lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came to the bottom of the den.

Then king Darius wrote unto all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, That in every province of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and abideth for ever, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 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.' So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

I cannot do better than again quote from Mr. Bevan, with respect to the object and nature of this story. The general aim of this chapter is much the same as that of chapter iii [i.e. my § 10], and in a few places the verbal resemblance between the two narratives must strike every reader. The main difference is that chapter iii [§ 10] insists upon the negative duty of abstention from idolatry, while this chapter dwells upon the positive side of Judaism. This difference naturally affects the form of both stories. Since the author purposes, in this chapter, to represent an Israelite condemned to death for refusing to abandon the practices of his religion, and since during the exile the religion of Israel consisted merely in acts of private devotion, it was necessary that Daniel should be placed in a situation which made even the private worship of God a capital offence. The task was not an easy one, and this amply accounts for the startling means which the author here adopts. The story taken in itself is of the strangest character, but on examination it will be seen that the features which most astonish us are essential for the attainment of the didactic purpose. It would therefore be a waste of time to inquire how any ruler not completely insane could issue an edict forbidding his subjects to ask petitions of God or man, himself excepted, for the space of thirty days-why Darius adopts the singular proposal made to him without first consulting Daniel, who is his chief minister; why the enemies of Daniel are at one time represented as coercing the king, and at last are condemned to death en masse, together with their wives and children.... But when we consider the account of the edict of Darius as a literary device whereby the faithfulness of Daniel is conspicuously shown forth, for the edification of Israelites persecuted on account of their religion, the difficulties are at once removed.'

THE ANCIENT OF DAYS

705

§14. The vision of the four great beasts.—We now come to the second part of the book, describing sundry visions seen by Daniel, with their interpretations. The first of the visions is contained in chapter vii-the last of the Aramaic chapters.

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, and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said: I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven burst forth against the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon its feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had on the sides of it four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking haughty things.

I beheld till thrones were placed, and an Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool: his throne was fiery flame, and its wheels were burning fire. 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 judgement sat and the books were opened. Then because of the sound of the haughty words which the horn spake, I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

And the dominion of the rest of the beasts was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like unto a son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and the kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve him his dominion should be an everlasting dominion, which should not pass away, and his kingdom should not be destroyed.

The spirit of me, Daniel, was grieved in its sheath, and the visions of my head troubled me. 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:

"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the Saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.'

Then I sought to know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were on his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake haughty things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. For I had seen how this same horn had made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and the judgement sat and the sovereignty was given to the Saints of the Most High; and the time came that the Saints possessed the kingdom.

Thus he said: "The fourth beast shall be a 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. And as to the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak haughty words against the Most High, and shall afflict the Saints of the Most High, and seek to change seasons and religion: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and part

'THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH'

707

of a time. But the judgement shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the Saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.'

Thus far is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and the colour of my countenance was changed: and I kept the matter in my heart.

Only short and cursory explanations of this and the succeeding visions can be given here: those who become interested in the subject must go for further and fuller details to regular commentaries on Daniel, such for instance as the very useful book of Professor Bevan.

The first beast, the lion, is the kingdom of Babylon. The human walk and the human heart seem here to indicate the loss of power at its close.

The bear is Media. The meaning of the 'three ribs' is doubtful: perhaps it is a mere pictorial addition.

The leopard is Persia. The four wings and heads seem to indicate wide dominion.

The fourth beast is the great conqueror Alexander, 'diverse from all the beasts that went before it.' The ten horns represent ten kings between Alexander and Antiochus Epiphanes. The latter is the little horn.' It is not easy to make up the right list of these ten kings, or even to be sure that ten is not a round number. I will not, therefore, quote the various lists which have been suggested.

Who are the three horns out of the ten which the little horn,' i. e. Antiochus Epiphanes, 'plucked up'? Probably they are Seleucus Philopator, Heliodorus, the minister who murdered him and for a time was at the head of the Syrian state, and Demetrius Soter, Seleucus Philopator's son, the rightful heir to the throne, who was a hostage at Rome when Antiochus Epiphanes secured the kingdom. Doubtless the death of Seleucus was set down to the credit of Antiochus as well as the expulsion of Heliodorus.

The Ancient of Days' is God. The final judgement is now described. Antiochus is to be slain; other gentile powers are to continue for a season.' 'One like unto a son of man,' i. e. a figure in human form, is a personification of the Jewish people, or rather of the Jewish elect, the saints, or 'holy ones,' whose

kingdom (without a specified king) is to continue for ever. The personification is explained at the close of the interpretation.

'The horn made war with the saints.' Here the author alludes to the persecution of Antiochus.

'Seasons and religion.' The seasons' are the sabbaths or festivals, the observance of which Antiochus prohibited. The word translated 'religion' is 'Dat.' It means the religious law,' or more generally 'religion.'

The rededication
The edict for the

'A time and times and part of a time.' The period of persecution is to last three years and a bit. Is this a prophecy? And from what event or date did the author start? of the temple took place in December, 165 B. C. abolition of Judaism was published towards the end of 168 B.C.; the desecration of the temple took place in December of that year. Some scholars think that Daniel was written just after the rededication of the temple; others that it was written at the opening of the Maccabean movement. In the former case the three years and a piece (or, as some translate, 'three years and a half') would be like all the earlier part of the vision a vaticinium post eventum; in the latter case it would be a correct anticipation of the fact. We shall hear of this question again.

§ 15. The vision of the ram, the goat and the horns.—Another vision on the same subject, with a still more definite date for the deliverance of the temple from its thraldom to heathen worship. At this point (the opening of the eighth chapter) Hebrew begins again and is used till the end of the book.

In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after those which had appeared unto me before. And I saw in a vision; and I was, when I saw, at Shushan the fortress, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river Ulai. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher had come up last. I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and did great things.

And as I was observing, behold, an he goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and it touched not the ground and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.