Nebuchadnezzar as no one else was able to answer when they were consulted. She therefore desired that he would send for him, and inquire of him concerning the writing, and to condemn the unskilfulness of those that could not find their meaning, and this, although what God signified thereby should be of a melancholy nature.

dren, and his whole kindred, for the sake of his country, that it might not be taken by siege, and utterly destroyed, as we said before. When EvilMerodach was dead, after a reign of eighteen years, Neglissar his son took the government, and retained it forty years, and then ended his life; and after him the succession in the kingdom came to his son Labosordacus, who continued in it in all but nine 3. When Baltasar heard this, he called for Da. months; and when he was dead, it came to Balta- niel : and when he had discoursed to him what he sar, who by the Babylonians was called Naboan- had learned concerning him and his wisdom, and delus: against him did Cyrus, the king of Persia, how a divine spirit was with him, and that he alone and Darius, the king of Media, make war; and was fully capable of finding out what others would when he was besieged in Babylon, there happened never have thought of, he desired him to declare to a wonderful and prodigious vision. He was sat him what this writing meant that if he did so, he down at supper in a large room, and there were a would give him leave to wear purple, and to put a great many vessels of silver, such as were made for chain of gold about his neck, and would bestow on royal entertainments, and he had with him his con- him the third part of his dominion, as an honorary cubines and his friends; whereupon he came to a reward for his wisdom, that thereby he might beresolution, and commanded that those vessels of come illustrious to those who saw him, and who inGod which Nebuchadnezzar had plundered out of quired upon what occasion he obtained such hoJerusalem, and had not made use of, but had put nours. But Daniel desired that he would keep his them into his own temple, should be brought out gifts to himself; for what is the effect of wisdom of that temple. He also grew so haughty as to and of divine revelation admits of no gifts, and beproceed to use them in the midst of his cups, stows its advantages on petitioners freely; but that drinking out of them, and blaspheming against God. still he would explain the writing to him; which In the meantime, he saw a hand proceed out of denoted that he should soon die, and this because the wall, and writing upon the wall certain sylla- he had not learnt to honour God, and not to admit bles; at which sight, being disturbed, he called the things above human nature, by what punishments magicians and Chaldeans together, and all that sort his progenitor had undergone for the injuries he of men that are among these barbarians, and were had offered to God; and because he had quite forable to interpret signs and dreams, that they might gotten how Nebuchadnezzar was removed to feed explain the writing to him. But when the magi- among wild beasts for his impieties, and did not recians said they could discover nothing, nor did un- cover his former life among men and his kingdom, derstand it, the king was in great disorder of mind, but upon God's mercy to him, after many supplicaand under great trouble, at this surprising accident; tions and prayers; who did thereupon praise God so he caused it to be proclaimed through all the all the days of his life, as one of almighty power, country, and promised, that to him who could ex- and who takes care of mankind. [He also put him plain the writing, and give the signification couched in mind] how he had greatly blasphemed against therein, he would give him a golden chain for his God, and made use of his vessels amongst his concuneck, and leave to wear a purple garment, as did bines that therefore God saw this, and was angry the kings of Chaldea, and would bestow on him the with him, and declared by his writing beforehand third part of his own dominions. When this pro- what a sad conclusion of his life he should come to. clamation was made, the magicians ran together And he explained the writing thus:-" MANEH. This, more earnestly, and were very ambitious to find out if it be expounded in the Greek language, may sigthe importance of the writing; but still hesitated nify a Number, because God hath numbered so long about it as much as before. Now when the king's a time for thy life, and for thy government, and grandmother saw him cast down at this accident,+ that there remains but a small portion.-THEKEL. she began to encourage him, and to say, that there This signifies a Weight, and means that God hath was a certain captive who came from Judea, a Jew weighed thy kingdom in a balance, and finds it by birth, but brought away thence by Nebuchad-going down already.-PHARES, This also, in the nezzar when he had destroyed Jerusalem, whose name was Daniel, a wise man, and one of great sagacity in finding out what was impossible for others to discover, and what was known to God alone; who brought to light and answered such questions to

It is here remarkable that Josephus, without the knowledge of Ptolemy's canon, should call the same king, whom he himself here (Bar. 1. 11, and Dan, v. 1, 2, 9, 12, 22, 29, 30) styles Baltasar, or Belshazzar, from the Babylonian god Bel, Neboandelus also; and in the first book againt Apion (sect 19, vol. iii.), from the same citation out of Berosus, Nabonnedon, from the Babylonian god Nabo, or Nebo. This last is not remote from the original pronunciation itself in Ptolemy's canon, Nabonadius; for both the place of this king in that canon, as the last of the Assyrian or Babylonian kings, and the number of years of his reign, eventeen, the same in both demonstrate that it is one and the same king that is meant by them all. It is also worth noting, that Josephus knew that Darius, the partner of Cyrus, was the son of Astyages, and was called by another name among the Greeks, though it does not appear he knew what that name was, as having never seen

the best history of this period, which is Xenophon's: but then what Josephus's present copies say presently (sect. 4), that it was only within Lo long time after the hand-writing on the wall that Baltasar was slain, does not so well agree with our copies of Daniel, which say it was the same night, Dan. v. 30.

This grandmother, or mother of Baltasar, the queen-dowager of Babylon, for she is distinguished from his queen (Dan. v. 10, 23), seems to have been the famous Nitocris, who fortified Babylon against the Medes and Persians, and in all probability governed under Baltasar, who seems to be a weak and effeminate prince.

Greek tongue, denotes a fragment; God will therefore break thy kingdom in pieces, and divide it among the Medes and Persians."

4. When Daniel had told the king that the writing upon the wall signified these events, Baltasar was in great sorrow and affliction, as was to be expected, when the interpretation was so heavy upon him. However, he did not refuse what he had promised Daniel, although he were become a foreteller of misfortunes to him, but bestowed it all upon him: as reasoning thus, that what he was to reward was peculiar to himself, and to fate, and did not belong to the prophet, but that it was the part of a good and a just man to give what he had promised, although the events were of a melancholy nature. Accordingly, the king determined so to do. Now, after a little while, both himself and the city were taken by Cyrus, the king of Persia, who fought against him; for it was Baltasar, under whom Babylon was taken, when he had reigned seventeen years. And this is the end of the posterity of king

Nebuchadnezzar, as history informs us; but when Babylon was taken by Darius, and when he, with his kinsman Cyrus, had put an end to the dominion of the Babylonians, he was sixty-two years old. He was the son of Astyages, and had another name among the Greeks. Moreover, he took Daniel the prophet, and carried him with him into Media, and honoured him very greatly, and kept him with him; for he was one of the three presidents whom he set over his three hundred and sixty provinces; for into so many did Darius part them.

5. However, while Daniel was in so great dignity, and in so great favour with Darius, and was alone intrusted with every thing by him, as having somewhat divine in him, he was envied by the rest: for those that see others in greater honour than themselves with kings, envy them: and when those that were grieved at the great favour Daniel was in with Darius, sought for an occasion against him, he afforded them no occasion at all, for he was above all the temptations of money, and despised bribery, and esteemed it a very base thing to take any thing by way of reward, even when it might be justly given him, he afforded those that envied him not the least handle for an accusation. So when they could find nothing for which they might calumniate him to the king, nothing that was shameful or reproachful, and thereby deprive him of the honour he was in with him, they sought for some other method whereby they might destroy him. When therefore they saw that Daniel prayed to God three times a day, they thought they had gotten an occasion by which they might ruin him; so they came to Darius, and told him, that "the princes and governors had thought proper to allow the multitude a relaxation for thirty days, that no one might offer a petition or prayer either to himself, or to the gods, but that he who shall transgress this decree shall be cast into a den of lions, and there perish."

and without sleep, being in great distress for Daniel; but when it was day, he got up, and came to the den, and found the seal entire, which he had left the stone sealed withal; he also opened the seal, and cried out, and called to Daniel, and asked him if he were alive; and as soon as he heard the king's voice, and said that he had suffered no harm, the king gave order that he should be drawn up out of the den. Now when his enemies saw that Daniel had suffered nothing which was terrible, they would not own that he was preserved by God, and by his providence ; but they said, that the lions had been filled full with food, and on that account it was, as they supposed, that the lions would not touch Daniel, nor come to him; and this they alleged to the king; but the king, out of an abhorrence of their wickedness, gave order that they should throw in a great deal of flesh to the lions; and when they had filled themselves, he gave farther order that Daniel's enemies should be cast into the den, that he might learn whether the lions, now they were full, would touch them or not; and it appeared plain to Darius, after the princes had been cast to the wild beasts, that it was God who preserved Daniel,* for the lions spared none of them, but tore them all to pieces, as if they had been very hungry, and wanted food. I suppose, therefore, it was not their hunger, which had been a little before satisfied with abundance of flesh, but the wickedness of these men that provoked them [to destroy the princes] for if it so please God, that wickedness might, by even those irrational creatures, be esteemed a plain foundation for their punishment.

7. When, therefore, those that had intended thus to destroy Daniel by treachery were themselves destroyed, king Darius sent [letters] over all the country, and praised that God whom Daniel worshipped, and said that he was the only true God, and had all power. He had also Daniel in very great esteem, and made him the principal of his friends. Now when Daniel was become so illustrious and famous, on account of the opinion men had that he was beloved of God, he built a tower at Ecbatana, in Media: it was a most elegant building, and wonderfully made, and it is still remaining, and preserved to this day; and to such as see it, it appears to have been lately built, and to have been no older than that very day when any one looks upon it, it is so fresh,+ flourishing, and beautiful, and no way grown old in so long a time; for buildings suffer the same as men do, they grow old as well as they, and by numbers of years their strength is dissolved, and their beauty withered. Now they bury the kings of Media, of Persia, and Parthia, in this tower, to this day; and he who was intrusted with the care of it, was a Jewish priest; which thing is also observed to this day. But it is fit to give an account of what this man did, which is most admirable to hear; for he was so happy as to have strange re

6. Whereupon the king, not being acquainted with their wicked design, nor suspecting that it was a contrivance of theirs against Daniel, said he was pleased with this decree of theirs, and he promised to confirm what they desired; he also published an edict to promulgate to the people that decree which the princes had made. Accordingly, all the rest took care not to transgress those injunctions, and rested in quiet; but Daniel had no regard to them, but, as he was wont, he stood and prayed to God in the sight of them all: but the princes having met with the occasion they so earnestly sought to find against Daniel, came presently to the king, and accused him, that Daniel was the only person that transgressed the decree, whilst not one of the rest durst pray to their gods. This discovery they made, not because of his impiety, but because they had watched him, and observed him out of envy; for supposing that Darius did thus out of a greater kindness to him than they expected, and that he was ready to grant him a pardon for this contempt of his injunctions, and envying this very pardon to Daniel, they did not become more favourable to him, but desired he might be cast into the den of lions, according to the law. So Darius, hoping that God would deliver him, and that he would undergo nothing that was terrible by the wild beasts, bade him bear this accident cheerfully; and when he was cast into the den, he put his seal to the stone that lay upon the mouth of the den, and went his way, but he passed all the night without food breaks it to pieces.

It is no way improbable that Daniel's enemies might suggest this reason to the king, why the lions did not meddle with him, and that they might suspect the king's kindness to Daniel had procured hese lions to be so filled beforehand, and that thence it was that he encouraged Daniel to submit to this experiment, in hopes of coming off safe; and that this was the true reason of making so terrible an experiment

upon those his enemies, and all their families (Dan. vi. 24), though our other copies do not directly take notice of it.

4 What Josephus here says, that the stones of the sepulchres of the kings of Persia at this tower, or those perhaps of the same sort that are now commonly called the Ruins of Persepolis, continued so entire and unaltered in his days, as if they were lately put there, "I (says Reland) here can show to be true, as to those stones of the Persian kiugs' mau. soleum, which Corn. Brunius brake off and gave me." He ascribed

this to the hardness of the stones, which scarcely yields to iron tools. and prove frequently too hard for cutting by the chisel, but oftentimes

the last king, and that he should exceed all the kings in riches and glory; that the he-goat signified that one should come and reign from the Greeks, who should twice fight with the Persian, and over3। come him in battle, and should receive his entire dominion; that by the great horn which sprang out of the forehead of the he-goat was meant the first king; and that the springing up of four horns upon its falling off, and the conversion of every one of them to the four quarters of the earth, signified the successors that should arise after the death of the first king, and the partition of the kingdom among them, and that they should be neither his children nor of his kindred that should reign over the habitable earth for many years; and that from among them there should arise a certain king that should overcome our nation and their laws, and should take away our political government, and should spoil the temple, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for three years' time." And indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to Daniel's vision, and what he wrote many years before they came to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them. All these things did this man leave in writing, as God had showed them to him, insomuch, that such as read his prophecies, and see how they have been fulfilled, would wonder at the honour wherewith God honoured Daniel; and may thence discover how the Epicureans are in an error, who cast providence out of human life, and do not believe that God takes care of the affairs of the world, nor that the universe is governed and continued in being by that blessed and immortal nature, but say that the world is carried along of its own accord, without a ruler and a curator; which, were it destitute of a guide to conduct, as they imagine, it would be like ships without pilots, which we see drowned by the winds, or like chariots without drivers, which are overturned; so would the world be dashed to pieces by its being carried without a Providence, and so perish and come to nought. So that, by the forementioned predictions of Daniel, those men seem to me very much to err from the truth, who determine that God exercises no providence over human affairs; for if that were the case, that the world went on by mechanical necessity, we should not see that all things would come to pass according to his prophecy. Now, as to myself, I have so described these matters as I have found them and read them; but if any one is inclined to another opinion about them, let him enjoy his different sentiments without any blame from me.

velations made to him, and those as to one of the greatest of the prophets, insomuch, that while he was alive he had the esteem and applause both of the kings and of the multitude: and now he is, dead, he retains a remembrance that will never fail, for the several books that he wrote and left behind him are still read by us till this time; and from them we believe that Daniel conversed with God; for he did not only prophecy of future events, as did the other prophets, but he also determined the time of their accomplishment; and while the prophets used to foretel misfortunes, and on that account were disagreeable both to the kings and to the multitude, Daniel was to them a prophet of good things, and this to such a degree, that, by the agreeable nature of his predictions, he procured the good-will of all men; and by the accomplishment of them, he procured the belief of their truth, and the opinion of [a sort of] divinity for himself, among the multitude. He also wrote and left behind him what made manifest the accuracy and undeniable veracity of his predictions; for he saith, that when he was in Susa, the metropolis of Persia, and went out into the field with his companions, there was, on the sudden, a motion and concussion of the earth, and that he was left alone by himself, his friends flying away from him, and that he was disturbed, and fell on his face, and on his two hands, and that a certain person touched him, and at the same time, bade him rise, and see what would befal his countrymen after many generations. He also related, that when he stood up, he was shown a great ram, with many horns growing out of his head, and that the last was higher than the rest that after this he looked to the west, and saw a he-goat carried through the air from that quarter; that he rushed upon the ram with violence, and smote him twice with his horns, and overthrew him to the ground, and trampled upon him that afterwards he saw a very great horn growing out of the head of the he-goat; and that when it was broken off, four horns grew up that were exposed to each of the four winds, and he wrote that out of them arose another lesser horn, which, as he said, waxed great; and that God showed to him, that it should fight against his nation, and take their city by force, and bring the temple-worship to confusion, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for one thousand two hundred and ninety-six days. Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in the plain of Susa; and he hath informed us that God interpreted the appearance of this vision after the following manner :-He said that the ram signified the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians, and the horns those kings that were to reign in them; and that the last horn signified

BOOK XI.

CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE YEARS FIVE MONTHS.

FROM THE FIRST OF CYRUS TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

nately omitted in all our copies, but this best and completest copy of gold and five hundred of silver; forty Thericlean