble confess God, if they are allowed to retain their favorite heart-idols. The image was that of Bel, the Babylonian tutelary god; or rather, Nebuchadnezzar \ihimself,\ithe personification and representative of the Babylonian empire, as suggested to him by the dream ( Da 2:38\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p4.1"), " \iThou\iart this head \iof gold.\i" The interval between the dream and the event here was about nineteen years. Nebuchadnezzar had just returned from finishing the Jewish and Syrian wars, the spoils of which would furnish the means of rearing such a colossal statue [Prideaux]. The colossal size makes it likely that the frame was wood, overlaid with gold. The "height," sixty cubits, is so out of proportion with the "breadth," exceeding it ten times, that it seems best to suppose the \ithickness\ifrom breast to back to be intended, which is exactly the right proportion of a well-formed man [Augustine, \iThe City of God,\i15.26].Prideauxthinks the sixty cubits refer to \ithe image and pedestal together,\ithe image being twenty-seven cubits high, or forty feet, the pedestal thirty-three cubits, or fifty feet.Herodotus[1.183] confirms this by mentioning a \isimilar\iimage, forty \ifeet high,\iin the temple of Belus at Babylon. It was not the \isame\iimage, for the one here was on the plain of Dura, not in the city.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p4.6"2. princes--"satraps" of provinces [Gesenius].
      
captains-- \irulers,\inot exclusively military.
      
sheriffs--men learned in the law, like the Arab \imufti\i[Gesenius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p7.2"3. stood before the image--in an attitude of devotion. Whatever the king approved of, they all approve of. There is no stability of principle in the ungodly.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p8.1"4.The arguments of the persecutor are in brief, Turn or burn.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p9.1"5. cornet--A wind instrument, like the French horn, is meant.
      
flute--a pipe or pipes, not blown transversely as our "flute," but by mouthpieces at the end.
      
sackbut--a triangular stringed instrument, having short strings, the sound being on a high sharp key.
      
psaltery--a kind of harp.
      
dulcimer--a bagpipe consisting of two pipes, thrust through a leathern bag, emitting a sweet plaintive sound. \iChaldee sumponya,\ithe modern Italian \izampogna,\iAsiatic \izambonja.\i
      
fall down--that the recusants might be the more readily detected.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p15.1"6.No other nation but the Jews would feel this edict oppressive; for it did not prevent them worshipping their own gods \ibesides.\iIt was evidently aimed at the Jews by those jealous of their high position in the king's court, who therefore induced the king to pass an edict as to all recusants, representing such refusal of homage as an act of treason to Nebuchadnezzar as civil and religious "head" of the empire. So the edict under Darius ( Da 6:7-9\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p16.1") was aimed against the Jews by those jealous of Daniel's influence. The literal image of Nebuchadnezzar is a typical prophecy of "the image of the beast," connected with mystical Babylon, in Re 13:14\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p16.2". The second mystical beast there causeth the earth, and them that dwell therein, to worship the first beast, and that as many as would not, should be killed ( Re 13:12, 15\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p16.3").
      
furnace--a common mode of punishment in Babylon ( Jer 29:22\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p17.1"). It is not necessary to suppose that the furnace was made for the occasion. Compare "brick-kiln," 2Sa 12:31\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p17.2". Any furnace for common purposes in the vicinity of Dura would serve.Chardin, in his travels (A.D.1671-1677), mentions that in Persia, to terrify those who took advantage of scarcity to sell provisions at exorbitant prices, the cooks were roasted over a slow fire, and the bakers cast into a burning oven.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p17.5"7.None of the Jews seem to have been present, except the \iofficers,\isummoned specially.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p18.1"8. accused the Jews--literally, "ate the rent limbs," or flesh of the Jews (compare Job 31:31; Ps 14:4; 27:2; Jer 10:25\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p19.1"). Not probably in general, but as Da 3:12\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p19.2"states, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Why Daniel was not summoned does not appear. Probably he was in some distant part of the empire on state business, and the general summons ( Da 3:2\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p19.3") had not time to reach him before the dedication. Also, the Jews' enemies found it more politic to begin by attacking Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who were nearer at hand, and had less influence, before they proceeded to attack Daniel.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p19.4"9. live for ever--A preface of flattery is closely akin to the cruelty that follows. So Ac 24:2, 3\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p20.1", &c., Tertullus in accusing Paul before Felix.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p20.2" \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p20.3" \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p20.4"12. serve not thy gods--not only not the golden image, but also \inot any\iof Nebuchadnezzar's \igods.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p21.1"13. bring--Instead of commanding their immediate execution, as in the case of the Magi ( Da 2:12\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p22.1"), Providence inclined him to command the recusants to be \ibrought\ibefore him, so that their noble "testimony" for God might be given before the world powers "against them" ( Mt 10:18\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p22.2"), to the edification of the Church in all ages.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p22.3"14. Is it true--rather, as the \iMargin\i[Theodotion], "Is it \ipurposely\ithat?" &c. Compare the \iHebrew,\i Nu 35:20, 22\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p23.2". Notwithstanding his "fury," his past favor for them disposes him to give them the opportunity of excusing themselves on the ground that their disobedience had not been \iintentional;\iso he gives them another trial to see whether they would still worship the image.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p23.3"15. who is that God--so Sennacherib's taunt ( 2Ki 18:35\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p24.1"), and Pharaoh's ( Ex 5:2\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p24.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p24.3"16. not careful to answer thee--rather, "We have \ino need\ito answer thee"; thou art determined on thy side, and our mind is made up not to worship the image: there is therefore no use in our arguing as if we could be shaken from our principles. Hesitation, or parleying with sin, is fatal; unhesitating decision is the only safety, where the path of duty is clear ( Mt 10:19, 28\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p25.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p25.2"17. If it be so--Vatablustranslates, "Assuredly." \iEnglish Version\iagrees better with the original. The sense is, \iIf it be\iour lot to be cast into the furnace, \iour God\i(quoted from De 6:4\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p26.2") is able to deliver us (a reply to Nebuchadnezzar's challenge, "Who is that God that shall deliver you?"); and He will deliver us (either \ifrom\ideath, or \iin\ideath, 2Ti 4:17, 18\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p26.3"). He will, \iwe trust,\iliterally deliver us, but certainly He will do so spiritually.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p26.4"18. But if not,&c.--connected with Da 3:18\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p27.1". "Whether our God deliver us, as He is able, or do not, we will not serve thy gods." Their service of God is not mercenary in its motive. Though He slay them, they will still trust in Him ( Job 13:15\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p27.2"). Their deliverance from sinful compliance was as great a miracle in the kingdom of grace, as that from the furnace was in the kingdom of nature. Their youth, and position as captives and friendless exiles, before the absolute world potentate and the horrid death awaiting them if they should persevere in their faith, all enhance the grace of God, which carried them through such an ordeal.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p27.3"19. visage ... changed--He had shown forbearance ( Da 3:14, 15\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p28.1") as a favor to them, but now that they despise even his forbearance, anger "fills" him, and is betrayed in his whole countenance.
      
seven times more than it was wont--literally, "than it was (ever) \iseen\ito be heated." \iSeven\iis the perfect number; that is, it was made \ias hot as possible.\iPassion overdoes and defeats its own end, for the hotter the fire, the sooner were they likely to be put out of pain.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p29.1" \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p29.2"21. coats ... hosen ... hats--Herodotus[1.195] says that the Babylonian costume consisted of three parts: (1) wide, long pantaloons; (2) a woollen \ishirt;\i(3) an outer \imantle\iwith a girdle round it. So these are specified [Gesenius], "their pantaloons, inner tunics ( \ihosen,\ior stockings, are not commonly worn in the East), and outer mantles." Their being cast in so hurriedly, with all their garments on, enhanced the miracle in that not even the smell of fire passed on their clothes, though of delicate, inflammable material.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p30.3"22. flame ... slew those men--( Da 6:24; Ps 7:16\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p31.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p31.2"23. fell down--not \icast down;\ifor those who brought the three youths to the furnace, perished by the flames themselves, and so could not \icast\ithem in. Here follows an addition in the \iSeptuagint, Syrian, Arabic,\iand \iVulgate versions.\i"The Prayer of Azarias," and "The Song of the Three Holy Children." It is not in the \iChaldee.\iThe hymn was sung throughout the whole Church in their liturgies, from the earliest times [Rufinusin \iCommentary on the Apostles Creed,\iandAthanasius]. The "astonishment" of Nebuchadnezzar in Da 3:24\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p32.3"is made an argument for its genuineness, as if it explained the cause of his astonishment, namely, "they walked in the midst of the fire praising God, but the angel of the Lord came down into the oven" (vs. 1 and vs. 27 of the Apocryphal addition). But Da 3:25\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p32.4"of \iEnglish Version\iexplains his astonishment, without need of any addition.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p32.5"24. True, O king--God extorted this confession from His enemies' own mouths.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p33.1"25. four--whereas but three had been cast in.
      
loose--whereas they had been cast in "bound." Nebuchadnezzar's question, in Da 3:24\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p35.1", is as if he can scarcely trust his own memory as to a fact so recent, now that he sees through an aperture in the furnace what seems to contradict it.
      
walking in ... midst of ... fire--image of the godly unhurt, and at large ( Joh 8:36\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p36.1"), "in the midst of trouble" ( Ps 138:7\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p36.2"; compare Ps 23:3, 4\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p36.3"). They walked up and down in the fire, not leaving it, but waiting for God's time to bring them out, just as Jesus waited in the tomb as God's prisoner, till God should let Him out ( Ac 2:26, 27\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p36.4"). So Paul ( 2Co 12:8, 9\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p36.5"). So Noah waited in the ark, after the flood, till God brought him forth ( Ge 8:12-18\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p36.6").
      
like the Son of God--Unconsciously, like Saul, Caiaphas ( Joh 11:49-52\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p37.1"), and Pilate, he is made to utter divine truths. "Son of God" in \ihis\imouth means only an "angel" from heaven, as Da 3:28\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p37.2"proves. Compare Job 1:6; 38:7; Ps 34:7, 8\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p37.3"; and the probably heathen centurion's exclamation ( Mt 27:54\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p37.4"). The Chaldeans believed in \ifamilies\iof gods: Bel, the supreme god, accompanied by the goddess Mylitta, being the father of the gods; thus the expression \ihe\imeant: \ione sprung from and sent by the gods. Really\iit was the "messenger of the covenant," who herein gave a prelude to His incarnation.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p37.5"26. the most high God--He acknowledges Jehovah to be supreme above other gods (not that he ceased to believe in these); so he returns to his original confession, "your God is a God of gods" ( Da 2:47\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p38.1"), from which he had swerved in the interim, perhaps intoxicated by his success in taking Jerusalem, whose God he therefore thought unable to defend it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p38.2"27. nor ... an hair--( Lu 12:7; 21:18\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p39.1").
      
fire had no power--fulfilling Isa 43:2\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p40.1"; compare Heb 11:34\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p40.2". God alone is a "consuming fire" ( Heb 12:29\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p40.3").
      
nor ... smell of fire--compare spiritually, 1Th 5:22\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p41.1".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p41.2"28.In giving some better traits in Nebuchadnezzar's character, Daniel agrees with Jer 39:11; 42:12\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p42.1".
      
changed the king's word--have made the king's attempt to coerce into obedience vain. Have set aside his word (so "alter ... word," Ezr 6:11\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p43.1") from regard to God. Nebuchadnezzar now admits that God's law should be obeyed, rather than his ( Ac 5:29\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p43.2").
      
yielded ... bodies--namely, to the fire.
      
not serve--by sacrificing.
      
nor worship--by prostration of the body. Decision for God at last gains the respect even of the worldly ( Pr 16:7\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p46.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p46.2"29.This decree promulgated throughout the vast empire of Nebuchadnezzar must have tended much to keep the Jews from idolatry in the captivity and thenceforth ( Ps 76:10\Q="x.xxvii.iv-p47.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.iv-p47.2"
\C3="Chapter 4" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p0.1"CHAPTER 4
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p1.1" Da 4:1-37\Q="x.xxvii.v-p2.1".Edict of Nebuchadnezzar Containing His Second Dream, Relating to Himself.
      
Punished with insanity for his haughtiness, he sinks to the level of the beasts (illustrating Ps 49:6, 12\Q="x.xxvii.v-p3.1"). The opposition between bestial and human life, set forth here, is a key to interpret the symbolism in the seventh chapter concerning the beasts and the Son of man. After his conquests, and his building in fifteen days a new palace, according to the heathen historian,Abydenus(268B.C.), whose account confirms Daniel, he ascended upon his palace roof ( Da 4:29\Q="x.xxvii.v-p3.4", \iMargin\i), whence he could see the surrounding city which he had built, and seized by some deity, he predicted the Persian conquest of Babylon, adding a prayer that the Persian leader might on his return be borne where there is no path of men, and where the wild beasts graze ( \ilanguage\ievidently derived by tradition from Da 4:32, 33\Q="x.xxvii.v-p3.5", though the \iapplication\iis different). In his insanity, his excited mind would naturally think of the coming conquest of Babylon by the Medo-Persians, already foretold to him in the second chapter.
      
1. Peace--the usual salutation in the East, \ishalom,\iwhence "salaam." The primitive revelation of the fall, and man's alienation from God, made "peace" to be felt as the first and deepest want of man. The Orientals (as the East was the cradle of revelation) retained the word by tradition.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p4.1"2. I thought it good--"It was seemly before me" ( Ps 107:2-8\Q="x.xxvii.v-p5.1").
      
signs--tokens significant of God's omnipotent agency. The \iplural\iis used, as it comprises the marvellous dream, the marvellous interpretation of it, and its marvellous issue.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p6.1" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p6.2"4. I was ... at rest--my wars over, my kingdom at peace.
      
flourishing--"green." Image from a tree ( Jer 17:8\Q="x.xxvii.v-p8.1"). Prosperous ( Job 15:32\Q="x.xxvii.v-p8.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p8.3" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p8.4"6.It may seem strange that Daniel was not first summoned. But it was ordered by God's providence that he should be reserved to the last, in order that all mere human means should be proved vain, before God manifested His power through His servant; thus the haughty king was stripped of all fleshly confidences. The Chaldees were the king's recognized interpreters of dreams; whereas Daniel's interpretation of the one in Da 2:24-45\Q="x.xxvii.v-p9.1"had been a peculiar case, and very many years before; nor had he been consulted on such matters since.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p9.2" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p9.3"8. Belteshazzar--called so from the god Bel or Belus (see on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p10.3"9. spirit of the holy gods--Nebuchadnezzar speaks as a heathen, who yet has imbibed some notions of the true God. Hence he speaks of "gods" in the \iplural\ibut gives the epithet "holy," which applies to Jehovah alone, the heathen gods making no pretension to purity, even in the opinion of their votaries ( De 32:31\Q="x.xxvii.v-p11.1"; compare Isa 63:11\Q="x.xxvii.v-p11.2"). "I know" refers to his knowledge of Daniel's skill many years before ( Da 2:8\Q="x.xxvii.v-p11.3"); hence he calls him "master of the magicians."
      
troubleth--gives thee difficulty in explaining it.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p12.1"10. tree--So the Assyrian is compared to a "cedar" ( Eze 31:3\Q="x.xxvii.v-p13.1"; compare Eze 17:24\Q="x.xxvii.v-p13.2").
      
in the midst of the earth--denoting its conspicuous position as the center whence the imperial authority radiated in all directions.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p14.1" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p14.2"12. beasts ... shadow under it--implying that God's purpose in establishing empires in the world is that they may be as trees affording men "fruits" for "meat," and a "shadow" for "rest" (compare La 4:20\Q="x.xxvii.v-p15.1"). But the world powers abuse their trust for self; therefore Messiah comes to plant the tree of His gospel kingdom, which alone shall realize God's purpose ( Eze 17:23; Mt 13:32\Q="x.xxvii.v-p15.2").Herodotus[7.19] mentions a dream (probably suggested by the tradition of this dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel) which Xerxes had; namely, that he was crowned with olive, and that the branches of the olive filled the whole earth, but that afterwards the crown vanished from his head: signifying his universal dominion soon to come to an end.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p15.4"13. watcher and an holy one--rather, "even an holy one." Only \ione\iangel is intended, and he not one of the bad, but of the \iholy\iangels. Called a "watcher," because ever on the watch to execute God's will [Jerome], ( Ps 103:20, 21\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.2"). Compare as to their watchfulness, Re 4:8\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.3", " \ifull of eyes\iwithin ... they rest not day \iand night.\i" Also they watch good men committed to their charge ( Ps 34:7; Heb 1:14\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.4"); and watch over the evil to record their sins, and at God's bidding at last punish them ( Jer 4:16, 17\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.5"), "watchers" applied to \ihuman\iinstruments of God's vengeance. As toGod( Da 9:14; Job 7:12; 14:16; Jer 44:27\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.7"). In a good sense ( Ge 31:49; Jer 31:28\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.8"). The idea of heavenly "watchers" under the supreme God (called in the \iZendavesta\iof the Persian Zoroaster, \iOrmuzd\i) was founded on the primeval revelation as to evil angels having \iwatched\ifor an opportunity until they succeeded in tempting man to his ruin, and good angels ministering to God's servants (as Jacob, Ge 28:15; 32:1, 2\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.9"). Compare the watching over Abraham for good, and over Sodom for wrath after long watching in vain for good men it it, for whose sake He would spare it, Ge 18:23-33\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.10"; and over Lot for good, Ge 19:1-38\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.11"Daniel fitly puts in Nebuchadnezzar's mouth the expression, though not found elsewhere in Scripture, yet substantially sanctioned by it ( 2Ch 16:9; Pr 15:3; Jer 32:19\Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.12"), and natural to him according to Oriental modes of thought.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p16.13"14. Hew down--( Mt 3:10; Lu 13:7\Q="x.xxvii.v-p17.1"). The holy ( Jude 14\Q="x.xxvii.v-p17.2") one incites his fellow angels to God's appointed work (compare Re 14:15, 18\Q="x.xxvii.v-p17.3").
      
beasts get away from under it--It shall no longer afford them shelter ( Eze 31:12\Q="x.xxvii.v-p18.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p18.2"15. stump--The kingdom is still reserved secure for him at last, as a tree stump secured by a hoop of brass and iron from being split by the sun's heat, in the hope of its growing again ( Isa 11:1\Q="x.xxvii.v-p19.1"; compare Job 14:7-9\Q="x.xxvii.v-p19.2").Barnesrefers it to the chaining of the royal maniac.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p19.4"16. heart--understanding ( Isa 6:10\Q="x.xxvii.v-p20.1").
      
times--that is, "years" ( Da 12:7\Q="x.xxvii.v-p21.1"). "Seven" is the perfect number: a week of years: a complete revolution of time accompanying a complete revolution in his state of mind.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p21.2"17. demand--that is, determination; namely, as to the change to which Nebuchadnezzar is to be doomed. A solemn council of the heavenly ones is supposed (compare Job 1:6; 2:1\Q="x.xxvii.v-p22.1"), over which God presides supreme. His "decree" and "word" are therefore said to be theirs (compare Da 4:24\Q="x.xxvii.v-p22.2", "decree of the Most High"); "the decree of the watchers," "the word of the holy ones." For He has placed particular kingdoms under the administration of angelic beings, subject to Him ( Da 10:13, 20; 12:1\Q="x.xxvii.v-p22.3"). The word "demand," in the second clause, expresses a distinct idea from the first clause. Not only as members of God's council ( Da 7:10; 1Ki 22:19; Ps 103:21; Zec 1:10\Q="x.xxvii.v-p22.4") do they subscribe to His "decree," but that decree is in answer to their prayers, wherein they \idemand\ithat every mortal who tries to obscure the glory of God shall be humbled [Calvin]. Angels are grieved when God's prerogative is in the least infringed. How awful to Nebuchadnezzar to know that angels plead against him for his pride, and that the decree has been passed in the high court of heaven for his humiliation in answer to angels' \idemands!\iThe conceptions are moulded in a form peculiarly adapted to Nebuchadnezzar's modes of thought.
      
the living--not as distinguished from the dead, but from the inhabitants of heaven, who "know" that which the men of the world need to the taught ( Ps 9:16\Q="x.xxvii.v-p23.1"); the ungodly confess there is a God, but would gladly confine Him to heaven. But, saith Daniel, God ruleth not merely there, but "in the kingdom of men."
      
basest--the lowest in condition ( 1Sa 2:8; Lu 1:52\Q="x.xxvii.v-p24.1"). It is not one's talents, excellency, or noble birth, but God's will, which elevates to the throne. Nebuchadnezzar abased to the dunghill, and then restored, was to have in himself an experimental proof of this ( Da 4:37\Q="x.xxvii.v-p24.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p24.3" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p24.4"19. Daniel ... Belteshazzar--The use of the \iHebrew\ias well as the \iChaldee\iname, so far from being an objection, as some have made it, is an undesigned mark of genuineness. In a proclamation to " \iall\ipeople," and one designed to honor the God of the Hebrews, Nebuchadnezzar would naturally use the \iHebrew\iname (derived from \iEl,\i"God," the name by which the prophet was best known among his countrymen), as well as the Gentile name by which he was known in the Chaldean empire.
      
astonied--overwhelmed with awe at the terrible import of the dream.
      
one hour--the original means often "a moment," or "short time," as in Da 3:6, 15\Q="x.xxvii.v-p27.1".
      
let not the dream ... trouble thee--Many despots would have punished a prophet who dared to foretell his overthrow. Nebuchadnezzar assures Daniel he may freely speak out.
      
the dream be to them that hate thee--We are to desire the prosperity of those under whose authority God's providence has placed us ( Jer 29:7\Q="x.xxvii.v-p29.1"). The wish here is not so much against others, as for the king: a common formula ( 2Sa 18:32\Q="x.xxvii.v-p29.2"). It is not the language of uncharitable hatred.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p29.3"20.The \itree\iis the king. The \ibranches,\ithe princes. The \ileaves,\ithe soldiers. The \ifruits,\ithe revenues. The \ishadow,\ithe protection afforded to dependent states.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p30.1" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p30.2"22. It is thou--He speaks pointedly, and without circumlocution ( 2Sa 12:7\Q="x.xxvii.v-p31.1"). While pitying the king, he uncompromisingly pronounces his sentence of punishment. Let ministers steer the mean between, on the one hand, fulminations against sinners under the pretext of zeal, without any symptom of compassion; and, on the other, flattery of sinners under the pretext of moderation.
      
to the end of the earth--( Jer 27:6-8\Q="x.xxvii.v-p32.1"). To the Caspian, Euxine, and Atlantic seas.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p32.2" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p32.3"24. decree of the Most High--What was termed in Da 4:17\Q="x.xxvii.v-p33.1"by Nebuchadnezzar, "the decree \iof the watchers,\i" is here more accurately termed by Daniel, "the decree \iof the Most High.\i" They are but His ministers.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p33.2"25. they shall drive thee--a \iChaldee\iidiom for "thou shalt be driven." Hypochondriacal madness was his malady, which "drove" him under the fancy that he was a beast, to "dwell with the beasts"; Da 4:34\Q="x.xxvii.v-p34.1"proves this, "mine understanding returned." The regency would leave him to roam in the large beast-abounding parks attached to the palace.
      
eat grass--that is, vegetables, or herbs in general ( Ge 3:18\Q="x.xxvii.v-p35.1").
      
they shall wet thee--that is, thou shalt be wet.
      
till thou know,&c.--( Ps 83:17, 18; Jer 27:5\Q="x.xxvii.v-p37.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p37.2"26. thou shalt have known,&c.--a promise of spiritual grace to him, causing the judgment to humble, not harden, his heart.
      
heavens do rule--The \iplural\iis used, as addressed to Nebuchadnezzar, the head of an organized earthly kingdom, with various principalities under the supreme ruler. So "the kingdom of heaven" ( Mt 4:17\Q="x.xxvii.v-p39.1"; \iGreek,\i"kingdom of the \iheavens\i") is a \imanifold\iorganization, composed of various orders of angels, under the Most High ( Eph 1:20, 21; 3:10; Col 1:16\Q="x.xxvii.v-p39.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p39.3"27. break off--as a galling yoke ( Ge 27:40\Q="x.xxvii.v-p40.1"); sin is a heavy load ( Mt 11:28\Q="x.xxvii.v-p40.2"). The \iSeptuagint\iand \iVulgate\itranslate not so well, "redeem," which is made an argument for Rome's doctrine of the expiation of sins by meritorious works. Even translate it so, it can only mean; Repent and show the reality of thy repentance by works of justice and charity (compare Lu 11:41\Q="x.xxvii.v-p40.3"); so God will remit thy punishment. The trouble will be longer before it comes, or shorter when it does come. Compare the cases of Hezekiah, Isa 38:1-5\Q="x.xxvii.v-p40.4"; Nineveh, Jon 3:5-10; Jer 18:7, 8\Q="x.xxvii.v-p40.5". The change is not in God, but in the sinner who repents. As the king who had provoked God's judgments by sin, so he might avert it by a return to righteousness (compare Ps 41:1, 2; Ac 8:22\Q="x.xxvii.v-p40.6"). Probably, like most Oriental despots, Nebuchadnezzar had oppressed the poor by forcing them to labor in his great public works without adequate remuneration.
      
if ... lengthening of ... tranquillity--if haply thy present prosperity shall be prolonged.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p41.1" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p41.2"29. twelve months--This respite was granted to him to leave him without excuse. So the hundred twenty years granted before the flood ( Ge 6:3\Q="x.xxvii.v-p42.1"). At the first announcement of the coming judgment he was alarmed, as Ahab ( 1Ki 21:27\Q="x.xxvii.v-p42.2"), but did not thoroughly repent; so when judgment was not executed at once, he thought it would never come, and so returned to his former pride ( Ec 8:11\Q="x.xxvii.v-p42.3").
      
in the palace--rather, upon the (flat) palace roof, whence he could contemplate the splendor of Babylon. So the heathen historian,Abydenus, records. The palace roof was the scene of the fall of another king ( 2Sa 11:2\Q="x.xxvii.v-p43.2"). The outer wall of Nebuchadnezzar's new palace embraced six miles; there were two other embattled walls within, and a great tower, and three brazen gates.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p43.3"30. Babylon, that I have built--Herodotusascribes the building of Babylon to Semiramis and Nitocris, his informant under the \iPersian\idynasty giving him the Assyrian and Persian account.BerosusandAbydenusgive the \iBabylonian\iaccount, namely, that Nebuchadnezzar added much to the old city, built a splendid palace and city walls.Herodotus, the so-called "father of history," does not even mention Nebuchadnezzar. (Nitocris, to whom he attributes the beautifying of Babylon, seems to have been Nebuchadnezzar's wife). Hence infidels have doubted the Scripture account. But the latter is proved by thousands of bricks on the plain, the inscriptions of which have been deciphered, each marked "Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar." "Built," that is, restored and enlarged ( 2Ch 11:5, 6\Q="x.xxvii.v-p44.5"). It is curious, all the bricks have been found with the stamped face downwards. Scarcely a figure in stone, or tablet, has been dug out of the rubbish heaps of Babylon, whereas Nineveh abounds in them; fulfilling Jer 51:37\Q="x.xxvii.v-p44.6", "Babylon shall become \iheaps.\i" The " \iI\i" is emphatic, by which he puts himself in the place of God; so the "my ... my." He impiously opposes \ihis\imight to God's, as though God's threat, uttered a year before, could never come to pass. He would be more than man; God, therefore, justly, makes him less than man. An acting over again of the fall; Adam, once lord of the world and the very beasts ( Ge 1:28\Q="x.xxvii.v-p44.7"; so Nebuchadnezzar Da 2:38\Q="x.xxvii.v-p44.8"), would be a god ( Ge 3:5\Q="x.xxvii.v-p44.9"); therefore he must die like the beasts ( Ps 82:6; 49:12\Q="x.xxvii.v-p44.10"). The second Adam restores the forfeited inheritance ( Ps 8:4-8\Q="x.xxvii.v-p44.11").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p44.12"31. While,&c.--in the very act of speaking, so that there could be no doubt as to the connection between the crime and the punishment. So Lu 12:19, 20\Q="x.xxvii.v-p45.1".
      
O king ... to thee it is spoken--Notwithstanding thy \ikingly\ipower, to thee thy doom \iis\inow \ispoken,\ithere is to be no further respite.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p46.1" \Q="x.xxvii.v-p46.2"33. driven from men--as a maniac fancying himself a wild beast. It is possible, a conspiracy of his nobles may have co-operated towards his having been "driven" forth as an outcast.
      
hairs ... eagles' feathers--matted together, as the hair-like, thick plumage of the ossifraga eagle. The "nails," by being left uncut for years, would become like "claws."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p48.1"34. lifted up mine eyes unto heaven--whence the "voice" had issued ( Da 4:31\Q="x.xxvii.v-p49.1") at the beginning of his visitation. Sudden mental derangement often has the effect of annihilating the whole interval, so that, when reason returns, the patient remembers only the event that immediately preceded his insanity. Nebuchadnezzar's looking up towards heaven was the first symptom of his "understanding" having "returned." Before, like the beasts, his eyes had been downward to the earth. Now, like Jonah's ( Jon 2:1, 2, 4\Q="x.xxvii.v-p49.2") out of the fish's belly, they are lifted up to heaven in prayer. He turns to Him that smiteth him ( Isa 9:13\Q="x.xxvii.v-p49.3"), with the faint glimmer of reason left to him, and owns God's justice in punishing him.
      
praised ... him--Praise is a sure sign of a soul spiritually healed ( Ps 116:12, 14; Mr 5:15, 18, 19\Q="x.xxvii.v-p50.1").
      
I ... honoured him--implying that the cause of his chastisement was that he had before robbed God of His honor.
      
everlasting dominion--not temporary or mutable, as a human king's dominion.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p52.1"35. all ... as nothing--( Isa 40:15, 17\Q="x.xxvii.v-p53.1").
      
according to his will in ... heaven--( Ps 115:3; 135:6; Mt 6:10; Eph 1:11\Q="x.xxvii.v-p54.1").
      
army--the heavenly hosts, angels and starry orbs (compare Isa 24:21\Q="x.xxvii.v-p55.1").
      
none ... stay his hand--literally, "strike His hand." Image from striking the hand of another, to check him in doing anything ( Isa 43:13; 45:9\Q="x.xxvii.v-p56.1").
      
What doest thou--( Job 9:12; Ro 9:20\Q="x.xxvii.v-p57.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p57.2"36.An inscription in the East India Company's Museum is read as describing the period of Nebuchadnezzar's insanity [G. V. Smith]. In the so-called standard inscription read bySir H. Rawlinson, Nebuchadnezzar relates that during four (?) years he ceased to lay out buildings, or to furnish with victims Merodach's altar, or to clear out the canals for irrigation. No other instance in the cuneiform inscriptions occurs of a king recording his own inaction.
      
my counsellors ... sought unto me--desired to have me, as formerly, to be their head, wearied with the anarchy which prevailed in my absence (compare \iNote,\isee on); the likelihood of a conspiracy of the nobles is confirmed by this verse.
      
majesty was added--My authority was greater than ever before ( Job 42:12; Pr 22:4\Q="x.xxvii.v-p60.1"; "added," Mt 6:33\Q="x.xxvii.v-p60.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.v-p60.3"37. praise ... extol ... honour--He heaps word on word, as if he cannot say enough in praise of God.
      
all whose works ... truth ... judgment--that is, are true and just ( Re 15:3; 16:7\Q="x.xxvii.v-p62.1"). God has not dealt unjustly or too severely with me; whatever I have suffered, I deserved it all. It is a mark of true contrition to condemn one's self, and justify God ( Ps 51:4\Q="x.xxvii.v-p62.2").
      
those that walk in pride ... abase--exemplified in me. He condemns himself before the whole world, in order to glorify God.
      

\C3="Chapter 5" \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p0.1"CHAPTER 5
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p1.1" Da 5:1-31\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p2.1".Belshazzar's Impious Feast; the Handwriting on the Wall Interpreted by Daniel of the Doom of Babylon and Its King.
      
1. Belshazzar--Rawlinson, from the Assyrian inscriptions, has explained the seeming discrepancy between Daniel and the heathen historians of Babylon,BerosusandAbydenus, who say the last king (Nabonidus) surrendered in Borsippa, after Babylon was taken, and had an honorable abode in Caramania assigned to him. \iBelshazzar was joint king with his father\i(called \iMinus\iin the inscriptions), \ibut subordinate to him;\ihence the \iBabylonian\iaccount suppresses the facts which cast discredit on Babylon, namely, that Belshazzar shut himself up in that city and fell at its capture; while it records the surrender of the principal king in Borsippa (see myto Daniel). The heathenXenophon'sdescription of Belshazzar accords with Daniel's; he calls him "impious," and illustrates his cruelty by mentioning that he killed one of his nobles, merely because, in hunting, the noble struck down the game before him; and unmanned a courtier, Gadates, at a banquet, because one of the king's concubines praised him as handsome. Daniel shows none of the sympathy for him which he had for Nebuchadnezzar.Xenophonconfirms Daniel as to Belshazzar's end.Winerexplains the "shazzar" in the name as meaning "fire."
      
made ... feast--heaven-sent infatuation when his city was at the time being besieged by Cyrus. The fortifications and abundant provisions in the city made the king despise the besiegers. It was a festival day among the Babylonians [Xenophon].
      
drank ... before the thousand--The king, on this extraordinary occasion, departed from his usual way of feasting apart from his nobles (compare Es 1:3\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p5.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p5.2"2. whiles he tasted the wine--While under the effects of wine, men will do what they dare not do when sober.
      
his father Nebuchadnezzar--that is, his forefather. So "Jesus ... the \ison\iof David, the \ison\iof Abraham" ( Mt 1:1\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p7.1"). Daniel does not say that the other kings mentioned in other writers did not reign between Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar, namely, Evil-merodach ( Jer 52:31\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p7.2"), Neriglissar, his brother-in-law, and Laborasoarchod (nine months).Berosusmakes Nabonidus, the last king, to have been \ione of the people,\iraised to the throne by an insurrection. As the inscriptions show that Belshazzar was distinct from, and joint king with, him, this is not at variance with Daniel, whose statement that Belshazzar was \ison\i(grandson) of \iNebuchadnezzar\iis corroborated by Jeremiah ( Jer 27:7\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p7.4"). Their joint, yet independent, testimony, as contemporaries, and having the best means of information, is more trustworthy than any of the heathen historians, if there were a discrepancy. Evil-merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar (according toBerosus), reigned but a short time (one or two years), having, in consequence of his bad government, been dethroned by a plot of Neriglissar, his sister's husband; hence Daniel does not mention him. At the elevation of Nabonidus as supreme king, Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, was doubtless suffered to be subordinate king and successor, in order to conciliate the legitimate party. Thus the seeming discrepancy becomes a confirmation of genuineness when cleared up, for the real harmony must have been undesigned.
      
wives ... concubines--not usually present at feasts in the East, where women of the harem are kept in strict seclusion. Hence Vashti's refusal to appear at Ahasuerus' feast ( Es 1:9-12\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p8.1"). But the Babylonian court, in its reckless excesses, seems not to have been so strict as the Persian.Xenophon[ \iCyropædia,\i5.2,28] confirms Daniel, representing a feast of Belshazzar where the concubines are present. At the beginning "the lords" ( Da 5:1\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p8.3"), for whom the feast was made, alone seem to have been present; but as the revelry advanced, the women were introduced. Two classes of them are mentioned, those to whom belonged the privileges of "wives," and those strictly concubines ( 2Sa 5:13; 1Ki 11:3; So 6:8\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p8.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p8.5"3.This act was not one of necessity, or for honor's sake, but in reckless profanity.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p9.1"4. praised--sang and shouted praises to "gods," which being of gold, "are their own witnesses" ( Isa 44:9\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p10.1"), confuting the folly of those who fancy such to be gods.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p10.2"5. In the same hour--that the cause of God's visitation might be palpable, namely, the profanation of His vessels and His holy name.
      
fingers of ... hand--God admonishes him, not by a dream (as Nebuchadnezzar had been warned), or by a voice, but by "fingers coming forth," the invisibility of Him who moved them heightening the awful impressiveness of the scene, the hand of the Unseen One attesting his doom before the eyes of himself and his guilty fellow revellers.
      
against the candlestick--the candelabra; where the mystic characters would be best seen.Barnesmakes it the candlestick taken from the temple of Jerusalem, the nearness of the writing to it intimating that the rebuke was directed against the sacrilege.
      
upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace--Written in cuneiform letters on slabs on the walls, and on the very bricks, are found the perpetually recurring recital of titles, victories, and exploits, to remind the spectator at every point of the regal greatness. It is significant, that on the same wall on which the king was accustomed to read the flattering legends of his own magnificence, he beholds the mysterious inscription which foretells his fall (compare Pr 16:18; Ac 12:21-23\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p14.1").
      
part of the hand--the anterior part, namely, the fingers.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p15.1"6. countenance--literally, "brightness," that is, his bright look.
      
joints of his loins--"the vertebræ of his back" [Gesenius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p17.2"7.He calls for the magicians, who more than once had been detected in imposture. He neglects God, and Daniel, whose fame as an interpreter was then well-established. The world wishes to be deceived and shuts its eyes against the light [Calvin]. The Hebrews think the words were \iChaldee,\ibut in the old \iHebrew\icharacter (like that now in the Samaritan Pentateuch).
      
third ruler--The first place was given to the king; the second, to the son of the king, or of the queen; the third, to the chief of the satraps.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p19.1"8.The words were in such a character as to be illegible to the Chaldees, God reserving this honor to Daniel.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p20.1" \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p20.2"10. queen--the queen mother, or \igrandmother,\iNitocris, had not been present till now. She was wife either of Nebuchadnezzar or of Evil merodach; hence her acquaintance with the services of Daniel. She completed the great works which the former had begun. HenceHerodotusattributes them to her alone. This accounts for the deference paid to her by Belshazzar. (See on). Compare similar rank given to the queen mother among the Hebrews ( 1Ki 15:13\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p21.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p21.5"11. spirit of the holy gods--She remembers and repeats Nebuchadnezzar's language ( Da 4:8, 9, 18\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p22.1"). As Daniel was probably, according to Oriental custom, deprived of the office to which Nebuchadnezzar had promoted him, as "master of the magicians" ( Da 4:9\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p22.2"), at the king's death, Belshazzar might easily be ignorant of his services.
      
the king ... thy father the king ... thy father--The repetition marks with emphatic gravity both the excellencies of Daniel, and the fact that Nebuchadnezzar, whom Belshazzar is bound to reverence as his father, had sought counsel from him in similar circumstances.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p23.1" \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p23.2"13. the captivity of Judah--the captive Jews residing in Babylon.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p24.1" \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p24.2" \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p24.3" \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p24.4"17.Not inconsistent with Da 5:29\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p25.1". For here he declares his interpretation of the words is not from the \idesire\iof reward. The honors in Da 5:29\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p25.2"were doubtless \iurged\ion him, without his wish, in such a way that he could not with propriety refuse them. Had he refused them after announcing the doom of the kingdom, he might have been suspected of cowardice or treason.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p25.3"18. God gave--It was not his own birth or talents which gave him the vast empire, as he thought. To make him unlearn his proud thought was the object of God's visitation on him.
      
majesty--in the eyes of his subjects.
      
glory--from his victories.
      
honour--from the enlargement and decoration of the city.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p29.1"19.A purely absolute monarchy ( Jer 27:7\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p30.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p30.2" \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p30.3"21. heart was made like ... beasts--literally, "he made his heart like the beasts," that is, he desired to dwell with them.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p31.1"22.Thou hast erred not through ignorance, but through deliberate contempt of God, notwithstanding that thou hadst before thine eyes the striking warning given in thy grandfather's case.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p32.1"23. whose are all thy ways--( Jer 10:23\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p33.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p33.2"24. Then--When thou liftedst up thyself against the Lord.
      
the part of the hand--the fore part, the fingers.
      
was ... sent from him--that is, from God.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p36.1"25. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin--literally, "numbered, weighed, and dividers."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p37.1"26.God hath fixed the number of years of thine empire, and that number is now complete.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p38.1"27. weighed in the balances--The Egyptians thought that Osiris weighed the actions of the dead in a literal balance. The Babylonians may have had the same notion, which would give a peculiar appropriateness to the image here used.
      
found wanting--too light before God, the weigher of actions ( 1Sa 2:3; Ps 62:9\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p40.1"). Like spurious gold or silver ( Jer 6:30\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p40.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p40.3"28. Peres--the explanation of "dividers" ( Da 5:25\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p41.1"), the \iactive participle plural\ithere being used for the \ipassive participle singular,\i"dividers" for "divided." The word "Peres" alludes to the similar word "Persia."
      
divided--namely, among the Medes and Persians [Maurer]; or, "severed" from thee [Grotius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p42.3"29. Belshazzar ... clothed Daniel with scarlet--To come from the presence of a prince in a dress presented to the wearer as a distinction is still held a great honor in the East. Daniel was thus restored to a similar rank to what he had held under Nebuchadnezzar ( Da 2:48\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p43.1"). Godly fidelity which might be expected to bring down vengeance, as in this case, is often rewarded even in this life. The king, having promised, was ashamed before his courtiers to break his word. He perhaps also affected to despise the prophecy of his doom, as an idle threat. As to Daniel's reasons for now accepting what at first he had declined, compare \iNote,\isee on. The insignia of honor would be witnesses for God's glory to the world of his having by God's aid interpreted the mystic characters. The \icause\iof his elevation too would secure the favor of the new dynasty ( Da 6:2\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p43.4") for both himself and his captive countrymen. As the capture of the city by Cyrus was not till near daylight, there was no want of \itime\iin that eventful night for accomplishing all that is here recorded. The capture of the city so immediately after the prophecy of it (following Belshazzar's sacrilege), marked most emphatically to the whole world the connection between Babylon's sin and its punishment.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p43.5"30.HerodotusandXenophonconfirm Daniel as to the \isuddenness\iof the event. Cyrus diverted the Euphrates into a new channel and, guided by two deserters, marched by the dry bed into the city, while the Babylonians were carousing at an annual feast to the gods. See also Isa 21:5; 44:27; Jer 50:38, 39; 51:36\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p44.3". As to Belshazzar's being slain, compare Isa 14:18-20; 21:2-9; Jer 50:29-35; 51:57\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p44.4".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vi-p44.5"31. Darius the Median--that is, Cyaxares II, the son and successor of Astyages, 569-536B.C.Though Koresh, or Cyrus, was leader of the assault, yet all was done in the name of Darius; therefore, he alone is mentioned here; but Da 6:28\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p45.2"shows Daniel was not ignorant of \iCyrus'\ishare in the capture of Babylon. Isa 13:17; 21:2\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p45.3", confirm Daniel in making the \iMedes\ithe leading nation in destroying Babylon. So also Jer 51:11, 28\Q="x.xxvii.vi-p45.4".Herodotus, on the other hand, omits mentioning Darius, as that king, being weak and sensual, gave up all the authority to his energetic nephew, Cyrus [Xenophon, \iCyropædia,\i1.5; 8.7].
      
threescore and two years old--This agrees withXenophon[ \iCyropædia,\i8.5,19], as to Cyaxares II.
      

\C3="Chapter 6" \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p0.1"CHAPTER 6
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p1.1" Da 6:1-28\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p2.1".Darius' Decree: Daniel's Disobedience, and Consequent Exposure to the Lions: His Deliverance by God, and Darius' Decree.
      
1. Darius--Grotefendhas read it in the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis, as \iDarheush,\ithat is, "Lord-King," a name applied to many of the Medo-Persian kings in common. Three of that name occur: Darius Hystaspes, 521B.C., in whose reign the decree was carried into effect for rebuilding the temple ( Ezr 4:5; Hag 1:1\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p3.3"); Darius Codomanus, 336B.C., whom Alexander overcame, called "the Persian" ( Ne 12:22\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p3.5"), an expression used after the rule of Macedon was set up; and Darius Cyaxares II, between Astyages and Cyrus [ÆSCHYLUS, \iThe Persians,\i762, 763].
      
hundred and twenty--satraps; set over the conquered provinces (including Babylon) by Cyrus [Xenophon, \iCyropædia,\i8.6.1]. No doubt Cyrus acted \iunder Darius,\ias in the capture of Babylon; so that Daniel rightly attributes the appointment to \iDarius.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p4.2" \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p4.3"3. Daniel was preferred--probably because of his having so wonderfully foretold the fall of Babylon. Hence the very expression used by the queen mother on that occasion ( Da 5:12\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p5.1") is here used, "because \ian excellent spirit was in him.\i"
      
king thought to set him over the whole realm--Agreeing with Darius' character, weak and averse to business, which he preferred to delegate to favorites. God overruled this to the good both of Daniel, and, through him, of His people.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p6.1"4. occasion ... concerning the kingdom--pretext for accusation in his administration ( Ec 4:4\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p7.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p7.2"5.It is the highest testimony to a godly man's walk, when his most watchful enemies can find no ground of censure save in that he walks according to the law of God even where it opposes the ways of the world.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p8.1"6. assembled together--literally, "assembled hastily and tumultuously." Had they come more deliberately, the king might have refused their grant; but they gave him no time for reflection, representing that their \itest-decree\iwas necessary for the safety of the king.
      
live for ever--Arrian[ \iAlexander,\i4] records that Cyrus was the first before whom prostration was practised. It is an undesigned mark of genuineness that Daniel should mention no prostration before Nebuchadnezzar or Darius (see on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p10.4"7.The Persian king was regarded as representative of the chief god, Ormuzd; the seven princes near him represented the seven Amshaspands before the throne of Ormuzd; hence Mordecai ( Es 3:4\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p11.1") refused such homage to Haman, the king's prime minister, as inconsistent with what is due to God alone. A weak despot, like Darius, much under the control of his princes, might easily be persuaded that such a decree would test the obedience of the Chaldeans just conquered, and tame their proud spirits. So absolute is the king in the East, that he is regarded not merely as the ruler, but the owner, of the people.
      
All ... governors ... counsellors,&c.--Several functionaries are here specified, not mentioned in Da 6:4, 6\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p12.1". They evidently exaggerated the case of the weak king, as if \itheir\irequest was that of \iall\ithe officers in the empire.
      
den of lions--an underground cave or pit, covered with a stone. It is an undesigned proof of genuineness, that the "fiery furnace" is not made the means of punishment here, as in Da 3:20\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p13.1"; for the Persians were \ifire-worshippers,\iwhich the Babylonians were not.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p13.2"8. decree--or, "interdict."
      
that it be not changed--( Es 1:19; 8:8\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p15.1"). This immutability of the king's commands was peculiar to the Medes and Persians: it was due to their regarding him infallible as the representative of Ormuzd; it was not so among the Babylonians.
      
Medes and Persians--The order of the names is an undesigned mark of genuineness. Cyrus the Persian reigned subordinate to Darius the Mede as to dignity, though exercising more real power. After Darius' death, the order is "the Persians and Medes" ( Es 1:14, 19\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p16.1", &c.).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p16.2"9.Such a despotic decree is quite explicable by remembering that the king, as the incarnation of Ormuzd, might demand such an act of religious obedience as a \itest of loyalty.\iPersecuting laws are always made on false pretenses. Instead of bitter complaints against men, Daniel prays to God. Though having vast business as a ruler of the empire, he finds time to pray thrice a day. Daniel's three companions ( Da 3:12\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p17.1"), are not alluded to here, nor any other Jew who conscientiously may have disregarded the edict, as the conspirators aimed at Daniel alone ( Da 6:5\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p17.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p17.3"10. when Daniel knew ... writing ... signed--and that, therefore, the power of advising the king against it was taken from him.
      
went into his house--withdrawing from the God-dishonoring court.
      
windows ... open--not in vainglory, but that there might be no obstruction to his view of the direction in which Jerusalem, the earthly seat of Jehovah under the Old Testament, lay; and that the sight of heaven might draw his mind off from earthly thoughts. To Christ in the heavenly temple let us turn our eyes in prayer, from this land of our captivity ( 1Ki 8:44, 48; 2Ch 6:29, 34, 38; Ps 5:7\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p20.1").
      
chamber--the upper room, where prayer was generally offered by the Jews ( Ac 1:13\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p21.1"). Not on the housetop ( Ac 10:9\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p21.2"), where he would be conspicuous.
      
upon his knees--Humble attitudes in prayer become humble suppliants.
      
three times a day--( Ps 55:17\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p23.1"). The third, sixth, and ninth hour; our nine, twelve, and three o'clock ( Ac 2:15; 10:9; 3:1; 10:30\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p23.2"; compare Da 9:21\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p23.3").
      
as ... aforetime--not from contempt of the king's command.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p24.1"11. assembled--as in Da 6:6\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p25.1", "assembled" or "ran hastily," so as to come upon Daniel suddenly and detect him in the act.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p25.2"12.They preface their attack by alleging the king's edict, so as to get him again to confirm it unalterably, before they mention \iDaniel's\iname. Not to break a wicked promise, is not firmness, but guilty obstinacy ( Mt 14:9; Mr 6:26\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p26.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p26.2"13. That Daniel--contemptuously.
      
of ... captivity of Judah--recently a captive among thy servants, the Babylonians--one whom humble obedience most becomes. Thus they aggravate his guilt, omitting mention of his being prime minister, which might only remind Darius of Daniel's state services.
      
regardeth not thee--because he regarded God ( Ac 4:19; 5:29\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p29.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p29.2"14. displeased with himself--for having suffered himself to be entrapped into such a hasty decree ( Pr 29:20\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p30.1"). On the one hand he was pressed by the immutability of the law, fear that the princes might conspire against him, and desire to consult for his own reputation, not to seem fickle; on the other, by regard for Daniel, and a desire to save him from the effects of his own rash decree.
      
till ... going down of ... sun--The king took this time to deliberate, thinking that after sunset Daniel would be spared till morning, and that meanwhile some way of escape would turn up. But ( Da 6:15\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p31.1") the conspirators "assembled tumultuously" (literally) to prevent this delay in the execution, lest the king should meantime change his decree.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p31.2" \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p31.3"16. Thy God ... will deliver thee--The heathen believed in the interposition of the gods at times in favor of their worshippers. Darius recognized Daniel's God as a god, but not \ithe only true\iGod. He had heard of the deliverance of the three youths in Da 3:26, 27\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p32.1"and hence augurs Daniel's deliverance. I am not my own master, and cannot deliver thee, however much I wish it. "Thy God will." Kings are the slaves of their flatterers. Men admire piety to God in others, however disregarding Him themselves.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p32.2"17. stone ... sealed--typical of Christ's entombment under a seal ( Mt 27:66\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p33.1"). Divinely ordered, that the deliverance might be the more striking.
      
his own signet, and ... of his lords--The \iconcurrence\iof the lords was required for making laws. In this kingly power had fallen since it was in Nebuchadnezzar's hands. The Median king is a puppet in his lords' hands; they take the security of their own seal as well as his, that he should not release Daniel. The king's seal guaranteed Daniel from being killed by them, should he escape the lions.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p34.1"18. neither were instruments of music,&c.--Geseniustranslates, "concubines." Daniel's mentioning to us as an extraordinary thing of Darius, that he neither approached his table nor his harem, agrees withXenophon'spicture of him as devoted to wine and women, vain, and without self-control. He is sorry for the evil which he himself had caused, yet takes no steps to remedy it. There are many such halters between good and bad, who are ill at ease in their sins, yet go forward in them, and are drawn on by others.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p35.3"19.His grief overcame his fear of the nobles.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p36.1"20. living God--having life Himself, and able to preserve thy life; contrasted with the lifeless idols. Darius borrowed the phrase from Daniel; God extorting from an idolater a confession of the truth.
      
thou servest continually--in times of persecution, as well as in times of peace.
      
is thy God ... able--the language of doubt, yet hope.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p39.1"21.Daniel might have indulged in anger at the king, but does not; his sole thought is, God's glory has been set forth in his deliverance.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p40.1"22. his angel--the instrument, not the author, of his deliverance ( Ps 91:11; 34:7\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p41.1").
      
shut ... lions' mouths--( Heb 11:33\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p42.1"). So spiritually, God will shut the roaring lion's mouth ( 1Pe 5:8\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p42.2") for His servants.
      
forasmuch as before him innocency--not absolutely (in Da 9:7, 18\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p43.1"he disclaims such a plea), but relatively to this case. God has attested the justice of my cause in standing up for His worship, by delivering me. Therefore, the "forasmuch" does not justify Rome's doctrine of works meriting salvation.
      
before thee--Obedience to God is in strictest compatibility with loyalty to the king ( Mt 22:21; 1Pe 2:17\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p44.1"). Daniel's disobedience to the king was seeming, not real, because it was not from contempt of the king, but from regard to the King of kings (compare Ac 24:16\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p44.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p44.3"23. because he believed--"Faith" is stated in Heb 11:33\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p45.1"to have been his actuating principle: a prelude to the Gospel. His belief was not with a view to a miraculous deliverance. He shut his eyes to the event, committing the keeping of his soul to God, in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator ( 1Pe 4:19\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p45.2"), sure of deliverance in a better life, if not in this.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p45.3"24.( De 19:19; Pr 19:5\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p46.1").
      
accused--literally, "devoured the bones and flesh." It was just that they who had torn Daniel's character, and sought the tearing of his person, should be themselves given to be torn in pieces ( Pr 11:8\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p47.1").
      
their children--Among the Persians, all the kindred were involved in the guilt of one culprit. The Mosaic law expressly forbade this ( De 24:16; 2Ki 14:6\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p48.1").
      
or ever--that is, "before ever." The lions' sparing Daniel could not have been because they were full, as they showed the keenness of their hunger on the accusers.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p49.1" \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p49.2"26.Stronger than the decree ( Da 3:29\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p50.1"). That was negative; this, positive; not merely men must say "nothing amiss of," but must "fear before God."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p50.2" \Q="x.xxvii.vii-p50.3"28.It was in the third year of Cyrus that Daniel's visions ( Da 10:1-12:13\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p51.1") were given. Daniel "prospered" because of his prophecies ( Ezr 1:1, 2\Q="x.xxvii.vii-p51.2").
      

\C3="Chapter 7" \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p0.1"CHAPTER 7
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p1.1" Da 7:1-28\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p2.1".Vision of the Four Beasts.
      
This chapter treats of the same subject as the second chapter. But there the four kingdoms, and Messiah's final kingdom, were regarded according to their \iexternal\ipolitical aspect, but here according to the mind of God concerning them, and their \imoral\ifeatures. The outward political history had been shown in its general features to the world ruler, whose position fitted him for receiving such a revelation. But God's prophet here receives disclosures as to the characters of the powers of the world, in a religious point of view, suited to \ihis\iposition and receptivity. Hence in the second chapter the images are taken from the inanimate sphere; in the seventh chapter they are taken from the animate. Nebuchadnezzar saw superficially the world power as a splendid human figure, and the kingdom of God as a mere stone at the first. Daniel sees the world kingdoms in their inner essence as of an \ianimal\inature lower than human, being estranged from God; and that only in the kingdom of God ("the Son of \iman,\i" the representative man) is the true dignity of man realized. So, as contrasted with Nebuchadnezzar's vision, the kingdom of God appears to Daniel, \ifrom the very first,\isuperior to the world kingdom. For though in \iphysical\iforce the beasts excel man, man has essentially \ispiritual\ipowers. Nebuchadnezzar's colossal image represents mankind in its own strength, but only the outward man. Daniel sees man spiritually degraded to the beast level, led by blind impulses, through his alienation from God. It is only from above that the perfect Son of man comes, and in His kingdom man attains his true destiny. Compare Ps 8:1-9 with Ge 1:26-28\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p3.1". Humanity is impossible without divinity: it sinks to bestiality ( Ps 32:9; 49:20; 73:22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p3.2"). Obstinate heathen nations are compared to "bulls" ( Ps 68:30\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p3.3"); Egypt to the dragon in the Nile ( Isa 27:1; 51:9; Eze 29:3\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p3.4"). The animal with all its sagacity looks always to the ground, without consciousness of relation to God. What elevates man is communion with God, in willing subjection to Him. The moment he tries to exalt himself to independence of God, as did Nebuchadnezzar ( Da 4:30\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p3.5"), he sinks to the beast's level. Daniel's acquaintance with the animal colossal figures in Babylon and Nineveh was a psychological preparation for his animal visions. Ho 13:7, 8\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p3.6"would occur to him while viewing those ensigns of the world power. Compare Jer 2:15; 4:7; 5:6\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p3.7".
      
1. Belshazzar--Good \iHebrew\imanuscripts have "Belshazzar"; meaning "Bel is to be burnt with hostile fire" ( Jer 50:2; 51:44\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p4.1"). In the \ihistory\ihe is called by his ordinary name; in the \iprophecy,\iwhich gives his true destiny, he is called a corresponding name, by the change of a letter.
      
visions of his head--not \iconfused\i"dreams," but distinct images seen \iwhile his mind was collected.\i
      
sum--a "summary." In predictions, generally, details are not given so fully as to leave no scope for free agency, faith, and patient waiting for God manifesting His will in the event. He "wrote" it for the Church in all ages; he "told" it for the comfort of his captive fellow countrymen.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p6.1"2. the four winds--answering to the "four beasts"; their several \iconflicts in the four quarters or directions of the world.\i
      
strove--burst forth (from the abyss) [Maurer].
      
sea--The world powers rise out of the agitations of the political \isea\i( Jer 46:7, 8; Lu 21:25\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p9.1"; compare Re 13:1; 17:15; 21:1\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p9.2"); the kingdom of God and the Son of man from the \iclouds of heaven\i( Da 7:13\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p9.3"; compare Joh 8:23\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p9.4").Tregellestakes "the great sea" to mean, as always elsewhere in Scripture ( Jos 1:4; 9:1\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p9.6"), \ithe Mediterranean,\ithe center territorially of the four kingdoms of the vision, which all border on it and have Jerusalem subject to them. \iBabylon\idid not border on the Mediterranean, nor rule Jerusalem, till Nebuchadnezzar's time, when both things took place simultaneously. \iPersia\iencircled more of this sea, namely, from the Hellespont to Cyrene. \iGreece\idid not become a monarchy before Alexander's time, but then, succeeding to Persia, it became mistress of Jerusalem. It surrounded still more of the Mediterranean, adding the coasts of Greece to the part held by Persia. \iRome,\iunder Augustus, realized three things at once--it became a monarchy; it became mistress of the last of the four parts of Alexander's empire (symbolized by the four heads of the third beast), and of Jerusalem; it surrounded \iall\ithe Mediterranean.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p9.7"3. beasts--not \iliving animals,\ias the cherubic four in Re 4:7\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p10.1"(for the original is a different word from "beasts," and ought to be there translated, \iliving animals\i). The cherubic living animals represent redeemed man, combining in himself the highest forms of animal life. But the "beasts" here represent the world powers, in their beast-like, grovelling character. It is on the fundamental harmony between nature and spirit, between the three kingdoms of nature, history, and revelation, that Scripture symbolism rests. The selection of symbols is not arbitrary, but based on the essence of things.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p10.2"4. lion--the symbol of \istrength and courage;\ichief among the kingdoms, as the lion among the beasts. Nebuchadnezzar is called "the lion" ( Jer 4:7\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p11.1").
      
eagle's wings--denoting a widespread and rapidly acquired ( Isa 46:11; Jer 4:13; La 4:19; Hab 1:6\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p12.1") empire ( Jer 48:40\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p12.2").
      
plucked--Its ability for widespread conquests passed away under Evil-merodach, &c. [Grotius]; rather, during Nebuchadnezzar's privation of his throne, while deranged.
      
it was lifted up from the earth--that is, from its grovelling bestiality.
      
made stand ... as a man--So long as Nebuchadnezzar, in haughty pride, relied on his own strength, he forfeited the true dignity of man, and was therefore degraded to be with the beasts. Da 4:16\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p15.1": "Let his \iheart\ibe changed from \iman's,\iand let a beast's \iheart\ibe given unto him." But after he learned by this sore discipline that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men" ( Da 4:35, 36\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p15.2"), the change took place in him, "a \iman's\iheart is given to him; instead of his former beast's heart, he attains man's true position, namely, to be consciously dependent on God." Compare Ps 9:20\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p15.3".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p15.4"5. bear--symbolizing the austere life of the Persians in their mountains, also their cruelty ( Isa 13:17, 18\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p16.1"; Cambyses, Ochus, and other of the Persian princes were notoriously cruel; the Persian laws involved, for one man's offense, the whole kindred and neighborhood in destruction, Da 6:24\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p16.2") and rapacity. "A bear is an \iall-devouring\ianimal" [Aristotle, 8.5], ( Jer 51:48, 56\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p16.4").
      
raised ... itself on one side--but the \iHebrew,\i"It raised up one \idominion.\i" The Medes, an ancient people, and the Persians, a modern tribe, formed \ione united sovereignty\iin contrast to the third and fourth kingdoms, each originally one, afterwards divided. \iEnglish Version\iis the result of a slight change of a \iHebrew\iletter. The idea then would be, "It lay on one of its fore feet, and stood on the other"; a figure still to be seen on one of the stones of Babylon [Munter, \iThe Religion of Babylonia,\i112]; denoting a kingdom that had been at rest, but is now rousing itself for conquest. Media is the lower side, passiveness; Persia, the upper, active element [Auberlen]. The three ribs in its mouth are \iMedia, Lydia,\iand \iBabylon,\ibrought under the Persian sway. Rather, \iBabylon, Lydia,\iand \iEgypt,\inot properly parts of its body, but seized by Medo-Persia [Sir Isaac Newton]. Called "ribs" because they strengthened the Medo-Persian empire. "Between its teeth," as being much grinded by it.
      
devour much flesh--that is, subjugate many nations.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p18.1"6. leopard--smaller than the lion; swift ( Hab 1:8\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p19.1"); cruel ( Isa 11:6\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p19.2"), the opposite of tame; springing suddenly from its hiding place on its prey ( Ho 13:7\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p19.3"); spotted. So Alexander, a small king, of a small kingdom, Macedon, attacked Darius at the head of the vast empire reaching from the Ægean Sea to the Indies. In twelve years he subjugated part of Europe, and all Asia from Illyricum and the Adriatic to the Ganges, not so much fighting as conquering [Jerome]. Hence, whereas Babylon is represented with \itwo\iwings, Macedon has \ifour,\iso rapid were its conquests. The various spots denote the various nations incorporated into his empire [Bochart]; or Alexander's own variation in character, at one time mild, at another cruel, now temperate, and now drunken and licentious.
      
four heads--explained in Da 8:8, 22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p20.1"; the four kingdoms of the \iDiadochi\ior "successors" into which the Macedonian empire was divided at the death of Alexander, namely, Macedon and Greece under Cassander, Thrace and Bithynia under Lysimachus, Egypt under Ptolemy, and Syria under Seleucus.
      
dominion ... given to it--by God; not by Alexander's own might. For how unlikely it was that thirty thousand men should overthrow several hundreds of thousands!Josephus[ \iAntiquities,\i11.6] says that Alexander adored the high priest of Jerusalem, saying that he at Dium in Macedonia had seen a vision of God so habited, inviting him to go to Asia, and promising him success.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p21.2"7.As Daniel lived under the kingdom of the first beast, and therefore needed not to describe it, and as the second and third are described fully in the second part of the book, the chief emphasis falls on the fourth. Also prophecy most dwells on the \iend,\iwhich is the consummation of the preceding series of events. It is in the fourth that the world power manifests fully its God-opposing nature. Whereas the three former kingdoms were designated respectively, as a lion, bear, and leopard, no particular beast is specified as the image of the fourth; for Rome is so terrible as to be not describable by any one, but combines in itself all that we can imagine inexpressibly fierce in all beasts. Hence \ithrice\i( Da 7:7, 19, 23\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p22.1") it is repeated, that the fourth was "diverse from all" the others. The formula of introduction, "I saw in the night visions," occurs here, as at Da 7:2\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p22.2", and again at Da 7:13\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p22.3", thus dividing the whole vision into three parts--the first embracing the three kingdoms, the second the fourth and its overthrow, the third Messiah's kingdom. The first three together take up a few centuries; the fourth, thousands of years. The whole lower half of the image in the second chapter is given to it. And whereas the other kingdoms consist of only one material, this consists of two, iron and clay (on which much stress is laid, Da 2:41-43\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p22.4"); the " \iiron\iteeth" here allude to one material in the fourth kingdom of the image.
      
ten horns--It is with the \icrisis,\irather than the \icourse,\iof the fourth kingdom that this seventh chapter is mainly concerned. The ten \ikings\i( Da 7:24\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p23.1", the "horns" representing \ipower\i), that is, \ikingdoms,\iinto which Rome was divided on its incorporation with the Germanic and Slavonic tribes, and again at the Reformation, are thought by many to be here intended. But the variation of the list of the ten, and their ignoring the eastern half of the empire altogether, and the existence of the Papacy \ibefore\ithe breaking up of even the \iWestern\iempire, instead of being the "little horn" springing up \iafter\ithe other ten, are against this view. The Western Roman empire continued tillA.D.731, and the Eastern, tillA.D.1453. The ten kingdoms, therefore, prefigured by the ten "toes" ( Da 2:41\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p23.4"; compare Re 13:1; 17:12\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p23.5"), are the ten kingdoms into which Rome shall be found finally divided when Antichrist shall appear [Tregelles]. These, probably, are prefigured by the number \iten\ibeing the prevalent one at the chief turning points of Roman history.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p23.7"8. little horn-- \ilittle\iat first, but afterwards waxing greater than all others. He must be sought "among them," namely, the ten horns. The Roman empire did not represent itself as a continuation of Alexander's; but the Germanic empire calls itself "the holy Roman empire." Napoleon's attempted universal monarchy was avowedly Roman: his son was called king of Rome. The czar ( \iCæsar\i) also professes to represent the eastern half of the Roman empire. The Roman civilization, church, language, and law are the chief elements in Germanic civilization. But the Romanic element seeks universal empire, while the Germanic seeks individualization. Hence the universal monarchies attempted by the Papacy, Charlemagne, Charles V, and Napoleon have failed, the iron not amalgamating with the clay. In the king symbolized by "the little horn," the God-opposing, haughty spirit of the world, represented by the fourth monarchy, finds its intensest development. "The man of sin," "the son of perdition" ( 2Th 2:3\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p24.1"). Antichrist ( 1Jo 2:18, 22; 4:3\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p24.2"). It is the complete evolution of the evil principle introduced by the fall.
      
three of the first horns plucked up--the exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lombards and the state of Rome, which constituted the Pope's dominions at the first; obtained by Pope Zachary and Stephen II in return for acknowledging the usurper Pepin lawful king of France [Newton]. SeeTregelles'objections, Da 7:7\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p25.3", "ten horns," \iNote.\iThe "little horn," in his view, is to be Antichrist rising three and a half years before Christ's second advent, having first overthrown three of the ten contemporaneous kingdoms, into which the fourth monarchy, under which we live, shall be finally divided. Popery seems to be \ia\ifulfilment of the prophecy in many particulars, the Pope claiming to be God on earth and above all earthly dominions; but the spirit of Antichrist prefigured by Popery will probably culminate inONE \iindividual,\ito be destroyed by Christ's coming; He will be the product of the political \iworld\ipowers, whereas Popery which prepares His way, is a \iChurch\ibecome worldly.
      
eyes of man--Eyes express intelligence ( Eze 1:18\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p26.1"); so ( Ge 3:5\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p26.2") the serpent's promise was, man's "eyes should be opened," if he would but rebel against God. Antichrist shall consummate the self-apotheosis, begun at the fall, high intellectual culture, independent of God. The metals representing Babylon and Medo-Persia, gold and silver, are more precious than brass and iron, representing Greece and Rome; but the latter metals are more useful to civilization ( Ge 4:22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p26.3"). The clay, representing the Germanic element, is the most plastic material. Thus there is a progress in \iculture;\ibut this is not a progress \inecessarily\iin man's truest dignity, namely, union and likeness to God. Nay, it has led him farther from God, to self-reliance and world-love. The beginnings of civilization were among the children of Cain ( Ge 4:17-24; Lu 16:8\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p26.4"). Antiochus Epiphanes, the first Antichrist, came from civilized Greece, and loved art. As Hellenic civilization produced the \ifirst,\iso modern civilization under the fourth monarchy will produce the \ilast\iAntichrist. The "mouth" and "eyes" are those of a man, while the symbol is otherwise brutish, that is, it will assume man's true dignity, namely, wear the guise of the kingdom of God (which comes as the "Son of \iman\i" from above), while it is really bestial, namely, severed from God. Antichrist promises the same things as Christ, but in an opposite way: a caricature of Christ, offering a regenerated world without the cross. Babylon and Persia in their religion had more reverence for things divine than Greece and Rome in the imperial stages of their history. Nebuchadnezzar's human \iheart,\igiven him ( Da 4:16\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p26.5") on his repentance, contrasts with the human \ieyes\iof Antichrist, the pseudo son of man, namely, intellectual culture, while heart and mouth blaspheme God. The deterioration politically corresponds: the first kingdom, an organic unity; the second, divided into Median and Persian; the third branches off into four; the fourth, into ten. The two eastern kingdoms are marked by nobler metals; the two western, by baser; individualization and division appear in the latter, and it is they which produce the two Antichrists.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p26.6"9. I beheld till--I continued looking till.
      
thrones ... cast down--rather, "thrones were \iplaced\i" [ \iVulgate\iandLuther], namely, for the saints and elect angels to whom "judgment is given" ( Da 7:22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p28.2"), as assessors with the Judge. Compare Da 7:10\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p28.3", "thousand thousands ministered unto Him" ( Mt 19:28; Lu 22:30; 1Co 6:2, 3; 1Ti 5:21; Re 2:26; 4:4\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p28.4"). In \iEnglish Version\ithe thrones \icast down\iare those of the previously mentioned kings who give place to Messiah.
      
Ancient of days--"The everlasting Father" ( Isa 9:6\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p29.1").Heis the Judge here, asTHE Sondoes not judge in His own cause, and it is His cause which is the one at issue with Antichrist.
      
sit--the attitude of a judge about to pass sentence.
      
white--The judicial purity of the Judge, and of all things round Him, is hereby expressed ( Re 1:14\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p31.1").
      
wheels--as Oriental thrones move on wheels. Like the rapid flame, God's judgments are most swift in falling where He wills them ( Eze 1:15, 16\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p32.1"). The judgment here is not the last judgment, for \ithen\ithere will be no beast, and heaven and earth shall have passed away; but it is that on Antichrist (the last development of the fourth kingdom), typical of the last judgment: Christ coming to substitute the millennial kingdom of \iglory\ifor that of \ithe cross\i( Re 17:12-14; 19:15-21; 11:15\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p32.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p32.3"10. thousand ... ministered unto him--so at the giving of the law ( De 33:2; Ps 68:17; Heb 12:22; Jude 14\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p33.1").
      
ten ... thousand before him--image from the Sanhedrim, in which the father of the consistory sat with his assessors on each side, in the form of a semicircle, and the people standing before him.
      
judgment was set--The judges sat ( Re 20:4\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p35.1").
      
books ... opened--( Re 20:12\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p36.1"). Forensic image; all the documents of the cause at issue, connected with the condemnation of Antichrist and his kingdom, and the setting up of Messiah's kingdom. \iJudgment\imust pass on the world as being under the curse, before the glory comes; but Antichrist offers glory without the cross, a renewed world without the world being \ijudged.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p36.2"11.Here is set forth the execution on earth of the judgment pronounced in the unseen heavenly court of judicature ( Da 7:9, 10\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p37.1").
      
body ... given to ... flame--( Re 19:20\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p38.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p38.2"12. the rest of the beasts--that is, the three first, had passed away not by \idirect\idestroying judgments, such as consumed the little horn, as being the finally matured evil of the fourth beast. They had continued to exist but their " \idominion\iwas was taken away"; whereas the fourth beast shall cease utterly, superseded by Messiah's kingdom.
      
for a season ... time--Not only the triumph of the beasts over the godly, but their very existence is limited to a \idefinite time,\iand that time the \iexactly suitable\ione (compare Mt 24:22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.1"). Probably a definite period is meant by a "season and time" (compare Da 7:25; Re 20:3\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.2"). It is striking, the fourth monarchy, though Christianized for fifteen hundred years past, is not distinguished from the previous heathen monarchies, or from its own heathen portion. Nay, it is represented as the most God-opposed of all, and culminating at last in blasphemous Antichrist. The reason is: Christ's kingdom \inow\iis not of this world ( Joh 18:36\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.3"); and only at the second advent of Christ does it become an external power of the world. Hence Daniel, whose province it was to prophesy of the world powers, does not treat of Christianity until it becomes a world power, namely, at the second advent. The kingdom of God is a hidden one till Jesus comes again ( Ro 8:17; Col 3:2, 3; 2Ti 2:11, 12\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.4"). Rome was worldly while heathen, and remains worldly, though Christianized. So the New Testament views the present æon or age of the world as essentially heathenish, which we cannot love without forsaking Christ ( Ro 12:2; 1Co 1:20; 2:6, 8; 3:18; 7:31; 2Co 4:4; Ga 1:4; Eph 2:2; 2Ti 4:10\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.5"; compare 1Jo 2:15, 17\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.6"). The object of Christianity is not so much to Christianize the present world as to save souls out of it, so as not to be condemned with the world ( 1Co 11:32\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.7"), but to rule with Him in His millennium ( Mt 5:5; Lu 12:32; 22:28-30; Ro 5:17; 1Co 6:2; Re 1:6; 2:26-28; 3:21; 20:4\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.8"). This is to be our \ihope,\inot to reign in the present world course ( 1Co 4:8; 2Co 4:18; Php 3:20; Heb 13:14\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.9"). There must be a "regeneration" of the world, as of the individual, a death previous to a resurrection, a \idestruction\iof the world kingdoms, before they rise anew as the kingdoms of Christ ( Mt 19:28\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.10"). Even the millennium will not perfectly eradicate the world's corruption; another apostasy and judgment will follow ( Re 20:7-15\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.11"), in which the world of \inature\iis to be destroyed and renewed, as the world of \ihistory\iwas before the millennium ( 2Pe 3:8-13\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.12"); then comes the perfect earth and heaven ( Re 21:1\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.13"). Thus there is an onward progress, and the Christian is \iwaiting\ifor the consummation ( Mr 13:33-37; Lu 12:35, 36, 40-46; 1Th 1:9, 10\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.14"), as His Lord also is "expecting" ( Heb 10:13\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.15").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p40.16"13. Son of man--(See on). Not merely Son of David, and King of Israel, but Head of restored \ihumanity\i(corresponding to the world-wide horizon of Daniel's prophecy); the seed of the woman, crushing Antichrist, the seed of the serpent, according to the Prot-evangel in Paradise ( Ge 3:15\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.3"). The Representative Man shall then realize the original destiny of man as Head of the creation ( Ge 1:26, 28\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.4"); the center of unity to Israel and the Gentiles. The beast, which taken conjointly represents the four beasts, ascends from the sea ( Da 7:2; Re 13:1\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.5"); the Son of man descends \ifrom "heaven."\iSatan, as the serpent, is the representative head of all that bestial; man, by following the serpent, has become bestial. God must, therefore, become man, so that man may cease to be beast-like. Whoever rejects the incarnate God will be judged by the Son of man just because He is the Son of man ( Joh 5:27\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.6"). This title is always associated with His coming again, because the kingdom that then awaits Him in that which belongs to Him as the Saviour of man, the Restorer of the lost inheritance. "Son of man" expresses HisVISIBLEstate formerly in his humiliation hereafter in His exaltation. He "comes to the Ancient of days" to be invested with the kingdom. Compare Ps 110:2\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.8": "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength (Messiah) out of Zion." This investiture was at His ascension "with the clouds of heaven" ( Ac 1:9; 2:33, 34; Ps 2:6-9; Mt 28:18\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.9"), which is a pledge of His return "in like manner" in the clouds" ( Ac 1:11; Mt 26:64\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.10"), and "with clouds" ( Re 1:7\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.11"). The kingdom then was given to Him in \ititle\iand \iinvisible\iexercise; at His second coming it shall be in \ivisible\iadministration. He will vindicate it from the misrule of those who received it to hold for and under God, but who ignored His supremacy. The Father will assert His right by the Son, the heir, who will hold it for Him ( Eze 1:27; Heb 1:2; Re 19:13-16\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.12").Tregellesthinks the investiture here \iimmediately precedes\iChrist's coming forth; because He sits at God's right hand \iuntil\iHis enemies are made His footstool, \ithen\ithe kingdom is given to the Son in actual investiture, and He comes to crush His so prepared footstool under His feet. But the words, "with the clouds," and the universal power actually, though invisibly, given Him then ( Eph 1:20-22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.14"), agree best with His investiture at the ascension, which, in the prophetic view that overleaps the interval of ages, is the precursor of His coming visibly to reign; no event of equal moment taking place in the interval.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.15" \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p41.16"15. body--literally, "sheath": the body being the "sheath" of the soul.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p42.1" \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p42.2"17. kings--that is, kingdoms. Compare Da 7:23\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p43.1", "fourth kingdom"; Da 2:38; 8:20-22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p43.2". Each of the four kings represents a dynasty. Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Antiochus, and Antichrist, though \iindividually\ireferred to, are representatives of characteristic tendencies.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p43.3"18. the Most High--the emphatic title of God in this prophecy, who delegates His power first to Israel; then to the Gentiles ( Da 2:37, 38\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p44.1") when Israel fails to realize the idea of the theocracy; lastly, to Messiah, who shall rule truly for God, taking it from the Gentile world powers, whose history is one of continual degeneracy culminating in the last of the kings, Antichrist. Here, in the interpretation, "the saints," but in the vision ( Da 7:13, 14\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p44.2"), "the Son of man," takes the kingdom; for Christ and His people are one in suffering, and one in glory.Tregellestranslates, "most high places" ( Eph 1:3; 2:6\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p44.4"). Though oppressed by the beast and little horn, they belong not to the earth from which the four beasts arise, but to the most high places.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p44.5"19.Balaam, an Aramean, dwelling on the Euphrates, at the beginning of Israel's independent history, and Daniel at the close of it, prophetically exhibit to the hostile world powers Israel as triumphant over them at last, though the world powers of the East (Asshur) and the West (Chittim) carry all before them and afflict Eber (Israel) for a time ( Nu 23:8-10, 28; 24:2, 7-9, 22-24\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p45.1"). To Balaam's "Asshur" correspond Daniel's two eastern kingdoms, Babylon and Medo-Persia; to "Chittim," the two western kingdoms, Greece and Rome (compare Ge 10:4, 11, 22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p45.2"). In Babel, Nimrod the hunter (revolter) founds the first kingdom of the world ( Ge 10:8-13\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p45.3"). The Babylonian world power takes up the thread interrupted at the building of Babel, and the kingdom of Nimrod. As at Babel, so in Babylon the world is united against God; Babylon, the first world power, thus becomes the type of the God-opposed world. The fourth monarchy consummates the evil; it is "diverse" from the others only in its more unlimited universality. The three first were not in the full sense universal monarchies. The fourth is; so in it the God-opposed principle finds its full development. All history moves within the Romanic, Germanic, and Slavonic nations; it shall continue so to Christ's second advent. The fourth monarchy represents universalism externally; Christianity, internally. Rome is Babylon fully developed. It is the world power corresponding in contrast to Christianity, and therefore contemporary with it ( Mt 13:38; Mr 1:15; Lu 2:1; Ga 4:4\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p45.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p45.5"20. look ... more stout than ... fellows--namely, than that of the other horns.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p46.1"21. made war with the saints--persecuted the Church ( Re 11:7; 13:7\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p47.1").
      
prevailed--but not ultimately. The limit is marked by "until" ( Da 7:22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p48.1"). The little horn continues, \iwithout intermission,\ito persecute up to Christ's second advent ( Re 17:12, 14; 19:19, 20\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p48.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p48.3"22. Ancient of days came--The title applied to the Father in Da 7:13\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p49.1"is here applied to the Son; who is called "the everlasting Father" ( Isa 9:6\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p49.2"). The Father is never said to "come"; it is the Son who \icomes.\i
      
judgment was given to ... saints-- \iJudgment\iincludes \irule;\i"kingdom" in the end of this verse ( 1Co 6:2; Re 1:6; 5:10; 20:4\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p50.1"). Christ first receives "judgment" and the "kingdom," then the saints with Him ( Da 7:13, 14\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p50.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p50.3" \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p50.4"24. ten horns--answering to the ten "toes" ( Da 2:41\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p51.1").
      
out of this kingdom--It is \iout of\ithe fourth kingdom that ten others arise, whatever exterior territory any of them possess ( Re 13:1; 17:12\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p52.1").
      
rise after them--yet contemporaneous with them; the ten are contemporaries. Antichrist rises after their rise, at first "little" ( Da 7:8\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p53.1"); but after destroying three of the ten, he becomes greater than them all ( Da 7:20, 21\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p53.2"). The three being gone, he is the eighth (compare Re 17:11\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p53.3"); a distinct head, and yet "of the seven." As the previous world kingdoms had their representative heads (Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar; Persia, Cyrus; Greece, Alexander), so the fourth kingdom and its Antichrists shall have their evil concentrated in the one final Antichrist. As Antiochus Epiphanes, the Antichrist of the third kingdom in Da 8:23-25\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p53.4", was the personal enemy of God, so the final Antichrist of the fourth kingdom, his antitype. The Church has endured a pagan and a papal persecution; there remains for her an infidel persecution, general, purifying, and cementing [Cecil]. He will not merely, as Popery, \isubstitute\ihimself for Christ \iin Christ's name,\ibut " \ideny\ithe Father and the Son" ( 1Jo 2:22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p53.6"). The persecution is to continue \iup to Christ's second coming\i( Da 7:21, 22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p53.7"); the horn of blasphemy cannot therefore be past; for now there is almost a general cessation of persecution.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p53.8"25.Three attributes of Antichrist are specified: (1) The highest worldly wisdom and civilization. (2) The uniting of the whole civilized world under his dominion. (3) Atheism, antitheism, and autotheism in its fullest development ( 1Jo 2:22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p54.1"). Therefore, not only is power taken from the fourth beast, as in the case of the other three, but God destroys it and the world power in general by a final judgment. The present external Christianity is to give place to an almost universal apostasy.
      
think--literally, "carry within him as it were the burden of the thought."
      
change times--the prerogative of God alone ( Da 2:21\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p56.1"); blasphemously assumed by Antichrist. The "times and laws" here meant are those of religious ordinance; \istated times of feasts\i[Maurer]. Perhaps there are included the \itimes assigned by God to the duration of kingdoms.\iHe shall set Himself above all that is called God ( 2Th 2:4\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p56.3"), putting his own "will" above God's times and laws ( Da 11:36, 37\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p56.4"). But the "times" of His wilfulness are limited for the elect's sake ( Mt 24:22\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p56.5").
      
they--the saints.
      
given into his hand--to be persecuted.
      
time ... times and ... dividing of time--one year, two years, and half a year: 1260 days ( Re 12:6, 14\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.1"); forty-two months ( Re 11:2, 3\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.2"). That literally three and a half years are to be the term of Antichrist's persecution is favored by Da 4:16, 23\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.3", where the year-day theory would be impossible. If the Church, moreover, had been informed that 1260 years must elapse before the second advent, the attitude of expectancy which is inculcated ( Lu 12:38; 1Co 1:7; 1Th 1:9, 10; 2Pe 3:12\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.4") on the ground of the uncertainty of the time, would be out of place. The original word for "time" denotes \ia stated period\ior \iset feast;\ior the interval from one set feast to its recurrence, that is, a year [Tregelles]; Le 23:4\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.6", "seasons"; Le 23:44\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.7", "feasts." The passages in favor of the year-day theory are Eze 4:6\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.8", where each day of the forty during which Ezekiel lay on his right side is defined by God as meaning a year. Compare Nu 14:34\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.9", where a year of wandering in the wilderness was appointed for each day of the forty during which the spies searched Canaan; but the days were, in these two cases, merely the type or reason for the years, which were \iannounced as they were to be fulfilled.\iIn the prophetic part of Nu 14:34\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.10""years" are literal. If the year-day system was applied to them, they would be 14,400 years! In Eze 4:4-6\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.11", if \iday\imeant \iyear,\iEzekiel would have lain on his right side forty years! The context here in Da 7:24, 25\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.12", is not symbolical. Antichrist is no longer called a horn, but a \iking\isubduing three out of ten \ikings\i(no longer horns, Da 7:7, 8\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.13"). So in Da 12:7\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.14", where "time, times, and half a time," again occurs, nothing symbolic occurs in the context. So that there is no reason why the three and a half years should be so. For the first four centuries the "days" were interpreted literally; a mystical meaning of the 1260 days then began.Walter Brutefirst suggested the year-day theory in the end of the fourteenth century. The \iseventy years\iof the Babylonian captivity foretold by Jeremiah ( Jer 25:12; 29:10\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.16") were understood by Daniel ( Da 9:2\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.17") as literal years, not symbolical, which would have been 25,200 years! [Tregelles]. It is possible that the year-day and day-day theories are \iboth\itrue. The seven (symbolical) times of the Gentile monarchies ( Le 26:24\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.19") during Israel's casting off will end in the seven years of Antichrist. The 1260 years of papal misrule in the name of Christ may be represented by three and a half years of open Antichristianity and persecution before the millennium. Witnessing churches may be succeeded by witnessing individuals, the former occupying the longer, the latter the shorter period ( Re 11:3\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.20"). The beginning of the 1260 years is byElliottset atA.D.529 or 533, when Justinian's edict acknowledged Pope John II to be head of the Church; byLuther, at 606, when Phocas confirmed Justinian's grant. But 752 is the most likely date, when the \itemporal\idominion of the popes began by Pepin's grant to Stephen II (for Zachary, his predecessor's recognition of his title to France), confirmed by Charlemagne. For it was then first that the little horn plucked up three horns, and so became the prolongation of the fourth \isecular\ikingdom [Newton]. This would bring us down to aboutA.D.2000, or the seventh thousand millenary from creation. ButClintonmakes about 1862 the seventh millenary, which may favor the dating fromA.D.529.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p59.28"26. consume ... destroy--a twofold operation. Antichrist is to be \igradually\i"consumed," as the Papacy has been consuming for four hundred years past, and especially of late years. He is also to be "destroyed" \isuddenly\iby Christ at His coming; the fully developed man of sin ( 2Th 2:3\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p60.1") or false prophet making a last desperate effort in confederacy with the "beast" ( Re 16:13, 14, 16\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p60.2") or secular power of the Roman empire (some conjecture Louis Napoleon): destroyed at Armageddon in Palestine.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p60.3"27. greatness of the kingdom under ... whole heaven--The power, which those several kingdoms had possessed, shall all be conferred on Messiah's kingdom. "Under ... heaven" shows it is a kingdom \ion earth,\inot in heaven.
      
people of ... saints of ... Most High--"the people of the saints," or "holy ones" ( Da 8:24\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p62.1", \iMargin\i): the Jews, the people to whom the saints stand in a peculiar relation. The saints are gathered out of Jews and Gentiles, but the stock of the Church is Jewish ( Ro 9:24; 11:24\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p62.2"); God's faithfulness to this election Church is thus virtually faithfulness to Israel, and a pledge of their future national blessing. Christ confirms this fact, while withholding the date ( Ac 1:6, 7\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p62.3").
      
everlasting kingdom--If \ieverlasting,\ihow can the kingdom here refer to the millennial one? Answer: Daniel saw the whole time of future blessedness as \ione period.\iThe clearer light of the New Testament distinguishes, in the whole period, the millennium and the time of the new heaven and new earth (compare Re 20:4 with Re 21:1 and Re 22:5\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p63.1"). Christ's kingdom is "everlasting." Not even the last judgment shall end it, but only give it a more glorious appearance, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, with the throne of God and the Lamb in it (compare Re 5:9, 10; 11:15\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p63.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.viii-p63.3"28. cogitations ... troubled me--showing that the Holy Spirit intended much more to be understood by Daniel's words than Daniel himself understood. We are not to limit the significance of prophecies to what the prophets themselves understood ( 1Pe 1:11, 12\Q="x.xxvii.viii-p64.1").
      

\C3="Chapter 8" \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p0.1"CHAPTER 8
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p1.1" Da 8:1-27\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p2.1".Vision of the Ram and He-Goat: The Twenty-three Hundred Days of the Sanctuary Being Trodden Down.
      
With this chapter the \iHebrew\ipart of the book begins and continues to be the language of the remainder; the visions relating wholly to the Jews and Jerusalem. The scene here narrows from world-wide prophecies to those affecting the one covenant-people in the five centuries between the exile and the advent. Antichrist, like Christ, has a more immediate future, as well as one more remote. The vision, the eighth chapter, begins, and that, the tenth through twelfth chapters, concludes, the account of the Antichrist of the third kingdom. Between the two visions the ninth chapter is inserted, as to Messiah and the covenant-people at the end of the half millennium (seventy weeks of years).
      
1. vision--a higher kind of revelation than a dream.
      
after that ... at the first--that in Da 7:1\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p5.1".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p5.2"2. Shushan--Susa. Though then comparatively insignificant, it was destined to be the capital of Persia after Cyrus' time. Therefore Daniel is transported into it, as being the capital of the kingdom signified by the two-horned ram ( Ne 1:1; Es 1:2-5\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p6.1").
      
Elam--west of Persia proper, east of Babylonia, south of Media. Daniel was not present there personally, but \iin vision.\i
      
Ulai--called inPlinyEulœus; by the Greeks, Choaspes. Now Kerah, or Karasu. So in Da 10:4\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p8.2"he receives a vision near another river, the Hiddekel. So Ezekiel ( Eze 1:1\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p8.3") at the Chebar. Perhaps because synagogues used to be built near rivers, as before praying they washed their hands in the water [Rosenmuller], ( Ps 137:1\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p8.5").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p8.6"3. \itwo\ihorns--The " \itwo\i" ought not to be in italics, as if it were not in the original; for it is expressed by the \iHebrew dual.\i"Horn" in the East is the symbol of power and royalty.
      
one ... higher than ... other ... the higher came up last--Persia, which was of little note till Cyrus' time, became then ascendant over Media, the more ancient kingdom. Darius was sixty-two years old ( Da 5:31\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p10.1") when he began to reign; during his short reign of two years, being a weak king ( Da 6:1-3\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p10.2"), the government was almost entirely in Cyrus' hands. HenceHerodotusdoes not mention Darius; butXenophondoes under the name of Cyaxares II. The "ram" here corresponds to the "bear" ( Da 7:5\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p10.5"), symbolizing \iclumsy firmness.\iThe king of Persia wore a jewelled ram's head of gold instead of a diadem, such as are seen on the pillars at Persepolis. Also the \iHebrew\ifor "ram" springs from the same root as "Elam," or Persia [Newton]. The "one horn higher than the other" answers to the bear "raising itself \ion one side\i" (compare \iNote,\isee on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p10.9"4. ram pushing westward--Persia conquered westward Babylon, Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor.
      
northward--Colchis, Armenia, Iberia, and the dwellers on the Caspian Sea.
      
southward--Judea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya; also India, under Darius. He does not say \ieastward,\ifor the Persians themselves came from the east ( Isa 46:11\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p13.1").
      
did according to his will--( Da 11:3, 16\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p14.1"; compare Da 5:19\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p14.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p14.3"5. he-goat--Græco-Macedonia.
      
notable horn--Alexander. "Touched not ... ground," implies the incredible swiftness of his conquests; he overran the world in less than twelve years. The he-goat answers to the leopard ( Da 7:6\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p16.1"). Caranus, the first king of Macedonia, was said to have been led by \igoats\ito Edessa, which he made the seat of his kingdom, and called Æge, that is, "goat-city."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p16.2"6. standing before the river--Ulai. It was at the "river" Granicus that Alexander fought his first victorious battle against Darius, 334B.C.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p17.2"7. moved with choler--Alexander represented the concentrated wrath of Greece against Persia for the Persian invasions of Greece; also for the Persian cruelties to Greeks, and Darius' attempts to seduce Alexander's soldiers to treachery [Newton].
      
stamped upon him--In 331B.C.he defeated Darius Codomanus, and in 330B.C.burned Persepolis and completed the conquest of Persia.
      
none ... could deliver--Not the immense hosts of Persia could save it from the small army of Alexander ( Ps 33:16\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p20.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p20.2"8. when he was strong ... great horn was broken--The empire was in full strength at Alexander's death by fever at Babylon, and seemed then least likely to fall. Yet it was then "broken." His natural brother, Philip Aridœus, and his two sons, Alexander Ægus and Hercules, in fifteen months were murdered.
      
four ... toward ... four winds--Seleucus, in the east, obtained Syria, Babylonia, Media, &c.; Cassander, in the west, Macedon Thessaly, Greece; Ptolemy, in the south, Egypt, Cyprus, &c.; Lysimachus, in the north, Thrace, Cappadocia, and the north parts of Asia Minor.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p22.1"9. little horn--not to be confounded with the little horn of the fourth kingdom in Da 7:8\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.1". The little horn in Da 7:8\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.2"comes as an eleventh horn after ten preceding horns. In Da 8:9\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.3"it is not an independent fifth horn, after the four previous ones, but it arises out of one of the four existing horns. This horn is explained ( Da 8:23\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.4") to be "a king of fierce countenance," &c. Antiochus Epiphanes is meant. Greece with all its refinement produces the first, that is, the Old Testament Antichrist. Antiochus had an extraordinary love of art, which expressed itself in grand temples. He wished to substitute Zeus Olympius for Jehovah at Jerusalem. Thus first heathen civilization from below, and revealed religion from above, came into collision. Identifying himself with Jupiter, his aim was to make \ihis own\iworship universal (compare Da 8:25 with Da 11:36\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.5"); so mad was he in this that he was called Epimanes (maniac) instead of Epiphanes. None of the previous world rulers, Nebuchadnezzar ( Da 4:31-34\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.6"), Darius ( Da 6:27, 28\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.7"), Cyrus ( Ezr 1:2-4\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.8"), Artaxerxes Longimanus ( Ezr 7:12\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.9"), had systematically opposed the Jews' religious worship. Hence the need of prophecy to prepare them for Antiochus. The struggle of the Maccabees was a fruit of Daniel's prophecy ( 1 Maccabees 2:59\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.10"). He is the forerunner of the final Antichrist, standing in the same relation to the first advent of Christ that Antichrist does to His second coming. The sins in Israel which gave rise to the Greek Antichrist were that some Jews adopted Hellenic customs (compare Da 11:30, 32\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.11"), erecting theaters, and regarding all religions alike, sacrificing to Jehovah, but at the same time sending money for sacrifices to Hercules. Such shall be the state of the world when ripe for Antichrist. At Da 8:9 and Da 8:23\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.12"the description passes from the literal Antiochus to features which, though partially attributed to him, hold good in their fullest sense only of his antitype, the New Testament Antichrist. The Mohammedan Antichrist may also be included; answering to the Euphratean (Turk) horsemen ( Re 9:14-21\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.13"), loosed "an hour, a day, a month, a year" (391 years, in the year-day theory), to scourge corrupted, idolatrous Christianity. InA.D.637 the Saracen Moslem mosque of Omar was founded on the site of the temple, "treading under foot the sanctuary" ( Da 8:11-13\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p23.15"); and there it still remains. The first conquest of the Turks over Christians was inA.D.1281; and 391 years after they reached their zenith of power and began to decline, Sobieski defeating them at Vienna. Mohammed II, called "the conqueror," reignedA.D.1451-1481, in which period Constantinople fell; 391 years after brings us to our own day, in which Turkey's fall is imminent.
      
waxed ... great, toward ... south--( Da 11:25\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p24.1"). Antiochus fought against Ptolemy Philometer and Egypt, that is, the south.
      
toward the east--He fought against those who attempted a change of government in Persia.
      
toward the pleasant land--Judea, "the glorious land" ( Da 11:16, 41, 45\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p26.1"; compare Ps 48:2; Eze 20:6, 15\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p26.2"). Its chief \ipleasantness\iconsists in its being God's chosen land ( Ps 132:13; Jer 3:19\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p26.3"). Into it Antiochus made his inroad after his return from Egypt.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p26.4"10. great, even to ... host of heaven--explained in Da 8:24\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p27.1", "the mighty and holy people," that is, the Jews ( Da 7:21\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p27.2") and their priests (compare Isa 24:21\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p27.3"). The Levites' service is called "a \iwarfare\i" ( Nu 8:24, 25\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p27.4", \iMargin\i). Great civil and religious powers are symbolized by "stars" ( Mt 24:29\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p27.5"). See 1 Maccabees 1:25, &c.; 1 Maccabees 2:35, &c.; 1 Maccabees 5:2, 12, 13\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p27.6".Tregellesrefers "stars" to those Jews whose portion from God is heavenly glory ( Da 12:3\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p27.8"), being believers in Him who is above at God's right hand: not the blinded Jews.
      
cast ... stars to the ground--So Babel, as type of Antichrist, is described ( Isa 14:13, 14\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p28.1"), "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." Compare Re 12:4\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p28.2"; 2 Maccabees 9:10\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p28.3", as to Antiochus.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p28.4"11. to the prince of the host--that is, God Himself, the Lord of Sabaoth, the hosts in heaven and earth, stars, angels, and earthly ministers. So Da 8:25\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p29.1", "he shall stand up against the \iPrince of princes\i"; "against the God of gods" ( Da 11:36\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p29.2"; compare Da 7:8\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p29.3"). He not only opposes God's ancient people, but also God Himself.
      
daily sacrifice--offered morning and evening ( Ex 29:38, 39\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p30.1").
      
taken away--by Antiochus ( 1 Maccabees 1:20-50\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p31.1").
      
sanctuary ... cast down--Though robbed of its treasures, it was not strictly "cast down" by Antiochus. So that a fuller accomplishment is future. Antiochus took away the daily sacrifice for a few years; the Romans, for many ages, and "cast down" the temple; and Antichrist, in connection with Rome, the fourth kingdom, shall do so again after the Jews in their own land, still unbelieving, shall have rebuilt the temple, and restored the Mosaic ritual: God giving them up to him "by reason of transgression" ( Da 8:12\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p32.1"), that is, not owning the worship so rendered [Tregelles]; and then the opposition of the horn to the "truth" is especially mentioned.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p32.3"12. an host--rather, " \ithe\ihost was given \iup\ito him," that is, \ithe holy people\iwere given into his hands. So in Da 8:10\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p33.1""the host" is used; and again in Da 8:13\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p33.2", where also "give" is used as here for " \igiving up\i" for destruction (compare Da 11:6\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p33.3") [Maurer].
      
against ... daily sacrifice--rather (the host was given up for him to tread upon), " \itogether\iwith the daily sacrifice" (compare Da 8:13\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p34.1").
      
by reason of transgression-- 1 Maccabees 1:11-16\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p35.1"traces all the calamities suffered under Antiochus to the \itransgression\iof certain Jews who introduced heathen customs into Jerusalem just before. But \itransgression\iwas not \iat the full\i( Da 8:23\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p35.2") under Antiochus; for Onias the high priest administered the laws in godliness at the time ( 2 Maccabees 3:1\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p35.3"). Therefore the "transgression" must refer to that of the Jews hereafter restored to Palestine in unbelief.
      
the truth--the worship of the true God. Isa 59:14\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p36.1", "Truth is fallen in the street."
      
practised, and prospered--Whatever he undertook succeeded ( Da 8:4; 11:28, 36\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p37.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p37.2"13. that certain saint--Daniel did not know the names of these two holy angels, but saw only that one was speaking to the other.
      
How long shall be the vision \iconcerning\i... daily sacrifice--How long shall the daily sacrifice be suspended?
      
transgression of desolation--literally, "making desolate," that is, Antiochus \idesolating profanation\iof the temple ( Da 11:31; 12:11\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p40.1"). Compare as to Rome and the last Antichrist, Mt 24:15\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p40.2".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p40.3"14. unto me--The answer is to \iDaniel,\inot to the inquirer, for the latter had asked in Daniel's name; as vice versa the saint or angel ( Job 15:15; Ps 89:6, 7\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p41.1") speaks of the vision granted to Daniel, as if it had been granted to himself. For holy men are in Scripture represented as having attendant angels, with whom they are in a way identified in interests. If the conversation had been limited to the angels, it could have been of no use to us. But God conveys it to prophetical men, for our good, through the ministry of angels.
      
two thousand ... three hundred days--literally, "mornings and evenings," specified in connection with the \imorning and evening\isacrifice. Compare Ge 1:5\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.1". Six years and a hundred ten days. This includes not only the three and a half years during which the daily sacrifice was \iforbidden\iby Antiochus [Josephus, \iWars of the Jews,\i1:1.1], but the whole series of events whereby it was practically interrupted: beginning with the "little horn waxing great toward the pleasant land," and "casting down some of the host" ( Da 8:9, 10\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.3"); namely, when in 171B.C., or the month Sivan in the year 142 of the era of the Seleucidæ, the sacrifices began to be neglected, owing to the high priest Jason introducing at Jerusalem Grecian customs and amusements, the palæstra and gymnasium; ending with the death of Antiochus, 165B.C., or the month Shebath, in the year 148 of the Seleucid era. Compare 1 Maccabees 1:11-15; 2 Maccabees 4:9\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.6", &c. The reason for the greater minuteness of historical facts and dates, given in Daniel's prophecies, than in those of the New Testament, is that Israel, not having yet the clear views which Christians have of immortality and the heavenly inheritance, could only be directed to the earthly future: for it was on earth the looked-for Messiah was to appear, and the sum and subject of Old Testament prophecy was \ithe kingdom of God upon earth.\iThe minuteness of the revelation of Israel's earthly destiny was to compensate for the absence, in the Old Testament, of views of heavenly glory. Thus, in Da 9:24-27\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.7", the times of Messiah are foretold to the very year; in Da 8:14\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.8"the times of Antiochus, even to the day; and in Da 11:5-20\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.9"the Syro-Egyptian struggles in most minute detail.Tregellesthinks the twenty-three hundred "days" answer to the week of years ( Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.11"), during which the destroying prince ( Da 9:26\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.12") makes a covenant, which he breaks in the midst of the week (namely, at the end of three and a half years). The seven years exceed the twenty-three hundred days by considerably more than a half year. This period of the seven years' excess above the twenty-three hundred days may be allotted to the preparations needed for setting up the temple-worship, with Antichrist's permission to the restored Jews, according to his "covenant" with them; and the twenty-three hundred days may date from the actual setting up of the worship. But, saysAuberlen, the more accurate to a day the dates as to Antiochus are given, the less should we say the 1290, or 1335 days ( Da 12:11, 12\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.14") correspond to the half week (roughly), and the twenty-three hundred to the whole. The event, however, may, in the case of Antichrist, show a correspondence between the days here given and Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.15", such as is not yet discernible. The term of twenty-three hundred days cannot refer twenty-three hundred years of the treading down of Christianity by Mohammedanism, as this would leave the greater portion of the time yet future; whereas, Mohammedanism is fast waning. If the twenty-three hundred \idays\imean \iyears,\idating from Alexander's conquests, 334B.C.to 323, we should arrive at about the close of the sixth thousand years of the world, just as the 1260 years ( Da 7:25\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p42.17") from Justinian's decree arrive at the same terminus. The Jews' tradition represents the seventh thousand as the millennium.Cummingremarks, 480B.C.is the date of the waning of the Persian empire before Greece; deducting 480 from 2300, we have 1820; and in 1821, Turkey, the successor of the Greek empire, began to wane, and Greece became a separate kingdom. See on.
      
cleansed--literally, "justified," vindicated from profanation. Judas Maccabeus celebrated the feast of dedication after the cleansing, on the twenty-fifth of the ninth month, Kisleu ( 1 Maccabees 4:51-58; 2 Maccabees 10:1-7\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p43.1"; Joh 10:22\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p43.2"). As to the antitypical dedication of the new temple, see Eze 43:1-27\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p43.3", &c.; also Am 9:11, 12\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p43.4".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p43.5" \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p43.6"16. Gabriel--meaning, "the strength of God."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p44.1"17. the time of the end--so Da 8:19; Da 11:35, 36, 40\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p45.1". The event being to take place at "the time of the end" makes it likely that the Antichrist ultimately referred to (besides the immediate reference to Antiochus) in this chapter, and the one in Da 7:8\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p45.2", are one and the same. The objection that the one in the seventh chapter springs out of the ten divisions of the Roman earth, the fourth kingdom, the one in the eighth chapter and the eleventh chapter from one of the four divisions of the third kingdom, Greece, is answered thus: The four divisions of the Grecian empire, having become parts of the Roman empire, shall at the end form four of its ten final divisions [Tregelles]. However, the origin from one of the four parts of the third kingdom may be \ilimited to Antiochus,\ithe immediate subject of the eighth and eleventh chapter, while the ulterior typical reference of these chapters (namely, Antichrist) may belong to one of the ten Roman divisions, not \inecessarily\ione formerly of the four of the third kingdom. The event will tell. "Time of the end" may apply to the time of Antiochus. For it is the prophetic phrase for the time of fulfilment, seen always at the end of the prophetic horizon ( Ge 49:1; Nu 24:14\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p45.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p45.5" \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p45.6"19. the last end of the indignation--God's displeasure against the Jews for their sins. For their comfort they are told, the calamities about to come are not to be for ever. The "time" is limited ( Da 9:27; 11:27, 35, 36; 12:7; Hab 2:3\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p46.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p46.2" \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p46.3"21. the first king--Philip was king of Macedon before Alexander, but the latter was the first who, as a generalissimo of Greece, subdued the Persian empire.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p47.1"22. not in his power--not with the power which Alexander possessed [Maurer]. An empire united, as under Alexander, is more powerful than one divided, as under the four Diadochi.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p48.2"23. transgressors are come to the full--This does not hold good of the times of Antiochus, but of the closing times of the Christian era. Compare Lu 18:8, and 2Ti 3:1-9\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p49.1", as to the wickedness of the world in general just before Christ's second coming. \iIsrael's\iguilt, too, shall then be at the full, when they who rejected Christ shall receive Antichrist; fulfilling Jesus words, "I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (compare Ge 15:16; Mt 23:32; 1Th 2:16\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p49.2").
      
of fierce countenance--( De 28:50\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p50.1"); one who will spare neither old nor young.
      
understanding dark sentences--rather, "artifices" [Gesenius]. Antiochus made himself master of Egypt and Jerusalem successively by \icraft\i( 1 Maccabees 1:30, &c.; 2 Maccabees 5:24\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p51.2", &c.).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p51.3"24. not by his own power--which in the beginning was "little" ( Da 8:9; 7:8\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p52.1"); but by gaining over others through craft, the once \ilittle\ihorn became "mighty" (compare Da 8:25; 11:23\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p52.2"). To be fully realized by Antichrist. He shall act by the power of Satan, who shall then be permitted to work through him in unrestricted license, such as he has not now ( Re 13:2\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p52.3"); hence the ten kingdoms shall give the beast their power ( 2Th 2:9-12; Re 17:13\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p52.4").
      
prosper and practise--prosper in all that he attempts ( Da 8:12\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p53.1").
      
holy people--His persecutions are especially directed against the \iJews.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p54.1"25. by peace--by pretending "peace" and friendship; \iin the midst of security\i[Gesenius], suddenly striking his blow (compare \iNote,\isee on). "A spoiler \iat noon-day.\i"
      
also ... against the Prince of princes--not merely against the Jews ( Da 8:11; 11:36\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p56.1").
      
broken without hand--by God's special visitation. The stone "cut out of the mountain without hands," that is, Christ is to smite the world power image \ion his feet\i( Da 2:34\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p57.1"), that is, in its last development (compare Da 7:11\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p57.2"). Antiochus' horrible death by worms and ulcers, when on his way to Judea, intending to take vengeance for the defeat of his armies by the Maccabees, was a primary fulfilment, foreshadowing God's judgment on the last enemy of the Jewish Church.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p57.3"26. shut ... up ... vision--implying the vision was \inot to be understood\ifor the present. In Re 22:10\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p58.1"it is said, " \iSeal not\ithe vision, for the time is at hand." What in Daniel's time was hidden was more fully explained in Revelation, and as the time draws nearer, it will be clearer still.
      
it shall be for many days--It refers to remote times ( Eze 12:27\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p59.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.ix-p59.2"27. I ... was sick--through grief at the calamities coming on my people and the Church of God (compare Ps 102:14\Q="x.xxvii.ix-p60.1").
      
afterward I ... did the king's business--He who holds nearest communion with heaven can best discharge the duties of common life.
      
none understood it--He had heard of kings, but knew not their names; He foresaw the events, but not the time when they were to take place; thereupon he could only feel "astonished," and leave all with the omniscient God [Jerome].
      

\C3="Chapter 9" \Q="x.xxvii.x-p0.1"CHAPTER 9
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p1.1" Da 9:1-27\Q="x.xxvii.x-p2.1".Daniel's Confession and Prayer for Jerusalem: Gabriel Comforts Him by the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.
      
The world powers here recede from view; Israel, and the salvation by Messiah promised to it, are the subject of revelation. Israel had naturally expected salvation at the end of the captivity. Daniel is therefore told, that, after the seventy years of the captivity, seventy times seven must elapse, and that even then Messiah would not come in glory as the Jews might through misunderstanding expect from the earlier prophets, but by dying would put away sin. This ninth chapter (Messianic prophecy) stands between the two visions of the Old Testament Antichrist, to comfort "the wise." In the interval between Antiochus and Christ, no further revelation was needed; therefore, as in the first part of the book, so in the second, Christ and Antichrist in connection are the theme.
      
1. first year of Darius--Cyaxares II, in whose name Cyrus, his nephew, son-in-law, and successor, took Babylon, 538B.C.The date of this chapter is therefore 537B.C., a year before Cyrus permitted the Jews to return from exile, and sixty-nine years after Daniel had been carried captive at the beginning of the captivity, 606B.C.
      
son of Ahasuerus--called Astyages byXenophon. Ahasuerus was a name common to many of the kings of Medo-Persia.
      
made king--The phrase implies that Darius owed the kingdom not to his own prowess, but to that of another, namely, Cyrus.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p6.1"2. understood by books--rather, "letters," that is, Jeremiah's letter ( Jer 29:10\Q="x.xxvii.x-p7.1") to the captives in Babylon; also Jer 25:11, 12\Q="x.xxvii.x-p7.2"; compare 2Ch 36:21; Jer 30:18; 31:38\Q="x.xxvii.x-p7.3". God's promises are the ground on which we should, like Daniel, rest sure hope; not so as to make our prayers needless, but rather to encourage them.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p7.4"3. prayer ... supplications--literally, "intercessions ... entreaties \ifor mercy.\i" Praying for \iblessings,\iand deprecating \ievils.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p8.1"4. my confession--according to God's promises in Le 26:39-42\Q="x.xxvii.x-p9.1", that if Israel in exile for sin should repent and \iconfess,\iGod would remember for them His covenant with Abraham (compare De 30:1-5; Jer 29:12-14; Jas 4:10\Q="x.xxvii.x-p9.2"). God's promise was absolute, but prayer also was ordained as about to precede its fulfilment, this too being the work of God \iin\iHis people, as much as the \iexternal\irestoration which was to follow. So it shall be at Israel's final restoration ( Ps 102:13-17\Q="x.xxvii.x-p9.3"). Daniel takes his countrymen's place of confession of sin, identifying himself with them, and, as their representative and intercessory priest, "accepts the punishment of their iniquity." Thus he typifies Messiah, the Sin-bearer and great Intercessor. The prophet's own life and experience form the fit starting point of the prophecy concerning the sin atonement. He prays for Israel's restoration as associated in the prophets (compare Jer 31:4, 11, 12, 31\Q="x.xxvii.x-p9.4", &c.) with the hope of Messiah. The revelation, now granted, analyzes into its successive parts that which the prophets, in prophetical perspective, heretofore saw together in one; namely, the redemption from captivity, and the full Messianic redemption. God's servants, who, like Noah's father ( Ge 5:29\Q="x.xxvii.x-p9.5"), hoped many a time that now the Comforter of their afflictions was at hand, had to wait from age to age, and to view preceding fulfilments only as pledges of the coming of Him whom they so earnestly desired to see ( Mt 13:17\Q="x.xxvii.x-p9.6"); as now also Christians, who believe that the Lord's second coming is nigh, are expected to continue waiting. So Daniel is informed of a long period of seventy prophetic weeks before Messiah's coming, instead of seventy years, as \ihe\imight have expected (compare Mt 18:21, 22\Q="x.xxvii.x-p9.7") [Auberlen].
      
great and dreadful God--as we know to our cost by the calamities we suffer. The \igreatness\iof God and His \idreadful\iabhorrence of sin should prepare sinners for reverent, humble acknowledgment of the justice of their punishment.
      
keeping ... covenant and mercy--that is, the covenant of Thy mercy, whereby Thou hast promised to deliver us, not for our merits, but of Thy mercy ( Eze 36:22, 23\Q="x.xxvii.x-p11.1"). So weak and sinful is man that any covenant for good on God's part with him, to take effect, must depend solely on His grace. If He be a God to be \ifeared\ifor His justice, He is one to be \itrusted\ifor His "mercy."
      
love ... keep his commandments--Keeping His commandments is the only sure test of love to God ( Joh 14:15\Q="x.xxvii.x-p12.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p12.2"5.Compare Nehemiah's confession ( Ne 9:1-38\Q="x.xxvii.x-p13.1").
      
sinned ... committed iniquity ... done wickedly ... rebelled--a climax. Erred in \iignorance\i... sinned by \iinfirmity ... habitually and wilfully\idone wickedness ... as \iopen and obstinate rebels\iset ourselves against God.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p14.1"6. prophets ... spake ... to our kings ... to all the people--They fearlessly warned all without respect of persons.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p15.1"7. confusion of faces, as at this day--Shame at our guilt, betrayed in our countenance, is what belongs to us; as our punishment "at this day" attests.
      
near, and ... far off--the chastisement, however varied, some Jews not being cast off so far from Jerusalem as others, all alike were sharers in the guilt.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p17.1" \Q="x.xxvii.x-p17.2"9. mercies--The \iplural\iintensifies the force; mercy manifold and exhibited in countless ways. As it is humbling to recollect " \irighteousness\ibelongeth unto God," so it is comforting, that " \imercies\ibelong to the LordOURGod."
      
though we have rebelled--rather, "since," &c. [ \iVulgate\i], ( Ps 25:11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p19.1"). Our punishment is not inconsistent with His "mercies," \isince\iwe have rebelled against Him.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p19.2"10. set before us--not ambiguously, but plainly, so that we were without excuse.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p20.1"11. all--( Ps 14:3; Ro 3:12\Q="x.xxvii.x-p21.1").
      
the curse ... and ... oath ... in ... law--the \icurse\iagainst Israel, if disobedient, which God ratified by \ioath\i( Le 26:14-39; De 27:15-26; 28:15-68; 29:1-29\Q="x.xxvii.x-p22.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p22.2"12. confirmed his words--showed by the punishments we suffer, that His words were no idle threats.
      
under ... heaven hath not been done as ... upon Jerusalem--( La 1:12\Q="x.xxvii.x-p24.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p24.2"13. yet made we not our prayer before--literally, "soothed not the face of." Not even our chastisement has taught us penitence ( Isa 9:13; Jer 5:3; Ho 7:10\Q="x.xxvii.x-p25.1"). Diseased, we spurn the healing medicine.
      
that we might turn,&c.--Prayer can only be accepted when joined with the desire to \iturn\ifrom sin to God ( Ps 66:18; Pr 28:9\Q="x.xxvii.x-p26.1").
      
understand thy truth--"attentively regard Thy faithfulness" in fulfilling Thy promises, and also Thy threats [Calvin]. \iThy law\i( Da 8:12\Q="x.xxvii.x-p27.2"), [Maurer].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p27.4"14. watched upon the evil--expressing ceaseless vigilance that His people's sins might not escape His judgment, as a watchman on guard night and day ( Job 14:16; Jer 31:28; 44:27\Q="x.xxvii.x-p28.1"). God \iwatching\iupon the Jews' punishment forms a striking contrast to the Jews' slumbering in their sins.
      
God is righteous--True penitents "justify" God, "ascribing righteousness to Him," instead of complaining of their punishment as too severe ( Ne 9:33; Job 36:3; Ps 51:4; La 3:39-42\Q="x.xxvii.x-p29.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p29.2"15. brought thy people ... out of ... Egypt--a proof to all ages that the seed of Abraham is Thy covenant-people. That ancient benefit gives us hope that Thou wilt confer a like one on us now under similar circumstances ( Ps 80:8-14; Jer 32:21; 23:7, 8\Q="x.xxvii.x-p30.1").
      
as at this day--is known.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p31.1"16. thy righteousness--not stern \ijustice\iin punishing, but Thy \ifaithfulness\ito Thy promises of mercy to them who trust in Thee ( Ps 31:1; 143:1\Q="x.xxvii.x-p32.1").
      
thy city--chosen as \iThine\iin the election of grace, which changes not.
      
for ... iniquities of ... fathers--( Ex 20:5\Q="x.xxvii.x-p34.1"). He does not impugn God's justice in this, as did the murmurers ( Eze 18:2, 3\Q="x.xxvii.x-p34.2"; compare Jer 31:29\Q="x.xxvii.x-p34.3").
      
thy people ... a reproach--which brings reproach on Thy name. "All the nations that are about us" will say that Thou, Jehovah, wast not able to save Thy peculiar people. So Da 9:17\Q="x.xxvii.x-p35.1", "for the Lord's sake"; Da 9:19\Q="x.xxvii.x-p35.2", "for Thine own sake" ( Isa 48:9, 11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p35.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p35.4"17. cause thy face to shine--metaphor from the sun, which gladdens all that it beams upon ( Nu 6:25; Mal 4:2\Q="x.xxvii.x-p36.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p36.2"18. present ... supplications--literally, "cause to fall," &c. (compare \iNote,\isee on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p37.3"19.The short broken ejaculations and repetitions show the intense fervor of his supplications.
      
defer not--He implies that the seventy years are now all but complete.
      
thine own sake--often repeated, as being the strongest plea ( Jer 14:21\Q="x.xxvii.x-p40.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p40.2"20. whiles I was speaking--repeated in Da 9:21\Q="x.xxvii.x-p41.1"; emphatically marking that the answer was given before the prayer was completed, as God promised ( Isa 30:19; 65:24\Q="x.xxvii.x-p41.2"; compare Ps 32:5\Q="x.xxvii.x-p41.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p41.4"21. I had seen in the vision at the beginning--namely, in the former vision by the river Ulai ( Da 8:1, 16\Q="x.xxvii.x-p42.1").
      
fly swiftly--literally, "with weariness," that is, move swiftly as one breathless and wearied out with quick running [Gesenius]. \iEnglish Version\iis better ( Isa 6:2; Eze 1:6; Re 14:6\Q="x.xxvii.x-p43.2").
      
time of ... evening oblation--the ninth hour, three o'clock (compare 1Ki 18:36\Q="x.xxvii.x-p44.1"). As formerly, when the temple stood, this hour was devoted to sacrifices, so now to prayer. Daniel, during the whole captivity to the very last, with pious patriotism never forgot God's temple-worship, but speaks of its rites long abolished, as if still in use.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p44.2"22. to give thee ... understanding-- Da 8:16\Q="x.xxvii.x-p45.1"; Da 8:26\Q="x.xxvii.x-p45.2"shows that the symbolical vision had not been understood. God therefore now gives "information" directly, instead of by symbol, which required interpretation.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p45.3"23. At the beginning of thy supplications,&c.--The promulgation of the divine decree was made in heaven to the angels as soon as Daniel began to pray.
      
came forth--from the divine throne; so Da 9:22\Q="x.xxvii.x-p47.1".
      
thou art greatly beloved--literally, "a man of desires" (compare Eze 23:6, 12\Q="x.xxvii.x-p48.1"); the object of God's delight. As the apocalyptic prophet of the New Testament was "the disciple whom Jesus loved," so the apocalyptic prophet of the Old Testament was "greatly beloved" of God.
      
the vision--the further revelation as to Messiah in connection with Jeremiah's prophecy of seventy years of the captivity. The charge to "understand" is the same as in Mt 24:15\Q="x.xxvii.x-p49.1", where Rome primarily, and Antichrist ultimately, is referred to (compare \iNote,\isee on).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p49.4"24. Seventy weeks--namely, of years; literally, "Seventy sevens"; seventy heptads or hebdomads; four hundred ninety years; expressed in a form of " \iconcealed\idefiniteness" [Hengstenberg], a usual way with the prophets. The Babylonian captivity is a turning point in the history of the kingdom of God. It terminated the free Old Testament theocracy. Up to that time Israel, though oppressed at times, was; as a rule, free. From the Babylonian captivity the theocracy never recovered its full freedom down to its entire suspension by Rome; and this period of Israel's subjection to the Gentiles is to continue till the millennium ( Re 20:1-15\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.2"), when Israel shall be restored as head of the New Testament theocracy, which will embrace the whole earth. The free theocracy ceased in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, and the fourth of Jehoiakim; the year of the world 3338, the point at which the seventy years of the captivity begin. Heretofore Israel had a right, if subjugated by a foreign king, to shake off the yoke ( Jud 4:1-5:31; 2Ki 18:7\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.3") as an unlawful one, at the first opportunity. But the prophets ( Jer 27:9-11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.4") declared it to be \iGod's will\ithat they should submit to Babylon. Hence every effort of Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah to rebel was vain. The period of the world times, and of Israel's depression, from the Babylonian captivity to the millennium, though abounding more in afflictions (for example, the two destructions of Jerusalem, Antiochus' persecution, and those which Christians suffered), contains all that was good in the preceding ones, summed up in Christ, but in a way visible only to the eye of faith. Since He came as a servant, He chose for His appearing the period darkest of all as to His people's temporal state. Always fresh persecutors have been rising, whose end is destruction, and so it shall be with the last enemy, Antichrist. As the Davidic epoch is the point of the covenant-people's highest glory, so the captivity is that of their lowest humiliation. Accordingly, the people's sufferings are reflected in the picture of the suffering Messiah. He is no longer represented as the theocratic King, the Antitype of David, but as the Servant of God and Son of man; at the same time the cross being the way to glory (compare Da 9:1-27 with Da 2:34, 35, 44; 12:7\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.5"). In the second and seventh chapters, Christ's first coming is not noticed, for Daniel's object was to prophesy to his nation as to the whole period from the destruction to the re-establishment of \iIsrael;\ibut this ninth chapter minutely predicts Christ's first coming, and its effects on the covenant people. \iThe seventy weeks date thirteen years before the rebuilding of Jerusalem;\ifor then the re-establishment of the theocracy began, namely, at \ithe return of Ezra to Jerusalem,\i457B.C.So Jeremiah's seventy years of the captivity begin 606B.C., eighteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem, for then Judah ceased to exist as an independent theocracy, having fallen under the sway of Babylon. Two periods are marked in Ezra: (1) The return from the captivity under Jeshua and Zerubbabel, and rebuilding of the \itemple,\iwhich was the first anxiety of the theocratic nation. (2) The return of Ezra (regarded by the Jews as a second Moses) from Persia to Jerusalem, the restoration of \ithe city, the nationality,\iand the law. Artaxerxes, in the \iseventh\iyear of his reign, gave him the commission which virtually includes permission to rebuild the city, afterwards confirmed to, and carried out by, Nehemiah in the \itwentieth\iyear ( Ezr 9:9; 7:11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.8", &c.). Da 9:25\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.9", "from the going forth of the commandment \ito build Jerusalem,\i" proves that the second of the two periods is referred to. The words in Da 9:24\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.10"are not, "are determined upon the holy city," but " \iupon thy people\iand thy holy city"; thus the restoration of the religious \inational polity\iand the law (the inner work fulfilled by Ezra the priest), and the rebuilding of the \ihouses and walls\i(the outer work of Nehemiah, the governor), are both included in Da 9:25\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.11", "restore and build Jerusalem." "Jerusalem" represents both the city, the body, and the congregation, the soul of the state. Compare Ps 46:1-11; 48:1-14; 87:1-7\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.12". The starting-point of the seventy weeks dated from eighty-one years after Daniel received the prophecy: the object being not to fix \ifor him\idefinitely the time, but for the Church: the prophecy taught \ihim\ithat the Messianic redemption, which he thought near, was separated from him by at least a half millennium. Expectation was sufficiently kept alive by the \igeneral\iconception of the time; not only the Jews, but many Gentiles looked for some great Lord of the earth to spring from Judea \iat that very time\i[Tacitus, \iHistories,\i5.13;Suetonius, \iVespasian,\i4]. Ezra's placing of Daniel in the canon immediately before his own book and Nehemiah's was perhaps owing to his feeling that he himself brought about the beginning of the fulfilment of the prophecy ( Da 9:20-27\Q="x.xxvii.x-p50.15") [Auberlen].
      
determined--literally, "cut out," namely, from the whole course of time, for God to deal in a particular manner with Jerusalem.
      
thy ... thy--Daniel had in his prayer often spoken of Israel as " \iThy\ipeople, \iThy\iholy city"; but Gabriel, in reply, speaks of them as \iDaniel's\i("thy ... thy") people and city, God thus intimating that until the "everlasting righteousness" should be brought in by Messiah, He could not fully own them as \iHis\i[Tregelles] (compare Ex 32:7\Q="x.xxvii.x-p52.2"). Rather, as God is wishing to console Daniel and the godly Jews, "the people whom \ithou\iart so anxiously praying for"; such weight does God give to the intercessions of the righteous ( Jas 5:16-18\Q="x.xxvii.x-p52.3").
      
finish--literally, "shut up"; remove from God's sight, that is, abolish ( Ps 51:9\Q="x.xxvii.x-p53.1") [Lengkerke]. The seventy years' exile was a punishment, but not a full atonement, for the sin of the people; this would come only after seventy prophetic weeks, through Messiah.
      
make an end of--The \iHebrew\ireading, "to steal," that is, to hide out of sight (from the custom of \isealing\iup things to be concealed, compare Job 9:7\Q="x.xxvii.x-p54.1"), is better supported.
      
make reconciliation for--literally, "to cover," to overlay (as with pitch, Ge 6:14\Q="x.xxvii.x-p55.1"). Compare Ps 32:1\Q="x.xxvii.x-p55.2".
      
bring in everlasting righteousness--namely, the restoration of the normal state between God and man ( Jer 23:5, 6\Q="x.xxvii.x-p56.1"); to continue eternally ( Heb 9:12; Re 14:6\Q="x.xxvii.x-p56.2").
      
seal up ... vision ... prophecy--literally, "prophet." To give the seal of confirmation to the prophet and his vision by the fulfilment.
      
anoint the Most Holy--primarily, to "anoint," or to \iconsecrate\iafter its pollution "the Most Holy" \iplace\ibut mainly \iMessiah,\ithe antitype to the Most Holy place ( Joh 2:19-22\Q="x.xxvii.x-p58.1"). The propitiatory in the temple (the same \iGreek\iword expresses \ithe mercy seat\iand \ipropitiation,\i Ro 3:25\Q="x.xxvii.x-p58.2"), which the Jews looked for at the restoration from Babylon, shall have its true realization only in Messiah. For it is only when sin is "made an end of" that God's presence can be perfectly manifested. As to "anoint," compare Ex 40:9, 34\Q="x.xxvii.x-p58.3". Messiah was \ianointed\iwith the Holy Ghost ( Ac 4:27; 10:38\Q="x.xxvii.x-p58.4"). So hereafter, God-Messiah will "anoint" or consecrate with His presence the holy place at Jerusalem ( Jer 3:16, 17; Eze 37:27, 28\Q="x.xxvii.x-p58.5"), after its pollution by Antichrist, of which the feast of dedication after the pollution by Antiochus was a type.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p58.6"25. from the going forth of the commandment--namely the command from God, whence originated the command of the Persian king ( Ezr 6:14\Q="x.xxvii.x-p59.1").Auberlenremarks, there is but one Apocalypse in each Testament. Its purpose in each is to sum up all the preceding prophecies, previous to the "troublous times" of the Gentiles, in which there was to be no revelation. Daniel sums up all the previous Messianic prophecy, separating into its individual phases what the prophets had seen in one and the same perspective, the temporary deliverance from captivity and the antitypical final Messianic deliverance. The seventy weeks are separated ( Da 9:25-27\Q="x.xxvii.x-p59.3") into three unequal parts, seven, sixty-two, one. The seventieth is the consummation of the preceding ones, as the Sabbath of God succeeds the working days; an idea suggested by the division into \iweeks.\iIn the sixty-nine weeks Jerusalem is restored, and so a place is prepared for Messiah wherein to accomplish His sabbatic work ( Da 9:25, 26\Q="x.xxvii.x-p59.4") of "confirming the covenant" ( Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.x-p59.5"). The Messianic time is the Sabbath of Israel's history, in which it had the offer of all God's mercies, but in which it was cut off for a time by its rejection of them. As the seventy weeks end with seven years, or a week, so they begin with seven times seven, that is, seven weeks. As the seventieth week is separated from the rest \ias a period of revelation,\iso it may be with the seven weeks. The number \iseven\iis associated with revelation; for the \iseven\ispirits of God are the mediators of all His revelations ( Re 1:4; 3:1; 4:5\Q="x.xxvii.x-p59.6"). \iTen\iis the number of what is human; for example, the world power issues in \iten heads\iand \iten horns\i( Da 2:42; 7:7\Q="x.xxvii.x-p59.7"). \iSeventy\iis \iten\imultiplied by \iseven,\ithe human moulded by the divine. The \iseventy\iyears of exile symbolize the triumph of the world power over Israel. In the seven times seventy years the world number ten is likewise contained, that is, God's people is still under the power of the world ("troublous times"); but the number of the divine is multiplied by itself; seven times seven years, at the beginning a period of Old Testament revelation to God's people by Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi, whose labors extend over about half a century, or \iseven weeks,\iand whose writings are last in the canon; and in the end, seven years, the period of New Testament revelation in Messiah. The commencing seven weeks of years of Old Testament revelation are hurried over, in order that the chief stress might rest on the Messianic week. Yet the seven weeks of Old Testament revelation are marked by their separation from the sixty-two, to be above those sixty-two wherein there was to be none.
      
Messiah the Prince-- \iHebrew, Nagid. Messiah\iis Jesus' title in respect to \iIsrael\i( Ps 2:2; Mt 27:37, 42\Q="x.xxvii.x-p60.1"). \iNagid,\ias Prince of the \iGentiles\i( Isa 55:4\Q="x.xxvii.x-p60.2"). \iNagid\iis applied to Titus, only as representative of Christ, who designates the Roman destruction of Jerusalem as, in a sense, His coming ( Mt 24:29-31; Joh 21:22\Q="x.xxvii.x-p60.3"). \iMessiah\idenotes His calling; \iNagid,\iHis power. He is to "be cut off, and there shall be nothing for Him." (So the \iHebrew\ifor "not for Himself," Da 9:26\Q="x.xxvii.x-p60.4", ought to be translated). Yet He is "the Prince" who is to "come," by His representative at first, to inflict judgment, and at last in person.
      
wall--the "trench" or "scarped rampart" [Tregelles]. The \istreet and trench\iinclude the complete restoration of the city externally and internally, which was during the sixty-nine weeks.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p61.2"26. after threescore and two weeks--rather, \ithe\ithreescore and two weeks. In this verse, and in Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.x-p62.1", Messiah is made the prominent subject, while the fate of the city and sanctuary are secondary, being mentioned only in the second halves of the verses. Messiah appears in a twofold aspect, salvation to believers, judgment on unbelievers ( Lu 2:34\Q="x.xxvii.x-p62.2"; compare Mal 3:1-6; 4:1-3\Q="x.xxvii.x-p62.3"). He repeatedly, in Passion week, connects His being "cut off" with \ithe destruction of the city,\ias cause and effect ( Mt 21:37-41; 23:37, 38; Lu 21:20-24; 23:28-31\Q="x.xxvii.x-p62.4"). Israel might naturally expect Messiah's kingdom of glory, if not after the seventy years' captivity, at least at the end of the sixty-two weeks; but, instead of that, shall be His death, and the consequent destruction of Jerusalem.
      
not for himself--rather, "there shall be nothing to Him" [Hengstenberg]; not that the real object of His first coming (His \ispiritual\ikingdom) should be frustrated; but the \iearthly\ikingdom anticipated by the Jews should, for the present, \icome to naught,\iand not \ithen\ibe realized.Tregellesrefers the title, "the Prince" ( Da 9:25\Q="x.xxvii.x-p63.3"), to the time of His entering Jerusalem on an ass's colt, His only appearance as a king, and six days afterwards put to death as "King of the Jews."
      
the people of the prince--the Romans, led by Titus, the representative of the world power, ultimately to be transferred to Messiah, and so called by Messiah's title, "the Prince"; as also because sent by Him, as His instrument of judgment ( Mt 22:7\Q="x.xxvii.x-p64.1").
      
end thereof--of the sanctuary.Tregellestakes it, "the end of the Prince," the last head of the Roman power, Antichrist.
      
with a flood--namely, of war ( Ps 90:5; Isa 8:7, 8; 28:18\Q="x.xxvii.x-p66.1"). Implying the completeness of the catastrophe, "not one stone left on another."
      
unto the end of the war--rather, "unto the end \ithere\iis war."
      
determined--by God's decree ( Isa 10:23; 28:22\Q="x.xxvii.x-p68.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.x-p68.2"27. he shall confirm the covenant--Christ. The confirmation of the covenant is assigned to Him also elsewhere. Isa 42:6\Q="x.xxvii.x-p69.1", "I will give thee for a \icovenant\iof the people" (that is, He in whom the covenant between Israel and God is personally expressed); compare Lu 22:20\Q="x.xxvii.x-p69.2", "The new testament in My blood"; Mal 3:1\Q="x.xxvii.x-p69.3", "the angel of the covenant"; Jer 31:31-34\Q="x.xxvii.x-p69.4", describes the Messianic covenant in full. Contrast Da 11:30, 32\Q="x.xxvii.x-p69.5", "forsake the covenant," "do wickedly against the covenant." The prophecy as to Messiah's \iconfirming the covenant with many\iwould comfort the faithful in Antiochus' times, who suffered partly from persecuting enemies, partly from false friends ( Da 11:33-35\Q="x.xxvii.x-p69.6"). Hence arises the similarity of the language here and in Da 11:30, 32\Q="x.xxvii.x-p69.7", referring to Antiochus, the type of Antichrist.
      
with many--( Isa 53:11; Mt 20:28; 26:28; Ro 5:15, 19; Heb 9:28\Q="x.xxvii.x-p70.1").
      
in ... midst of ... week--The seventy weeks extend toA.D.33. Israel was not actually destroyed tillA.D.79, but it was so virtually,A.D.33, about three or four years after Christ's death, during which the Gospel was preached exclusively to the Jews. When the Jews persecuted the Church and stoned Stephen ( Ac 7:54-60\Q="x.xxvii.x-p71.4"), the respite of grace granted to them was at an end ( Lu 13:7-9\Q="x.xxvii.x-p71.5"). Israel, having rejected Christ, was rejected by Christ, and henceforth is counted dead (compare Ge 2:17\Q="x.xxvii.x-p71.6"with Ge 5:5; Ho 13:1, 2\Q="x.xxvii.x-p71.7"), its actual destruction by Titus being the consummation of the removal of the kingdom of God from Israel to the Gentiles ( Mt 21:43\Q="x.xxvii.x-p71.8"), which is not to be restored until Christ's second coming, when Israel shall be at the head of humanity ( Mt 23:39; Ac 1:6, 7; Ro 11:25-31; 15:1-32\Q="x.xxvii.x-p71.9"). The interval forms for the covenant-people a great parenthesis.
      
he shall cause the sacrifice ... oblation to cease--distinct from the temporary " \itaking away\i" of "the daily" (sacrifice) by Antiochus ( Da 8:11; 11:31\Q="x.xxvii.x-p72.1"). Messiah was to cause all sacrifices and oblations in general to " \icease\i" utterly. There is here an \iallusion\ionly to Antiochus' act; to comfort God's people when sacrificial worship was to be trodden down, by pointing them to the Messianic time when salvation would fully come and yet temple sacrifices cease. This is the same consolation as Jeremiah and Ezekiel gave under like circumstances, when the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar was impending ( Jer 3:16; 31:31; Eze 11:19\Q="x.xxvii.x-p72.2"). Jesus died in the middle of the last week,A.D.30. His prophetic life lasted three and a half years; the very time in which "the saints are given into the hand" of Antichrist ( Da 7:25\Q="x.xxvii.x-p72.4"). Three and a half does not, like ten, designate the power of the world in its fulness, but (while opposed to the divine, expressed by \iseven\i) broken and defeated in its seeming triumph; for immediately after the three and a half times, judgment falls on the victorious world powers ( Da 7:25, 26\Q="x.xxvii.x-p72.5"). So Jesus' death seemed the triumph of the world, but was really its defeat ( Joh 12:31\Q="x.xxvii.x-p72.6"). The rending of the veil marked the cessation of sacrifices through Christ's death ( Le 4:6, 17; 16:2, 15; Heb 10:14-18\Q="x.xxvii.x-p72.7"). There cannot be a covenant without sacrifice ( Ge 8:20; 9:17; 15:9, &c.; Heb 9:15\Q="x.xxvii.x-p72.8"). Here the old covenant is to be confirmed, but in a way peculiar to the New Testament, namely, by the one sacrifice, which would terminate all sacrifices ( Ps 40:6, 11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p72.9"). Thus as the Levitical rites approached their end, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, with ever increasing clearness, oppose the spiritual new covenant to the transient earthly elements of the old.
      
for the overspreading of abominations-- \iOn account of the abominations\icommitted by the unholy people against the Holy One, He shall not only destroy the city and sanctuary ( Da 9:25\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.1"), but shall continue its desolation until the time of the consummation "determined" by God (the phrase is quoted from Isa 10:22, 23\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.2"), when at last the world power shall be judged and dominion be given to the saints of the Most High ( Da 7:26, 27\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.3").Auberlentranslates, "On account of the desolating \isummit\iof abominations (compare Da 11:31; 12:11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.5"; thus the repetition of the same thing as in Da 9:26\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.6"is avoided), and till the consummation which is determined, it (the curse, Da 9:11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.7", foretold by Moses) will pour on the desolated." Israel reached the summit of abominations, which drew down desolation ( Mt 24:28\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.8"), nay, which is the desolation itself, when, after murdering Messiah, they offered sacrifices, Mosaic indeed in form, but heathenish in spirit (compare Isa 1:13; Eze 5:11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.9"). Christ refers to this passage ( Mt 24:15\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.10"), "When ye see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand \iin the holy place\i" (the latter words being \itacitly implied\iin "abominations" as being such as are committed \iagainst the sanctuary\i).Tregellestranslates, "upon the \iwing\iof abominations shall be that which causeth desolation"; namely, an idol set up on a wing or pinnacle of the temple (compare Mt 4:5\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.12") by Antichrist, who makes a covenant with the restored Jews for the last of the seventy weeks of years (fulfilling Jesus' words, "If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive"), and for the first three and a half years keeps it, then in the midst of the week breaks it, causing the daily sacrifices to cease.Tregellesthus identifies the last half week with the time, times, and a half of the persecuting little horn ( Da 7:25\Q="x.xxvii.x-p73.14"). But thus there is a gap of at least 1830 years put between the sixty-nine weeks and the seventieth week.Sir Isaac Newtonexplains the wing ("overspreading") of abominations to be the Roman ensigns (eagles) brought to the east gate of the temple, and there sacrificed to by the soldiers; the war, ending in the destruction of Jerusalem, lasted from springA.D.67 to autumnA.D.70, that is, just three and a half years, or the last half week of years [Josephus, \iWars of the Jews,\i6.6].
      
poured upon the desolate--Tregellestranslates, "the \icauser\iof desolation," namely, Antichrist. Compare "abomination \ithat maketh\idesolate" ( Da 12:11\Q="x.xxvii.x-p74.2"). Perhaps \iboth\iinterpretations of the whole passage may be in part true; the Roman desolator, Titus, being a type of Antichrist, the final desolator of Jerusalem.Bacon[ \iThe Advancement of Learning,\i2.3] says, "Prophecies are of the nature of the Author, with whom a thousand years are as one day; and therefore are not fulfilled punctually at once, but have a springing and germinant accomplishment through many years, though the height and fulness of them may refer to one age."
      

\C3="Chapter 10" \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p0.1"CHAPTER 10
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p1.1" Da 10:1-21\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p2.1".Daniel Comforted by an Angelic Vision.
      
The tenth through twelfth chapters more fully describe the vision in the eighth chapter by a second vision on the same subject, just as the vision in the seventh chapter explains more fully that in the second. The tenth chapter is the prologue; the eleventh, the prophecy itself; and the twelfth, the epilogue. The tenth chapter unfolds the spiritual worlds as the background of the historical world ( Job 1:7; 2:1, &c.; Zec 3:1, 2; Re 12:7\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p3.1"), and angels as the ministers of God's government of men. As in the world of nature ( Joh 5:4; Re 7:1-3\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p3.2"), so in that of history here; Michael, the champion of Israel, and with him another angel, whose aim is to realize God's will in the heathen world, resist the God-opposed spirit of the world. These struggles are not merely symbolical, but real ( 1Sa 16:13-15; 1Ki 22:22; Eph 6:12\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p3.3").
      
1. third year of Cyrus--two years after Cyrus' decree for the restoration of the Jews had gone forth, in accordance with Daniel's prayer in Da 9:3-19\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p4.1". This vision gives not merely general outlines, or symbols, but minute details of the future, in short, anticipative history. It is the expansion of the vision in Da 8:1-14\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p4.2". That which then "none understood," he says here, "he understood"; the messenger being sent to him for this ( Da 10:11, 14\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p4.3"), to make him understand it. Probably Daniel was no longer in office at court; for in Da 1:21\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p4.4", it is said, "Daniel continued even unto the first year of King Cyrus"; not that he \idied\ithen. See on.
      
but the time appointed was long--rather, "it (that is, the prophecy) referred to \igreat calamity\i" [Maurer]; or, "long and calamitous warfare" [Gesenius]. Literally, "host going to war"; hence, warfare, calamity.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p5.3"2. mourning--that is, afflicting myself by fasting from "pleasant bread, flesh and wine" ( Da 10:3\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p6.1"), as a sign of sorrow, not for its own sake. Compare Mt 9:14\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p6.2", "fast," answering to "mourn" ( Da 10:15\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p6.3"). Compare 1Co 8:8; 1Ti 4:3\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p6.4", which prove that "fasting" is not an indispensable Christian obligation; but merely an outward expression of sorrow, and separation from ordinary worldly enjoyments, in order to give one's self to prayer ( Ac 13:2\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p6.5"). Daniel's mourning was probably for his countrymen, who met with many obstructions to their building of the temple, from their adversaries in the Persian court.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p6.6"3. no pleasant bread--"unleavened bread, even the bread of affliction" ( De 16:3\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p7.1").
      
anoint--The Persians largely used unguents.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p8.1"4. first month--Nisan, the month most suited for considering Israel's calamity, being that in which the feast of unleavened bread reminded them of their Egyptian bondage. Daniel mourned not merely for the \iseven\idays appointed ( Ex 12:18\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p9.1"), from the evening of the fourteenth to the twenty-first of Nisan, but \ithrice seven\idays, to mark extraordinary sorrow. His mourning ended on the twenty-first day, the closing day of the passover feast; but the vision is not till the twenty-fourth, because of the opposition of "the prince of Persia" ( Da 10:13\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p9.2").
      
I was by ... the ... river--in waking reality, not a trance ( Da 10:7\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p10.1"); when younger, he saw the future in images, but now when old, he receives revelations from angels in common language, that is, in the \iapocalyptic mode.\iIn the patriarchal period God often appeared \ivisibly,\ithat is, theophany. In the \iprophets,\inext in the succession, the \iinward\icharacter of revelation is prominent. The consummation is when the seer looks up from earth into the unseen world, and has the future shown to him by angels, that is, apocalypse. So in the New Testament there is a parallel progression: God in the flesh, the spiritual activity of the apostles and the apocalypse [Auberlen].
      
Hiddekel--the Tigris.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p11.1"5. lifted up mine eyes--from the ground on which they had been fixed in his mourning.
      
certain man--literally, "one man." An angel of the highest order; for in Da 8:16\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p13.1"he commands Gabriel to make Daniel to understand the vision, and in Da 12:6\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p13.2"one of the two angels inquires of him how long it would be till the end predicted.
      
linen--the raiment of priests, being the symbol of sanctity, as more pure than wool ( Ex 28:42\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p14.1"); also of \iprophets\i( Jer 13:1\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p14.2"); and of \iangels\i( Re 15:6\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p14.3").
      
girded with ... gold--that is, with a girdle interwoven with gold ( Re 1:13\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p15.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p15.2"6. beryl--literally, "Tarshish," in Spain. The beryl, identical with the chrysolite or topaz, was imported into the East from Tarshish, and therefore is called "the Tarshish stone."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p16.1"7. they fled--terrified by the presence of the presence of the angel.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p17.1"8. comeliness--literally, "vigor," that is, lively expression and color.
      
into corruption--"deadliness," that is, death-like paleness ( Da 5:6; 7:28\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p19.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p19.2"9. voice of his words--the \isound\iof his words.
      
was I in a deep sleep--"I \isank\iinto a deep sleep" [Lengkerke].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p21.2"10. an hand--namely, of Gabriel, who interpreted other revelations to Daniel ( Da 8:16\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p22.1") [Theodoret].
      
set me upon my knees--Geseniustranslates, "cause me to reel on my knees," &c.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p23.2"11. man ... beloved--(See on).
      
understand--"attend to." See Da 8:17, 18\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p25.1".
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p25.2"12. Fear not--Be not affrighted at my presence.
      
didst set thine heart to understand--what shall come to pass to thy people at the last times (compare Da 10:14\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p27.1").
      
chasten thyself--( Da 10:2, 3\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p28.1").
      
thy words were heard--( Ac 10:4\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p29.1"). Prayer is heard at once in heaven, though the sensible answer may \iseem\ito be delayed. God's messenger was detained on the way ( Da 10:13\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p29.2") by the opposition of the powers of darkness. If in our prayers amidst long protracted sorrows we believed God's angel is on his way to us, what consolation it would give us!
      
for thy words--because of thy prayers.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p30.1"13. prince of ... Persia--the angel of darkness that represented the Persian world power, to which Israel was then subject. This verse gives the reason why, though Daniel's "words were heard from the first day" ( Da 10:12\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p31.1"), the good angel did not come to him until more than three weeks had elapsed ( Da 10:4\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p31.2").
      
one and twenty days--answering to the three weeks of Daniel's mourning ( Da 10:2\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p32.1").
      
Michael--that is, "Who is like God?" Though an archangel, "one of the chief princes," Michael was not to be compared to God.
      
help me--Michael, as patron of Israel before God ( Da 10:21; 12:1\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p34.1"), "helped" to influence the Persian king to permit the Jews' return to Jerusalem.
      
I remained-- \iI was detained\ithere with the kings of Persia, that is, with the angel of the Persian rulers, with whom I had to contend, and from whom I should not have got free, but for the help of Michael.Geseniustranslates, "I obtained the ascendency," that is, I gained my point against the adverse angel of Persia, so as to influence the Persian authorities to favor Israel's restoration.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p35.2"14. what shall befall thy people in the latter days--an intimation that the prophecy, besides describing the doings of Antiochus, reaches to the concluding calamities of Israel's history, prior to the nation's full restoration at Christ's coming--calamities of which Antiochus' persecutions were the type.
      
vision is for many days--that is, extends far into the future.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p37.1"15. face toward the ground--in humble reverence ( Ge 19:1\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p38.1").
      
dumb--with overwhelming awe.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p39.1"16. touched my lips--the same significant action wherewith the Son of man accompanied His healing of the dumb ( Mr 7:33\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p40.1"). He alone can give spiritual utterance ( Isa 6:6, 7; Eph 6:19\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p40.2"), enabling one to "open the mouth boldly." The same one who makes dumb ( Da 10:15\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p40.3") opens the mouth.
      
sorrows--literally, "writhings" as of a woman in travail.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p41.1"17. this ... this my lord--to avoid the tautology in \iEnglish Version,\ijoin rather "this," with "servant," "How can \ithis servant\iof my lord (that is, how can I who am \iso feeble\i) talk with this my lord (who is \iso majestic\i)?" Thus Daniel gives the reason why he is so overwhelmed with awe [Maurer].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p42.2"18. again ... touched me--It was gradually that Daniel recovered his strength. Hence there was need of the second touch, that he might hear the angel with composure.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p43.1"19. peace be unto thee--God is favorable to thee and to thy people Israel. See Jud 13:21, 22\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p44.1", as to the fear of some evil resulting from a vision of angels.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p44.2"20. Knowest thou wherefore--The angel asks, after Daniel had recovered from his fright, whether he has understood what was revealed ( Da 10:13\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p45.1"). On Daniel, by his silence, intimating that he did understand, the angel declares he will return to renew the fight with the evil angel, the prince of Persia. This points to new difficulties to the Jews' restoration which would arise in the Persian court, but which would be counteracted by God, through the ministry of angels.
      
prince of Grecia shall come--Alexander the Great, who conquered Persia, and favored the Jews [Calvin]. Rather, as the prince of Persia is an angel, representing the hostile world power, so the prince of Grecia is a fresh angelic adversary, representing Greece. When I am gone forth from conquering the Persian foe, a fresh one starts up, namely, the world power that succeeds Persia, Greece; Antiochus Epiphanes, and his antitype Antichrist, but him, too, with the help of Michael, Israel's champion, I shall overcome [Gejer].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xi-p46.3"21. noted in the scripture of truth--in the secret book of God's decrees ( Ps 139:16; Re 5:1\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p47.1"), which are truth, that is, the things which shall most surely come to pass, being determined by God (compare Joh 17:17\Q="x.xxvii.xi-p47.2").
      
none ... but Michael--To him alone of the angels the office of protecting Israel, in concert with the angelic speaker, was delegated; all the world powers were against Israel.
      

\C3="Chapter 11" \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p0.1"CHAPTER 11
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p1.1" Da 11:1-45\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p2.1". This chapter is an enlargement of the eighth:The Overthrow of Persia by Grecia: The Four Divisions of Alexander's Kingdom: Conflicts between the Kings of the South and of the North, the Ptolemies and Seleucidæ: AntiochusEpiphanes.
      
1. I--the angel ( Da 10:18\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p3.1").
      
first year of Darius--Cyaxares II; the year of the conquest of Babylon ( Da 5:31\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p4.1"). Cyrus, who wielded the real power, though in name subordinate to Darius, in that year promulgated the edict for the restoration of the Jews, which Daniel was at the time praying for ( Da 9:1, 2, 21, 23\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p4.2").
      
stood--implying promptness in helping ( Ps 94:16\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p5.1").
      
strengthen him--namely, Michael; even as Michael ( Da 10:21\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p6.1", " \istrengtheneth\ihimself with me") helped the angel, both joining their powers in behalf of Israel [Rosenmuller]. Or, \iDarius,\ithe angel "confirming him" in his purpose of kindness to Israel.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p6.3"2. three kings in Persia--Cambyses, Pseudo-Smerdis, and Darius Hystaspes. (Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes, and Darius, in Ezr 4:6, 7, 24\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p7.1"). The Ahasuerus of \iEsther\i(see on) is identified with Xerxes, both in Greek history and in Scripture, appearing proud, self-willed, careless of contravening Persian customs, amorous, facile, and changeable ( Da 11:2\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p7.4").
      
fourth ... riches ... against ... Grecia--Xerxes, whose riches were proverbial. Persia reached its climax and showed its greatest power in his invasion of Greece, 480B.C.After his overthrow at Salamis, Persia is viewed as politically dead, though it had an \iexistence.\iTherefore, Da 11:3\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p8.2", without noticing Xerxes' successors, proceeds at once to Alexander, under whom, first, the third world kingdom, Grecia, reached its culmination, and assumed an importance as to the people of God.
      
stir up all--Four years were spent in gathering his army out of all parts of his vast empire, amounting to two millions six hundred and forty-one thousand men. [Prideaux, \iConnexion,\i1.4. l. 410].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p9.2"3. mighty king ... do according to his will--answering to the he-goat's "notable horn" ( Da 8:6, 7, 21\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p10.1"). Alexander invaded Persia 334B.C., to avenge the wrongs of Greece on Persia for Xerxes' past invasion (as Alexander said in a letter to Darius Codomanus,Arrian, \iAlexander.\i2.14.7).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p10.4"4. kingdom ... divided toward ... four winds--the fourfold division of Alexander's kingdom at his death ( Da 8:8, 22\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p11.1"), after the battle of Ipsus, 301B.C.
      
not to his posterity--(See on;).
      
nor according to his dominion--None of his successors had so wide a dominion as Alexander himself.
      
others besides those--besides \iAlexander's sons,\iHercules by Barsine, Darius' daughter, and Alexander by Roxana, who were both slain [Maurer]. Rather, besides \ithe four successors\ito the four chief divisions of the empire, there will be other lesser chiefs who shall appropriate smaller fragments of the Macedonian empire [Jerome].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p14.3"5.Here the prophet leaves Asia and Greece and takes up Egypt and Syria, these being in continual conflict under Alexander's successors, entailing misery on Judea, which lay between the two. Holy Scripture handles external history only so far as it is connected with God's people, Israel [Jerome].Tregellesputs a chasm between the fourth and fifth verses, making the transition to the final Antichrist here, answering to the chasm (in his view) at Da 8:22, 23\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p15.3".
      
king of ... south--literally, "of midday": Egypt ( Da 11:8, 42\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p16.1"), Ptolemy Soter, son of Lagus. He took the title "king," whereas Lagus was but "governor."
      
one of his princes--Seleucus, at first a satrap of Ptolemy Lagus, but from 312B.C.king of the largest empire after that of Alexander (Syria, Babylon, Media, &c.), and called therefore \iNicator,\ithat is, "conqueror." Connect the words thus, "And one of his (Ptolemy's) princes, \ieven\ihe (Seleucus) shall be strong above him" (above Ptolemy, his former master).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p17.2"6. in ... end of years--when the predicted time shall be consummated ( Da 11:13\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p18.1", \iMargin;\i Da 8:17; 12:13\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p18.2").
      
king's daughter of the south--Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt. The latter, in order to end his war with Antiochus Theus, "king of the north" (literally, "midnight": the prophetical phrase for the region whence came affliction to Israel, Jer 1:13-15; Joe 2:20\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p19.1"), that is, Syria, gave Berenice to Antiochus, who thereupon divorced his former wife, Laodice, and disinherited her son, Seleucus Callinicus. The designation, "king of the north" and "of the south," is given in relation to Judea, as the standpoint. Egypt is mentioned by name ( Da 11:8, 42\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p19.2"), though Syria is not; because the former was in Daniel's time a flourishing kingdom, whereas Syria was \ithen\ia mere dependency of Assyria and Babylon: an undesigned proof of the genuineness of the Book of Daniel.
      
agreement--literally, "rights," that is, to put things to rights between the belligerents.
      
she shall not retain the power of the arm--She shall not be able to effect the purpose of the alliance, namely, that she should be the \imainstay\iof peace. Ptolemy having died, Antiochus took back Laodice, who then poisoned him, and caused Berenice and her son to be put to death, and raised her own son, Seleucus Nicator, to the throne.
      
neither shall he stand--The king of Egypt shall not gain his point of setting his line on the throne of Syria.
      
his arm--that on which he relied. Berenice and her offspring.
      
they that brought her--her attendants from Egypt.
      
he that begat her--rather as \iMargin,\i"the child \iwhom she brought forth\i" [Ewald]. If \iEnglish Version\i(whichMaurerapproves) be retained, as Ptolemy died a natural death, "given up" is not in his case, as in Berenice's, to be understood of giving up \ito death,\ibut in a general sense, of his plan proving abortive.
      
he that strengthened her in these times--Antiochus Theus, who is to \iattach himself to her\i(having divorced Laodice) at the times predicted [Gejer].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p26.2"7. a branch of her roots ... in his estate--Ptolemy Euergetes, brother of Berenice, succeeding \iin the place\i( \iMargin\i) of Philadelphus, avenged her death by overrunning Syria, even to the Euphrates.
      
deal against them--He shall deal with the Syrians at his own pleasure. He slew Laodice.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p28.1"8. carry ... into Egypt their gods,&c.--Ptolemy, on hearing of a sedition in Egypt, returned with forty thousand talents of silver, precious vessels, and twenty-four hundred images, including Egyptian idols, which Cambyses had carried from Egypt into Persia. The idolatrous Egyptians were so gratified, that they named him Euergetes, or "benefactor."
      
continue more years--Ptolemy survived Seleucus four years, reigning in all forty-six years.Maurertranslates, "Then he for several years shall \idesist from\i(contending with) the king of the north" (compare Da 11:9\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p30.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p30.3"9. come into his kingdom--Egypt: not only with impunity, but with great spoil.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p31.1"10. his sons--the two sons of the king of the north, Seleucus Callinicus, upon his death by a fall from his horse, namely, Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus the Great.
      
one shall ... come--Ceraunus having died, Antiochus alone prosecuted the war with Ptolemy Philopater, Euergetes' son, until he had recovered all the parts of Syria subjugated by Euergetes.
      
pass through--like an "overflowing" torrent ( Da 11:22, 26, 40; Isa 8:8\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p34.1"). Antiochus penetrated to Dura (near Cæsarea), where he gave Ptolemy a four months' truce.
      
return--renew the war at the expiration of the truce (so Da 11:13\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p35.1").
      
even to his fortress--Ptolemy's; Raphia, a border-fortress of Egypt against incursions by way of Edom and Arabia-Petræa, near Gaza; here Antiochus was vanquished.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p36.1"11. the king of the south ... moved with choler--at so great losses, Syria having been wrested from him, and his own kingdom imperilled, though otherwise an indolent man, to which his disasters were owing, as also to the odium of his subjects against him for having murdered his father, mother, and brother, whence in irony they called him \iPhilopater,\i"father-lover."
      
he shall set forth a great multitude--Antiochus, king of Syria, whose force was seventy thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry.
      
but ... multitude ... given into his hand--into Ptolemy's hands; ten thousand of Antiochus' army were slain, and four thousand made captives.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p39.1"12. when he hath taken away--that is, \isubdued\i"the multitude" of Antiochus.
      
heart ... lifted up--instead of following up his victory by making himself master of the whole of Syria, as he might, he made peace with Antiochus, and gave himself up to licentiousness [Polybius, 87;Justin, 30.4], and \iprofaned the temple of God\iby entering the holy place [Grotius].
      
not be strengthened by it--He shall lose the power gained by his victory through his luxurious indolence.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p42.1"13. return--renew the war.
      
after certain years-- \ifourteen years\iafter his defeat at Raphia. Antiochus, after successful campaigns against Persia and India, made war with Ptolemy Epiphanes, son of Philopater, a mere child.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p44.1"14. many stand up against the king of the south--Philip, king of Macedon, and rebels in Egypt itself, combined with Antiochus against Ptolemy.
      
robbers of thy people--that is, factious men of the Jews shall exalt themselves, so as to revolt from Ptolemy, and join themselves to Antiochus; the Jews helped Antiochus' army with provisions, when on his return from Egypt he besieged the Egyptian garrison left in Jerusalem [Josephus, \iAntiquities,\i12:3.3].
      
to establish the vision--Those turbulent Jews unconsciously shall help to fulfil the purpose of God, as to the trials which await Judea, according to this vision.
      
but they shall fall--Though helping to fulfil the vision, they shall fail in their aim, of making Judea independent.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p48.1"15. king of ... north--Antiochus the Great.
      
take ... fenced cities--Scopas, the Egyptian general, met Antiochus at Paneas, near the sources of the Jordan, and was defeated, and fled to Sidon, a strongly "fenced city," where he was forced to surrender.
      
chosen people--Egypt's choicest army was sent under Eropus, Menocles, and Damoxenus, to deliver Scopas, but in vain [Jerome].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p51.2"16. he that cometh against him--Antiochus coming against Ptolemy Epiphanes.
      
glorious land--Judea ( Da 11:41, 45; Da 8:9; Eze 20:6, 15\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p53.1").
      
by his hand shall be consumed--literally, "perfected," that is, completely brought under his sway.Josephus[ \iAntiquities,\i12:3.3] shows that the meaan angel of the Lord came upon them,</i>
of a sudden, <b><i>epeste</i></b>—<i>stood over them;</i> most
probably, in the air over their heads, as coming immediately from
heaven. We read it, <i>the angel,</i> as if it were the same that
appeared once and again in the chapter before, <i>the angel
Gabriel,</i> that was caused to fly swiftly; but that is not
certain. The angel's <i>coming upon them</i> intimates that they
little thought of such a thing, or expected it; for it is in a
<i>preventing</i> way that gracious visits are made us from heaven,
<i>or ever we are aware.</i> That they might be sure it was an
angel from heaven, they saw and heard the <i>glory of the Lord
round about them;</i> such as made the night as bright as day, such
a glory as used to attend God's appearance, a <i>heavenly</i>
glory, or an <i>exceedingly great glory,</i> such as they could not
bear the dazzling lustre of. This made them <i>sore afraid,</i> put
them into great consternation, as fearing some evil tidings. While
we are conscious to ourselves of so much guilt, we have reason to
fear lest every express from heaven should be a messenger of
wrath.</p>

<p class="indent" id="iv.iii.iii-p24">III. What the message was which the angel
had to deliver to the shepherds, <scripRef passage="Lu 2:10-12" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.10-Luke.2.12" id="iv.iii.iii-p24.1" parsed="|Luke|2|10|2|12"><i>v.</i> 10-12</scripRef>. 1. He gives a
<i>supersedeas</i> to their <i>fears:</i> "<i>Fear not,</i> for we
have nothing to say to you that needs be a terror to you; you
<i>need not</i> fear your enemies, and <i>should not</i> fear your
friends." 2. He furnishes them with abundant matter for joy:
"Behold, I <i>evangelize to you great joy;</i> I solemnly declare
it, and you have reason to bid it welcome, for it shall bring
<i>joy to all people,</i> and not to the people of the Jews only;
that <i>unto you is born this day,</i> at this time, <i>a
Saviour,</i> the Saviour that has been so long expected, <i>which
is Christ the Lord, in the city of David,</i>" <scripRef passage="Lu 2:11" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.11" id="iv.iii.iii-p24.2" parsed="|Luke|2|11|0|0"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. Jesus is the Christ, the
Messiah, the Anointed; he is <i>the Lord,</i> Lord of all; he is a
sovereign prince; nay, he is God, for <i>the Lord,</i> in the Old
Testament, answers to <i>Jehovah.</i> He is a Saviour, and he will
be a Saviour to those only that accept him for their Lord. "The
Saviour <i>is born,</i> he is born <i>this day;</i> and, since it
is matter of <i>great joy to all people,</i> it is not to be kept
secret, you may proclaim it, may tell it to whom you please. He is
born in the place where it was foretold he should be born, in the
<i>city of David;</i> and he is born <i>to you;</i> to you Jews he
is sent in the first place, to <i>bless you,</i> to you
<i>shepherds,</i> though poor and mean in the world." This refers
to <scripRef passage="Isa 9:6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.6" id="iv.iii.iii-p24.3" parsed="|Isa|9|6|0|0">Isa. ix. 6</scripRef>, <i>Unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given.</i> To <i>you</i> men, not
to <i>us</i> angels; he took not on him the nature of angels. This
is matter of <i>joy</i> indeed to all people, great joy.
Long-looked for is come at last. Let heaven and earth rejoice
before this Lord, <i>for he cometh.</i> 3. He gives them a sign for
the confirming of their faith in this matter. "How shall we find
out this child in Bethlehem, which is now full of the descendants
from David?" "You will find him by this token: he is lying in a
<i>manger,</i> where surely never any new-born infant was laid
before." They expected to be told, "You shall find him, though a
babe, dressed up in robes, and lying in the best house in the town,
lying in state, with a numerous train of attendants in rich
liveries." "No, you will find him wrapped in <i>swaddling
clothes,</i> and <i>laid in a manger.</i>" When Christ was here
upon earth, he <i>distinguished</i> himself, and made himself
remarkable, by nothing so much as the instances of his
<i>humiliation.</i></p>

<p class="indening is not, that the Jews should be utterly consumed: for Antiochus favored them for taking his part against Ptolemy, but that their land should be \isubjected\ito him [Lengkerke].Grotiustranslates, "shall be perfected by him," that is, shall flourish under him. \iEnglish Version\igives a good sense; namely, that Judea was much " \iconsumed\i" or " \idesolated\i" by being the arena of conflict between the combatants, Syria and Egypt.Tregellesrefers ( Da 11:14\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p54.5"), "robbers of thy people," to the Gentiles, once oppressors, attempting to restore the Jews to their land by mere human effort, whereas this is to be effected only by divine interposition: their attempt is frustrated ( Da 11:16\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p54.6") by the wilful king, who makes Judea the scene of his military operations.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p54.7"17. set his face-- \ipurpose\isteadfastly. Antiochus purpose was, however, turned from open assault to wile, by his war with the Romans in his endeavor to extend his kingdom to the limits it had under Seleucus Nicator.
      
upright one-- \iJasher,\ior \iJeshurun\i( De 32:15; Isa 44:2\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p56.1"); the epithet applied by the Hebrews to their nation. It is here used not in praise; for in Da 11:14\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p56.2"(see on) they are called "robbers," or "men of violence, factious": it is the general designation of Israel, as \ihaving God for their God.\iProbably it is used to rebuke those who ought to have been God's "upright ones" for confederating with godless heathen in acts of \iviolence\i(the contrast to the term in Da 11:14\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p56.5"favors this).
      
thus shall he do--Instead of at once invading Ptolemy's country with his "whole strength," he prepares his way for doing so by the following plan: he gives to Ptolemy Epiphanes his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, promising C&#339;lo-Syria and Judea as a dowry, thus securing his neutrality in the war with Rome: he hoped through his daughter to obtain Syria, Cilicia, and Lycia, and even Egypt itself at last; but Cleopatra favored her husband rather than her father, and so defeated his scheme [Jerome]. "She shall not stand on his side."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p57.2"18. isles--He "took many" of the isles in the Ægean in his war with the Romans, and crossed the Hellespont.
      
prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach ... to cease--Lucius Scipio Asiaticus, the Roman general, by routing Antiochus at Magnesia (190B.C.), caused the reproach which he offered Rome by inflicting injuries on Rome's allies, to cease. He did it \ifor his own glory.\i
      
without his own reproach--with untarnished reputation.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p60.1"19. Then he shall turn ... toward ... his own land--Compelled by Rome to relinquish all his territory west of the Taurus, and defray the expenses of the war, he garrisoned the cities left to him.
      
stumble ... not be found--Attempting to plunder the temple of Jupiter at Elymais by night, whether through avarice, or the want of money to pay the tribute imposed by Rome (a thousand talents), he was slain with his soldiers in an insurrection of the inhabitants [Justin, 32.2].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p62.2"20. in his estate--in Antiochus' stead: his successor, Seleucus Philopater, his son.
      
in the glory of the kingdom--that is, inheriting it by hereditary right.Maurertranslates, "one who shall cause the tax gatherer (Heliodorus) to pass through the glory of the kingdom," that is, \iJudea,\i"the glorious land" ( Da 11:16, 41; Da 8:9\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p64.2"). Simon, a Benjamite, in spite against Onias III, the high priest, gave information of the treasures in the Jewish temple; and Seleucus having reunited to Syria C&#339;lo-Syria and Palestine, the dowry formerly given by Antiochus the Great to Cleopatra, Ptolemy's wife, sent Heliodorus to Jerusalem to plunder the temple. This is narrated in 2 Maccabees 3:4\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p64.3", &c. Contrast Zec 9:8\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p64.4", "No oppressor shall pass through ... any more."
      
within few days ... destroyed--after a reign of twelve years, which were "few" compared with the thirty-seven years of Antiochus' reign. Heliodorus, the instrument of Seleucus' sacrilege, was made by God the instrument of his punishment. Seeking the crown, in the absence at Rome of Seleucus' only son and heir, Demetrius, he poisoned Seleucus. But Antiochus Epiphanes, Seleucus' brother, by the help of Eumenes, king of Pergamos, succeeded to the throne, 175B.C.
      
neither in anger, nor in battle--not in a popular outbreak, nor in open battle.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p66.1"21. vile--Antiochus called Epiphanes, that is, "the illustrious," for vindicating the claims of the royal line against Heliodorus, was nicknamed, by a play of sounds, Epimanes, that is, "the madman," for his mad freaks beneath the dignity of a king. He would carouse with the lowest of the people, bathe with them in the public baths, and foolishly jest and throw stones at passers-by [Polybius, 26.10]. Hence, as also for his crafty supplanting of Demetrius, the rightful heir, from the throne, he is termed "vile."
      
they shall not give ... kingdom: but ... by flatteries--The nation shall not, by a public act, confer the kingdom on him, but he shall obtain it by artifice, "flattering" Eumenes and Attalus of Pergamos to help him, and, as he had seen candidates at Rome doing, canvassing the Syrian people high and low, one by one, with embraces [Livy, 41.20].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p68.2"22. shall they be overflown ... before him--Antiochus Epiphanes shall invade Egypt with overwhelming forces.
      
prince of the covenant--Ptolemy Philometer, the son of Cleopatra, Antiochus' sister, who was joined in covenant with him. Ptolemy's guardians, while he was a boy, sought to recover from Epiphanes C&#339;lo-Syria and Palestine, which had been promised by Antiochus the Great as Cleopatra's dowry in marrying Ptolemy Epiphanes. Hence arose the war. Philometer's generals were vanquished, and Pelusium, the key of Egypt, taken by Antiochus, 171B.C.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p70.2"23.Tregellesnotes three divisions in the history of the "vile person," which is continued to the end of the chapter: (1) His rise ( Da 11:21, 22\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p71.2"). (2) The time from his making the covenant to the taking away of the daily sacrifice and setting up of the abomination of desolation ( Da 11:23-31\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p71.3"). (3) His career of blasphemy, to his destruction ( Da 11:32-45\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p71.4"); the latter two periods answering to the "week" of years of his "covenant with many" (namely, in Israel) ( Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p71.5"), and the last being the closing half week of the ninth chapter. But the context so accurately agrees with the relations of Antiochus to Ptolemy that the primary reference seems to be to the "league" between them. \iAntitypically,\iAntichrist's relations towards \iIsrael\iare probably delineated. Compare Da 8:11, 25, with Da 11:22\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p71.6"here, "prince of the covenant."
      
work deceitfully--Feigning friendship to young Ptolemy, as if he wished to order his kingdom for him, he took possession of Memphis and all Egypt ("the fattest places," Da 11:34\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p72.1") as far as Alexandria.
      
with a small people--At first, to throw off suspicion, his forces were small.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p73.1"24. peaceably--literally, "unexpectedly"; under the guise of friendship he seized Ptolemy Philometer.
      
he shall do that which his fathers have not done--His predecessors, kings of Syria, had always coveted Egypt, but in vain: he alone made himself master of it.
      
scatter among them ... prey--among his followers ( 1 Maccabees 1:19\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p76.1").
      
forecast his devices against ... strongholds--He shall form a studied scheme for making himself master of the Egyptian fortresses. He gained them all except Alexandria, which successfully resisted him. Retaining to himself Pelusium, he retired to Judea, where, in revenge for the joy shown by the Jews at the report of his death, which led them to a revolt, he subdued Jerusalem by storm or stratagem.
      
for a time--His rage shall not be for ever; it is but for a time limited by God.Calvinmakes "for a time" in antithesis to "unexpectedly," in the beginning of the verse. He \isuddenly\imastered the weaker cities: he had to "forecast his plans" more \igradually\i("for a time") as to how to gain the stronger fortresses.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p78.2"25.A fuller detail of what was summarily stated ( Da 11:22-24\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p79.1"). This is the first of Antiochus' three ( Da 11:29\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p79.2") open invasions of Egypt.
      
against the king of the south--against Ptolemy Philometer. Subsequently, Ptolemy Physcon (the Gross), or Euergetes II, was made king by the Egyptians, as Ptolemy Philometer was in Antiochus' hands.
      
great army--as distinguished from the "small people" ( Da 11:23\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p81.1") with which he first came. This was his first \iopen\iexpedition; he was emboldened by success to it. Antiochus "entered Egypt with an overwhelming multitude, with chariots, elephants, and cavalry" ( 1 Maccabees 1:17\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p81.2").
      
stirred up--by the necessity, though naturally indolent.
      
not stand--Philometer was defeated.
      
they shall forecast,&c.-- \iHis own nobles\ishall frame treacherous "devices" against him (see Da 11:26\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p84.1"). Eul&#339;us and Len&#339;us maladministered his affairs. Antiochus, when checked at last at Alexandria, left Ptolemy Philometer at Memphis as king, pretending that his whole object was to support Philometer's claims against the usurper Physcon.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p84.2"26. they that feed of ... his meat--those from whom he might naturally have looked for help, his intimates and dependents ( Ps 41:9; Joh 13:18\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p85.1"); his ministers and guardians.
      
his army shall overflow--Philometer's army shall be dissipated as water. The phrase is used of overflowing \inumbers,\iusually in a victorious sense, but here in the sense of \idefeat,\ithe very numbers which ordinarily ensure victory, hastening the defeat through mismanagement.
      
many shall fall down slain--( 1 Maccabees 1:18\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p87.1", "many fell wounded to death"). Antiochus, when he might have slain all in the battle near Pelusium, rode around and ordered the enemy to be taken alive, the fruit of which policy was, he soon gained Pelusium and all Egypt [Diodorus Siculus, 26.77].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p87.3"27. both ... to do mischief--each to the other.
      
speak lies at one table--They shall, under the semblance of intimacy, at Memphis try to deceive one another (see on;).
      
it shall not prosper--Neither of them shall carry his point at this time.
      
yet the end shall be--"the end" of the contest between them is reserved for "the time appointed" ( Da 11:29, 30\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p91.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p91.2"28.( 1 Maccabees 1:19, 20\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p92.1", &c.).
      
against the holy covenant--On his way back to Syria, he attacked Jerusalem, the metropolis of Jehovah's covenant-people, slew eighty thousand, took forty thousand prisoners, and sold forty thousand as slaves ( 2 Maccabees 5:5-14\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p93.1").
      
he shall do exploits--He shall effect his purpose. Guided by Menelaus, the high priest, he entered the sanctuary with blasphemies, took away the gold and silver vessels, sacrificed swine on the altar, and sprinkled broth of the flesh through the temple ( 2 Maccabees 5:15-21\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p94.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p94.2"29. At the time appointed--"the time" spoken of in Da 11:27\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p95.1".
      
return--his second open invasion of Egypt. Ptolemy Philometer, suspecting Antiochus' designs with Physcon, hired mercenaries from Greece. Whereupon Antiochus advanced with a fleet and an army, demanding the cession to him of Cyprus, Pelusium, and the country adjoining the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile.
      
it shall not be as the former--not successful as the former expedition. Popilius L&#339;nas, the Roman ambassador, met him at Eleusis, four miles from Alexandria, and presented him the decree of the senate; on Antiochus replying that he would consider what he was to do, Popilius drew a line round him with a rod and said, "I must have a reply to give to the senate before you leave this circle." Antiochus submitted, and retired from Egypt; and his fleets withdrew from Cyprus.
      
or as the latter--that mentioned in Da 11:42, 43\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p98.1"[Tregelles]. Or, making this the \ithird\iexpedition, the sense is "not as the first or as the second" expeditions [Piscator]. Rather "not as the former, so shall be \ithis\ilatter" expedition [Grotius].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p98.5"30. ships of Chittim--the Roman ambassadors arriving in \iMacedonian Grecian\ivessels (see on). \iChittim,\iproperly \iCyprian,\iso called from a Ph&#339;nician colony in Cyprus; then the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean in general.
      
grieved--humbled and dispirited through fear of Rome.
      
indignation against the holy covenant--Indignant that meantime God's worship had been restored at Jerusalem, he gives vent to his wrath at the check given him by Rome, on the Jews.
      
intelligence with them that forsake the ... covenant--namely, with the apostates in the nation ( 1 Maccabees 1:11-15\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p102.1"). Menelaus and other Jews instigated the king against their religion and country, learning from Greek philosophy that all religions are good enough to keep the masses in check. These had cast off circumcision and the religion of Jehovah for Greek customs. Antiochus, on his way home, sent Apollonius (167B.C.) with twenty-two thousand to destroy Jerusalem, two years after its capture by himself. Apollonius slew multitudes, dismantled and pillaged the city. They then, from a fortress which they built commanding the temple, fell on and slew the worshippers; so that the temple service was discontinued. Also, Antiochus decreed that all, on pain of death, should conform to the Greek religion, and the temple was consecrated to Jupiter Olympius. Identifying himself with that god, with fanatical haughtiness he wished to make his own worship universal ( 1 Maccabees 1:41; 2 Maccabees 6:7\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p102.3"). This was the gravest peril which ever heretofore threatened revealed religion, the holy people, and the theocracy on earth, for none of the previous world rulers had interfered with the religious worship of the covenant-people, when subject to them ( Da 4:31-34; 6:27, 28; Ezr 1:2, 4; 7:12; Ne 2:18\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p102.4"). Hence arose the need of such a forewarning of the covenant-people as to him--so accurate, thatPorphyry, the adversary of revelation, saw it was hopeless to deny its correspondence with history, but argued from its accuracy that it must have been written \isubsequent\ito the event. But as Messianic events are foretold in Daniel, the Jews, the adversaries of Jesus, would never have forged the prophecies which confirm His claims. The ninth chapter was to comfort the faithful Jews, in the midst of the "abominations" against "the covenant," with the prospect of Messiah who would "confirm the covenant." He would show by bringing salvation, and yet abolishing sacrifices, that the temple service which they so grieved after, was not absolutely necessary; thus the correspondence of phraseology would suggest comfort (compare Da 9:27 with Da 11:30, 31\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p102.6").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p102.7"31. arms--namely, of the human body; not \iweapons;\ihuman forces.
      
they--Antiochus' hosts confederate with the apostate Israelites; these latter attain the climax of guilt, when they not only, as before, " \iforsake\ithe covenant" ( Da 11:30\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p104.1"), but " \ido wickedly against\i" it ( Da 11:32\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p104.2"), turning complete heathens. Here Antiochus' actings are described in language which reach beyond him the type to Antichrist the antitype [Jerome] (just as in Ps 72:1-20\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p104.4"many things are said of Solomon the type, which are only applicable to Christ the Antitype); including perhaps Rome, Mohammed, and the final personal Antichrist.Sir Isaac Newtonrefers the rest of the chapter from this verse to the Romans, translating, " \iafter him\iarms (that is, the Romans) shall stand up"; at the very time that Antiochus left Egypt, the Romans conquered Macedon, thus finishing the reign of Daniel's third beast; so here the prophet naturally proceeds to the fourth beast.Jerome'sview is simpler; for the narrative seems to continue the history of Antiochus, though with features only in type applicable to him, fully to Antichrist.
      
sanctuary of strength--not only naturally a place of strength, whence it held out to the last against the besiegers, but chiefly the \ispiritual\istronghold of the covenant-people ( Ps 48:1-3, 12-14\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p105.1"). Apollonius "polluted" it with altars to idols and sacrifices of swine's flesh, after having "taken away the daily sacrifice" (see on).
      
place ... abomination that maketh desolate--that is, that pollutes the temple ( Da 8:12, 13\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p106.1"). Or rather, "the abomination \iof the desolater,\i" Antiochus Epiphanes ( 1 Maccabees 1:29, 37-49\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p106.2"). Compare Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p106.3", wherein the antitypical \idesolating abomination\iof Rome (the eagle standard, the bird of Jupiter, sacrificed to by Titus' soldiers within the sacred precincts, at the destruction of Jerusalem), of Mohammed and of the final Antichrist, is foretold. 1 Maccabees 1:54\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p106.4", uses the very phrase, "the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty-fifth year, they set up the \iabomination of desolation\ion the altar"; namely, an idol-altar and image of Jupiter Olympius, erected upon Jehovah's altar of burnt offerings. "Abomination" is the common name for an \iidol\iin the Old Testament. The Roman emperor Adrian's erection of a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus where the temple of God had stood,A.D.132; also the erection of the Mohammedan mosque of Omar in the same place (it is striking, Mohammedanism began to prevail inA.D.610, only about three years of the time when Popery assumed the temporal power); and the idolatry of the Church of Rome in the spiritual temple, and the final blasphemy of the personal Antichrist in the literal temple ( 2Th 2:4\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p106.7") may all be antitypically referred to here under Antiochus the type, and the Old Testament Antichrist.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p106.8"32.( 1 Maccabees 1:52\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p107.1").
      
corrupt--seduce to apostasy.
      
by flatteries--promises of favor.
      
people that ... know their God--the Maccabees and their followers ( 1 Maccabees 1:62, 63\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p110.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p110.2"33. they that understand--who know and keep the truth of God ( Isa 11:2\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p111.1").
      
instruct many--in their duty to God and the law, not to apostatize.
      
yet they shall fall--as Eleazar ( 2 Maccabees 6:18\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p113.1", &c.). They shall be sorely persecuted, even to death ( Heb 11:35, 36, 37\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p113.2"; 2 Maccabees 6, 7\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p113.3"). Their enemies took advantage of the Sabbath to slay them on the day when they would not fight.Tregellesthinks, from comparison with Da 11:35\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p113.5", it is \ithe people\iwho "fall," not \ithose of understanding.\iBut Da 11:35\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p113.6"makes \ithe latter\i"fall," not an unmeaning repetition; in Da 11:33\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p113.7"they fall (die) by persecution; in Da 11:35\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p113.8"they fall (spiritually) for a time by their own weakness.
      
flame--in caves, whither they had retired to keep the Sabbath. Antiochus caused some to be roasted alive ( 2 Maccabees 7:3-5\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p114.1").
      
 \imany\idays--rather, " \icertain\idays," as in Da 8:27\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p115.1".Josephus[ \iAntiquities,\i12:7.6,7] tells us the persecution lasted for three years ( 1 Maccabees 1:59; 4:54; 2 Maccabees 10:1-7\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p115.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p115.4"34. a little help--The liberty obtained by the Maccabean heroes for the Jews was of but short duration. They soon fell under the Romans and Herodians, and ever since every attempt to free them from Gentile rule has only aggravated their sad lot. The period of the world times (Gentile rule) is the period of depression of the theocracy, extending from the exile to the millennium [Roos]. The more immediate reference seems to be, the forces of Mattathias and his five sons were originally \ifew\i( 1 Maccabees 2:1-5\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p116.2").
      
many shall cleave to them--as was the case under Judas Maccabeus, who was thus able successfully to resist Antiochus.
      
with flatteries--Those who had deserted the Jewish cause in persecution, now, when success attended the Jewish arms, joined the Maccabean standard, for example, Joseph, the son of Zecharias, Azarias, &c. ( 1 Maccabees 5:55-57; 2 Maccabees 12:40; 13:21\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p118.1").Maurerexplains it, of those who through fear of the Maccabees' severity against apostates joined them, though ready, if it suited their purpose, to desert them ( 1 Maccabees 2:44; 3:58\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p118.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p118.4"35. to try them--the design of affliction. Image from \imetals\itried with fire.
      
to purge--Even in the elect there are dregs which need to be purged out ( 1Pe 1:7\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p120.1"). Hence they are allowed to fall for a time; not finally ( 2Ch 32:31; Lu 22:31\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p120.2"). Image from wheat cleared of its chaff by the wind.
      
make ... white--image from cloth ( Re 7:9\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p121.1").
      
to ... time of ... end--God will not suffer His people to be persecuted without limitation ( 1Co 10:13\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p122.1"). The godly are to wait patiently for "the end" of "the time" of trial; "for it is (to last) yet for a time appointed" by God.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p122.2"36.The wilful king here, though primarily Antiochus, is antitypically and mainly Antichrist, the seventh head of the seven-headed and ten-horned beast of Re 13:1-18\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p123.1", and the "beast" of Armageddon ( Re 16:13, 16; 19:19\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p123.2"). Some identify him with the revived French emperorship, the eighth head of the beast ( Re 17:11\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p123.3"), who is to usurp the kingly, as the Pope has the priestly, dignity of Christ--the false Messiah of the Jews, who will "plant his tabernacle between the seas in the holy mountain," "exalting himself above every god" ( 2Th 2:4; Re 13:5, 6\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p123.4"). This last clause only in part holds good of Antiochus; for though he assumed divine honors, identifying himself with Jupiter Olympius, yet it was for that god he claimed them; still it applies to him as \ithe type.\i
      
speak marvellous things against ... God of gods--so Da 7:25\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p124.1", as to the "little horn," which seemingly identifies the two (compare Da 8:25\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p124.2"). Antiochus forbade the worship of Jehovah by a decree "marvellous" for its wickedness: thus he was a type of Antichrist. Compare Da 7:8\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p124.3", "a mouth speaking great things."
      
indignation ... accomplished--God's visitation of wrath on the Jews for their sins ( Da 8:19\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p125.1").
      
that ... determined--( Da 9:26, 27; 10:21\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p126.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p126.2"37. Neither ... regard ... the desire of women--(Compare Eze 24:16, 18\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p127.1"). The wife, as the \idesire\iof man's eyes, is the symbol of the tenderest relations ( 2Sa 1:26\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p127.2"). Antiochus would set at naught even their entreaties that he should cease from his attack on Jehovah's worship [Polanus].Maurerrefers it to Antiochus' attack on the temple of \ithe Syrian Venus, worshipped by women\i( 1 Maccabees 6:1, &c.; 2 Maccabees 1:13\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p127.5").Newtonrefers it to Rome's "forbidding to marry."Elliottrightly makes the antitypical reference be to \iMessiah.\iJewish women desired to be mothers with a view to Him, the promised seed of the woman ( Ge 30:23; Lu 1:25, 28\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p127.8").
      
nor regard any god--( 2Th 2:4\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p128.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p128.2"38. God of forces--probably Jupiter Capitolinus, to whom Antiochus began to erect a temple at Antioch [Livy, 41.20]. Translate, "He shall honor the god of \ifortresses on his basis,\i" that is, the base of the statue.Newtontranslates, "And the god 'Mahuzzim' ( \iguardians,\ithat is, saints adored as ' \iprotectors\i' in the Greek and Roman churches) shall he honor."
      
honour with gold,&c.--Compare Re 17:4\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p130.1"as to Antiochus' antitype, Antichrist.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p130.2"39.Newtontranslates, " \ito be defenders of Mahuzzim\i(the monks and priests who uphold saint worship), together with the strange god whom he shall acknowledge, he shall multiply honor." \iEnglish Version\iis better: He shall do (exploits) in the most strongholds (that is, shall succeed against them) with a strange god (under the auspices of a god which he worshipped not before, namely, Jupiter Capitolinus, whose worship he imported into his empire from Rome). Antiochus succeeded against Jerusalem, Sidon, Pelusium, Memphis.
      
cause them--Antiochus "caused" \ihis followers and the apostates\i"to rule over many" Jews, having "divided their land" (Judea), "for gain" (that is, as a \ireward\ifor their compliance).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p132.1"40.The difficulty of reconciling this with Antiochus' history is that no historian butPorphyrymentions an expedition of his into \iEgypt\itowards the close of his reign. This Da 11:40\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.2", therefore, may be a recapitulation summing up the facts of the first expedition to Egypt (171-170B.C.), in Da 11:22, 25\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.4"; and Da 11:41\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.5", the former invasion of Judea, in Da 11:28\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.6"; Da 11:42, 43\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.7", the second and third invasions of Egypt (169 and 168B.C.) in Da 11:23, 24, 29, 30\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.9".Auberlentakes ratherPorphyry'sstatement, that Antiochus, in the eleventh year of his reign (166-165B.C.), invaded Egypt again, and took Palestine on his way. The "tidings" ( Da 11:44\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.13") as to the revolt of tributary nations then led him to the East.Porphyry'sstatement that Antiochus starting from Egypt took Arad in Judah, and devastated all Ph&#339;nicia, agrees with Da 11:45\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.15"; then he turned to check Artaxias, king of Armenia. He died in the Persian town Tabes, 164B.C., as bothPolybiusandPorphyryagree. Doubtless, antitypically, the final Antichrist, and its predecessor Mohammed, are intended, to whom the language may be more fully applicable than to Antiochus the type. The Saracen Arabs "of the south" "pushed at" the Greek emperor Heraclius, and deprived him of Egypt and Syria. But the Turks of "the north" not merely \ipushed at,\ibut destroyed the Greek empire; therefore more is said of them than of the Saracens. Their "horsemen" are specified, being their chief strength. Their standards still are \ihorse tails.\iTheir "ships," too, often gained the victory over Venice, the great naval power of Europe in that day. They "overflowed" Western Asia, and then "passed over" into Europe, fixing their seat of empire at Constantinople under Mohammed II [Newton].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p133.20"41.Antiochus, according toPorphyry, marching against Ptolemy, though he turned from his course to wreak his wrath on the Jews, did not meddle with Edom, Moab, and Ammon on the side of Judea. In 1 Maccabees 4:61; 5:3\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p134.2"; &c., it is stated that he used their help in crushing the Jews, of whom they were the ancient enemies. Compare Isa 11:14\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p134.3", as to Israel's future retribution, just as the Maccabees made war on them as the friends of Antiochus ( 1 Maccabees 5:1-68\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p134.4"). Antitypically, the Turks under Selim entered Jerusalem on their way to Egypt, and retain "the glorious land" of Palestine to this day. But they never could conquer the Arabs, who are akin to Edom, Moab, and Ammon ( Ge 16:12\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p134.5"). So in the case of the final Antichrist.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p134.6"42, 43. Egypt ... Libyans ... Ethiopians--The latter two, being the allies of the first, served under Antiochus when he conquered Egypt. Antitypically, Egypt, though it held out long under the Mamelukes, inA.D.1517 fell under the Turks. Algiers, Tunis, and other parts of Africa, are still under them.
      
at his steps--following him ( Ex 11:8\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p136.1", \iMargin;\i Jud 4:10\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p136.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p136.3" \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p136.4"44. tidings out of the east and out of the north--Artaxias, king of Armenia, his vassal, had revolted in the north, and Arsaces, leader of the Parthians, in the east ( 1 Maccabees 3:10, &c., 1 Maccabees 3:37\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p137.1";Tacitus, \iHistories,\i5.8). In 147B.C.Antiochus went on the expedition against them, on the return from which he died.
      
great fury--at the Jews, on account of their successes under Judas Maccabeus, whence he desired to replenish his treasury with means to prosecute the war with them; also at Artaxias and Arsaces, and their respective followers.De Burghmakes the "tidings" which rouse his fury, to be concerning the Jews' restoration; such may be the antitypical reference.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xii-p138.2"45. plant ... between the seas--the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean.
      
tabernacles of ... palace--his palace-like military tents, such as Oriental princes travel with. See on, as to the time of Antiochus' attack on Judea, and his subsequent "end" at Tabes, which was caused by chagrin both at hearing that his forces under Lysias were overcome by the Jews, and at the failure of his expedition against the temple of Elymais ( 2 Maccabees 9:5\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p140.3").
      
holy mountain--Jerusalem and Mount Zion. The desolation of the sanctuary by Antiochus, and also the desecration of the consecrated ground round Jerusalem by the idolatrous Roman ensigns, as also by the Mohammedan mosque, and, finally, by the last Antichrist, are referred to. So the last Antichrist is to sit upon "the \imount\iof the congregation" ( Isa 14:13\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p141.1"), but "shall be brought down to hell" (compare \iNote,\isee on; 2Th 2:8\Q="x.xxvii.xii-p141.4").
      

\C3="Chapter 12" \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p0.1"CHAPTER 12
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p1.1" Da 12:1-13\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p2.1".Conclusion of the Vision(Tenth through Twelfth Chapters)AND Epilogue to the Book.
      
Compare Da 12:4, 13\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p3.1"; as Da 12:6, 7\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p3.2"refer to Da 7:25\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p3.3", that is, to the time of Antichrist, so the subsequent Da 12:8-12\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p3.4"treat of the time of Antiochus (compare Da 12:11 with Da 11:31\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p3.5"), thus putting together in one summary view the two great periods of distress. The political resurrection of the Jews under the Maccabees is the starting-point of transition to the literal resurrection about to follow the destruction of Antichrist by Christ's coming in glory. The language passes here from the nearer to the more remote event, to which alone it is fully applicable.
      
1. at that time-- \itypically,\itowards the close of Antiochus' reign; \iantitypically,\ithe time when Antichrist is to be destroyed at Christ's coming.
      
Michael--the guardian angel of Israel ("thy people"), ( Da 10:13\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p5.1"). The transactions on earth affecting God's people have their correspondences in heaven, in the conflict between good and bad angels; so at the last great contest on earth which shall decide the ascendency of Christianity ( Re 12:7-10\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p5.2"). An archangel, not the Lord Jesus; for he is distinguished from "the Lord" in Jude 9\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p5.3".
      
there shall be--rather, "it shall be."
      
time of trouble, such as never was--partially applicable to the time of Antiochus, who was the first subverter of the Jews' religion, and persecutor of its professors, which no other world power had done. Fully applicable to the last times of Antichrist, and his persecutions of Israel restored to Palestine. Satan will be allowed to exercise an unhindered, unparalleled energy ( Isa 26:20, 21; Jer 30:7; Mt 24:21\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p7.1"; compare Da 8:24, 25; 11:36\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p7.2").
      
thy people shall be delivered--( Ro 11:26\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p8.1"). The same deliverance of Israel as in Zec 13:8, 9\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p8.2", "the third part ... brought through the fire ... refined as silver." The remnant in Israel spared, as not having joined in the Antichristian blasphemy ( Re 14:9, 10\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p8.3"); not to be confounded with those who have confessed Christ before His coming, "the remnant according to the election of grace" ( Ro 11:5\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p8.4"), part of the Church of the first-born who will share His millennial reign in glorified bodies; the spared remnant ( Isa 10:21\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p8.5") will only know the Lord Jesus when they see Him, and when the spirit of grace and supplication is poured out on them [Tregelles].
      
written in the book--namely, of God's secret purpose, as destined for deliverance ( Ps 56:8; 69:28; Lu 10:20; Re 20:15; 21:27\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p9.1"). Metaphor from a muster-roll of citizens ( Ne 7:5\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p9.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p9.3"2. many ... that sleep--"many \ifrom among\ithe sleepers ... \ithese\ishall be unto everlasting life; but \ithose\i(the rest of the sleepers who do not awake at this time) shall be unto shame" [Tregelles]. Not the \igeneral\iresurrection, but that of those who share in the first resurrection; the rest of the dead being not to rise till the end of the thousand years ( Re 20:3, 5, 6\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.2"; compare 1Co 15:23; 1Th 4:16\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.3"). Israel's national resurrection, and the first resurrection of the elect Church, are similarly connected with the Lord's coming forth out of His place to punish the earth in Isa 26:19, 21; 27:6\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.4". Compare Isa 25:6-9\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.5". The Jewish commentators supportTregelles.Auberlenthinks the sole purpose for which the resurrection is introduced in this verse is an incitement to faithful perseverance in the persecutions of Antiochus; and that there is no \ichronological\iconnection between the time of trouble in Da 12:1\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.8"and the resurrection in Da 12:2\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.9"; whence the phrase, "at that time," twice occurs in Da 12:1\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.10", but no fixing of time in Da 12:2, 3\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.11"; 2 Maccabees 7:9, 14, 23\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.12", shows the fruit of this prophecy in animating the Maccabean mother and her sons to brave death, while confessing the resurrection in words like those here. Compare Heb 11:35\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.13".Newton'sview that "many" means \iall,\iis not so probable; for Ro 5:15, 19\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.15", which he quotes, is not in point, since the \iGreek\iis " \ithe\imany," that is, all, but there is no article in the \iHebrew\ihere. Here only \iin the Old Testament\iis "everlasting life" mentioned.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p10.16"3. wise--( Pr 11:30\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p11.1"). Answering to "they that understand" ( Da 11:33, 35\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p11.2"), the same \iHebrew, Maskilim;\iIsraelites who, though in Jerusalem when wickedness is coming to a head, are found intelligent witnesses against it. As \ithen\ithey appeared worn out with persecutions (typically, of Antiochus; antitypically, of Antichrist); so \inow\iin the resurrection they "shine as the brightness of the firmament." The design of past afflictions here appears "to make them white" ( Mt 13:43; Re 7:9, 14\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p11.3").
      
turn ... to righteousness--literally, "justify," that is, convert many to justification through Christ ( Jas 5:20\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p12.1").
      
stars--( 1Co 15:41, 42\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p13.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p13.2"4. shut up ... seal the book--John, on the contrary, is told ( Re 22:10\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p14.1") not to seal his visions. Daniel's prophecy refers to a \idistant\itime, and is therefore obscure for the immediate future, whereas John's was to be \ispeedily\ifulfilled ( Re 1:1, 3; 22:6\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p14.2"). \iIsrael,\ito whom Daniel prophesied after the captivity, with premature zeal sought after signs of the predicted period: Daniel's prophecy was designed to restrain this. The \iGentile\iChurch, on the contrary, for whom John wrote, needs to be impressed with the shortness of the period, as it is, owing to its Gentile origin, apt to conform to the world, and to forget the coming of the Lord (compare Mt 25:13, 19; Mr 13:32-37; 2Pe 3:8, 12; Re 22:20\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p14.3").
      
run to and fro--not referring to the modern rapidity of locomotion, as some think, nor to Christian missionaries going about to preach the Gospel to the world at large [Barnes], which the context scarcely admits; but, whereas now but few care for this prophecy of God, "at the time of the end," that is, near its fulfilment, "many shall run to and fro," that is, scrutinize it, running through every page. Compare Hab 2:2\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p15.2"[Calvin]: it is thereby that " \ithe\iknowledge (namely, of God's purposes as revealed in prophecy) shall be increased." This is probably being now fulfilled.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p15.4"5.A vision of two other angels, one on one side of the Hiddekel or Tigris, the other on the other side, implying that on all sides angels attend to execute God's commands. The angel addressing Daniel had been \iover\ithe river "from above" ( Da 12:6\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p16.1", \iMargin\i).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p16.2"6. one--namely, of the two ( Da 12:5\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p17.1").
      
man ... in linen--who had spoken up to this point. God impelled the angel to ask in order to waken us out of our torpor, seeing that the very "angels desire to look into" the things affecting man's redemption ( 1Pe 1:12\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p18.1"), as setting forth the glory of their Lord and ours ( Eph 3:10\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p18.2").
      
How long ... to the end of these wonders--This question of the angel refers to the final dealings of God in general, Antichrist's overthrow, and the resurrection. Daniel's question ( Da 12:8\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p19.1") refers to the more immediate future of his nation [Auberlen].
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p19.3"7. held up ... right ... and ... left hand--Usually the right hand was held up in affirmation as an appeal to heaven to attest the truth ( De 32:40; Re 10:5, 6\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p20.1"). Here \iboth\ihands are lifted up for the fuller confirmation.
      
time, times, and a half--(See on).Newton, referring this prophecy to the Eastern apostasy, Mohammedanism, remarks that the same period of three and a half years, or 1260 prophetic days, is assigned to it as the Western apostasy of the little horn ( Da 7:25\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p21.4"); and so, saysPrideaux, Mohammed began to forge his imposture, retiring to his cave,A.D.606, the very year that Phocas made the grant to the bishop of Rome, whence he assumed the title, The Universal Pastor; Antichrist thus setting both his feet on Christendom together, the one in the East, and the other in the West. Three and a half is the time of the world power, in which the earthly kingdoms rule over the heavenly [Auberlen]. "Three and a half" represents \ithe idea of spiritual trial;\i(besides this certain \isymbolical\imeaning, there is doubtless an accurate \ichronological\imeaning, which is as yet to us uncertain): it is half of "seven," the complete number, so a semi-perfect state, one of probation. The holy city is trodden by the Gentiles forty-two months ( Re 11:2\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p21.8"), so the exercise of the power of the beast ( Re 13:5\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p21.9"). The two witnesses preach in sackcloth 1260 days, and remained unburied \ithree days and a half:\iso the woman in the wilderness: also the same for a "time, times, and a half" ( Re 11:3, 9, 11; 12:6, 14\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p21.10"). \iForty-two\iconnects the Church with Israel, whose haltings in the wilderness were \iforty-two\i( Nu 33:1-50\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p21.11"). The famine and drought on Israel in Elijah's days were for "three years and six months" ( Lu 4:25; Jas 5:17\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p21.12"); there same period as Antiochus' persecution: so the ministry of the Man of Sorrows, which ceased in the midst of a week ( Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p21.13") [Wordsworth, \iApocalypse\i].
      
scatter ... holy people--"accomplished" here answers to "the consummation" ( Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p22.1"), namely, the "pouring out" of the last dregs of the curse on the "desolated holy people." Israel's lowest humiliation (the utter "scattering of her power") is the precursor of her exaltation, as it leads her to seek her God and Messiah ( Mt 23:39\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p22.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p22.3"8. understood not--Daniel "understood" the main features of the vision as to Antiochus ( Da 10:1, 14\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p23.1"), but not as to the \itimes.\i 1Pe 1:10-12\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p23.2"refers mainly to Daniel: for it is he who foretells "the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow"; it is he who prophesies "not unto himself, but unto us"; it is he who "searched what, or what manner of \itime\ithe Spirit of Christ in him did signify."
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p23.3"9.Daniel's desire of knowing more is thus deferred "till the time of the end." John's Revelation in part reveals what here is veiled (see on;).
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p24.5"10.There is no need of a fuller explanation as to the \itime;\ifor when the predictions so far given shall have come to pass, the godly shall be "purified" by the foretold trials and shall understand that the end is at hand; but the wicked shall not understand, and so shall rush on to their own ruin ( Da 11:33-35\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p25.1") [Maurer]. The "end" is primarily, of Antiochus' persuasion; antitypically, the end of Antichrist's. It is the very clearness in the main which renders necessary the obscurity. The fulfilment of God's decree is not a mere arithmetical problem which the profane may understand by arithmetical calculations, but a holy enigma to stimulate to a faithful observance of God's ways, and to a diligent study of the history of God's people [Auberlen]. To this Christ refers ( Mt 24:15\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p25.4"), "Whose readeth, let him \iunderstand.\i"
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p25.5"11. from ... sacrifice ... taken way ... abomination--( Da 11:31\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p26.1"). As to this epoch, which probably is prophetically germinant and manifold; the profanation of the temple \iby Antiochus\i(in the month Ijar of the year 145B.C., till the restoration of the worship by Judas Maccabeus on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month [Chisleu] of 148B.C., according to the Seleucid era, 1290 days; forty-five days more elapsed before Antiochus' death in the month Shebat of 148B.C., so ending the Jews' calamities [Maurer]); \iby pagan Rome,\iafter Christ's death; \iby Mohammed; by Antichrist,\ithe culmination of apostate Rome. The "abomination" must reach its climax (seeAuberlen'stranslation, "summit," Da 9:27\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p26.7"), and the measure of iniquity be full, before Messiah comes.
      
thousand two hundred and ninety days--a month beyond the "time, times, and a half" ( Da 12:7\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p27.1"). In Da 12:12\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p27.2", forty-five days more are added, in all 1335 days.Tregellesthinks Jesus at His coming will deliver the Jews. An interval elapses, during which their consciences are awakened to repentance and faith in Him. A second interval elapses in which Israel's outcasts are gathered, and then the united blessing takes place. These stages are marked by the 1260, 1290, and 1335 days.Cummingthinks the 1260 years begin when Justinian inA. D.533 subjected the Eastern churches to John II, bishop of Rome; ending in 1792, when the Code Napoleon was established and the Pope was dishonored. 1290 reach to 1822, about the time of the waning of the Turkish power, the successor to Greece in the empire of the East. Forty-five years more end in 1867, the end of "the times of the Gentiles." See Le 26:24\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p27.6", "seven times," that is, 7 X 360, or 2520 years: 652B.C.is the date of Judah's captivity, beginning under Manasseh; 2520 from this date end in 1868, thus nearly harmonizing with the previous date, 1867. See on. The seventh millenary of the world [Clinton] begins in 1862. Seven years to 1869 (the date of the second advent) constitute the reign of the personal Antichrist; in the last three and a half, the period of final tribulation, Enoch (or else Moses) and Elijah, the two witnesses, prophesy in sackcloth. This theory is very dubious (compare Mt 24:36; Ac 1:7; 1Th 5:2; 2Pe 3:10\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p27.11"); still the event alone can tell whether the chronological coincidences of such theories are fortuitous, or solid data on which to fix the future times.Halesmakes the periods 1260, 1290, 1335, begin with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and end with the precursory dawn of the Reformation, the preaching of Wycliffe and Huss.
      
 \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p27.13" \Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p27.14"13. rest--in the grave ( Job 3:17; Isa 57:2\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p28.1"). He, like his people Israel, was to wait patiently and confidently for the blessing till God's time. He "received not the promise," but had to wait until the Christian elect saints should be brought in, at the first resurrection, that he and the older Old Testament saints "without us should not be made perfect" ( Heb 11:40\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p28.2").
      
stand--implying \ijustification\iunto life, as opposed to condemnation ( Ps 1:5\Q="x.xxvii.xiii-p29.1").
      
thy lot--image from the \iallotment\iof the earthly Canaan.
      
\C2="Hosea"
THE BOOK OF
HOSEA
 \iCommentary by\iA. R. Faussett
      

\C3="Introduction"INTRODUCTION
      
Thefirst of the twelve minor prophets in the order of the canon (called "minor," not as less in point of inspired authority, but simply in point of size). The twelve are first mentioned by Jesus, the son of Sirach ( Ecclesiasticus 49:10\Q="x.xxviii.i-p2.2"). St. Stephen, in Ac 7:42\Q="x.xxviii.i-p2.3"(in referring to Am 5:27\Q="x.xxviii.i-p2.4"), quotes them as forming one collective body of writings, "the book of the prophets." SoJeromeandMelito, the first Greek father who has left us a catalogue of these books. The collection of the sacred books is by Jewish tradition attributed to the great synagogue of learned scribes formed by Ezra. Many think Nehemiah completed this collection by adding to the books already in the canon those of his own times. Malachi, the last in the series, probably aided him in determining with infallible authority what books were entitled to be ranked in the inspired canon. The chronological order differs from the canonical. Joel, about 810B.C.; Jonah, about 810B.C., or, as others, \ifirst,\i862B.C.; Amos, about 790B.C.; Hosea, about 784B.C.Hosea, the contemporary of Isaiah, Micah, and Amos, seems to have entered on his prophetical office in the last years of Jeroboam (contemporary in part with Uzziah), and to have ended it in the beginning of Hezekiah's reign, 722B.C., that is, about \isixty\iyears in all, from 784B.C.to 722B.C.The prophets, however, were not uninterruptedly engaged in prophesying. Considerable intervals elapsed, though their office as divinely commissioned public teachers was never wholly laid aside. The Book of Hosea which we have constitutes only that portion of his public teachings which the Holy Spirit saw fit to preserve for the benefit of the Church. The cause of his being placed first of the twelve was, probably, the length, the vivid earnestness, and patriotism of his prophecies, as well as their closer resemblance to those of the greater prophets. His style is abrupt, sententious, and unrounded; the connecting particles are few; there are changes of person, and anomalies of gender, number, and construction. His name means \iSalvation.\iHe was son of Beeri, of the tribe of Issachar, born in Beth-shemesh [Jerome]. His mention, in the inscription, of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, is no proof that he belonged to Judah: for the prophets in Israel regarded its separation from Judah, \icivil\ias well as religious, as an apostasy from God, who promised the dominion of the theocracy to the line of David. Hence Elijah in Israel took \itwelve\istones to represent Judah, as well as Israel ( 1Ki 18:31\Q="x.xxviii.i-p2.16"). Hence Hosea dates from Judah's kings, as well as from Jeroboam of Israel, though he belonged to Israel, with whose sins and fate his book is chiefly occupied. He, however, makes incidental references to Judah. His first prophecy foretells the overthrow of Jehu's house, fulfilled on the death of Jeroboam, Jehu's great-grandson ( 2Ki 15:12\Q="x.xxviii.i-p2.17"), in Zachariah, Jeroboam's son, the fourth and last from Jehu, conspired against by Shallum. This first prediction was doubtless in Jeroboam's life, as Zachariah, his son, was only suffered to reign six months; thus the inscription is verified that "the word of the Lord came unto him in the days of Jeroboam" ( Ho 1:1\Q="x.xxviii.i-p2.18"). Again, in Ho 10:14\Q="x.xxviii.i-p2.19", Shalmaneser's expedition against Israel is alluded to \ias past,\ithat is, the first inroad against King Hoshea, who began to reign in the twelfth year of Ahaz; so that as Ahaz' whole reign was sixteen years, the prophecy seems to have been given about the beginning of Hezekiah's reign. Thus the inscription is confirmed that the exercise of his prophetical functions was of such a protracted duration.
      
Hosea ( Ho 11:1\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.1") is quoted in Mt 2:15\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.2"; also Ho 6:6\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.3"in Mt 9:13; 12:7\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.4"; compare Ro 9:25, 26\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.5", quoting Ho 1:10; 2:1, 23\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.6"; 1Co 15:55\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.7", quoting Ho 13:14\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.8"; 1Pe 2:10\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.9", quoting Ho 1:9, 10; 2:23\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.10". Messianic references are not frequent; but the predictions of the future conversion of Israel to the Lord their God, and David their king, and of the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham that his spiritual seed should be as the sand of the sea ( Ho 1:10; 3:5\Q="x.xxviii.i-p3.11"), clearly refer to the New Testament dispensation.
      
The first and third chapters are in prose, the rest of the book is rhythmical.
      

\C3="Chapter 1" \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p0.1"CHAPTER 1
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p1.1" Ho 1:1-11\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p2.1".Inscription.
      
Spiritual whoredom of Israel set forth by symbolical acts; Gomer taken to wife at God's command: Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and Lo-Ammi, the children. Yet a promise of Judah and Israel's restoration.
      
1. The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea--See
      
Jeroboam--the second; who died in the fifteenth year of Uzziah's forty-one years' reign. From his time forth \iall\iIsrael's kings worshipped false gods: Zachariah ( 2Ki 15:9\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p5.1"), Menahem ( 2Ki 15:18\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p5.2"), Pekahiah ( 2Ki 15:24\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p5.3"), Pekah ( 2Ki 15:28\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p5.4"), Hoshea ( 2Ki 17:2\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p5.5"). As Israel was most flourishing externally under Jeroboam II, who recovered the possessions seized on by Syria, Hosea's prophecy of its downfall at that time was the more striking as it could not have been foreseen by mere human sagacity. Jonah the prophet had promised success to Jeroboam II from God, not for the king's merit, but from God's mercy to Israel; so the coast of Israel was restored by Jeroboam II from the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain ( 2Ki 14:23-27\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p5.6").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p5.7"2. beginning--not of the prophet's predictions generally, but of those spoken by \iHosea.\i
      
take ... wife of whoredoms--not externally acted, but internally and in vision, as a pictorial illustration of Israel's unfaithfulness [Hengstenberg]. Compare Eze 16:8, 15\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p7.2", &c. Besides the loathsomeness of such a marriage, if an external act, it would require years for the birth of three children, which would weaken the symbol (compare Eze 4:4\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p7.3").Hendersonobjects that there is no hint of the transaction being fictitious: Gomer fell into lewdness \iafter\iher union with Hosea, not before; for thus only she was a fit symbol of Israel, who lapsed into spiritual whoredom \iafter\ithe marriage contract with God on Sinai, and made even before at the call of the patriarchs of Israel. Gomer is called "a wife of whoredoms," anticipatively.
      
children of whoredoms--The kingdom collectively is viewed as a \imother;\ithe individual subjects of it are spoken of as her \ichildren.\i"Take" being applied to both implies that they refer to the same thing viewed under different aspects. The "children" were not the prophet's own, but born of adultery, and presented to him as his [Kitto, \iBiblical Cyclopædia\i]. Rather, "children of whoredoms" means that the children, like their mother, fell into spiritual fornication. Compare "bare \ihim\ia son" (see Ho 2:4, 5\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p8.2"). Being children of a spiritual whore, they naturally fell into her whorish ways.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p8.3"3. Gomer ... daughter of Diblaim--symbolical names; literally, "completion, daughter of grape cakes"; the dual expressing the double layers in which these dainties were baked. So, \ione completely given up to sensuality.\iMaurerexplains "Gomer" as literally, "a burning coal." Compare Pr 6:27, 29\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p9.2", as to an adulteress; Job 31:9, 12\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p9.3".
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p9.4"4. Jezreel--that is, "God will scatter" (compare Zec 10:9\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p10.1"). It was the royal city of Ahab and his successors, in the tribe of Issachar. Here Jehu exercised his greatest cruelties ( 2Ki 9:16, 25, 33; 10:11, 14, 17\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p10.2"). There is in the name an allusion to "Israel" by a play of letters and sounds.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p10.3"5. bow--the prowess ( Jer 49:35\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p11.1"; compare Ge 49:24\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p11.2").
      
valley of Jezreel--afterwards called Esdraelon, extending ten miles in breadth, and in length from Jordan to the Mediterranean near Mount Carmel, the great battlefield of Palestine ( Jud 6:33; 1Sa 29:1\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p12.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p12.2"6. Lo-ruhamah--that is, "not an object of mercy or gracious favor."
      
take ... away--Israel, as a kingdom, was never restored from Assyria, as Judah was from Babylon after seventy years.Maurertranslates according to the primary meaning, "No more will I have mercy on the house of Israel, so as to \ipardon\ithem."
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p14.2"7. \iJudah\iis only incidentally mentioned to form a contrast to \iIsrael.\i
      
by the Lord their God--more emphatic than "by Myself"; by that Jehovah (Me) whom they worship as \itheir God,\iwhereas ye despise Him.
      
not ... by bow--on which ye Israelites rely ( Ho 1:5\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p17.1", "the bow of Israel"); Jeroboam II was famous as a warrior ( 2Ki 14:25\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p17.2"). Yet it was not by their warlike power Jehovah would save Judah ( 1Sa 17:47; Ps 20:7\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p17.3"). The deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib ( 2Ki 19:35\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p17.4"), and the restoration from Babylon, are herein predicted.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p17.5"8. weaned--said to complete the symbolical picture, not having any special signification as to Israel [Henderson]. Israel was bereft of all the privileges which were as needful to them as milk is to infants (compare Ps 131:2; 1Pe 2:2\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p18.2") [Vatablus]. Israel was \inot suddenly,\ibut \igradually\icast off; God bore with them with long-suffering, until they were incurable [Calvin]. But as it is not God, but \iGomer\iwho weans Lo-ruhamah, the weaning may imply the lust of Gomer, who was hardly weaned when she is again pregnant [Manger].
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p18.6"9. Lo-Ammi--once "My people," but henceforth \inot\iso ( Eze 16:8\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p19.1"). The intervals between the marriage and the successive births of the three children, imply that three successive generations are intended. Jezreel, the first child, represents the dynasty of Jeroboam I and his successors, ending with Jehu's shedding the blood of Jeroboam's line in Jezreel; it was there that Jezebel was slain, in vengeance for Naboth's blood shed in the same Jezreel ( 1Ki 16:1; 2Ki 9:21, 30\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p19.2"). The scenes of Jezreel were to be enacted over again on Jehu's degenerate race. At Jezreel Assyria routed Israel [Jerome]. The child's name associates past sins, intermediate punishments, and final overthrow. Lo-ruhamah ("not pitied"), the second child, is a \idaughter,\irepresenting the effeminate period which followed the overthrow of the first dynasty, when Israel was at once abject and impious. Lo-Ammi ("not my people"), the third child, a \ison,\irepresents the vigorous dynasty ( 2Ki 14:25\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p19.4") of Jeroboam II; but, as prosperity did not bring with it revived piety, they were still \inot God's people.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p19.5"10.Literally fulfilled \iin part\iat the return from Babylon, in which many Israelites joined with Judah. Spiritually, the believing seed of Jacob or Israel, Gentiles as well as Jews, numerous "as the sand" ( Ge 32:12\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p20.1"); the Gentiles, once not God's people, becoming His "sons" ( Joh 1:12; Ro 9:25, 26; 1Pe 2:10; 1Jo 3:1\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p20.2"). To be fulfilled in its literal \ifulness\ihereafter in Israel's restoration ( Ro 11:26\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p20.3").
      
the living God--opposed to their \idead\iidols.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.ii-p21.1"11. Judah ... Israel ... together--( Isa 11:12, 13; Jer 3:18; Eze 34:23; 37:16-24\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p22.1").
      
one head--Zerubbabel typically; Christ antitypically, under whom alone Israel and Judah are joined, the "Head" of the Church ( Eph 1:22; 5:23\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p23.1"), and of the hereafter united kingdom of Judah and Israel ( Jer 34:5, 6; Eze 34:23\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p23.2"). Though "appointed" by the Father ( Ps 2:6\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p23.3"), Christ is in another sense "appointed" as their Head by His people, when they accept and embrace Him as such.
      
out of the land--of the Gentiles among whom they sojourn.
      
the day of Jezreel--"The day of one" is the time of God's special visitation of him, either in wrath or in mercy. Here "Jezreel" is in a different sense from that in Ho 1:4\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p25.1", "God will sow," not "God will scatter"; they shall be \ithe seed of God,\iplanted by God again in their own land ( Jer 24:6; 31:28; 32:41; Am 9:15\Q="x.xxviii.ii-p25.2").
      

\C3="Chapter 2" \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p0.1"CHAPTER 2
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p1.1" Ho 2:1-23\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p2.1".Application of the Symbols in the First Chapter.
      
Israel's spiritual fornication, and her threatened punishment: yet a promise of God's restored favor, when chastisements have produced their designed effect.
      
1. Say ... unto ... brethren, Ammi,&c.--that is, When the prediction ( Ho 1:11\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p4.1") shall be accomplished, then ye will call one another, as \ibrothers\iand \isisters\iin the family of God, Ammi and Ruhamah.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p4.2"2. Plead--expostulate.
      
mother--that is, the nation \icollectively.\iThe address is to "her children," that is, to the \iindividual\icitizens of the state (compare Isa 50:1\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p6.1").
      
for she is not my wife--She has deprived herself of her high privilege by spiritual adultery.
      
out of her sight--rather, "from her face." Her very countenance unblushingly betrayed her lust, as did also her exposed "breasts."
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p8.1"3. set her as in the day ... born--( Eze 16:4; 23:25, 26, 28, 29\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p9.1"). The day of her political "birth" was when God delivered her from the bondage of Egypt, and set up the theocracy.
      
make her as a wilderness--( Jer 6:8; Zep 2:13\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p10.1"). Translate, "make her as the wilderness," namely, that in which she passed forty years on her way to her goodly possession of Canaan. With this agrees the mention of "thirst" (compare Jer 2:6\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p10.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p10.3"4. her children--Not even her \iindividual\imembers shall escape the doom of the nation collectively, for they are individually guilty.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p11.1"5. I will go after--The \iHebrew\iexpresses a \isettled determination.\i
      
lovers--the idols which Israel fancied to be the givers of all their goods, whereas God gave all these goods ( Ho 2:8-13\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p13.1"; compare Jer 44:17-19\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p13.2").
      
bread and ... water--the \inecessaries\iof life in food.
      
wool ... flax--clothing.
      
oil ... drink--perfumed unguents and palatable drinks: the \iluxuries\iof Hebrew life.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p16.1"6, 7. thorns ... wall--( Job 19:8; La 3:7, 9\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p17.1"). The hindrances which the captivity interposed between Israel and her idols. As she attributes all her temporal blessings to idols, I will reduce her to straits in which, when she in vain has sought help from false gods, she will at last seek Me as her only God and Husband, as at the first ( Isa 54:5; Jer 3:14; Eze 16:8\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p17.2").
      
then--before Israel's apostasy, under Jeroboam. The way of duty is hedged \iabout\iwith thorns; it is the way of sin that is hedged \iup\iwith thorns. Crosses in an evil course are God's hedges to turn us from it. Restraining grace and restraining providences (even sicknesses and trials) are great blessings when they stop us in a course of sin. Compare Lu 15:14-18\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p18.1", "I will arise, and go to my father." So here, "I will go, and return," &c.; crosses in the both cases being sanctified to produce this effect.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p18.2" \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p18.3"8. she did not know that I--not the idols, as she thought: the "lovers" alluded to in Ho 2:5\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p19.1".
      
which they prepared for Baal--that is, of which they made images of Baal, or at least the plate covering of them ( Ho 8:4\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p20.1"). Baal was the Ph&#339;nician sun-god: answering to the female Astarte, the moon-goddess. The name of the idol is found in the Ph&#339;nician Hannibal, Hasdrubal. Israel borrowed it from the Tyrians.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p20.2"9. my corn ... my wool ... my flax--in contrast to " \imy\ibread ... \imy\iwool ... \imy\iflax," ( Ho 2:5\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p21.1"). Compare also Ho 2:21-23\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p21.2", on God as the great First Cause giving these through secondary instruments in nature. "Return, and take away," is equivalent to, "I will take back again," namely, by sending storms, locusts, Assyrian enemies, &c. "Therefore," that is, because she did not acknowledge Me as the Giver.
      
in the time thereof--in the harvest-time.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p22.1"10. lewdness--rather, "the shame of her nakedness"; laying aside the figure, "I will expose her in \iher state, bereft of every necessary,\ibefore her lovers," that is, the idols (personified, as if they could see), who, nevertheless, can give her no help. "Discover" is appropriate to stripping off the self-flatteries of her hypocrisy.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p23.1"11. her feast days--of Jeroboam's appointment, distinct from the Mosaic ( 1Ki 12:32\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p24.1"). However, most of the Mosaic feasts, "new-moons" and "sabbaths" to Jehovah, remained, but to degenerate Israel worship was a weariness; they cared only for the carnal indulgence on them ( Am 8:5\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p24.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p24.3"12. my rewards--my hire as a harlot ( Isa 23:17, 18\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p25.1").
      
lovers--idols.
      
destroy ... vines ... make ... forest--( Isa 5:6; 7:23, 24\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p27.1"). Fulfilled in the overthrow of Israel by Assyria ( Ho 9:4, 5\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p27.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p27.3"13. days of Baalim--the days consecrated to the Baals, or various images of Baal in different cities, whence the names \iBaal-gad, Baal-hermon,\i&c.
      
decked herself with ... earrings--rather, "nose-rings" ( Isa 3:21; Eze 16:12\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p29.1", \iMargin\i), with which harlots decked themselves to attract admirers: answering to the ornaments in which the Israelites decked themselves on the idols' feasts.
      
forgat me--worse than the nations which had never known God. Israel \iwilfully apostatized\ifrom Jehovah, whom she had known.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p30.1"14. Therefore--rather, "Nevertheless" [Henderson]. \iEnglish Version\igives a more lovely idea of God. That which would provoke all others to unappeasable wrath, Israel's perversity and consequent punishment, is made a reason why God should at last have mercy on her. As the "therefore" ( Ho 2:9\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p31.2") expresses Israel's punishment as the \iconsequence\iof Israel's guilt, so "therefore" here, as in Ho 2:6\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p31.3", expresses, that when that punishment has effected its designed end, the hedging up her way with thorns so that she returns to God, her first love, the \iconsequence\iin God's wondrous grace is, He "speaks comfortably" (literally, "speaks to her heart"; compare Jud 19:8; Ru 2:13\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p31.4"). So obstinate is she that God has to "allure her," that is, so to temper judgment with unlooked-for grace as to \iwin\iher to His ways. For this purpose it was necessary to "bring her into the wilderness" (that is, into temporal want and trials) first, to make her sin hateful to her by its bitter fruits, and God's subsequent grace the more precious to her by the contrast of the "wilderness."Jeromemakes the "bringing into the wilderness" to be rather a \ideliverance from her enemies,\ijust as ancient Israel was brought into the wilderness from the bondage of Egypt; to this the phrase here alludes (compare Ho 2:15\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p31.6"). The wilderness sojourn, however, is not literal, but moral: while still in the land of their enemies \ilocally,\iby the discipline of the trial rendering the word of God sweet to them, they are to be brought \imorally\iinto the wilderness state, that is, into a state of preparedness for returning to their temporal and spiritual privileges in their own land; just as the literal wilderness prepared their fathers for Canaan: thus the bringing of them into the \iwilderness state\iis \ivirtually\ia deliverance from their enemies.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p31.7"15. from thence--returning from the wilderness. God gives Israel a fresh grant of Canaan, which she had forfeited; so of her vineyards, &c. ( Ho 2:9, 12\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p32.1").
      
Achor--that is, "trouble." As formerly Israel, after their tedious journey through the wilderness, met with the \itrouble\iresulting from Achan's crime in this valley, on the very threshold of Canaan, and yet that \itrouble\iwas presently turned into \ijoy\iat the great victory at Ai, which threw all Canaan into their hands ( Jos 7:1-8:28\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p33.1"); so the very trouble of Israel's wilderness state will be the "door of hope" opening to better days. The valley of Achor, near Jericho, was specially fruitful ( Isa 65:10\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p33.2"); so "trouble" and "hope" are rightly blended in connection with it.
      
sing ... as ... when she came ... out of ... Egypt--It shall be a second exodus song, such as Israel sang after the deliverance at the Red Sea ( Ex 15:1-21\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p34.1"; compare Isa 11:15, 16\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p34.2"); and "the song of Moses" ( Re 15:2, 3\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p34.3") sung by those who through the Lamb overcome the beast, and so stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire, emblems of fiery trial, such as that of Israel at the Red Sea.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p34.4"16. Ishi ... no more Baali--"my \iHusband\i... no more my \iLord.\i" \iAffection\iis the prominent idea in "Husband"; \irule,\iin "Lord." The chief reason for the substitution of \iHusband\ifor \iLord\iappears in Ho 2:17\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p35.1"; namely, \iBaali,\ithe \iHebrew\ifor \imy Lord,\ihad been perverted to express the images of Baal, whose name ought not to be taken on their lips ( Ex 23:13; Zec 13:2\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p35.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p35.3"17. Baalim-- \iplural,\iexpressing the various images of Baal, which, according to the places of their erection, received various names, Baal-gad, Baal-ammon, &c.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p36.1"18. for them--for their benefit.
      
covenant ... with the beasts--not to hurt them ( Job 5:23\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p38.1"). They shall fulfil the original law of their creation by becoming subject to man, when man fulfils the law of his being by being subject to God. To be realized fully in millennial times ( Isa 11:6-9\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p38.2").
      
break the bow ... out of the earth--rather, "out of the \iland\i"; that is, I will break \iand remove\iwar out of the earth ( Ps 46:9\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p39.1"); and "out of the \iland\i" \iof Israel\ifirst ( Isa 2:4; Eze 39:9, 10; Zec 9:9, 10\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p39.2").
      
lie down--A reclining posture is the usual one with Orientals when not in action.
      
safely--( Jer 23:6\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p41.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p41.2"19, 20."Betroth" is \ithrice\irepeated, implying the intense love of God to His people; and perhaps, also, \ithe three Persons\iof the \iTriune God,\iseverally engaging to make good the betrothal. The marriage covenant will be as it were renewed from the beginning, on a different footing; not for a time only, as before, through the apostasy of the people, but "forever" through the grace of God writing the law on their hearts by the Spirit of Messiah ( Jer 31:31-37\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p42.1").
      
righteousness ... judgment--in rectitude and truth.
      
loving-kindness,&c.--Hereby God assures Israel, who might doubt the possibility of their restoration to His favor; low, sunk, and unworthy as thou art. I will restore thee from a regard to My own "loving-kindness," not thy merits.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p44.1"20. faithfulness--to My new covenant of grace with thee ( 1Th 5:24; Heb 10:23\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p45.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p45.2"21. in that day--of grace to Israel.
      
heavens ... hear the earth--personification. However many be the intermediate instruments, God is the Great First Cause of all nature's phenomena. God had threatened ( Ho 2:9\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p47.1") He would \itake back His corn, His wine,\i&c. Here, on the contrary, God promises to \ihearken to the skies,\ias it were, supplicating Him to fill them with rain to pour on the earth; and that the skies again would hearken to the earth begging for a supply of the rain it requires; and again, that the earth would hearken to the corn, wine, and oil, begging it to bring them forth; and these again would hear Jezreel, that is, would fulfil Israel's prayers for a supply of them. Israel is now no longer "Jezreel" in the sense, " \iGod will\iSCATTER" ( Ho 1:4\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p47.3"), but in the sense, " \iGod will\iPLANT" ( Ho 1:11\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p47.5").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p47.6" \Q="x.xxviii.iii-p47.7"23. I will sow her--referring to the meaning of \iJezreel\i( Ho 2:22\Q="x.xxviii.iii-p48.1").
      

\C3="Chapter 3" \Q="x.xxviii.iv-p0.1"CHAPTER 3
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iv-p1.1" Ho 3:1-5\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p2.1".Israel's Condition in Their Present Dispersion, Subsequent to Their Return from Babylon, Symbolized.
      
The prophet is to take back his wife, though unfaithful, as foretold in Ho 1:2\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p3.1". He purchases her from her paramour, stipulating she should wait for a long period before she should be restored to her conjugal rights. So Israel is to live for a long period without her ancient rites of religion, and yet be free from idolatry; then at last she shall acknowledge Messiah, and know Jehovah's goodness restored to her.
      
1. Go yet--"Go \iagain,\i" referring to Ho 1:2\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p4.1"[Henderson].
      
a woman--purposely indefinite, for \ithy wife,\ito express the \iseparation\iin which Hosea had lived from Gomer for her unfaithfulness.
      
beloved of her friend--used for "her \ihusband,\i" on account of the estrangement between them. She was still beloved of her husband, though an adulteress; just as God still loved Israel, though idolatrous ( Jer 3:20\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p6.1"). Hosea is told, not as in Ho 1:2\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p6.2", " \itake\ia wife," but " \ilove\i" her, that is, renew thy conjugal kindness to her.
      
who look to other gods--that is, have done so heretofore, but henceforth (from the return from Babylon) shall do so no more ( Ho 3:4\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p7.1").
      
flagons of wine--rather, pressed cakes of dried grapes, such as were offered to idols ( Jer 7:18\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p8.1") [Maurer].
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iv-p8.3"2. I bought her--The price paid is too small to be a probable dowry wherewith to buy \ia wife\ifrom her parents; but it is just half the price of a female \islave,\iin money, the rest of the price being made up in grain ( Ex 21:32\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p9.1"). Hosea pays this for the redemption of his wife, who has become the \islave of her paramour.\iThe price being \ihalf grain\iwas because the latter was the allowance of food for the slave, and of the coarsest kind, not \iwheat,\ibut \ibarley.\iIsrael, as \icommitting sin,\iwas \ithe slave of sin\i( Joh 8:34; Ro 6:16-20; 2Pe 2:19\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p9.2"). The low price expresses Israel's \iworthlessness.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iv-p9.3"3. abide for me--separate from intercourse with any other man, and \iremaining\ifor me who have redeemed thee (compare De 21:13\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p10.1").
      
so will I also be for thee-- \iremain for thee,\inot taking any other consort. As Israel should long \iremain\iwithout serving other gods, yet separate from Jehovah; so Jehovah on His part, in this long period of estrangement, would form no marriage covenant with any other people (compare Ho 3:4\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p11.1"). He would not \iimmediately\ireceive her to marriage privileges, but would test her repentance and discipline her by the long probation; still the marriage covenant would hold good, she was to be kept separated for but a time, not divorced ( Isa 50:1\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p11.2"); in God's good time she shall be restored.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iv-p11.3"4.The long period here foretold was to be one in which Israel should have no civil polity, king, or prince, no sacrifice to Jehovah, and yet no idol, or false god, no ephod, or teraphim. Exactly describing their state for the last nineteen centuries, separate from idols, yet without any legal sacrifice to Jehovah, whom they profess to worship, and without being acknowledged by Him as His Church. SoKimchi, a Jew, explains it. The ephod was worn by the high priest above the tunic and robe. It consisted of two finely wrought pieces which hung down, the one in front over the breast, the other on the back, to the middle of the thigh; joined on the shoulders by golden clasps set in onyx stones with the names of the twelve tribes, and fastened round the waist by a girdle ( Ex 28:6-12\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p12.2"). The \icommon\iephod worn by the lower priests, Levites, and any person performing sacred rites, was of linen ( 2Sa 6:14; 1Ch 15:27\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p12.3"). In the breast were the Urim and Thummim by which God gave responses to the Hebrews. The latter was one of the five things which the second temple lacked, and which the first had. It, as representing the divinely constituted priesthood, is opposed to the idolatrous "teraphim," as "sacrifice" (to Jehovah) is to "an (idolatrous) image." "Abide" answers to "thou shalt \iabide\ifor me" ( Ho 3:3\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p12.4"). \iAbide\iin solitary isolation, as a separated wife. The teraphim were tutelary household gods, in the shape of human busts, cut off at the waist (as the root of the \iHebrew\iword implies) [Maurer], ( Ge 31:19, 30-35\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p12.6"). They were supposed to give responses to consulters ( 2Ki 23:24; Eze 21:21\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p12.7", \iMargin;\i Zec 10:2\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p12.8"). Saul's daughter, Michal, putting one in a bed, as if it were David, proves the shape to have been that of a man.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.iv-p12.9"5. Afterward--after the long period ("many days," Ho 3:4\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p13.1") has elapsed.
      
return--from their idols to "their God," from whom they had wandered.
      
David their king--Israel had forsaken the worship of Jehovah at the same time that they forsook their allegiance to David's line. Their repentance towards God is therefore to be accompanied by their return to the latter. So Judah and Israel shall be one, and under "one head," as is also foretold ( Ho 1:11\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p15.1"). That representative and antitype of David is Messiah. "David" means "the beloved." Compare as to Messiah, Mt 3:17; Eph 1:6\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p15.2". Messiah is called David ( Isa 55:3, 4; Jer 30:9; Eze 34:23, 24; 37:24, 25\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p15.3").
      
fear the Lord and his goodness--that is, tremblingly flee to the Lord, to escape from the wrath to come; and to His goodness," as manifested in Messiah, which attracts them to Him ( Jer 31:12\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p16.1"). The "fear" is not that which "hath torment" ( 1Jo 4:18\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p16.2"), but \ireverence\iinspired by His goodness realized in the soul ( Ps 130:4\Q="x.xxviii.iv-p16.3").
      
the latter days--those of Messiah [Kimchi].
      

\C3="Chapter 4" \Q="x.xxviii.v-p0.1"CHAPTER 4
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p1.1" Ho 4:1-19\Q="x.xxviii.v-p2.1".Henceforth the Prophet Speaks Plainly and without Symbol, in Terse, Sententious Propositions.
      
In this chapter he reproves the people and priests for their sins in the interregnum which followed Jeroboam's death; hence there is no mention of the king or his family; and in Ho 4:2\Q="x.xxviii.v-p3.1"bloodshed and other evils usual in a civil war are specified.
      
1. Israel--the ten tribes.
      
controversy--judicial ground of complaint ( Isa 1:18; Jer 25:31; Mic 6:2\Q="x.xxviii.v-p5.1").
      
no ... knowledge of God--exhibited in practice ( Jer 22:16\Q="x.xxviii.v-p6.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p6.2"2. they break out--bursting through every restraint.
      
blood toucheth blood--literally, "bloods." One act of bloodshed follows another without any interval between (see 2Ki 15:8-16, 25; Mic 7:2\Q="x.xxviii.v-p8.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p8.2"3. land ... languish--( Isa 19:8; 24:4; Joe 1:10, 12\Q="x.xxviii.v-p9.1").
      
sea--including all bodies of water, as pools and even rivers (see on). A general drought, the greatest calamity in the East, is threatened.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p10.3"4. let no man ... reprove--Great as is the sin of Israel, it is hopeless to reprove them; for their presumptuous guilt is as great as that of one who refuses to obey the priest when giving judgment in the name of Jehovah, and who therefore is to be put to death ( De 17:12\Q="x.xxviii.v-p11.1"). They rush on to their own destruction as wilfully as such a one.
      
thy people--the ten tribes of Israel; distinct from Judah ( Ho 4:1\Q="x.xxviii.v-p12.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p12.2"5. fall in the day--in broad \idaylight,\ia time when an attack would not be expected (see on;).
      
in ... night--No time, night or day, shall be free from the slaughter of individuals of the people, as well as of the false prophets.
      
thy mother--the Israelitish state, of which the citizens are the children ( Ho 2:2\Q="x.xxviii.v-p15.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p15.2"6. lack of knowledge--"of God" ( Ho 4:1\Q="x.xxviii.v-p16.1"), that is, lack of piety. Their ignorance was wilful, as the epithet, " \iMy\ipeople," implies; they \iought\ito have known, having the opportunity, as the people of God.
      
thou--O priest, so-called. Not regularly constituted, but still bearing the name, while confounding the worship of Jehovah and of the calves in Beth-el ( 1Ki 12:29, 31\Q="x.xxviii.v-p17.1").
      
I will ... forget thy children--Not only those who then were alive should be deprived of the priesthood, but their children who, in the ordinary course would have succeeded them, should be set aside.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p18.1"7. As they were increased--in numbers and power. Compare Ho 4:6\Q="x.xxviii.v-p19.1", "thy children," to which their "increase" in \inumbers\irefers.
      
so they sinned--(Compare Ho 10:1 and Ho 13:6\Q="x.xxviii.v-p20.1").
      
will I change their glory into shame--that is, I will strip them of all they now \iglory\iin (their numbers and power), and give them \ishame\iinstead. A just retribution: as they changed their glory into shame, by idolatry ( Ps 106:20; Jer 2:11; Ro 1:23; Php 3:19\Q="x.xxviii.v-p21.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p21.2"8. eat ... sin of my people--that is, the sin offerings ( Le 6:26; 10:17\Q="x.xxviii.v-p22.1"). The priests greedily devoured them.
      
set their heart on their iniquity--literally, "lift up the animal soul to lust after," or strongly desire. Compare De 24:15\Q="x.xxviii.v-p23.1", \iMargin;\i Ps 24:4; Jer 22:27\Q="x.xxviii.v-p23.2". The priests set \itheir own\ihearts on the iniquity \iof the people,\iinstead of trying to suppress it. For the more the people sinned, the more sacrificial victims in atonement for sin the priests gained.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p23.3"9. like people, like priest--They are one in guilt; therefore they shall be one in punishment ( Isa 24:2\Q="x.xxviii.v-p24.1").
      
reward them their doings--in homely phrase, "pay them back in their own coin" ( Pr 1:31\Q="x.xxviii.v-p25.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p25.2"10. eat, and not have enough--just retribution on those who "eat up (greedily) the sin of My people" ( Ho 4:8; Mic 6:14; Hag 1:6\Q="x.xxviii.v-p26.1").
      
whoredom, and ... not increase--literally, "break forth"; used of \igiving birth to children\i( Ge 28:14\Q="x.xxviii.v-p27.1", \iMargin;\icompare Ge 38:29\Q="x.xxviii.v-p27.2"). Not only their wives, but their concubines, shall be barren. To be childless was considered a great calamity among the Jews.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p27.3"11.A moral truth applicable to all times. The special reference here is to the licentious orgies connected with the Syrian worship, which lured Israel away from the pure worship of God ( Isa 28:1, 7; Am 4:1\Q="x.xxviii.v-p28.1").
      
take away the heart--that is, the understanding; make men blind to their own true good ( Ec 7:7\Q="x.xxviii.v-p29.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p29.2"12.Instances of their understanding ("heart") being "taken away."
      
stocks--wooden idols ( Jer 2:27; Hab 2:19\Q="x.xxviii.v-p31.1").
      
staff--alluding to divination by rods (see on). The diviner, saysRosenmuller, threw a rod from him, which was stripped of its bark on one side, not on the other: if the bare side turned uppermost, it was a good omen; if the side with the bark, it was a bad omen. The Arabs used two rods, the one marked \iGod bids,\ithe other, \iGod forbids;\iwhichever came out first, in drawing them out of a case, gave the omen for, or against, an undertaking.
      
declareth--that is, is consulted to inform them of future events.
      
spirit of whoredoms--a general \idisposition\ion the part of all \itowards idolatry\i( Ho 5:4\Q="x.xxviii.v-p34.1").
      
err--go astray from the true God.
      
from under their God--They have gone away from God \iunder\iwhom they were, as a wife is under the dominion of her husband.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p36.1"13. upon ... mountains--High places were selected by idolaters on which to sacrifice, because of their greater nearness to the heavenly hosts which they worshipped ( De 12:2\Q="x.xxviii.v-p37.1").
      
elms--rather, "terebinths" [Maurer].
      
shadow ... good--screening the lascivious worshippers from the heat of the sun.
      
daughters ... commit whoredom ... spouses ... adultery--in the polluted worship of Astarte, the Ph&#339;nician goddess of love.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p40.1"14. I will not punish ... daughters--I will visit with the heaviest punishments "not" the unchaste "daughters and spouses," but the fathers and husbands; for it is these who "themselves" have set the bad example, so that as compared with the punishment of the latter, that of the former shall seem as nothing [Munster].
      
separated with whores--withdrawn from the assembly of worshippers to some receptacle of impurity for carnal connection with \iwhores.\i
      
sacrifice with harlots--They commit lewdness with \iwomen who devote their persons\ito be violated in honor of Astarte. (So the \iHebrew\ifor "harlots" means, as distinguished from "whores"). Compare Nu 25:1-3\Q="x.xxviii.v-p43.1"; and the prohibition, De 23:18\Q="x.xxviii.v-p43.2".
      
not understand--( Isa 44:18; 45:20\Q="x.xxviii.v-p44.1").
      
shall fall--shall be cast down.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p45.1"15.Though \iIsrael's\iten tribes indulge in spiritual harlotry, at least thou, \iJudah,\iwho hast the legal priesthood, and the temple rites, and Jerusalem, do not follow her bad example.
      
Gilgal--situated between Jordan and Jericho on the confines of Samaria; once a holy place to Jehovah ( Jos 5:10-15; 1Sa 10:8; 15:21\Q="x.xxviii.v-p47.1"); afterwards desecrated by idol-worship ( Ho 9:15; 12:11; Am 4:4; 5:5\Q="x.xxviii.v-p47.2"; compare Jud 3:19\Q="x.xxviii.v-p47.3", \iMargin\i).
      
Beth-aven--that is, "house of vanity" or idols: a name substituted in contempt for \iBeth-el,\i"the house of God"; once sacred to Jehovah ( Ge 28:17, 19; 35:7\Q="x.xxviii.v-p48.1"), but made by Jeroboam the seat of the worship of the calves ( 1Ki 12:28-33; 13:1; Jer 48:13; Am 3:14; 7:13\Q="x.xxviii.v-p48.2"). "Go \iup\i" refers to the fact that Beth-el was on a hill ( Jos 16:1\Q="x.xxviii.v-p48.3").
      
nor swear, The Lord liveth--This formula of oath was appointed by God Himself ( De 6:13; 10:20; Jer 4:2\Q="x.xxviii.v-p49.1"). It is therefore here forbidden not absolutely, but in conjunction with idolatry and falsehood ( Isa 48:1; Eze 20:39; Zep 1:5\Q="x.xxviii.v-p49.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p49.3"16. backsliding--Translate, "Israel is refractory, as a refractory heifer," namely, one that throws the yoke off her neck. Israel had represented God under the form of "calves" ( 1Ki 12:28\Q="x.xxviii.v-p50.1"); but it is she herself who is one.
      
lamb in a large place--not in a good sense, as in Isa 30:23\Q="x.xxviii.v-p51.1". Here there is irony: lambs like a large pasture; but it is not so safe for them as a small one, duly fenced from wild beasts. God will "feed" them, but it shall be with the "rod" ( Mic 7:14\Q="x.xxviii.v-p51.2"). It shall be no longer in the narrow territory of Israel, but "in a large place," namely, they shall be scattered in exile over the wide realm of Assyria, a prey to their foes; as lambs, which are timid, gregarious, and not solitary, are a prey when scattered asunder to wild beasts.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p51.3"17. Ephraim--the ten tribes. Judah was at this time not so given to idolatry as afterwards.
      
joined to--closely and voluntarily; identifying themselves with them as a whoremonger becomes one flesh with the harlot ( Nu 25:3; 1Co 6:16, 17\Q="x.xxviii.v-p53.1").
      
idols--The \iHebrew\imeans also "sorrows," "pains," implying the pain which idolatry brings on its votaries.
      
let him alone--Leave him to himself. Let him reap the fruits of his own perverse choice; his case is desperate; say nothing to him (compare Jer 7:16\Q="x.xxviii.v-p55.1"). Here Ho 4:15\Q="x.xxviii.v-p55.2"shows the address is to \iJudah,\ito avoid the contagion of Israel's bad example. He is bent on his own ruin; leave him to his fate, lest, instead of saving him, thou fall thyself ( Isa 48:20; Jer 50:8; 51:6, 45; 2Co 6:17\Q="x.xxviii.v-p55.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p55.4"18. Their drink is sour--metaphor for \iutter degeneracy\iof principle ( Isa 1:22\Q="x.xxviii.v-p56.1"). Or, \iunbridled licentiousness;\inot mere ordinary sin, but as abandoned as drunkards who vomit and smell sour with wine potations [Calvin].Maurernot so well translates, "When their drinking \iis over,\ithey commit whoredoms," namely, in honor of Astarte ( Ho 4:13, 14\Q="x.xxviii.v-p56.4").
      
her rulers--Israel's; literally, "shields" (compare Ps 47:9\Q="x.xxviii.v-p57.1").
      
with shame ... love, Give ye--( Pr 30:15\Q="x.xxviii.v-p58.1"). No remedy could be effectual against their corruptions since the very rulers sold justice for gifts [Calvin].Maurertranslates, "The rulers are marvelously enamored of shame." \iEnglish Version\iis better.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.v-p58.4"19.Israel shall be swept away from her land ( Ho 4:16\Q="x.xxviii.v-p59.1") suddenly and violently as if by "the wings of the wind" ( Ps 18:10; 104:3; Jer 4:11, 12\Q="x.xxviii.v-p59.2").
      
ashamed ... of their sacrifices--disappointed to their shame in their hope of help through their sacrifices to idols.
      

\C3="Chapter 5" \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p0.1"CHAPTER 5
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p1.1" Ho 5:1-5\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p2.1".God's Judgments on the Priests, People, and Princes of Israel for Their Sins.
      
Judah, too, being guilty shall be punished; nor shall Assyria, whose aid they both sought, save them; judgments shall at last lead them to repentance.
      
1. the king--probably Pekah; the contemporary of Ahaz, king of Judah, under whom idolatry was first carried so far in Judah as to call for the judgment of the joint Syrian and Israelite invasion, as also that of Assyria.
      
judgment is towards you--that is, threatens you from God.
      
ye have been a snare on Mizpah ... net ... upon Tabor--As hunters spread their net and snares on the hills, Mizpah and Tabor, so ye have snared the people into idolatry and made them your prey by injustice. As \iMizpah\iand \iTabor\imean a "watch tower," and a "lofty place," a fit scene for hunters, playing on the words, the prophet implies, in the lofty place in which I have set you, whereas ye ought to have been the \iwatchers\iof the people, guarding them from evil, ye have been as \ihunters entrapping\ithem into it [Jerome]. These two places are specified, Mizpah in the east and Tabor in the west, to include the \ihigh places\ithroughout the \iwhole\ikingdom, in which Israel's rulers set up idolatrous altars.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p6.2"2. revolters--apostates.
      
profound-- \ideeply\irooted [Calvin] and sunk to the lowest depths, \iexcessive\iin their idolatry ( Ho 9:9; Isa 31:6\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p8.2") [Henderson]. From the antithesis ( Ho 5:3\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p8.4"), "not hid from me," I prefer explaining, \iprofoundly cunning\iin their idolatry. Jeroboam thought it a \iprofound\ipiece of policy to set up golden calves to represent God in Dan and Beth-el, in order to prevent Israel's heart from turning again to David's line by going up to Jerusalem to worship. So Israel's subsequent idolatry was grounded by their leaders on various pleas of state expediency (compare Isa 29:15\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p8.5").
      
to ... slaughter--He does not say "to \isacrifice,\i" for their so-called sacrifices were \ibutcheries\irather than sacrifices; there was nothing sacred about them, being to idols instead of to the holy God.
      
though--Maurertranslates, " \iand\i(in spite of their hope of safety through their slaughter of victims to idols) \iI will be\ia chastisement to them all." \iEnglish Version\iis good sense: They have deeply revolted, \inotwithstanding\iall my prophetical warnings.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p10.2"3. Ephraim--the tribe so called, as distinguished from "Israel" here, the other nine tribes. It was always foremost of the tribes of the northern kingdom. For four hundred years in early history, it, with Manasseh and Benjamin, its two dependent tribes, held the pre-eminence in the whole nation. Ephraim is here addressed as foremost in idolatry.
      
I how ... not hid from me--notwithstanding their supposed \iprofound\icunning ( Ho 5:2; Re 2:2, 9, 13, 19\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p12.1").
      
now--"though I have been a rebuker of all them" ( Ho 5:2\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p13.1") who \icommit\isuch spiritual \iwhoredoms,\ithou art \inow\icontinuing in them.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p13.2"4. They--Turning from a direct address to Ephraim, he uses the third person \iplural\ito characterize the people in general. The \iHebrew\iis against the \iMargin,\itheir doings will not suffer \ithem\i" the omission of "them" in the \iHebrew\iafter the verb being unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will not \ipermit\i(as the \iHebrew\iliterally means) their doings to be framed so as to turn unto God. Implying that they \iresist\ithe Spirit of God, not \isuffering\iHim to renew them; and give themselves up to "the spirit of whoredoms" (in antithesis to "the Spirit of God" implied in "suffer" or "permit") ( Ho 4:12; Isa 63:10; Eze 16:43; Ac 7:51\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p14.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p14.2"5. the pride of Israel--wherewith they reject the warnings of God's prophets ( Ho 5:2\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p15.1"), and prefer their idols to God ( Ho 7:10; Jer 13:17\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p15.2").
      
testify to his face--openly \ito his face\ihe shall be convicted of the pride which is so palpable in him. Or, " \iin\ihis face," as in Isa 3:9\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p16.1".
      
Judah ... shall fall with them--This prophecy is later than Ho 4:15\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p17.1", when Judah had not gone so far in idolatry; now her imitation of Israel's bad example provokes the threat of her being doomed to share in Israel's punishment.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p17.2"6. with ... flocks--to propitiate Jehovah ( Isa 1:11-15\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p18.1").
      
seek ... not find--because it is slavish fear that leads them to seek Him; and because it then shall be too late ( Pr 1:28; Joh 7:34\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p19.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p19.2"7. treacherously--as to the marriage covenant ( Jer 3:20\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p20.1").
      
strange children--alluding to "children of whoredoms" ( Ho 1:2; 2:4\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p21.1"). "Strange" or \iforeign\iimplies that their idolatry was imported from abroad [Henderson]. Or rather, "regarded by God as strangers, not His," as being reared in idolatry. The case is desperate, when not only the existing, but also the rising, generation is reared in apostasy.
      
a month-- \ia very brief space of time\ishall elapse, and then punishment shall overtake them ( Zec 11:8\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p22.1"). The allusion seems to be to money loans, which were \iby the month,\inot as with us by the year. You cannot put it off; the time of your destruction is immediately and suddenly coming on you; just as the debtor must meet the creditor's demand at the expiration of the month. The prediction is of the invasion of Tiglath-pileser, who carried away Reuben, Gad, Naphtali, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
      
portions--that is, possessions. Their resources and garrisons will not avail to save them.Hendersonexplains from Isa 57:6\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p23.2", "portions" as \itheir idols;\ithe context favors this, "the Lord" the true " \iportion\iof His people" ( De 32:9\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p23.3"), being in antithesis to "their portions," the idols.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p23.4"8.The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction to \iblow an alarm.\i
      
cornet ... trumpet--The "cornet" was made of the curved horn of animals and was used by shepherds. The "trumpet" was of brass or silver, straight, and used in wars and on solemn occasions. The \iHebrew\iis \ihatzotzerah,\ithe sound imitating the trumpet note ( Ho 8:1; Nu 10:2; Jer 4:5; Joe 2:1\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p25.1").
      
Gibeah ... Ramah--both in Benjamin ( Isa 10:29\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p26.1").
      
Beth-aven--in Benjamin; not as in Ho 4:15\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p27.1"; \iBeth-el,\ibut a town east of it ( Jos 7:2\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p27.2"). "Cry aloud," namely, to raise the alarm. "Benjamin" is put for the whole southern kingdom of Judah (compare Ho 5:5\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p27.3"), being the first part of it which would meet the foe advancing from the north. "After thee, O Benjamin," implies the position of Beth-aven, \ibehind\iBenjamin, at the borders of Ephraim. When the foe is at Beth-aven, he is at Benjamin's rear, close upon thee, O Benjamin ( Jud 5:14\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p27.4").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p27.5"9, 10.Israel is referred to in Ho 5:9\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p28.1", Judah in Ho 5:10\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p28.2".
      
the day of rebuke--the day when I shall chastise him.
      
among the tribes of Israel have I made known--proving that the scene of Hosea's labor was among the ten tribes.
      
that which shall surely be--namely, the coming judgment here foretold. It is no longer a conditional decree, leaving a hope of pardon on repentance; it is absolute, for Ephraim is hopelessly impenitent.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p31.1"10. remove the bound--( De 19:14; 27:17; Job 24:2; Pr 22:28; 23:10\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p32.1"). Proverbial for the rash setting aside of the ancestral laws by which men are kept to their duty. Ahaz and his courtiers ("the princes of Judah"), setting aside the ancient ordinances of God, removed the borders of the bases and the layer and the sea and introduced an idolatrous altar from Damascus ( 2Ki 16:10-18\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p32.2"); also he burnt his children in the valley of Hinnom, after the abominations of the heathen ( 2Ch 28:3\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p32.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p32.4"11. broken in judgment--namely, the "judgment" of God on him ( Ho 5:1\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p33.1").
      
walked after the commandment--Jeroboam's, to worship the calves ( 2Ki 10:28-33\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p34.1"). Compare Mic 6:16\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p34.2", "the \istatutes\iof Omri," namely, idolatrous statutes. We ought to obey God rather than men ( Ac 5:29\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p34.3").Jeromereads "filthiness." The \iSeptuagint\igives the sense, not the literal translation: "after \ivanities.\i"
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p34.5"12. as a moth--consuming a garment ( Job 13:28; Ps 39:11; Isa 50:9\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p35.1").
      
Judah ... rottenness--Ephraim, or the ten tribes, are as a \igarment\ieaten by the moth; Judah as the \ibody\iitself consumed by rottenness ( Pr 12:4\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p36.1"). Perhaps alluding to the superiority of the latter in having the house of David, and the temple, the religious center of the nation [Grotius]. As in Ho 5:13, 14\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p36.3", the violence of the calamity is prefigured by the "wound" which "a lion" inflicts, so here its long protracted duration, and the certainty and completeness of the destruction from small unforeseen beginnings, by the images of a slowly but surely consuming \imoth\iand \irottenness.\i
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p36.4"13. wound--literally, "bandage"; hence a \ibandaged wound\i( Isa 1:6; Jer 30:12\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p37.1"). "Saw," that is, felt its weakened state politically, and the dangers that threatened it. It aggravates their perversity, that, though aware of their unsound and calamitous state, they did not inquire into the cause or seek a right remedy.
      
went ... to the Assyrian--First, Menahem ( 2Ki 15:19\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p38.1") applied to Pul; again, Hoshea to Shalmaneser ( 2Ki 17:3\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p38.2").
      
sent to King Jareb--Understand \iJudah\ias the nominative to "sent." Thus, as "Ephraim saw his sickness" (the first clause) answers in the parallelism to "Ephraim went to the Assyrian" (the third clause), so "Judah saw his wound" (the second clause) answers to ( \iJudah\i) "sent to King Jareb" (the fourth clause). \iJareb\iought rather to be translated, "their \idefender,\i" literally, "avenger" [Jerome]. The Assyrian "king," ever ready, for his own aggrandizement, to mix himself up with the affairs of neighboring states, professed to \iundertake\iIsrael's and Judah's \icause;\iin Jud 6:32\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p39.2", \iJerub,\iin Jerub-baal is so used, namely, " \iplead\ione's cause." Judah, under Ahaz, applied to Tiglath-pileser for aid against Syria and Israel ( 2Ki 16:7, 8; 2Ch 28:16-21\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p39.3"); the Assyrian "distressed him, but strengthened him not," fulfiling the prophecy here, "he could not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p39.4"14. lion--The \iblack lion\iand the \iyoung lion\iare emblems of strength and ferocity ( Ps 91:13\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p40.1").
      
I, even I--emphatic; when I, even I, the irresistible God, tear in pieces ( Ps 50:22\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p41.1"), no Assyrian power can rescue.
      
go away--as a lion stalks leisurely back with his prey to his lair.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vi-p42.1"15. return to my place--that is, withdraw My favor.
      
till they acknowledge their offence--The \iHebrew\iis, "till they suffer the penalty of their guilt." Probably " \iaccepting\ithe punishment of their guilt" (compare Zec 11:5\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p44.1") is included in the idea, as \iEnglish Version\itranslates. Compare Le 26:40, 41; Jer 29:12, 13; Eze 6:9; 20:43; 36:31\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p44.2".
      
seek my face--that is, seek My favor ( Pr 29:26\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p45.1", \iMargin\i).
      
in ... affliction ... seek me early--that is, diligently; rising up before dawn to seek Me ( Ps 119:147\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p46.1"; compare Ps 78:34\Q="x.xxviii.vi-p46.2").
      

\C3="Chapter 6" \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p0.1"CHAPTER 6
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p1.1" Ho 6:1-11\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p2.1".The Israelites' Exhortation to One Another to Seek the Lord.
      
At Ho 6:4\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p3.1"a new discourse, \icomplaining of them,\ibegins; for Ho 6:1-3\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p3.2"evidently belong to Ho 5:15\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p3.3", and form the \ihappy\itermination of Israel's \ipunishment:\iprimarily, the return from Babylon; ultimately, the return from their present long dispersion. Ho 6:8\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p3.4"perhaps refers to the murder of Pekahiah; the discourse cannot be later than Pekah's reign, for it was under it that \iGilead\iwas carried into captivity ( 2Ki 15:29\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p3.5").
      
1. let us return--in order that God who has "returned to His place" may return to us ( Ho 5:15\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p4.1").
      
torn, and ... heal--( De 32:39; Jer 30:17\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p5.1"). They ascribe their punishment not to fortune, or man, but to God, and acknowledge that none (not the Assyrian, as they once vainly thought, Ho 5:13\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p5.2") but God can heal their wound. They are at the same time persuaded of the mercy of God, which persuasion is the starting-point of true repentance, and without which men would not seek, but hate and flee from God. Though our wound be severe, it is not past hope of recovery; there is room for grace, and a hope of pardon. He hath smitten us, but not so badly that He cannot heal us ( Ps 130:4\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p5.3").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p5.4"2.Primarily, in type, Israel's national revival, \iin a short period\i(" \itwo or three\i" being used to denote a \ifew\idays, Isa 17:6; Lu 13:32, 33\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p6.1"); antitypically the language is so framed as to refer in its \ifull accuracy\ionly to Messiah, the ideal Israel ( Isa 49:3\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p6.2"; compare Mt 2:15, with Ho 11:1\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p6.3"), raised on the third day ( Joh 2:19; 1Co 15:4\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p6.4"; compare Isa 53:10\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p6.5"). "He shall \iprolong\iHis \idays.\i" Compare the similar use of Israel's political resurrection as the type of the general resurrection of which "Christ is the first-fruits" ( Isa 26:19; Eze 37:1-14; Da 12:2\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p6.6").
      
live in his sight--enjoy His favour and the light of His countenance shining on us, as of old; in contrast to Ho 5:6, 15\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p7.1", "Withdrawn Himself from them."
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p7.2"3. know, if we follow on to know the Lord--The result of His recovered favor ( Ho 6:2\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p8.1") will be onward growth in saving knowledge of God, as the result of perseverance in following after Him ( Ps 63:8; Isa 54:13\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p8.2"). "Then" implies the consequence of the revival in Ho 6:2\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p8.3". The "if" is not so much \iconditional,\ias expressive of the \imeans\iwhich God's grace will sanctify to the full enlightenment of Israel in the knowledge of Him. As want of "knowledge of God" has been the source of all evils ( Ho 4:1; 5:4\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p8.4"), so the knowledge of Him will bring with it all blessings; yea, it is "life" ( Joh 17:3\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p8.5"). This knowledge is practice, not mere theory ( Jer 22:15, 16\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p8.6"). Theology is life, not science; realities, not words. This onward progress is illustrated by the light of "morning" increasing more and more "unto the perfect day" ( Pr 4:18\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p8.7").
      
prepared--"is sure," literally, "fixed," ordered in His everlasting purposes of love to His covenant-people. Compare "prepared of God" ( Ge 41:32\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p9.1", \iMargin;\i Re 12:6\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p9.2"). Jehovah shall surely come to the relief of His people after their dark night of calamity.
      
as the morning--( 2Sa 23:4\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p10.1").
      
as the rain ... latter ... former--( Job 29:23; Joe 2:23\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p11.1"). First, "the rain" generally is mentioned; then the two rains ( De 11:14\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p11.2") which caused the fertility of Palestine, and the absence of which was accounted the greatest calamity: "the latter rain" which falls in the latter half of February, and during March and April, just before the harvest whence it takes its name, from a root meaning " \ito gather\i"; and "the former rain," literally, "the darting rain," from the middle of October to the middle of December. As the rain fertilizes the otherwise barren land, so God's favor will restore Israel long nationally lifeless.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p11.3"4. what shall I do unto thee--to bring thee back to piety. What more could be done that I have not done, both in mercies and chastenings ( Isa 5:4\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p12.1")? At this verse a new discourse begins, resuming the threats ( Ho 5:14\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p12.2"). Seeon this chapter.
      
goodness--godliness.
      
morning cloud--soon dispersed by the sun ( Ho 13:3\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p14.1"). There is a tacit contrast here to the promise of God's grace to Israel hereafter, in Ho 6:3\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p14.2". \iHis\igoing forth is "as the morning," shining more and more unto the perfect day; \iyour\igoodness is "as a morning cloud," soon vanishing. His coming to His people is "as the (fertilizing) latter and former rains"; your coming to Him "as the early dew goeth away."
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p14.3"5. I hewed them by the prophets--that is, I \iannounced\iby the prophets that they should be hewn asunder, like trees of the forest. God identifies His act with that of His prophets; the word being His instrument for executing His will ( Jer 1:10; Eze 43:3\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p15.1").
      
by ... words of my mouth--( Isa 11:4; Jer 23:29; Heb 4:12\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p16.1").
      
thy judgments--the judgments which I will inflict on thee, Ephraim and Judah ( Ho 6:4\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p17.1"). So " \ithy\ijudgments," that is, those inflicted \ion thee\i( Zep 3:15\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p17.2").
      
are as the light,&c.--like the light, palpable to the eyes of all, as coming from God, the punisher of sin.Hendersontranslates, "lightning" (compare \iMargin,\i Job 37:3, 15\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p18.2").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p18.3"6. mercy--put for \ipiety\iin general, of which \imercy\ior \icharity\iis a branch.
      
not sacrifice--that is, " \irather than\isacrifice." So "not" is merely comparative ( Ex 16:8; Joe 2:13; Joh 6:27; 1Ti 2:14\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p20.1"). As God Himself instituted sacrifices, it cannot mean that He desired them not absolutely, but that even in the Old Testament, He valued \imoral obedience\ias the only end for which \ipositive\iordinances, such as sacrifices, were instituted--as of more importance than a mere external ritual obedience ( 1Sa 15:22; Ps 50:8, 9; 51:16; Isa 1:11, 12; Mic 6:6-8; Mt 9:13; 12:7\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p20.2").
      
knowledge of God--experimental and practical, not merely theoretical ( Ho 6:3; Jer 22:16; 1Jo 2:3, 4\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p21.1"). "Mercy" refers to the \isecond\itable of the law, our duty to our fellow man; "the knowledge of God" to the \ifirst\itable, our duty to God, including inward spiritual worship. The second table is put first, not as superior in dignity, for it is secondary, but in the order of our understanding.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p21.2"7. like men--the common sort of men ( Ps 82:7\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p22.1"). Not as \iMargin,\i"like Adam," Job 31:33\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p22.2". For the \iexpression\i"covenant" is not found elsewhere applied to Adam's relation to God; though the \ithing\iseems implied ( Ro 5:12-19\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p22.3"). Israel "transgressed the covenant" of God as lightly as men break everyday compacts with their fellow men.
      
there--in the northern kingdom, Israel.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p23.1"8. Gilead ... city--probably Ramoth-gilead, metropolis of the hilly region beyond Jordan, south of the Jabbok, known as "Gilead" ( 1Ki 4:13\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p24.1"; compare Ge 31:21-25\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p24.2").
      
work iniquity--( Ho 12:11\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p25.1").
      
polluted with blood--"marked with blood-traces" [Maurer]. Referring to Gilead's complicity in the regicidal conspiracy of Pekah against Pekahiah ( 2Ki 15:25\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p26.2"). See on. Many homicides were there, for there were beyond Jordan more cities of refuge, in proportion to the extent of territory, than on this side of Jordan ( Nu 35:14; De 4:41-43; Jos 20:8\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p26.5"). Ramoth-gilead was one.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p26.6"9. company--"association" or guild of priests.
      
murder by consent--literally, "with one shoulder" (compare Zep 3:9\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p28.1", \iMargin\i). The image is from oxen putting their \ishoulders together\ito pull the same yoke [Rivetus].Maurertranslates, "in the way \itowards Shechem.\i" It was a city of refuge between Ebal and Gerizim; on Mount Ephraim ( Jos 20:7; 21:21\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p28.4"), long the civil capital of Ephraim, as Shiloh was the religious capital; now called Naploos; for a time the residence of Jeroboam ( 1Ki 12:25\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p28.5"). The priests there became so corrupted that they waylaid and murdered persons fleeing to the asylum for refuge [Henderson]; the sanctity of the place enhanced the guilt of the priests who abused their priestly privileges, and the right of asylum to perpetrate murders themselves, or to screen those committed by others [Maurer].
      
commit lewdness-- \ideliberate\icrime, presumptuous wickedness, from an \iArabic\iroot, "to form a deliberate purpose."
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p29.1"10. horrible thing--( Jer 5:30; 18:13; 23:14\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p30.1").
      
whoredom--idolatry.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.vii-p31.1"11. an harvest--namely, of judgments (as in Jer 51:33; Joe 3:13; Re 14:15\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p32.1"). Called a "harvest" because it is the fruit of the seed which Judah herself had sown ( Ho 8:7; 10:12; Job 4:8; Pr 22:8\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p32.2"). Judah, under Ahaz, lost a hundred twenty thousand "slain in one day (by Israel under Pekah), because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers."
      
when I returned the captivity of my people--when I, by Oded My prophet, caused two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters, of Judah to be restored from captivity by Israel ( 2Ch 28:6-15\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p33.1"). This prophecy was delivered under Pekah [Ludovicus De Dieu].Maurerexplains, When Israel shall have been exiled for its sins, and has been subsequently restored by Me, thou, Judah, also shalt be exiled for thine. But as Judah's punishment was not at the time \iwhen\iGod restored Israel,Ludovicus De Dieu'sexplanation must be taken.Grotiustranslates, "When I \ishall have returned to make captive\i(that is, when I shall have again made captive) My people." The first captivity of Israel under Tiglath-pileser was followed by a \isecond\iunder Shalmaneser. Then came the siege of Jerusalem, and the capture of the fenced cities of Judah, by Sennacherib, the forerunner of other attacks, ending in Judah's captivity. But the \iHebrew\iis elsewhere used of \irestoration,\inot \irenewed punishment\i( De 30:3; Ps 14:7\Q="x.xxviii.vii-p33.6").
      

\C3="Chapter 7" \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p0.1"CHAPTER 7
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p1.1" Ho 7:1-16\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p2.1".Reproof of Israel.
      
Probably delivered in the interreign and civil war at Pekah's death; for Ho 7:7\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p3.1", "all their kings ... fallen," refers to the murder of Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah. In Ho 7:8\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p3.2"the reference seems to be to Menahem's payment of tribute to Pul, in order to secure himself in the usurped throne, also to Pekah's league with Rezin of Syria, and to Hoshea's connection with Assyria during the interregnum at Pekah's death [Maurer].
      
1. I would have healed Israel--Israel's restoration of the two hundred thousand Jewish captives at God's command ( 2Ch 28:8-15\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p4.1") gave hope of Israel's reformation [Henderson]. Political, as well as moral, healing is meant. When I would have healed Israel in its calamitous state, then their iniquity was discovered to be so great as to preclude hope of recovery. Then he enumerates their wickedness: "The thief cometh in (indoors stealthily), and the troop of robbers spoileth without" (out-of-doors with open violence).
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p4.3"2. consider not in their hearts--literally, "say not to," &c. ( Ps 14:1\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p5.1").
      
that I remember--and will punish.
      
their own doings have beset them about--as so many witnesses against them ( Ps 9:16; Pr 5:22\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p7.1").
      
before my face--( Ps 90:8\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p8.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p8.2"3.Their princes, instead of checking, "have pleasure in them that do" such crimes ( Ro 1:32\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p9.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p9.2"4. who ceaseth from raising--rather, "heating" it, from an \iArabic\iroot, "to be hot." So the \iSeptuagint.\iTheir adulterous and idolatrous lust is inflamed as the oven of a baker who has it at such a heat that he ceaseth from heating it only from the time that he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened; he only needs to omit feeding it during the short period of the fermentation of the bread. Compare 2Pe 2:14\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p10.1", "that cannot cease from sin" [Henderson].
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p10.3"5. the day of our king--his birthday or day of inauguration.
      
have made \ihim\isick--namely, the king.Maurertranslates, "make themselves sick."
      
with bottles of wine--drinking not merely glasses, but \ibottles.\iMaurertranslates, "Owing to the heat of wine."
      
he stretched out his hand with scorners--the gesture of revellers in holding out the cup and in drinking to one another's health. Scoffers were the king's boon companions.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p14.1"6. they have made ready--rather, "they make their heart approach," namely their king, in going to drink with him.
      
like an oven--following out the image in Ho 7:4\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p16.1". As it conceals the lighted fire all night while the baker sleeps but in the morning burns as a flaming fire, so they brood mischief in their hearts while conscience is lulled asleep, and their wicked designs wait only for a fair occasion to break forth [Horsley]. Their heart is the oven, their baker the ringleader of the plot. In Ho 7:7\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p16.3"their plots appear, namely, the intestine disturbances and murders of one king after another, after Jeroboam II.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p16.4"7. all hot--All burn with eagerness to cause universal disturbance ( 2Ki 15:1-38\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p17.1").
      
devoured their judges--magistrates; as the fire of the oven devours the fuel.
      
all their kings ... fallen--See on.
      
none ... calleth unto me--Such is their perversity that amid all these national calamities, none seeks help from Me ( Isa 9:13; 64:7\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p20.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p20.2"8. mixed ... among the people--by leagues with idolaters, and the adoption of their idolatrous practices ( Ho 7:9, 11; Ps 106:35\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p21.1").
      
Ephraim ... cake not turned--a cake burnt on one side and unbaked on the other, and so uneatable; an image of the \iworthlessness\iof Ephraim. The Easterners bake their bread on the ground, covering it with embers ( 1Ki 19:6\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p22.1"), and \iturning\iit every ten minutes, to bake it thoroughly without burning it.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p22.2"9. Strangers--foreigners: the Syrians and Assyrians ( 2Ki 13:7; 15:19, 20; 17:3-6\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p23.1").
      
gray hairs--that is, symptoms of approaching national dissolution.
      
are here and there upon--literally, "are sprinkled on" him.
      
yet he knoweth not--Though old age ought to bring with it wisdom, he neither knows of his senile decay, nor has the true knowledge which leads to reformation.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p26.1"10.Repetition of Ho 5:5\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p27.1".
      
not return to ... Lord ... for all this--notwithstanding all their calamities ( Isa 9:13\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p28.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p28.2"11. like a silly dove--a bird proverbial for simplicity: easily deceived.
      
without heart--that is, understanding.
      
call to Egypt--Israel lying between the two great rival empires Egypt and Assyria, sought each by turns to help her against the other. As this prophecy was written in the reign of Hoshea, the allusion is probably to the alliance with So or Sabacho II (of which a record has been found on the clay cylindrical seals in Koyunjik), which ended in the overthrow of Hoshea and the deportation of Israel ( 2Ki 17:3-6\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p31.1"). As the dove betrays its foolishness by fleeing in alarm from its nest only to fall into the net of the fowler, so Israel, though warned that foreign alliances would be their ruin, rushed into them.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p31.2"12. When they shall go--to seek aid from this or that foreign state.
      
spread my net upon them--as on birds taken on the ground ( Eze 12:13\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p33.1"), as contrasted with " \ibringing them down\i" as the "fowls \iof the heavens,\i" namely, by the use of missiles.
      
as their congregation hath heard--namely, by My prophets through whom I threatened "chastisement" ( Ho 5:9; 2Ki 17:13-18\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p34.1").
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p34.2"13. fled--as birds from their nest ( Pr 27:8; Isa 16:2\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p35.1").
      
me--who both could and would have healed them ( Ho 7:1\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p36.1"), had they applied to Me.
      
redeemed them--from Egypt and their other enemies ( Mic 6:4\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p37.1").
      
lies--( Ps 78:36; Jer 3:10\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p38.1"). Pretending to be My worshippers, when they all the while worshipped idols ( Ho 7:14; Ho 12:1\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p38.2"); also defrauding Me of the glory of their deliverance, and ascribing it and their other blessings to idols [Calvin].
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p38.4"14. not cried unto me--but unto other gods [Maurer], ( Job 35:9, 10\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p39.2"). Or, they did indeed cry unto Me, but not "with their heart": answering to "lies," Ho 7:13\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p39.3"(see on).
      
when they howled upon their beds--sleepless with anxiety; image of \ideep affliction.\iTheir cry is termed "howling," as it is the cry of anguish, not the cry of repentance and faith.
      
assemble ... for corn,&c.--namely in the temples of their idols, to obtain from them a good harvest and vintage, instead of coming to Me, the true Giver of these ( Ho 2:5, 8, 12\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p41.1"), proving that their cry to God was "not with their heart."
      
rebel against me--literally, "withdraw themselves \iagainst\iMe," that is, not only withdraw \ifrom\iMe, but also rebel \iagainst\iMe.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p42.1"15. I ... bound--when I saw their arms as it were relaxed with various disasters, I bound them so as to strengthen their sinews; image from surgery [Calvin].Maurertranslates, "I \iinstructed\ithem" to war ( Ps 18:34; 144:1\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p43.3"), namely, under Jeroboam II ( 2Ki 14:25\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p43.4").Grotiusexplains, "Whether I chastised them ( \iMargin\i) or strengthened their arms, they imagined mischief against Me." \iEnglish Version\iis best.
      
 \Q="x.xxviii.viii-p43.6"16. return, but not to the Most High--or, "to one who is \inot the Most High,\i" one very different from Him, a stock or a stone. So the \iSeptuagint.\i
      
deceitful bow--( Ps 78:57\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p45.1"). A bow which, from its faulty construction, shoots wide of the mark. So Israel pretends to seek God, but turns aside to idols.
      
for the rage of their tongue--their boast of safety from Egyptian aid, and their "lies" ( Ho 7:13\Q="x.xxviii.viii-p46.1"), whereby they pretended to serve G