B.C.538.
1. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
According to the Almagesta of Ptolemy, Nabonadios the father of Belshazzar ruled Babylon for 17 years. During the last 3 years of his reign the court and the army were under the control of his son who became acting king. The three tablets of Belshazzar fully establish his identity and the annalistic tablet of Cyrus throws much light on the affairs of the Chaldean court during the last years of the joint-reign. It reads like a nice piece of detective work.
2. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple whichwasin Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
Belshazzar’s mother was a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and the word Father is used in the sense of grandfather, exactly as inIISamuel 19. 24. Mephibosheth is spoken of as the son of Saul, when in fact he was the grandson of Saul.
3. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God whichwasat Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
4. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
7. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.Andthe king spake, and said to the wisemenof Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple,
R.V.
andhavea chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
First Nabonadios, second Belshazzar, his son, and third the Interpreter.
8. Then came in all the king’s wisemen: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
9. Then was the king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
10.Nowthe queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house:andthe queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed.
This queen was the wife of Nabonadiosand mother of Belshazzar. Her death is recorded on the annalistic tablet of Cyrus. Her funeral rites were conducted by Cambyses in the “Temple of the Sceptre of the world,” and his free will offerings aggregated “Ten times the usual amount,” a most appropriate tribute to the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, that wonderful warrior, engineer and man of letters.
11. There is a man in thy kingdom, in whomisthe spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king,I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans,andsoothsayers;
12. Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
13. Then was Daniel brought in before the king.Andthe king spake and said unto Daniel,Artthou that Daniel, whichartof the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
14. I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the godsisin thee, andthatlight and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
15. And now the wisemen, the astrologers, havebeen brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:
16. And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple,
R.V.
andhavea chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
17. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
19. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
20. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
21. And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwellingwaswith the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in thekingdom of men, andthathe appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
22. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
23. But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breathis, and whoseareall thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
24. Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
25. And thisisthe writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
26. Thisisthe interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
27. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
29. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple,
R.V.
andputa chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
31. And Darius the Median took the kingdom,beingabout threescore and two years old.
After Cyrus entered Babylon and pacified its inhabitants he started on other expeditions and temporarily placed on the throne his uncle Cyaxares, king of the Medes, who was known as Darius among his new subjects, a name less liable to be confused with that of his illustrious nephew. It is a well known fact, that expediency often determines the choice of an official name for the sovereign. Thus the present king of England might have been known as AlbertI, instead of EdwardVII. For full explanation seeNoteA.
B.C.538.
1. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
2. And over these three presidents; of whom Danielwasfirst: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.
3. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spiritwasin him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
B.C.537.
4. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as hewasfaithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
5. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we finditagainst him concerning the law of his God.
6. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
7. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, saveof thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
8. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
9. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
10. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
11. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
12. Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall aska petitionof any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thingistrue, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
13. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, whichisof the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.
14. Then the king, when he heardthesewords, was sore displeased with himself, and sethisheart onDaniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.
15. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persiansis, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.
16. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and casthiminto the den of lions.Nowthe king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
17. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
18. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
19. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.
20. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice untoDaniel:andthe king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
21. Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
23. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
HebrewsXI.32, 33.
24. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they castthemintothe den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
25. Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
26. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for heisthe living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdomthatwhich shall not be destroyed, and his dominionshall be evenunto the end.
27. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
28. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Here ends the historical portion of the book of Daniel.
B.C.541.
1. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream,andtold the sum of the matters.
2. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
The known world.
3. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
Symbolical of Four powerful dynasties.
B.C.490.
4. The firstwaslike a lion, and had eagle’s wings:
Medo-Persian empire.
I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked,
Persia defeated by Greece at Marathon.
and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given unto it.
Was transformed by Greek art and civilization.
5. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear,
The Hellenes, or Greece and her colonies in their palmy days
and it raised up itself on one side,
faced in the direction of Persia
andit hadthree ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it:
3 columns of strength, viz:—Athens, Sparta and Thebes. The vision made its appearance 21 years before the Alliance was formed. The ribs therefore, had not knit in place when the heavenly visitor made known the fact of their future union. The alliance lasted 93 years, see ThucydidesIII.69.
and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh
destroy hundreds of thousands in your Persian and civil wars.
6. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard,
The Macedonian Empire
which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Philip king of Macedon subjugated the disunited Greek States at the battle of Chaeronea inB.C.338, and Alexander the Great conquered a kingdom extending from Greece to India inB.C.336.
7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible,
Roman Empire.
and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and itwasdiverse
a republic, not a kingdom
from all the beasts thatwerebefore it; and it had 10 horns.
verse 24, the rulers following the Jugurthine war.
8. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn,
the family of the Caesars
before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and,behold, in this hornwereeyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things
the triumvirate ended with the battle of Actium Sept. 3rd,B.C.31. Divine honors were accorded to Augustus. He took 3 censuses of the Roman Empire and possessed the most intimate knowledge of its resources, the last inventory was found in his own handwriting. Suetonius, Aug.XVI.——LivyCXXXII.
9. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garmentwaswhite as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his thronewas likethe fiery flame,andhis wheelsasburning fire.
10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
Divine forbearance had reached its limit, the voice of the prophets went unheeded, and the desolation spoken of by Moses was about to fall on the Jews.
11. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheldeventill the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
12. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
13. I saw in the night visions, and, behold,onelike the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,
“whilethey beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight,” ActsI.9
and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
“I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”—ActsVII.55.
14. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominionisan everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdomthatwhich shall not be destroyed.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”—Isa.IX.6 and 7.
15. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst ofmybody, and the visions of my head troubled me.
16. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.
17. These great beasts, which are four,arefour kings,whichshall arise out of the earth.
18. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, evenfor ever and ever.
The Spiritual kingdom of the Messiah.
19. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teethwereof iron, and his nailsofbrass;whichdevoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
20. And of the ten horns thatwerein his head, andofthe other which came up, and before whom three fell; evenofthat horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose lookwasmore stout than his fellows.
21. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Nero the descendant of Augustus began the first persecution inA.D.65.
22. Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24. And the ten horns out of this kingdomareten kingsthatshall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25. And he
in the person of his descendants
shall speakgreatwords against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, andthink to change times and laws: and they shall be given unto his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
This formula summarizes that which has gone before. It starts with the Medo-Persian kingdom of Cyrus, established in the yearB.C.558, as typified by the lion in verse four, and reaches over to the yearA.D.39 when the Gentiles were admitted to Messiah’s kingdom as promised in verse 18. For full explanation seeNoteB.
26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroyitunto the end.
27. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdomisan everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
28. Hithertoisthe end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
B.C.539-8.
1. In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me,even untome Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.
2. And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that Iwasat Shushaninthe palace, whichisin the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
3. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which hadtwohorns: and thetwohornswerehigh;
the Medo-Persian Empire
but one
Persia
washigher than the other, and the higher came up last.
4. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward;
The Medo-Persian Empire embraced all the civilized nations of Asia
so that no beast might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he
Cyrus, and his descendants and next of kin
did according to his will, and became great.
5. And as I was considering, behold a he-goat
The Hellenes (Greece and her colonies)
came from the West on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river and ran unto him in the fury of his power
Battles of MarathonB.C.490, Salamis and PlataeaB.C.480 and 479.
7. And I saw him
Alexander the Great, after Greece was conquered by the MacedoniansB.C.334
come close unto the ram
Battles of Granicus and Issus.
and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns, and there was no power in the ram to stand before him;
Alexander was greatly pleased when shown this prophecy—Josephus 11. 8. 5.
but he cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him, and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
B.C.331 Alexander defeated the Persians on the plain of Babylon. He then pushed on to India and conquered the Punjaub, land of the five rivers.
8. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great:
Alexander the Great also conquered Egypt, Palestine, Phœnicia and Tyre. He built Alexandria and ruled from Greece to the Ganges.
and when he was strong, the great horn was broken;
Alexander died in India of intemperance and left no successor.
and for it came up four notable ones toward the 4 winds of heaven.
Alexander’s kingdom fell to his 4 generals:
Antigonus took Persia,Seleucus took Syria,Ptolemy took Egypt,Cassander took Macedon.
9. And out of one of them
Seleucus
came forth a little horn
kingdom of the Seleucidæ
which waxed exceeding great, toward the south
Egypt
and toward the east
between the Hellespont and the Indus
and toward the pleasant land.
Palestine.
10. And it waxed great
under AntiochusIII, the Great
even to the host of heaven;
the Jewish nation
and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground,
Judah and Benjamin
and stamped upon them.
11. Yea it
under king Antiochus Epiphanes
magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host;
Judah, and the capital city Jerusalem
and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his Sanctuary was cast down.
R.V.
12. And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through transgression;
Antiochus also set up heathen altars in every village and town, on which the Jews were obliged to sacrifice swine’s flesh daily
and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.
R.V.
13. Then I heard one saint speaking and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake:—
“How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, to give both the Sanctuary and the host
the National government
to be trodden under foot?”
14. And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
The period amounted to 308 yrs. 6 mos. 21 days and extended from Oct. 14thB.C.450 to May 4thB.C.141, at which time theTEMPLEwasCLEANSEDby Simon Maccabeus. For a full explanation seeNotesC. and D.
15. And it came to pass, when I,evenI Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
16. And I heard a man’s voice betweenthe banks ofUlai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make thismanto understand the vision.
17. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the endshall bethe vision.
18. Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
19. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the endshall be.
20. The ram which thou sawest havingtwohornsarethe kings of Media and Persia.
21. And the rough goatisthe king of Grecia: and the great horn thatisbetween his eyesisthe first king.
Alexander the Great who united Greece and Macedon (verse 8).
22. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
23. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full,
the Jewish people
a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences shall stand up.
AntiochusIII, the Great, who subjected Judea and greatly oppressed the Jewish people. His times were noted for corruption and crime.
24. 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 holy people.
25. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnifyhimselfin his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;
the Roman Empire had no kings and therefore its rulers were spoken of as Princes. It was a favorite term for a king to designate himself as “King of Kings.” The same thought could be expressed as regards the Romans, by the words “Prince of Princes”
but he shall be broken without hand.
Antiochus died from intemperance.
26. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was toldistrue: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for itshall befor many days.
27. And I Daniel fainted, and was sickcertaindays; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understoodit.
B.C.538-7.
1. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
by Cyrus.
2. In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of theLordcame to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
“For thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” JeremiahXXIX.10.
3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
4. And I prayed unto theLordmy God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
6. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings,our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7. O Lord, righteousnessbelongethunto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel,that arenear, andthat arefar off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
8. O Lord, to usbelongethconfusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
9. To the Lord our Godbelongmercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
10. Neither have we obeyed the voice of theLordour God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11. Yea, all Israel have trangressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath thatiswritten in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
12. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
13. Asit iswritten in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayerbefore theLordour God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
14. Therefore hath theLordwatched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for theLordour Godisrighteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
15. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy peopleare becomea reproach to allthat areabout us.
17. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
18. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
19. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
20. And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before theLordmy God for the holy mountain of my God;
21. Yea, whiles Iwasspeaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning,
DanielVIII.16
being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22. And he informedme, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
23. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shewthee; for thouartgreatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
The next four verses should be read as a whole. The burden of their message is the date of Messiah’s sacrifice, the time when he would “be cut off, but not for himself.” An event of supreme moment to the entire human race. In making this revelation the heavenly visitor took the Sabbatic period of 7 years as his standard of time. The Greeks had a system of Olympiads, each 4 years in length. In our day the standard measure is one year. We must therefore lay aside our ordinary line of thought and in reading the next 4 verses we must accustom ourselves to thinking inPERIODS OF7YEARS EACHand remember that whenever an event took place it happened in some period 7 years in length. So thatwhen the angel spoke of “the going forth of the commandment” he pointed to a Sabbatic period of 7 years, not to a certain day, hour, or minute of a given year, but to a group of 7 years as a whole, in a word to a certain “week,” when therefore, he spoke of more “weeks” to follow the additional ones came in regular succession and the sum of the series must of necessity equal the full time revealed. The starting point was plainly the river Ahava and the time of their Exodus from Persia was just 2 days prior to the Passover ofB.C.458—seeNoteE. The first “week” therefore ended inB.C.451, the second “week” inB.C.444, the third in 437 and so on, until the end of the eighth week inB.C.402. Up to that time the Jews were favored by the Persian government, but Persia lost her power and influence at the battle of Cunaxa inB.C.401. Then followed 62 Sabbatic periods, or 434 years, ending with the Passover ofA.D.33 at which time Messiah was cut off. The three periods, 1 week plus 7 weeks plus 62 weeks make a total of “70 weeks” and prove the accuracy of the heavenly prediction.
24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25. Know therefore and understand,thatfrom the
week of the
going forth of the commandment
of Artaxerxes
torestore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Princeshall be7 weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even introubloustimes.
How troublous is told by Nehemiah where he says: “we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth, the half of my servants wrought in the work and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows and the coats of mail."
26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come
the Romans under Petronius inA.D.40 and under Titus inA.D.66
shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereofshall bewith a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
or, “it shall be cut off by desolations.” Josephus says that 1,100,000 perished in the siege and 97,000 were carried away captive.
27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
This “one week” was divided into 2 parts of 3½ years each. The first half covered the Ministry of the Messiah and therefore was embraced within the 70 weeks. The last half extended beyond the 70 weeks and ended inA.D.36. It was a period of remarkable growth in the infant church; Pilate however ceased to be procurator inA.D.36 and thepersecution described in theVIIIth chapter of Acts immediately set in.
and for the overspreading of abomination he shall makeitdesolate,
or, “upon the battlements shall be the idols of the desolator.” see also Matt.XXIV.15.
even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Jerusalem was taken by the Romans on the 2nd of Sept.A.D.70. Then the prophecy of Ezekiel was fulfilled:—“I will scatter thee among the heathen and disperse thee in the countries.”
Remarks.To understand what follows, all divisions of chapter and verse should be obliterated, from this point to the end of the book. The subject matter should be taken as descriptive of what Daniel saw and heard “by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel” “in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia.” The description reminds us forcibly of the experiences of the apostle John and the apostle Paul. The vision had a twofold object: first, to reveal “what shall befall thy people in the latter days,” and second, to give additional information concerning Messiah’s kingdom said to be distant “many days.” The entire eleventh chapter from verse 2 to the end is devoted to the days following Nehemiah’s rule. In the first four verses of ChapterXII.we catch a glimpse of the coming kingdom, also the destruction of Jerusalem, while verses 5 to 13 set forth the coming of the Holy Spirit.
More than 200 years prior to Daniel’s day, the prophet Joel had pointed to the same great eventwhen he said:—“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.” JoelII.28, also ActsII.17.