Page images
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Until two thousand and three hundred days;† then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the Vision, and sought for the meaning; then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man—And he said unto me, Understand, O son of man, for the Vision shall reach even unto the time of the end‡-And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter end of the indignation: for it (the Vision) shall reach even to the appointed time of the end. The ram, which thou sawest, having two horns, are the kings of (the united empire of) Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the King of Grecia. And the great horn, that is between his eyes, is the first king. Now, that being broken, whereas four stood up in its stead, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. And, at the end of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and teaching|| dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the people of the holy ones. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and he shall destroy many in negligent security. He shall

See Bp. Newton's Dissert. xv.

†The Seventy read 2400 days, and certain copies mentioned by Jerome 2200 days. These varying numbers will be discussed hereafter.

So the LXXx and the Arabic version translate this passage, and I believe very rightly, as the context indeed sufficiently shews. It had just before been declared, that the length of the vision should be 2300 days: it is now declared, that the vision should be to the time of the end or to the termination of those days: and it is immediately after declared, that it should be to the appointed time of the end. All these seem to be only different modes of specifying the same thing, namely what the angel considered to be the length of the vision.

The meaning of the expression (if we may judge from the symbolical part of the prophecy,) is, not during the latter period of their kingdom, but after the complete termination of their kingdom: that is to say, the king of fierce countenance was to stand up, Bot while they were yet reigning, but some time or other after they bad ceased to reign.

| The word, here used in the original, is in the Hiphil or causal form: whence it will not signify understanding, as it is rendered in our English translation, but causing to understand, or teaching.

¶ I conceive the phrase to mean," he shall destroy many while in a state of neg ligent security, and little suspecting that any attack would be made upon them from

VOL. 1.

6

[ocr errors]

also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. And the Vision of the evening and the morning, which was told, is true: wherefore shut thou up the Vision; for it shall be for many days."

4. The fourth is contained in the latter end of the eleventh Chapter, and extends to the conclusion of the Book. "And after him (Antiochus Epiphanes†) arms shall stand up, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant he shall cause to dissemble with flatteries: but the people, that do know their God, shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many : yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil, many days. Now, when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall§ in purifying them, and in purging them, and in making them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet unto the time appointed. And (after this second persecution of the men of understanding) a king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god,

that quarter." (See Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. Vox. 7.) The Seventy and the Arabic translate the passage "he shall destroy many by fraud," which conveys an idea nearly similar. There is a passage in the book of Judges, which is an excellent comment on these words of the prophet. "Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure. And they came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire." (Judg. xviii. 7, 27.) The same idea occurs in the book of Proverbs: "Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.” (Prov. iii. 29. See also Ezek. xxxviii. 11.) Tacitus uses a similar mode of expression. "In latere Chaucorum Cattorumque, Cherusci nimiam ac marcentem diu pacem illacessiti nutrierunt: idque jucundius quam tutius fuit; quia inter impotentes ac validos falso quiescas." Tac. de mor. Germ. C. 36.

Dan. viii. 3.

† See Sir Isaac Newton's Observ. on Dan. c. 12. p. 188, 189.

The Arabic version and the LXX read this verb plurally; and I firmly believe that such is the proper reading, for the Roman arms are here spoken of. Hence, as it is said, they (the arms) shall pollute, they shall take away, they shall place; so it seems to have been likewise originally said, they shall cause to dissemble.

That is perish. The word used here is the same as that which occurs immediately above, when the men of understanding are said to fall by the sword and by flame.

and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished for that, that is determined, shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor (him who is) the desire of women, nor regard any god for he shall magnify himself above them all. Yet, when he is established (in power,) he shall honour tutelary gods together with a godt; even, together with a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall honour them with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and desirable things: and he shall practise‡ (prosperously). Unto the upholders of his tutelary gods, § together with the foreign god whom he shall acknowledge, he shall multiply glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many and he shall divide the land (among them, selling it) for a price. And at the time of the end a king of the South shall butt at him; and a king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen,

Such, I am convinced, is the proper translation of the phrase w NTAR. It means, not the desire of women by others, or the wish to have women; but, on the contrary, that which women themselves desired to bave. This point will be discussed at large hereafter.

↑ "Whereas the preposition in ♫ is usually neglected, I express the preposition, and construe God and Mabuzzim apart as two; viz. To or together with, God be shall bonour Mabuzzim. For the preposition is made of x, and signifies the same with it, namely an addition or adjoining of things, ad, juxta, apud, to, besides, together with; as Lev. xviii. 18. Thou shalt not take a wife to ber sister xx, that is, together with her sister." (Mede's Works Book III. Apostacy of the latter times. Part I. Chap. 16.) Mr. Mede supposes the foreign god adored along with the Mabuzzim to be Christ; and thence renders the passage" together with God he shall honour Mahuzzim." The foreign god however, venerated by the king, certainly cannot be Christ, both because the prophet had just before declared, that the king should speak marvellous things against the God of gods; and because, as we shall hereafter see, he was specially to reject the worship of Christ, here represented as the desire of women or wives, as Haggai styles him the Desire of all nations. On these grounds, I render the passage " together with a god he shall honour Mahuzzim," rather than together with God he shall honour Mahuzzim."

“Faciet, id est, mirè succedet quicquid agit." (Calv. apud Pol. Syn. in loc.) " It cast down the truth to the ground, and it practised and prospered.” (Dan. viii. 12.) The same word is used in the original in both these passages. See also Rev. xiii. 5, and Bishop Newton's remarks upon the word omnca in his Dissertation upon that Chapter.

dominos,המשילם Liquet ex verbo בצר custodibus Maozim, ex למבצרי מעזים * $

faciet eos, notari in vocabulo personas, non munitiones." (Houbigant in loc. cited by Bishop Newton.) The Bishop himself considers the word to mean defenders, supporters, or champions: and these champions he supposes to be the popish priests and monks. Though I entirely differ from his Lordship in the interpretation of the prophecy, and though I am unable to discover in it any allusion to Popery, yet I think him perfectly right in his translation of the word in question,

and many ships. Yet he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow, and pass over, and shall enter into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. And tidings out of the East and out of the North shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and to devote many to utter destruction under the pretext of religion. And he shall plant the curtains of his pavilions between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth up for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that understand† shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to rightcousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Then I Daniel looked; and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the river, Until how long shall be the end of the wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the river; and he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever, that it shall be until a time, and times, and a half; and, when

החרים .Heb *

†The persons mentioned above Chap. xi. 33, 35.

[ocr errors]

he shall have finished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what is the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be computed a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to a thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot, at the end of the days."* These four prophecies of Daniel, when the former part of the last of them is added to it, extend from his own time to the time of the end, or the termination of the 1260 days-In the first of them he gives only the temporal history of the world, bringing it down however to the spiritual victories of the stone, and the triumphant reign of the mountain-In the second, he gives the same history of the world, under a different set of symbols; further introducing a power, not mentioned before, under the denomination of a little horn, into whose hand the saints of the Most High were to be delivered during the space of a time and times and the dividing of a time, or three prophetic years and a half-In the third, he gives only a partial history of the world; totally omitting the first and the fourth great beasts or pagan empires, and describing another wicked power, under the kindred symbol of a second little horn, which was to come forth out of the dominions of the Macedonian he-goat, but at the last end, or after the termination, of his kingdom. He moreover instructs us, that the length of the vision, including the exploits of the second little horn, should be 2300 days; or, according to the reading of the Seventy, 2400 days; or, according to another reading mentioned by Jerome, 2200 days—In the fourth prophecy, after de

Dan. xi. 31-45. xii. 1-13. The beginning of the last of the four prophecies I have omitted, as having no immediate connection with my subject.

« PreviousContinue »