Commentary Notes on the Whole Bible by John Wesley: Daniel.

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NOTES ON THE WHOLE OF THE BIBLE BY JOHN WESLEY: DANIEL.

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL

Daniel was of the tribe of Judah, and it is thought, of the royal family. Ezekiel, his cotemporary, but much his senior, speaks of him as wise to a proverb, when he upbraids the king of Tyre with his self-conceit, Thou art wiser than Daniel. He likewise names Noah, Daniel, and Job, as having the greatest interest in heaven of any. He lived a long and active life in the courts and councils of some of the greatest monarchs the world ever had. Yet none was more intimately acquainted with the mind of God than he that was a courtier, a statesman, and a man of business. It is generally supposed he lived to be very old, and died at Shushan in Persia. The first chapter of this book, and the three first verses of the second are in Hebrew: and so are the four last chapters. The rest of the book is in the Chaldee: Daniel continues the holy story, from the first taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldean Babel, 'till the last destruction of it by Rome, the mystical Babel.

DANIEL CHAPTER 1

Jehoiakim's first captivity, ver. 1, 2. The choice made of Daniel and some other young men, to be brought up for Nebuchadnezzar's service, ver. 3-7. Their preferring pulse before the king's meat, ver. 8-16. Their wonderful improvement, ver. 17- 21.

Verse 2.

With part of the vessels - In this expedition Nebuchadnezzar carried away some captives, among whom were Daniel and his friends. His God - Baal, or Bell, and Nebo, which words they put into the names of their kings and favourites.

Verse 3.

Of the eunuchs - These were chief among the king's servants; and they are called eunuchs, because many of them were such. And of the princes - Here was fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah had foretold, Isaiah xxxix, 7.

Verse 4.

The learning and the tongue - The Chaldeans were skilled above any other nation, in natural philosophy. Their tongue differed from the Hebrew in dialect and in pronunciation, which they learned that they might be the more acceptable to the king, and court.

Verse 5.

The king's meat - Such as he had at his own table.

Verse 6.

And Azariah - Probably all of the royal lineage of Judah.

Verse 7.

Gave names - That is, other names, relating to the idol-gods. Belteshazzar - So Daniel had the name of Belteshazzar, from the great Babylonian idol Baal or Bell. This was by the king's command, and herein he put forth an act: of his sovereignty.

Verse 8.

But Daniel purposed - There may be several weighty reasons assigned why Daniel did this.

  1. Because many of those meats provided for the king's table, were forbidden by the Jewish law.
  2. Daniel knew these delicates would too much gratify the flesh.
  3. He did not dare to eat and drink things consecrated to idols.

Verse 4.

He was sensible, how unsuitable delicate fare would be to the afflicted state of God's people. Therefore he was herein a rare pattern of avoiding all the occasions of evil.

Verse 15.

Fairer and fatter - The blessing of God upon homely fare, affords often more health and strength, than more costly fare to them that eat the fat, and drink the sweet.

Verse 19.

Before - Both in the presence chamber, and in the council chamber, to try their proficiency; this shews the king's ability and judgment, how else could he discern their fitness, and their excellency above others.

Verse 20.

The king inquired - This is a farther confirmation of the king's noble endowments, and of his great care whom he chose to be in offices of trust, namely persons excellently qualified to serve him in the great affairs of the kingdom. And thus did God pour contempt upon the pride of the Chaldeans, and put honour on the low estate of his people.

Verse 21.

Continued - in the court of Babylon until Cyrus, and then he was in the Persian court, and he lived in honour and high employment all that time, yea, after Cyrus began to reign. For chap. x, 1, he had visions and Revelations in the third year of Cyrus.

DANIEL CHAPTER 2

In this chapter we have, The perplexity of Nebuchadnezzar thro' his dream which he had forgotten, and which the magicians could not tell him, ver. 1-11. Orders given to destroy all the wise men of Babylon, ver. 12-15. The dream discovered to Daniel, and his thanksgiving, ver. 16-23. His discovery of the dream and the meaning of it to the king, ver. 24-45. The honour put upon Daniel and his companions, ver. 46-49.

Verse 1.

In the second year - This was properly in the fifth year of that king's reign, but in the second year after Daniel had been brought before the king. Dreams - It was one dream, but of many parts.

Verse 2.

The astrologers - Who pretended great skill in natural, and supernatural things. The sorcerers - Or necromancers, who used diabolical arts. Chaldeans - This name the magicians assumed as being national, and most noble.

Verse 3.

To know - He remembered the fact in general, but could not repeat it perfectly. Yet it had left such an impression on him, as put him in great perplexity. The Lord hath ways to affright the greatest men in the world, in the midst of their security.

Verse 4.

In Syriack - That is in the Chaldee tongue, for Syria or Aram is sometimes taken in a large sense, containing, Assyria, Babylon, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Palestine, 2 Kings xviii, 26. From hence all is written in the Chaldee language, to the eighth chapter.

Verse 9.

But one decree - I will not retract my sentence.

Verse 13.

Daniel and his fellows - Daniel and his fellows were not called, because of their youth, which the Chaldeans despised. Here it is observable:

  1. The magicians confessed, that knowledge and Revelation must come from God, and therefore what Daniel did, was not of any human strength.
  2. That the Lord held the governor's hands, so that he did not slay Daniel presently with the first.
  3. That Daniel by his prudence and piety, saved all the magicians lives.

Verse 21.

He changeth - God can make the sun go back or stand still, as in Ahaz and Joshua's time, it is the great part of God's power and prerogative to change times. Daniel here attributes that to God, which Heathens attributed to nature, or chance. God only, that made all by his power, doth rule, and over-rule all by his providence.

Verse 26.

Belteshazzar - By this name of Belteshazzar he had given Daniel, he took courage as if he might expect some great thing from him: for the word signifies the keeper of secret treasure.

Verse 28.

What shall be - Observe the prophet's wisdom, he does not fall abruptly upon the dream, but first prepares this lofty king for it, and by degrees labours to win him to the knowledge of the true God.

Verse 30.

But - But that the interpretation may be manifest to the king, and that thou mayest be better instructed and satisfied in thy mind.

Verse 36.

And we - By this word we appears Daniel's piety and modesty, or he declares by it, that he and his companions had begged this skill from God, and therefore he did not arrogate it to himself.

Verse 38.

Made thee ruler - He hath given thee absolute dominion of all creatures, men and beasts within the bounds of thy vast kingdom. Thou - He was first in order, as the head is before the other parts, and the vision began in him, and descended downwards to the other three monarchies. He was the head of gold, because of the vast riches wherein this monarchy abounded, and because it stood longest, five hundred years, and was fortunate and flourishing to the last.

Verse 39.

Another kingdom - This was that of the Medes and Persians, inferior in time for it lasted not half so long as the Assyrian in prosperity and tranquillity; yet, was this wonderful, rich and large for a time. Third kingdom - This was the Grecian monarchy under Alexander the great, called brass, because coarser than the other. Over all the earth - Alexander marched even to the Indies, and was said to conquer the world.

Verse 40.

Fourth kingdom - This is the kingdom of the Romans, and was to last not only to Christ's first coming, but under antichrist, to his second coming. This did break in pieces all other kingdoms, being too strong for them, and brought all into subjection to it, 'till the stone fell upon it.

Verse 41.

Divided - Partly strong, and partly weak; the Roman kingdom was divided, partly by their civil wars, partly when conquered provinces and kingdoms cast off the Roman yoke, and set up king's of their own, and so the empire was divided into ten kingdoms or toes.

Verse 42.

Broken - This was plain in the civil wars of the Romans, and the falling off of some countries, especially towards the end of it.

Verse 43.

Mingle themselves - By marriage, but they shall never knit well together, because ambition is stronger than affinity.

Verse 44.

In the days of these kings - While the iron kingdom stood, for Christ was born in the reign of Augustus Caesar. And this kingdom is not bounded by any limits, as worldly empires are, but is truly universal. And it shall be forever, never destroyed or given to others, as the rest were.

Verse 45.

And the gold - This denotes the small beginning of Christ's visible kingdom, and the different rise of Christ from all other; his conception by the Holy Ghost, without father and mother, respectively as to his two natures. This stone, falling from the mountain, brake the image in pieces; for Christ is a stone that grinds to powder those it falls on: and he is a growing stone even to a mountain, and therefore will fill the earth.

Verse 46.

That they should offer - This was strange, that so great a monarch should thus worship his vassal, which he did in consternation and admiration. But doubtless Daniel put a stop to it: though he could not hinder the king in his prostration, and in his word of command. And the king being instructed of Daniel, gives God all the glory in the next words.

Verse 47.

God of gods - The supreme God of all the world, above Baal and all other gods. Lord of kings - The word in the Syriack signifies, high Lord, seeing he is the highest king of all the earth.

Verse 49.

And he set - He substituted them as lieutenants for the king's service under Daniel, but Daniel sat in the king's gate to be ready for the king's chief business.

DANIEL CHAPTER 3

Nebuchadnezzar erects a golden image, and requires all his subjects to worship it, ver. 1-7. He is informed that the Jewish princes refuse to worship it, ver. 8-12. They resolutely persist in their refusal, ver. 13-18. They are cast into the fiery furnace, ver. 19-23. Their preservation and the conviction of the king, ver. 24- 27. The honour which he gave to God, and the favour he shewed to his servants, ver. 28-30.

Verse 1.

Made an image - Perhaps he did this, that he might seem no ways inclined to the Jews, or their religion, whereof the Chaldeans might be jealous, seeing he had owned their God to be greatest, and had preferred Daniel and his friends to great honours.

Verse 4.

Nations and languages - Proclamation was made therefore in several languages.

Verse 16.

We are not careful - Hebrew. We care not: there is no need of any answer in this case for it is in vain for us to debate the matter; the king is resolved to have his will of us, and we are resolved on the contrary.

Verse 18.

But if not - It was therefore all one to them, which way God would honour himself; they were resolved to suffer rather than sin, and leave the cause to God. Indeed if God be for us, we need not fear what man can do unto us. Let him do his worst. God will deliver us either from death, or in death.

Verse 20.

To bind - What did he think these three men would have refused? Or that their God would defend them from his power, or that if he had, his mighty men could have prevailed? None of all this was the case; for God purposed to shew his power when the king did his worst, and in the thing wherein he dealt proudly, to be above him.

Verse 23.

Fell down - All this is exprest with emphasis, to make the power of God more glorious in their preservation; for that shame that slew the executioners, might much more easily have killed them, even before they fell down.

Verse 25.

No hurt - See how the God of nature can when he pleases control the powers of nature! The Son of God - Probably he had heard David speak of him. Jesus Christ, the Angel of the covenant, did sometimes appear before his incarnation. Those who suffer for Christ, have his gracious presence with them in their sufferings, even in the fiery furnace, even in the valley of the shadow of death, and therefore need fear no evil.

Verse 26.

And spake - With a milder tone than before, God having abated the fire of his fury. Now he could at once acknowledge the true God to be the most high above all gods, and the three worthies to be his faithful servants.

DANIEL CHAPTER 4

The writer of this chapter is Nebuchadnezzar himself. The story of him is given in his own words. Here is the preface, ver. 1- 3. His dream, which puzzled the magicians, ver. 4-18. The interpretation of it by Daniel, ver. 19-27. The accomplishment of it, ver. 28-33. Nebuchadnezzar's recovery and adoration of God, ver. 34-37.

Verse 1.

Nebuchadnezzar the king - Daniel here sets down another strange relation in the words of the king's own proclamation, sent to all his vast kingdoms, and questionless put into the king's archives, and court-rolls. Peace be multiplied - All health and happiness; this was always the form of salutation among the eastern nations.

Verse 3.

How great are his signs - Nothing less than a real change of heart could cause such a confession as this! Nebuchadnezzar was now old, had reigned above forty years, and seen as much of the world as most men ever did. And yet never 'till now, did he admire surprizing events, as the signs and wonders of the high God!

Verse 4.

Was at rest - When my wars were over, I sat down quiet, enjoying the spoils of my enemies.

Verse 13.

A watcher - A holy angel, the instrument of God, to execute God's judgments which the angels watch constantly to perform.

Verse 17.

Of the holy ones - The decree was God's, and the demand was of the holy angels; if God enact it, the angels had the dispensation of it put into their hands, and they all consent to it as a just judgment of God to be executed by them according to the will of God. The most high ruleth - Nebuchadnezzar and his flatterers conceded he was a God in earth unaccountable to any. But the great God will make all men know he rules all in earth too, and sets up at his pleasure whom he will, and plucks them down again.

Verse 19.

Troubled him - Because he fore-saw such troubles coming upon the king for whom he had a high reverence. Let not the dream trouble thee - Speak out, let the event be what it will. Belteshazzar said - What address and how excellent a spirit is shewn in this short preface.

Verse 22.

Reacheth unto heaven - Thou art high and mighty in the in majesty which God hath given thee. To the end of the earth - To the Caspian sea north, to the Euxine and Aegean sea west, to the Mediterranean south.

Verse 25.

They shall drive thee - This was such a thundering peal, that it was wonderful the king could endure to hear it without fury boiling in his heart, yet the Lord with-held him. Seven times - Seven years. 'Till thou know - How hard is it for lofty princes to learn this lesson.

Verse 26.

The heavens do rule - That God, who sits in heaven rules over all.

Verse 27.

If it may be - Daniel was not certain of pardon for him, nor did he altogether despair of it. With what wisdom and tenderness does he speak: and yet with what plainness?

Verse 28.

King Nebuchadnezzar - With how admirable propriety is the person changed here! These six verses speaking in the third person. But in the thirty fourth, Nebuchadnezzar having recovered his reason, speaks in the first person again.

Verse 33.

Was driven from men - Being bereft of his understanding, as a man distracted he fled, and betook himself to the woods.

Verse 34.

Mine understanding returned - God shined upon his soul, and gave him understanding to consider his sad state, and the causes of it. And honoured him - By prayer and praise, adoring the justice and mercy of God, giving God the glory of his sovereignty and unchangeableness.

Verse 35.

As nothing - A due consideration of God's infinite greatness, makes the creature appear as nothing; creatures are nothing to help, nothing to hurt, nothing in duration, nothing solid and substantial, nothing without dependence, and influence, and support from God. His will - Being the Lord of hosts, and the only absolute and universal monarch of the world.

Verse 36.

Brightness - I had again the majesty of a king in my countenance. I was established - In wonted power and place, owned and obeyed, by all. Majesty was added - He was the most august and magnificient prince on earth, much more so than before.

Verse 37.

Now I praise - Thus can the Lord make the stoutest hearts to stoop, and do him homage. This doxology proceeds from his heart. Are truth - God is truth essentially: he is the rule and standard of truth, his words are truth, his ways are truth, and they are judgment: he is wise, and hath dealt justly with me for my pride, and in very faithfulness hath afflicted me, and in very tenderness hath restored me; I do, and ever shall adore him for it. Able to abase - As he hath declared upon me, in stupendous changes, which I proclaim to all the world. He had a just controversy with me, and I have no ground to quarrel with him, but to give him glory by this confession. What authority had any one to say, That this man "was no convert?" We can no more doubt of his salvation than of Solomon's.

DANIEL CHAPTER 5

Belshazzar's profane feast, ver. 1-4. The hand writing on the wall, ver. 5-9. Interpreted and applied by Daniel, ver. 10-29. The accomplishment of it, ver. 30, 31.

Verse 1.

Belshazzar - The grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. Made a great feast - After the manner of the eastern kings who shewed their magnificence this way. But this is prodigious that he should carouse when the city was besieged, and ready to be taken by Darius the Mede.

Verse 2.

To bring the vessels - Triumphing thereby over God and his people.

Verse 4.

And praised the gods of gold - At the same time insulting the great God of heaven and earth.

Verse 5.

Came forth fingers - The likeness of a man's hand.

Verse 6.

His knees smote - So soon can the terrors of God make the loftiest cedars, the tyrants of the earth.

Verse 10.

The queen came - The women in those courts had an apartment by themselves, and this being the queen-mother, and aged, did not mingle herself with the king's wives and concubines, yet she broke the rule in coming in now, upon this solemn occasion.

Verse 24.

From him - From that God whom thou hast despised.

Verse 26.

MENE - MENE MENE, it is numbered, it is numbered; the words are doubled for the greater confirmation. It relates to the number of the seventy years for the overthrow of the Babylonish empire.

Verse 27.

Art found wanting - There is no weight nor worth in thee; thou hast made light of God, and the Lord makes light of thee.

Verse 28.

PERES - Separated, divided, broken. Phars signifies two things, broken off, and Persian; noting that, first, this kingdom was broken down from Belshazzar. Secondly, that it was given to the Persians.

Verse 31.

Darius the Mede - This was he that with Cyrus besieged and took Babylon.

DANIEL CHAPTER 6

Daniel's preferment, ver. 1-3. Envy against him, ver. 4-5. The decree against prayer, ver. 6-9. Daniel's continuance in prayer notwithstanding, ver. 10. He is informed against and cast into the den of lions, ver. 11-17. His preservation and deliverance, ver. 18- 23. The death of his accusers, ver. 24. The decree of Darius, and prosperity of Daniel, ver. 25-28.

Verse 2.

Daniel was first - Belshazzar's promise to Daniel was, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom, chap. v, 7, 16, 29. The first was general of the army, the second president of the palace, the third of the land and provinces.

Verse 4.

Concerning the kingdom - And so to have made him guilty of treason, or other high misdemeanors, in the king's business.

Verse 10.

Toward Jerusalem - The temple was the place where the Lord placed his name, and promised to appear, and accept his people, all being a type of Christ, through whom only sinners are accepted. As he did aforetime - He did not abate his prayers for the king's command, nor did he break the law purposely, because he did no more than he was wont to do in serving his God.

Verse 14.

Displeased with himself - For having made that foolish decree. To deliver him - To find out some way of delivering him.

Verse 20.

Able to deliver - What he doubted of, we are sure of, that the servants of the living God, have a master who is able to deliver them and bear them out in his service.

Verse 22.

His angel - The same that was with the three children in the fiery furnace, whose presence made even the lion's den a strong- hold, his palace, his paradise. See the power of God over the fiercest creatures! See the care God takes of his faithful servants, especially when they are called to suffer for him! See how ready the angels are to minister to the heirs of salvation!

Verse 25.

In all the earth - In all that great empire. It is usual with the Turk, Tartar, Chinese, to arrogate the same universality.

DANIEL CHAPTER 7

We come now to the prophetical part of Daniel, in which are many things hard to be understood. In this chapter we have, The vision of the four beasts, ver. 1-8. The vision of God's throne of government and judgment, ver. 9-14. The interpretation of those visions, ver. 15-28.

Verse 1.

In the first year of Belshazzar - This prophecy is written in Chaldee, to be a monument to him, of the reverence his father and grandfather shewed towards God, who had done such mighty works for them. Then he wrote - These visions were recorded for the benefit of the church, to rectify their mistake: for they thought all things would succeed prosperously after they returned out of their captivity.

Verse 2.

The four winds - Probably by the four winds of the great sea is signified commotions of contrary nations, striving together by wars, and producing these four beasts successively.

Verse 3.

Four great beasts - That is, four great monarchies, great, in comparison of particular kingdoms; beasts for their tyrannical oppressions.

Verse 4.

The first - This was the Chaldean, or Assyrian; whose seat was first at Babylon, afterwards at Nineveh, and then at Babylon again. Eagle's wings - They were swift, over-running many countries, and brought their monarchy to a prodigious height in a short time. The wings were plucked - Which was first done in stopping the career of their victories, and afterwards in casting them out of their kingdom. A man's heart - They lost their lion- like courage, and became faint and cowardly like other men.

Verse 5.

Another beast - The Mede's and Persians, a fierce, ravenous creature. On one side - The north side; for the Mede first arose and sent to Cyrus the Persian to come and assist him against the Assyrian. Three ribs - Several of the Babylonian subjects revolted, and all these made the three ribs.

Verse 6.

Like a leopard - This leopard was the Grecian monarchy; a leopard is less than a lion, so was this monarchy at first, but yet durst fight with a lion; so did Alexander encounter Darius with an inferior force. A leopard also for his swiftness; therefore described with four wings on his back. Four heads - He was succeeded by four of his chief commanders, who divided that empire into four parts.

Verse 7.

A fourth beast - The Roman empire.

Verse 8.

Another little horn - Probably either the Turk or the Romish antichrist.

Verse 9.

The thrones - The kingdoms of this world were destroyed by God the king, and judge of all, called the Ancient of days, because of his eternal deity.

Verse 11.

Destroyed - This cannot but be meant of the ruin and judgment of antichrist.

Verse 13.

A son of man - That is, the Messiah, he came with the clouds of heaven, gloriously, swiftly and terribly. And came - This relates to his ascension, at which time, he received his royal investiture, for the protection of his church, and curbing of their enemies.

Verse 16.

Unto one - That is, to an angel, that ministered. The truth - The true meaning of this vision.

Verse 18.

But the saints - Jesus Christ being their king, they shall reign with him, and possess the kingdom forever. 24. And another - This seems to mean the Romish antichrist.

Verse 25.

Until a time and times - The numbers of Daniel and John seem to agree. Daniel was certainly prophetical in these things, and his prophecy reacheth to the end of times, even of antichrist's reign.

Verse 28.

Of the matter - Of the vision, and the angel's interpretation.

DANIEL CHAPTER 8

This and the following chapters are not writ in Chaldee, but in Hebrew, for the benefit of the Jews. Here is the vision of the ram, and the he-goat, and the little horn, ver. 1-14. The interpretation of it, ver. 15-27

Verse 1.

After that - In the other vision he speaks o [ all the four monarchies; here only of the three first; this vision being a comment upon the first.

Verse 2.

The river of Ulai - Which ran round the city.

Verse 3.

Two horns - The kingdom of Media and Persia. And the higher - The kingdom of Persia which rose last, in Cyrus, became more eminent than that of the Medes.

Verse 4.

West-ward - Toward Babylon, Syria, Cappadocia, Asia the less, and Greece, all westward from Media and Persia. North-ward - Against the Armenians, Iberians, Lydians, Colchi Caspians. South-ward - Against Ethiopia, Arabia, Egypt.

Verse 5.

An he-goat - The Grecian empire. The whole earth - The whole Persian empire. Touched not the ground - Went with incredible swiftness. A horn - This was Alexander the great.

Verse 6.

The ram - The king of Media and Persia.

Verse 8.

Was broken - When Alexander was greatest, then was he broken, and that to pieces, for he, his mother, son, brother, and all his kindred were destroyed. The four winds:

  1. Antipater got Greece.
  2. Asia was possessed by Antigonus.
  3. Ptolemy got Egypt.
  4. Seleucus had Babylon and Syria. All these were variously situated; to the east, Babylon and Syria; to the south, Egypt; to the north, Asia the less; to the west, Greece.

Verse 9.

A little horn - This little horn was Antiochus Epiphanes. The south - Egypt where he besieged and took many places. The east - In Syria, Babylon, Armenia. The pleasant land - Judea, so called because of the temple and people of God in it, and the fruitfulness of it.

Verse 10.

The host of heaven - The church of God militant, who worship the God of heaven, who are citizens of heaven, whose names are written in heaven; and among these the priests, and champions, who were as stars shining above the rest; these he profaned and slew cruelly.

Verse 11.

The prince - Not only against the high-priest, but against God himself. Was cast down - He took away the use of the temple as to the holy service and sacrifices.

Verse 12.

By reason of transgression - Both the transgression of the priests, and of the people.

Verse 13.

One saint - That is, one holy angel. How long - How long shall Antiochus continue his vexations against the people and prevent the worship of God? This is, the treading down of the sanctuary, and the host.

Verse 14.

He - That angel. Then - Just so long it was, from the defection of the people, procured by Menelaus, the high-priest, to the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the re-establishment of religion among them.

Verse 15.

The meaning - A more clear discovery of those things. The appearance of a man - Probably Gabriel.

Verse 16.

A man's voice - Of him before mentioned, namely, Christ.

Verse 17.

He came near - That he might speak more familiarly to him, yet Daniel could not bear the glory of it. How much less can we bear the glory of God, and how graciously hath the Lord dealt with us, to teach us by men, and not by angels? O son of man - He calls him son of man, to make him mind his frailty, and not to be lifted up with this great condescension of heaven. At the time - In God's appointed time, in the latter day, but not now in thy life- time.

Verse 18.

Toward the ground - Being terrified with the splendour and grandeur both of the messenger and message. Set me upright - By one touch only. The power of spirits is incomparably greater than that of the strongest of men.

Verse 19.

The indignation - God will raise up Antiochus to execute his wrath against the Jews for their sins, yet there shall be an end of that indignation.

Verse 23.

In the latter time - When they were come to the height, and beginning to decline. When the transgressors - When the Jews were grown to an excess of wickedness, then God suffered Antiochus to persecute them. Dark sentences - Full of subtilty: such all histories declare Antiochus to be.

Verse 24.

Not by his own power - Not by any heroick deeds, but by making use of the Jewish factions, through the divine commission to punish a backsliding nation; and by means of Eumenes and Attalus, by whose help he got up to this height. Shall destroy - He shall by force, craft, and cruelty, destroy many of God's people.

Verse 25.

By peace - Under colour of kindness. Against the prince of princes - He fought against God, affronting God's laws, profaning God's worship, and temple, and setting up the image and worship of Jupiter there. Without hand - By a disease whereof he died, 1Macc vi, 8.

Verse 26.

Shut thou up - Lay it up in thy heart. For many days - Three hundred years after this; long after Daniel's days.

Verse 27.

Was sick - Being overwhelmed by a sense of the calamity that should befall the people of God. Did the king's business - Having recovered strength, he minded his place, duty and trust, and concealed the whole, that they might not see it by his countenance.

DANIEL CHAPTER 9

Daniel's prayer for the restoration of Israel, ver. 1-23. The answer sent him by an angel, ver. 24-27. This is the clearest prophecy of the Messiah in all the Old Testament.

Verse 1.

In the first year of Darius - That is, immediately after the overthrow of the kingdom of Babylon, which was the year of the Jews deliverance from captivity. Of the Medes - This Darius was not Darius the Persian, under whom the temple was built, as some have asserted, to invalidate the credibility of this book; but Darius the Mede, who lived in the time of Daniel.

Verse 2.

By books - By the sacred books.

Verse 12.

Judged us - Whose duty it was to govern the people, and to judge their causes; wherein if there was a failure, it was a sin, and judgment upon the people, and upon the rulers and Judges themselves also. Upon Jerusalem - A place privileged many ways above all others, and punished above all others.

Verse 14.

The Lord watched - God's watching denotes the fit ways that he always takes to punish sinners.

Verse 17.

For the Lord's sake - For the sake of the Messiah: to whom the title Lord is frequently given in the Old Testament.

Verse 21.

About the time - The time of the evening sacrifice was a solemn and set time of devotion. Tho' the altar was in ruins, and there was no oblation offered upon it, yet the pious Jews were daily thoughtful of the time when it should have been offered, and hoped that their prayer would be set forth before God as incense, and the lifting up of their hands, as the evening sacrifice. This was peculiarly a type of that great sacrifice, which Christ was to offer: and it was in virtue of that sacrifice, that Daniel's prayer was accepted, when he prayed for the Lord's sake.

Verse 24.

Seventy weeks - These weeks are weeks of days, and these days are so many years. To finish the transgression - The angel discovers first the disease in three several words, which contain all sorts of sin, which the Messiah should free us from by his full redemption. He shews the cure of this disease in three words.

  1. To finish transgression.
  2. To make an end of sin.
  3. To make reconciliation: all which words are very expressive in the original, and signify to pardon, to blot out, to destroy. To bring in everlasting righteousness - To bring in justification by the free grace of God in Christ, and sanctification by his spirit: called everlasting, because Christ is eternal, and so are the acceptance and holiness purchased for us. Christ brings this in,
    1. By his merit.
    2. By his gospel declaring it.
    3. By faith applying, and sealing it by the Holy Ghost. To seal up - To abrogate the former dispensation of the law, and to ratify the gospel covenant. To anoint - This alludes to his name Messiah and Christ, both which signify anointed. Christ was anointed at his first conception, and personal union, Luke i, 35. In his baptism, Matt. iii, 17, to his three offices by the holy Ghost,
      • King, Matt. ii, 2.
      • Prophet, Isaiah lxi, 1.
      • Priest, Psalm cx, 4.

Verse 25.

From the going forth - From the publication of the edict, whether of Cyrus or Darius, to restore and to build it.

Verse 26.

And after - After the seven and the sixty two that followed them. Not for himself - But for our sakes, and for our salvation. And the people - The Roman under the conduct of Titus. Determined - God hath decreed to destroy that place and people, by the miseries and desolations of war.

Verse 27.

He shall confirm - Christ confirmed the new covenant,

  1. By the testimony of angels, of John baptist, of the wise men, of the saints then living, of Moses and Elias.
  2. By his preaching.
  3. By signs and wonders.
  4. By his holy life.
  5. By his resurrection and ascension.
  6. By his death and blood shedding. Shall cause the sacrifice to cease - All the Jewish rites, and Levitical worship. By his death he abrogated, and put an end to this labourious service, forever. And that determined - That spirit of slumber, which God has determined to pour on the desolate nation, 'till the time draws near, when all Israel shall be saved.

DANIEL CHAPTER 10

This chapter and the two next make one entire vision and prophecy, given Daniel about two years after the former. This chapter is introductory: the next has the prophecy itself, and the twelfth chapter, the conclusion of it. In this we have Daniel's solemn humiliation, ver. 1-3. A glorious appearance of the Son of God, ver. 4-9. The encouragement given him to expect a full discovery of future events, ver. 10-25.

Verse 2.

Was mourning - Because he foresaw the many calamities that would befall the Jews for their sins, especially for destroying the Messiah, and rejecting his gospel.

Verse 4.

The first month - Nisan, which is March. Hiddekel - Or Tigris.

Verse 5.

A certain man - Very probably Christ, who appeared to Daniel in royal and priestly robes, and in so great brightness and majesty.

Verse 12.

He - Not Christ, but Gabriel.

Verse 13.

Withstood me - God suffered the wicked counsels of Cambyses to take place awhile; but Daniel by his prayers, and the angel by his power, overcame him at last: and this very thing laid a foundation of the ruin of the Persian monarchies. Michael - Michael here is commonly supposed to mean Christ. I remained - To counter-work their designs against the people of God.

Verse 15.

I set my face - I prostrated myself upon the earth. And I became dumb - Thro' astonishment.

Verse 16.

One like the sons of men - This likewise seems to have been Gabriel. I have retained no strength - Tho' he appeared to him, and spake to him as a man, yet Daniel could not bear his presence, without some dread.

Verse 20.

To fight - To oppose his mischievous designs.

Verse 21.

Michael - Christ alone is the protector of his church, when all the princes of the earth desert or oppose it.

DANIEL CHAPTER 12

A prediction of the setting up of the Grecian monarchy, ver. 1- 4. Of the affairs of Egypt and Syria, ver. 5-20. The rise and success of Antiochus Epiphanes, ver. 21-29. The mischief he would do to the Jews, ver. 30-43. His fall, ver. 44, 45.

Verse 2.

He - Xerxes was more potent than all the other three, because his father Darius had gathered an incredible mass for him, which he himself increased for six years together, before he made his expedition against Greece. There were more kings of Persia besides those four, but they had no concern with the people of God.

Verse 3.

A mighty king - Alexander the great.

Verse 4.

When he shall stand up - When he is come to his highest point. Nor according to his dominion - They did not reign as kings at first, but only as captains; and as to the extent of their dominion, it was far less than Alexander's, yea, all four fell short of his. Even for others - Some lesser commanders shared several parts of the empire.

Verse 5.

The king of the south - This king was Ptolemy, the first king of Egypt after Alexander who is brought in, because he took Jerusalem by treachery; for the angel minds only those persons and things which related to the Jews. One of his princes - Seleucus Nicanor, who overcame Demetrius, and added Asia to his empire.

Verse 6.

They - The successors of those first kings of Egypt and Syria. Make an agreement - Bernice shall come from Egypt and marry with Antiochus Theus, who was the son of Antiochus Soter, and nephew to Seleucus Nicanor; for her father brought her to Pelusium with an infinite sum of gold and silver for her dowry. She shall not retain - She continued not in favour and authority. Nor his arm - His power.

Verse 7.

Shall one stand up - Of Bernice shall come Ptolemaeus Euergetes, who shall revenge the wrong done to his sister. Shall enter into the fortress - For he invaded Syria, and took many strong-holds.

Verse 8.

He shall continue more years - He continued forty-six years.

Verse 9.

Return - So he did with a booty of forty thousand talents of silver.

Verse 10.

But his sons - He means the sons of the king of the north, shall be incensed with the deeds of Ptolemaeus Euergetes, and his son Ptolemaeus Philopator. One shall come - Antiochus the great, shall pass through Syria and recover what the king of Egypt took from his father. Even to his fortress - To Raphia, which was a strong fortress at the entrance of Egypt.

Verse 11.

His hand - Into the hand of Ptolemy.

Verse 12.

His heart shall be lifted up - He might have recovered all, but he grew proud of his victory, and returned again to his luxury.

Verse 16.

But he - Antiochus, that comes against Ptolemy. The glorious land - Judea. Antiochus held all Judea, and with the provision and product of it, maintained his army.

Verse 17.

He shall also set his face - He shall use all the force he can to master Egypt, and engross it to himself. Upright ones - Many of the religious Jews joined with him: the rest of his army was a profane rabble of rude Heathens. He shall give - Antiochus shall give Cleopatra his daughter to young Ptolemy, called the daughter of women, for her beauty. Corrupting her - Persuading her to betray her husband: but she stuck to her husband's interest, and not her father's.

Verse 18.

The isles - The isles and sea-coasts of the Mediterranean and Aegean sea. But a prince - The Roman ambassador Scipio beat Antiochus at his own weapons of power and policy, and turned the reproach upon his own head.

Verse 19.

Then - Then he turned his face home-ward, yet was he not in safety, but was quickly after killed.

Verse 20.

A raiser of taxes - Seleucus Philopator, who peeled his subjects, and spared not to rob the temple. Within few days - For he lived not out the third part of his father's reign. Not in battle - Not by open force, but by poison.

Verse 21.

A vile person - Antiochus, called Epiphanes by his flatterers, but the people of God accounted him infamous, base, and treacherous. They - Neither peers nor people, nor was he the heir, but his nephew; but he crept in by flatteries.

Verse 22.

Overflown - The Egyptian force near Pelusium, where they fell by the power of Antiochus, with a great slaughter, near the river Nile. The prince - The high-priest with his place and honour, for he put out Onias, and set up in his stead, Jason his brother.

Verse 23.

After the league - For he made a league with Egypt, and came with a few, (but chosen men) and took the passes, and put all in subjection to him.

Verse 24.

He shall enter peaceably - He shall come in upon the Egyptians under pretense of peace, in a plentiful and delicious country, and among a mass of treasures which the kings successively had heaped up; the greatest part of which Antiochus distributed among his confidants, whereby he obliged them the faster to him. He did herein what his fathers had not done; the kings of Syria before him, could never attain to this success over Egypt. Against the strong-holds - Having succeeded thus far, he shall proceed to the places of greatest strength in that kingdom. For a time - That is 'till God put a stop to his career, for the Egyptians found means to deliver themselves from his yoke.

Verse 25.

But he shall not stand - He might have prospered, if he had not been betrayed by Eulaius, Benaeus, and the rest of his nobles, corrupted by Antiochus.

Verse 26.

Yea - His most familiar friends and confidants; for he shall be overthrown with a great slaughter, as when the Nile overflows the country.

Verse 27.

At one table - They shall meet under pretense of peace. But it shall not prosper - For neither shall Antiochus gain Egypt by all his artifice, nor Ptolemy, Syria. At the time appointed - By the Lord, whose purpose and counsel shall stand.

Verse 28.

Then shall he return - Antiochus shall depart with his booty gotten in Egypt. Against the holy covenant - Against the law of God, with the people that worshipped God according to his will.

Verse 29.

Toward the south - Egypt, to fight against Ptolemy. But - This shall not be so prosperous as the two former expeditions, but shall fail both of his victory and booty.

Verse 30.

The ships of Chittim - The Roman out of Italy, and the Archipelago. This made his heart boil with rancor, which he spit out against the Jews; especially being solicited to it by Jason first, and Menelaus after, who were apostates, and betrayers of their brethren.

Verse 31.

And arms - Not only of his own army, but many Jews. The sanctuary - Even the holy of holies. The abomination - The statue of Jupiter placed in the temple.

Verse 36.

The king - Antiochus was an eminent type of antichrist; to whom many things that follow may be applied by way of accommodation: altho' they principally refer to Antiochus, and had their primary accomplishment in him. For that that is determined - That which God hath decreed to be done by him shall be done; and that which God hath purposed to be done upon him.

Verse 38.

But in his estate - In the room of his father's God. The God of forces - This seems to be Jupiter Olympius, never introduced among the Syrians, 'till Antiochus did it.

Verse 39.

With a strange God - Using all art and authority to propagate his worship.

Verse 41.

The children of Ammon - He will not hurt them; because they helped him against the Jews.

Verse 43.

At his steps - He had them at his foot, at his beck.

Verse 45.

None shall help him - God shall cut him off in the midst of his days. And when he destroys, who can help?

DANIEL CHAPTER 12

A promise of deliverance, and of a joyful resurrection, ver. 1- 4. A conference concerning the time of these events, ver. 5-7. An answer to Daniel's enquiry, ver. 8-13.

Verse 1.

For the children - The meaning seems to be, as after the death of Antiochus the Jews had some deliverance, so there will be yet a greater deliverance to the people of God, when Michael your prince, the Messiah shall appear for your salvation. A time of trouble - A the siege of Jerusalem, before the final judgment. The phrase at that time, probably includes all the time of Christ, from his first, to his last coming.

Verse 4.

Seal the book - The book was command to be sealed, because it would be long before the words would be fulfilled, whereas those that were shortly to be fulfilled, were forbidden to be sealed. Shall run - Shall diligently search these prophecies; and they shall know the signs of the times, and wait upon God in the way of his judgments: he means chiefly in gospel-times.

Verse 5.

Other two - Two angels waiting on Christ.

Verse 6.

To the man - To Christ, who seemed to stand in the air above the waters, or upon them.

Verse 7.

He held up his right hand - He held up both hands to heaven, for the more sure and solemn confirmation of it; and to denote the unchangeableness of God's decrees both for good to the church, and for evil to her enemies. By him - By God the father, and by himself that liveth forever, to shew the eternal God only knew that decreed it, and would bring it to pass. And an half - That is, a year, two years and half a year. We meet with this in the Revelation, under the title, some times of three days and an half, put for three years and an half, sometimes, forty two months, sometimes, twelve hundred and sixty days. Shall be finished - Which reaches to the calling of the Jews upon the destruction of antichrist.

Verse 8.

What shall be the end - What is the meaning of all this?

Verse 9.

And sealed - They shall not be clearly understood, 'till the event make them good.

Verse 10.

And tried - The afflictions of the church are to prepare them, by taking away their filth, for the bridegroom, as gold and silver are tried and refined.

Verse 13.

But go thou - I have revealed to thee these things, that thou and thy people, might be prepared for sufferings, and yet not without hope of a glorious deliverance. For thou shalt rest - In which hope thou shalt die, and rest from trouble, 'till the resurrection of the just. It ought to be the great concern of every one of us, to secure a happy lot in the end of the days, and then we may well be content with our present lot, welcoming the will of God.