because it was not probable that one who, under such a want of all things, had failed of nothing that was necessary for him, should be found so wicked and ungrateful towards his benefactor, that when it would be an instance of wickedness in him not to save him, had he been treacherously assaulted by others, to endeavour to kill him with his own hand. That, however, if he ought to suppose this information to be true, it was better for himself to be slain by the other, than to destroy a man who fled to him for refuge, and intrusted his own safety to him, and committed himself to his disposal.

So Johanan and the rulers that were with him, not being able to persuade Gedaliah, went away. But after an interval of thirty days, Ishmael came again to Gedaliah, to the city Mispah, and ten men with him; and, when he had feasted Ishmael, and those that were with him in a splendid manner at his table, and had given them presents, he became disordered in drink, while he endeavoured to be merry with them. And when Ishmael saw him in that case, and that he was drowned in his cups to a degree of insensibility, and fallen asleep, he rose up on a sudden, with his ten friends, and slew Gedalial, and those that were with him at the feast. And when he had slain them, he went out by night, and slew all the Jews that were in the city, and those soldiers also that were left therein by the Babylonians. But the next day eighty men came out of the country with presents to Gedaliah, none of them knowing what had befallen him. When Ishmael saw them he invited them in to Gedaliah; and, when they were come in, he shut up the court, and slew them, and cast their dead bodies into a certain deep pit, that they might not be seen. But of these eighty men Ishmael spared those that intreated him not to kill them, till they had delivered up to him what riches they had concealed in the fields; consisting of their furniture, garments, and corn. But he took captive the people that were in Mispah, with their wives and children; among whom were the daughters of king Zedekiah, whom Nebuzaradan the general of the army of Babylon had left with Gedaliah. And when he had done this, he came to the king of the Ammonites.

But when Johanan, and the rulers with him heard of what was done at Mispah, by Ishmael, and of the death of Gedaliah, they had indignation at it, and every one of them took his own armed men, and came suddenly to fight with Ishmael; and overtook him at the fountain of Hebron. And when those that were carried away captives by Ishmael saw Johanan and the rulers, they were very glad, and looked upon them as coming to their assistance. So they left him that had carried them captives, and came over to Johanan. Then Ishmael, with eight men, fled to the king of the Ammonites. But Johanan took those whom he had rescued out of the hands of Ishmael, and the eunuchs, and their wives, and children, and came to a certain place called Mandra, and there they abode that day; for they had determined to remove from thence, and to go into Egypt; for fear lest the Babylonians should slay them, in case they continued in the country, and that out of danger at the slaughter of Gedaliah, who had been set over it for governor.

While they were under this deliberation, Johanan the son of Kareah, and the rulers that were with him, came to Jeremiah the prophet, and desired that he would pray to God, that because they were at an utter loss about what they ought to do, he would discover it to them; and they sware that they would do whatever Jeremiah should say to them. And the prophet said he would be their intercessor with God: it came to pass, that after ten days, God appeared to him, and said, he should inform Johanan, and the other rulers, and all the people, that he would be with them while they continued in that country, and take care of them, and keep them from being hurt by the Babylonians, of whom they were afraid; but that he would desert them if they went into Egypt; and out of his wrath against them, would inflict the same punishments upon them which they knew their brethren had already endured. So when the prophet had informed Johanan, and the people, that God foretold these things, he was not believed, when he said that God commanded them to continue in that country; but they imagined that he said so to gratify Baruch, his own disciple, and belied God; that he persuaded them to stay there, that they might be destroyed by the

Chaldeans and they exercised themselves in that wisdom which he had ordered they should apply themselves to. Now among these were four of the family of Zedekiah, of most excellent dispositions; the one of whom was called Daniel; another was called Ananias; another Misael, and the fourth Azarias. *And the king of Babylon changed their names, and commanded that they should make use of other names. Daniel he called Baltasar; Ananias, Shadrach; Misael, Meshach; and Azarias, Abednego.† These the king had in esteem, and continued to love; on account of their excellent temper, their application to learning, and the progress they had made in wisdom.

Now Daniel and his kinsmen had resolved to use a severe diet, and to abstain from those kinds of food which came from the king's table; and entirely to forbear to eat of all living creatures. So he came to Ashpenaz, who was that eunuch to whom the care of them was committed,‡ and desired him to take and spend what was brought for them from the king, but to give them pulse and dates for their food, and any thing else, besides the flesh of living creatures, that he pleased; for that their inclinations were to that sort of food, and that they disliked the other. He replied, that he was ready to serve them in what they desired; but he suspected that they would be discovered by the king, from their meagre bodies, and the alteration of their countenances; because it

* It was a usual thing for conquerors to change the names of the persons they vanquished in war, in testimony of their absolute power over them. Thus we find the king of Babylon changing the name of Mattaniah into Zedekiah, when he constituted him king of Judah, 2 Kings xxiv. 17. But our learned Usher has farther remarked that the king of Egypt gave Eliakim the name of Jehoiakim, thereby to testify, that he ascribed his victory over the Babylonians to Jehovah, the God of Israel, by whose excitation, as he pretended, 2 Chron. xxxv. 21, 22. he undertook the expedition. Patrick's and Calmet's Commentary. B.

It is very remarkable, that, as all their former names related to the true God, so all the names which on this Occasion were imposed upon these four Jewish youths had some reference or other to Babylonish idols. Daniel in Hebrew, signifies God is my judge; Belteshazzar, in Chaldee, is the treasure of Baal; Hananiah, in Hebrew, is well pleasing to God; Shadrach, in Chaldee, the inspiration of the sun; Mishael, in Hebrew, proceeding from God; Meshach, in Chaldee, belonging to the goddess Sheshach; Azariah, in Hebrew, God is my help;

could not be avoided but their bodies and complexions must be changed with their diet; especially while they would be clearly discovered by the finer appearance of the other children, who would fare better; and thus they should bring him into danger, and occasion him to be punished. However, they persuaded Arioch to give them what they desired for ten days, by way of trial; and, in case their habits of bodies were not altered, to go on in the same way; as expecting that they should not be hurt thereby afterwards; but that if he saw them look worse than the rest, he should reduce them to their former diet. Now it appeared that they were so far from becoming worse, by the use of this food, that they grew plumper, and fuller in body than the rest; insomuch that he thought those who fed upon what came from the king's table seemed less plump and full; while those that were with Daniel looked as if they had lived in plenty, and in all sorts of luxury.|| Arioch, therefore, from that time, securely took himself what the king sent every day from his supper, according to custom, to the children; but gave them the aforementioned diet; while they had their souls in some measure more pure, and less burdened, and so fitter for learning; and had their bodies better adapted for labour. For they neither had the former oppressed and heavy with variety of meats; nor were the other effeminate on the same account. So they readily understood all the learning that was among

and Abednego, in Chaldee, the servant of Nego, i. e. the sun or the morning-star, both deities among the Babylonians, and so called because of their brightness. Calmet's Commentary on Dan. i. 7. B.

What we render master of the eunuchs, may very likely signify the chief minister of Nebuchadnezzar's court. Such officers, in the palaces of eastern princes, were usually called eunuchs; because they who had the control of the king's household, as we say, were ordinarily such, though many times it might be otherwise The Jews have a notion, that Daniel and his three companions were, by the order of Nebuchadnezzar, made eunuchs, that the prophecy of Isaiah might be fulfilled:Thy sons, that shall issue from thee, shall they take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon, chap. xxxix. 7. But that is no conclusive reason; because, in that prophecy, as well as in the passage we are now upon, the name of eunuch might mean no more than any person who had an employment at court. Calmet's Commentary. B.

Daniel i 15.

Two years after the destruction of Egypt, king Nebuchadnezzar saw a wonderful dream; the accomplishment of which God shewed him in his sleep.* But when he arose out of his bed he forgot the accomplishment. So he sent for the Chaldeans, magicians, and prophets, and told them he had seen a dream; and informed them that he had forgotten the accomplishment of what he had seen; and he enjoined them to tell him, both what the dream was, and what was its signification. They replied, that this was a thing impossible to be discovered by men; but they promised that if he would explain to them what dream he had seen, they would tell him its signification. Hereupon he threatened to put them to death unless they told him his dream, and he gave command accordingly, since they confessed they could not do what they were commanded. Now when Daniel heard that the king had given a command, that all the wise men should be put to death; and that among them himself and his three kinsmen were in danger; he went to Arioch, who was captain of the king's guards, and desired to know the reason why the king had given command that all the wise men, Chaldeans, and magicians, should be slain? So when he had learned that the king had had a dream, and had forgotten it; and that when they were enjoined to inform the king of it, they had said they could not do it, and had thereby provoked him to anger; he desired

* Some are of opinion, that Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the interpretation thereof, were both revealed to Daniel, while he was asleep; but others rather think, that it was in a vision, while he was awake, because the prayer and thanksgiving which he made to God seem to insinuate, that he was awake; though we cannot see, why he might not receive the revelation in his sleep, and return God thanks for it as soon as he awoke. Calmet's Commentary. B.

†The prophet Daniel makes mention of these sort of people, and ranks them under these four different kinds. The Chartumim, the Asaphim, the Mecasphim, and the Chasdim, chap. ii. 2. Chartumim, according to the Septuagint, signifies sophists; but according to St. Jerom, diviners, fortune-tellers, casters of nativity, &c. Asaphim has no derivation from the Chaldee tongue, but no small resemblance to the Greek word sophos, (whether the Greeks took this word from the Babylonians, or the

of Arioch, that he would go in to the king, and desire respite for the magicians for one night; and to put off their slaughter so long; for that he hoped in that time, to obtain by prayer to God the knowledge of the dream. Accordingly Arioch informed the king of what Daniel desired. So the king bade them delay the slaughter of the magicians, till he knew what Daniel's promise would come to. The young man then retired to his own. house, with his kinsmen, and besought God that whole night to discover the dream, and thereby deliver the magicians and Chaldeans, with whom they were themselves to perish, from the king's anger, by enabling him to declare his vision, and to make manifest what the king had seen the night before in his sleep, but had forgotten it. Accordingly God, out of pity to those that were in danger, and out of regard to the wisdom of Daniel, made known to him the dream and its interpretation, so that the king might understand by him its signification also. When Daniel had obtained this knowledge from God, he arose joyfully, and told it his brethren; and made them to hope that they should now preserve their lives, of which they despaired before, and had their minds full of nothing but the thoughts of dying. So when he had with them returned thanks to God, who had commiserated their youth; he came to Arioch, and desired him to bring him to the king, because he would discover to him that dream which he had seen the night before.

When Daniel was come in to the king, he excused himself first, that he did not pretend to be wiser than the other Chaldeans and magicians,† when, upon their entire inability Babylonians from them;) and therefore the Septuagint has rendered it by philosophers. Mecasphim is thought by some to be necromancers, such as pretend to raise the dead, to gain intelligence of things future; but the Septuagint has rendered it by a word that denotes such enchanters as made use of noxious herbs and drugs, the blood of victims, and the bones of the dead, for their superstitious operations. The other word Chasdim is the same with Chaldeans, and here signifies a sort of philosophers among the Babylonians, who dwelt in a separate part of the city, and were exempt from all employments. Their study was natural philosophy, astrology, divination, or the foretelling of future events by the observation of the stars, the interpretation of dreams, the science of auguries, the worship of their gods, &c. as Diodorus Siculus, lib. 1. gives us an account of them. Calmet's Dictionary, under the word Magicians B.

to discover his dream, he was undertaking to inform him of it. For this was not by his own skill, or on account of his having better cultivated his undertaking than the rest: "But," said he, "God hath had pity upon us, when we were in danger of death; and when I prayed for the life of myself, and of those of my own nation, he hath manifested to me both the dream and the interpretation thereof. For I was not less concerned for thy glory, than for the sorrow that we were by thee condemned to die; while thou didst so unjustly command men both good and excellent in themselves to be put to death, when thou enjoined them to do what was entirely above the reach of wisdom; and required of them what was only the work of God. Wherefore as thou in thy sleep was solicitous concerning those that should succeed thee in the government of the whole world, God was desirous to shew thee all those that should reign after thee; and to that end exhibited to thee the following dream:-Thou seemedst to see a great image standing before thee; the head of which was of gold, the shoulders and arms of silver, the belly and the thighs of brass; but the legs and the feet of iron.* Thou then sawest a stone broken off from a mountain, which fell upon the image, and threw it down and brake it to pieces, and did not permit any part of it to remain whole; but

By these different emblems of metals and stone, God intended to signify to Nebuchadnezzar the several empires that were to be in the world. The Assyrian or Chaldean is represented by gold, because it was the first and the most magnificent, if not the most extensive, and Nebuchadnezzar, being then upon the throne, is said to be head of it. That of silver is the Persian, founded by Cyrus, upon the ruins of the Chaldean, but inferior to the Chaldean in its duration at least, if not in its extent. That of brass is the Grecian, founded by Alexander, upon the ruins of the Persian, and its character is, that it should bear rule over all the earth, Daniel ii. 39, which was verified in its great founder; for, upon his return from India to Babylon, the ambassadors of almost all the known parts of the world resorted thither, to pay their homage and acknowledgment of his dominion. That of iron is the Roman empire, which is extinguished by its breaking in pieces, and subduing all things, verse 40. For whilst it was in its full strength and vigour, under its consuls and first emperors, it brought under its dominion all the kingdoms and states that were then subsisting in Europe, Africa, and a great part of Asia; but, from that time, it became a mixture of iron and clay. Its emperors proved most of them vicious and corrupt, either by their tyranny making themselves hateful to their subjects, or, by their follies and vices, contemptible. Lastly, that of the stone out of

the gold, the silver, the iron, and the brass, became smaller than meal; which, upon the blast of a violent wind, was forcibly carried away, and scattered abroad; but the stone increased to such a degree, that the whole earth beneath it seemed to be filled therewith. This is the dream which thou sawest, and its interpretation is as follows:-The head of gold denotes thee, and the kings of Babylon that have been before thee. But the two hands and arms signify that thy government shall be dissolved by two kings. But another king that shall come from the west, armed with brass, shall destroy that government. And another government that shall be like unto iron, shall put an end to the power of the former, and shall have dominion over all the earth; on account of the nature of iron, which is stronger than that of gold, of silver, and brass." Daniel also declared the meaning of the stone to the king; but I do not think it proper to relate it; since I have only undertaken to describe things past, or things present; but not the things that are future. Yet if any one be so desirous of knowing truth, as not to wave such points of curiosity, and cannot curb his inclination for understanding the uncertainties of futurity, and whether they will happen or not, let him diligently read the book of Daniel, which he will find among the sacred writings.

the mountain, is the fifth monarchy, or the kingdom of the Messiah's; which against all the power and policy of the Roman empire, prevailed, not by an external force, but by the powerful preaching of the gospel, to the suppression and defeat of wickedness and impiety, idolatry, and superstition, and it shall stand for ever, and never be destroyed, Daniel ii. 44. which can be said of no other kingdom but that of Jesus Christ, which, for these seventeen hundred years and upwards, has withstood the violence of persecutions, and all other contrivances formed against it, and has the sure promises of its Almighty Founder on its side, that the gates of hell should not prevail against it, Matt. xvi. 18. Calmet's Commentary. B.

†This is a most remarkable passage in Josephus, concerning the stone cut out of the mountain, and destroying the image, which he intimated to be a prophecy of futurity; and probably not safe for him to exclaim, as belonging to the destruction of the Roman empire, by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah of the Jews. Take here also the words of Havercamp. "The place referred to by Josephus," says he, is "chap. 10. Nor is this to be wondered at, that he would not meddle with things future. For he had no mind to provoke the Romans, by speaking of the destruction of the city, which they called the eternal city." Note v. on X. 11.