tuted forty-two months for forty-two and a
half, and hence 1260 days for 1277 (see
Rev. xi. 2; xii. (5; xiii. 5)? — This strange
feature admits of a correct explanation, only
when it is remembered that prophecies relating
to time are necessarily and unavoidably of a
symbolic-concrete character, and that for this
reason, no exact correspondence, or mechanic-
ally precise agreement of the prophetic numbers
with the extent of the periods in which they are
realized, can be expected. Neither the seventy
years of being forgotten and of ruin which
Isaiah predicted for the Tyrians (chap. xxv. 15-
18), nor the seventy years of captivity in Baby-
lon, which Jeremiah (chap. xxv. 11, et seq. ;
xxix. 10 et seq. ) foretold to the Israelites of his
time, were fulfilled with literal exactness* (cf.
infra, on chap. ix. ) ; and as the ' ' two days "
(a^^'i) during which Israel's state of death or
the period of its affliction was to continue, ac-
cording to Hos. vi. 2, have primarily an ideal-
symbolic value only, so the "three days and
three nights," which were to be spent by the
prophet in the belly of the great fish, according
to Jon. ii. 1, were, in Uke manner, not an exact
number, amounting to precisely seventy-two
hours (cf. Kleinert on that passage) — and yet
both these prophetic numbers were designed to
foretell the resurrection of the Saviour on the
third daj", i.e., after two whole nights and one
* (With rctr-irtl to thn latter ]>nint atlcipt the nuthor con-
cedes tflo much, for the Bab\ Ionian csiptivity was exactly eev-
inty years in length, namely, from the fourth yearof Jehoia-
kMii. li. C. titMi, totheeiUccof Cyrus. B.C. 53H, SeeBruwne's
Orda StpMartim, ch, iii. sec. i. §§ Itil et seq. Had we the
dnta extant we mi^rht dr)ubtless prove the truth of the other
periods named In Scripture prophecy with ciuiil precision.]
entire day.* The prophets are accnstomed to
employ concrete conceptions of time, and to
clothe them in definite form. This form might
arise from any incident or event, most of which
can no longer be discovered ; but their relation
to the duration of the events which fulfil the
prophecy must as certainly be a merely approxi-
mate agreement, and not mathematically exact,
as the manner in which God secures the fulfil
ment of the prophecies uttered by holy men
through the Spirit, is in nowise a matter en-
trusted to man, but belongs only to the God who
brings the predictions to pass (cf. 2 Pet. i. 20 et
seq.)f The predictions of the prophets in the
Church during the Middle Ages and in modem
times (e.g., St. Hildegard, Joachim, the Parisian
professor Nicholas Oresmius, who, in 1364, fore-
told the great papal schism, which actually
broke out in 1378 ; Huss and Savonarola, who
predicted the Reformation ; the Lutheran Mi-
chael Stiefel of Jena (f 1567) ; the astrologer
Nostradamus (fl566); and finally J. A. Benzel
and Jimg-Stilling) might be substantially treated
in the same manner, so far as they assume a nu-
merically exact, ordefinitely chronologicalform.t
The partial non-agreement of their predictions
with the points of time or periods of the future
in which they were to be realized doe.s not de-
stroy their character as genuine prophets, or
disprove that they were employed in a superior
and heavenly caUing ; but the approximate
agreement or partial coincidence of their vatici-
nations with the facts of fulfilment and their
chronological relations, does not warrant a sus-
picion that they were forged subsequently to the
beginning of their fulfilment, any more than
the approximate agreement of either the 1150
days or the three and a half years, etc., in the
prophecy before us, with the epochs of the Mac-
cabEeau history will justify the pseudo-Daniel
tendency-hypothesis.
2. While the slight difference between the
prophetic number and the events connected with
its realization, discussed above, belongs un-
doubtedly to the category of those "slight dis-
crepancies " which, according to M. v. Niebuhr,
* [The *' three days and three nights " in question are an
exact expre.ssion according to Hebrew usage, which includes
both extremes in all such periods.]
t Cf. Tholuck Die Prnpheten und Hire Wetftna^ungen ;
eine apologetisch'hermenentiscfie suulie (Gotha, 1860). p.
11.3 et seq., where the remark is made concerning the seventy
years of Jeremiah, considered as being a designation of
time that agreed, generally at least, with the duration of
the captivity. "Can any means of escaping this conclusion
be discovered ? Only that one, which, among others, E^'ald
has not despised, viz., to regard the number seventy as a
roimd number, and therefore = 'along time.' .... Is
then, round number really — long time in the Oriental use
of language? The master of Old-Test, language will cer-
tainly not attempt to deny that it rather denotes an ' ap-
projcimate limitation of time !'.... Such numbers
are clearly approximate, e.g., in Am. ii. 4, where it is said,
* For three transgressions of Judah and for four, I will not
turn :iway,' etc ; Mic. v. 5. ' Then shall we raise against him
seven shepherds .and ei,ght principal men ; ' cf. Hos. vi. 'i. In
like manner a desolation of forty years is predicted for
Egypt, by Ezekiel, in chap. xxix. 11. 12, which is, indeed, a
round number of probable reckoning, but is at the same
time, an approximate number, namely, 36 or .37." etc. [But
these conventional numbers in a general statemmt are very
ilifferent from those obviously given as chronological data.]
t In relation to the prophets of the Christian a>ra, above
referred to. and also with regard to several others, cf. the in-
teresting statements in Splittgerber, Schlnf tttitl Tod. etc.
(Halle. 18t)fi), p. ii;i5-'J53, [But -sound theologians — indeed,
accurate observers merely — would certainly place all theea
pseudo-predictions on a very different level from those of tb«
prophetfi of Scripture.]
CHAP. VIII. 1-27.
185
' ' must excite our awe, instead of begetting a
doubt of the truth of the prophecy, or shaking
our confidence in the chionology of ancient his-
tory" {Geschichte Assurs tind Babels, p. 90), the
relation between the character of the history of
nations and kingdoms as described iu the vision
under consideration, and the condition of Israel
during the ssra of oppression and revolt in the
Maccabaean age, which corresponds to it as a
primary historical fulfilment, is such, that it un-
conditionally forbids the idea that the vision is a
prophecy ex erentu, and was composed to favor
a tendency. There is no complete and thorough
correspondence between prophecy and fulfil-
ment, that could favor the suspicion of its com-
position under such circumstances and for such
a purpose ; on the contrary, the discrepancies
are so numerous, that to trace historical facts
which shall correspond in every case to the par-
ticular features of the prophetic vision, involves
the greatest uncertainty and difiiculty. Ber-
tholdt and v. Lengerke assume that the chapter
was written shortly after the death of Antioch-
us Epiphanes ; Hitzig, that it was composed
shortly before that event; Bleek {Jahrb. far
deuUche flieologie, 1860, No. 1, p. 57), that it
was framed at least about that time. " Accord-
ing to this, the section was at any rate composed
at a time when the Jews had already demon-
strated their superiority in arms over the troops of
the tyrant. At the same time, the.se bloody feats
of arms, which formed the basis of all the hopes
that animated the newly -awakened national con-
sciousness of the Jews, are not mentioned with
a single word. As in chap. vii. the heathen op-
pressor triumphs in battle over the holy people
to the end of the three and a half times, so in this
selection the host and sanctuary are represented
as being trodden under foot until the close of the
period mentioned in v. 14. Even the restoration
of the sanctuary (v. 14), which might at least
indirectly be interpreted as consequent on a
warlike triumph of the Jews, is, in v. 25, re-
ferred only to a theocratic judgment imposed
directly by God, and not to a national victory.
The latter, indeed, is directly excluded. The
great deeds of the oppressor only are spoken of,
and his overthrow 1^ 2??s3 is immediately con-
nected with them. Every real foundation for
the opinion that this section originated at that
juncture which was marked by the triumphs
over ApoUonius and Seron, over Gorgias and
Lysius, dearly bought as they were with the
blood of the people, is thus taken away, since
the situation described iu the chapter, testifies
only to defeat down to the time of restoring the
temple, and denotes a disposition which looked
for help only from a supernatural agency "
(Kranichfeld, p. 286 et seq. ). — Remarkable as is
this total silence respecting the national revolt,
which was so successfully introduced, when the
author is regarded as a Maccab^an pseudo-
Daniel, it is no less difficult to understand why,
if the vision was recorded soon after the death
of Antiochus, the Messianic hopes which must
have been connected with that death, should
not be mentioned with a single word. The only
tolerable explanation of this fact is that the
death of the oppressor (his " being broken with-
out hand," v. 25) was future to the writer, as
much so as everything else. Even the restora-
tion of the temple-service, which had been abol-
ished, is clearly placed in the future by the de-
scription iu V. 14, and does not appear .is .on in-
cident in the past experience of the prophet.
The only comfort offered by him in the entire
section has no relation to the sufferings of the
present or the past, but to tribulations belong
ing to the far-distant future.
3. The only circumstance which seems seri-
ously to favor the theory of a MaccabiBau com
position is the express mention of Jacaii in v.
21, as the world-power from which the impious
oppressor of Israel should come forth (preceded,
however, by a number of anti-theistic kingdoms
[v. 22] and wicked sovereigns [v. 23] ). But this
circumstance also loses its apparent character,
as disproving Dhe origin of the chapter during
the captivity, and becomes decidedly more in-
telligible, as soon as we remember the frequent
contact of the orientals with Hellenic civiliza-
tion and culture, as well as with Gnecian mili-
tary art and bravery, which began even before
the time of Nebuchadnezzar (see Introd. j 7,
Note 2). Let it also be remembered that the
ancientprophecy by Balaam (Num. xxiv. I, which
threatened destruction to the Assyrians and
Hebrews through "ships from Chittim." i.e.,
through Greek iiiiasioiu from the sea (cf. supra,
on chap, ii.), must have been known to Daniel,
even if it had originated as late as the age of
Shalmaneser and Sennacherib, and afterward
been incorporated with the early history in the
Pentateuch. There is no lack of natural indi-
cations arising from the events of current his-
tory, which might suggest to a seer of the period
of the exile, that precisely the distant nation of
the Greeks would become a threatening riral,
and eventually, a victorious opponent of the
Persian power and greatness, and w'hich might
also awaken in him a presentiment of the inter-
nally divided and disunited, and therefore tran-
sient character of the future empire of the
Greeks. The definite character of the predic-
tions respecting the development of that Javanic
empire is certainly marvellous and inexplicable,
unless referred to the Divine Spirit of prophecy ;
but it is scarcely more wonderful than the
equally definite character of Balaam's piophecy,
which likewise related to the Greeks, or than
the surprising clearness and confidence with
which Amos foretold that the Israel of his day
should "go into captivity beyond Damascus"
(chap. V. 27), or Isaiah was able to predict that
the successors of Hezekiah should be led into
captivity at Babylon (chap, xxxix. 6 et seq. ; 2
Kings XX. 17 et seq.), or Jeremiah could de-
scribe to his contemporaries the overthrow of
Babylon by the Medo-Persians ! Cf. also Kran-
ichfeld, p. 128 et seq.
4. The real and fundamental Messianic fea-
ture of this section, and, at the same time, the
thought which is pre-eminently adapted to prac-
tical homiletical treatment, is that already no-
ticed in the exegesis of vs. 19 and 21. accordin^^
to which the moral degradation and the wicked-
ness of the world-power in its hostility to God
becomes more excessive with each stage through
which that power passes in its development, un-
til it reaches its climax, when God interferes to
judge and deliver — thus bringing it, in its charac-
ter as an oppressive, pseudo-prophetic antichris-
tiauity, into the strongest contrast with th«
1S6
THE PROPHET DANIEL.
transparent light and holiness of the Messiah
and the community of His saints, who are bom
of God. This thought is also presented by the
Saviour in the parable which describes the tares
as growing together with the good seed in the
field, and as ripening for the harvest at the judg-
ment (Matt. xiii. 80 et seq. ) ; it is the same
Messianic truth and necessity to which he re-
fers in the former half of his onttio eschato'iigica
in thoroughly prophetic language (Matt. xxiv. 5
et seq.) ; it is the fundamental thought of all
apocalyptic prophecy, of all prophecy relating to
the future history of empires, as the analogous
sections in 2 Thess, and the book of Revelation
show with sufficient clearness. The goiiU tri-
umph over the Tuore harmless rnim in the last
times ; the place of the weaker horns that arise
against the Lord is supplied by others who suc-
ceed each other in constantly increasing strength.
The " great power " of the enemy is reinforced
by "great cunning," which increases with the
lapse of time ; and his insolence is joined to
craft which steadily develops, and to malignant
dissimulation (cf. vs. 28-25), until, through the
instigation of the great arch-enemy, who is ever
the same, nation rises against nation, and king-
dom against kingdom. To increase the need
and oppression of the righteous, many false pro-
phets arise and practice their deceitful arts, and
because iniquity abounds, the love of many
waxes cold (Matt. xxiv. 7 et seq., 11 et seq.). —
If all this, considered as the real fundamental
idea of the visional representation, be duly re-
garded, the jejune character of this section,
which at first sight seems to offer nothing that
possesses practical value, or that is available for
homiletical purposes, will speedily disappear ;
and as the danger of feeling that only unimpor-
tant features, such as the animal-symbols (vs. 3-
7) or the doctrine of angels (vs. 13-18), are here
presented, becomes less, the preacher will find
the energetic warning and promise by the Sa-
viour, " But he that endureth to the end shall
be saved," available as an encouraging and hor-
tatory theme that covers the ground of the
whole chapter. This forms the pregnant and
solemn expression of the New Testament, which
marks the consoling and elevating Messianic
back-ground in which the discouraging and
Rtorray scene of the chapter is laid, but which
here appears but for a brief moment in the con-
cluding words of V. 19, like the cheering sun at
evening against the border of the stormy cloud.
5. Special homiletical suggestions relating to
teparate passages :
On V, 3 et seq., Melancthon : " Aliijuoties di':-
i tvm est, ad guid prosit tenere pritdictiones deserie
monarchiarum et omnium teinporum usque ad
extremvm judicium? Est Ecclesice kac doctriiia
et consoUitione opus, ne inter tot afflictiones el
scandala desperet. Est etiam admonitione optm,
ut causas cngitemus afflictionum Hit.
atroces cmnminationes exsuscitent nos, ut simus
diligentioroi in consenanda puritate doctrinm it
in tita, ne Deus sinat exi/riri majores tenebras.''
— The Tubing. Bib. : " How uncertain is the
glory and majesty of the kingdoms of earth !
Even when they have attained the highest pros-
perity they must yet be humbled, fall, and pass
away, like every other earthly good and honor.
The kingdom of heaven alone is immutable, and
forms the hope of every believer," Psa. cxlv.
13.
On V. 10 et seq., the TUb. Bib. : "Nothing ia
more dangerous than pride, which leads man
even to war against God, His Church, and the
true worship. This must inevitably be followed
by heavy judgments from God." — Starke : "An
earthly ruler will not permit rebellion against
his authority to pass unpunished. How shall he
escape, who revolts against the Prince over the
host of God (Isa. x. 13)?"
On V. 14, Cramer : '" The persecution and rage
of the godless is a storm that sweeps over us •
God fixes its limits, results, and mea.sure." —
Starke: "God has indeed revealed something
in relation to the hope of Christ's Church for
better times on the earth, in order that no doubt
may be entertained concerning the fact itself ;
but to seek to ascertain the particular time,
would be fool-hardiness and useless trouble (Acts
i. 7.)."
On v. 17 et seq., Jerome: 'â– 'â– Et EztcMel et
Daniel et Zacliarias. quia so'pe inter angelos esse
se cermint, ne ileventur in superbiam et angelicm
nel naturce nel dignitatis se cnecredant, admonen-
tur fragilitatis sua. et jUii Jtominum appellnntitr,
ut homines se esse noverint." — Geier : " If the
presence of a holy angel was so insupportable to
Daniel, how terrible will be the experience of
the wicked when they shall behold the Lord of
angels and Judge of the whole world, Jesus
Christ Himself (Rev. vi. 15 et seq.) ! "
On V. 24. Osiander : "God sometimes permits
the plans of the wicked to succeed, in order that
the saints may be tried." — Starke: "God re-
quires no great preparation or mighty instru-
ments to cast down a tyrant ; He can adapt the
most insignificant means to that end (Acts xii.
23)."
3. The vision of the seventy weeks of years.
Chap. IX. 1-27.
1 In the iirst year of [to] Darius, the. son of Ahasnerus, of tJie seed of the Medes
2 [Media], which [who] was made king over the realm of the Chaldaeans ; in the
nrst year of [toj liis reign, I Daniel understood hy [tlie] books the number of
the years, whereoy [wiiieli] the word of the Loid [Jehovah] came [was] to Jere-
miah the i>ro))het, that he would a.ccom\)V\iih [for fulfilling] seventy years in [for]
3 the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set [gave] my face unto the Lord God, to
S(!ek ' 6y prayer and supplic.itious, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
CHAP. IX. 1-27. 1S7
4 And I prayed ' unto tlie Lord [Jeliovali] my God, and made my confession,
and said,' Lord, the great and dreadful God, Iceeping the covenant and mercy*
5 to them that love him, and to tliem tliat keep his commandments ; we have
sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebel-
led, even 6;/ [and there has been aj departing from thy precepts [commandments],
6 and from thy judgments ; neitiier have we [and we have not] hearkened unto
thy servants the prophets, which [who] spake in thy name to our kings, our
7 princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Lord, righteous-
ness helongeth unto thee ; but [and] unto us confusion [shame] of faces,* as at
this day; to the men [man] of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through [in] all the countries
f lands] whitlier [where] thou hast driven thsm, because of [in] their trespass
treachery] that they have trespassed [done treacherously] against [with] thee.
8 Lord, to us belonf/eth confusion [shame] of face [faces], to our kings, to our
princes, and to our fathers, because we [or, we who] have sinned against [to]
9 thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies * and forgivenesses,* though [for] we
10 have rebelled against
the voice of the Lord
with] him ; neither have we [and we have not] obeyed
.Jehovah) our God, to walk in his laws, which he set
[gave] before us by [the hand of] his servants the prophets.
11 Yea, [And] all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by [and there has been
a] departing, that they might not [so as not at all to] obey thy voice ; therefore
[and] the curse is [has] poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law
12 of Moses the servant of God, Ijccause we have sinned against [to] him. And he
hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and .against our judges
that judged us, by bringing [to bring] upon us a' great evil; for [, which]"
under the wliole heaven [heavens] hath not been done as [it] hath been done
13 upon [in] Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, [as ta] all this evil
[, it] is [has] come upon us; yet [and] made we not our prayer before [we b;'-
souglit not the face of] the Lord [Jehovah] our God, that we might [to] turn
i4 from our iniquities, and understand [become wise in] thy trutli. Iherefore
[And] hath the Lord [Jehovah] watched upon tiie evil, and brought it upon us ;
for the Lord [.Jehovah] our God is righteous in [u])on] all his works which lie
doeth [has done] ; for [and] we obeyed not his voice.
15 And now, Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land
of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten [made for] thee renown [a name],
16 as at this day; we have siimed, we have done wickedly. O Lord, acconling to
[in] all thy righteousness [righteousnesses], I beseech thee, let thine auger and
thy fury be turned awni/ [return] from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain
[the mountain of thy sanctuary] ; because for [in] our sins, and for [in] the ini
quities of our fathers, .Jerusalem and tiiy |)eople arebecoine [are for] a reproacli to
M all that are about us. Now, therefore [And now], our God, hear [hearken to] the
prayer of thy serv.aiit, and [to] his su|i)ilications, and canse thy face to shine upon
18 thy sanctuary t/iat is desolate, for the Lord's sake. luy God, incline thine ear,
and hear; open thine eyes, and behold [see] our desolations, and the city which
is called by the name [upon which thy name has been called]: for we do not
present' our supplications before thee i'or [upon] our righteousness, but [for it
19 is] for [upon] thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord,
hearken, and do ; defer not : for thine own sake, my God ; for thy city an<l
thy people are called by thy name [thy name has been called upon thy city and
upon thy people].
20 And while I u-as [And I teas yet] speaking, and praying, and confessing my
sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the
Lord [Jehovah] my God for the holy mountain [upon the mountain of the sanctuary]
21 of my God ; yea, while I loas [and I was yetj spe.akingin pr.ayer,' even [and, t.e.,
then] the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at [in] the beginning,
being caused to fly swiftly, touched [reached] me about the time of the evening
22 obl.ation. And he informed vie, and talked [spoke] with me, and said,
23 Daniel, I am [have] now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. .At
[In] the beginning of thy supplications the commandment [word] came [went]
ISS
THE PKOPHET DANIEL.
forth, and I am [have] come to show thee ; for thou art greatly beloved,' there-
fore [and] understand [in] the matter [word], and consider [have understanding
in] tlie vision [appearance].
24 Seventy weeks [sevens] are determined" upon thy people and upon thy holy
city [<Ac city of thy sanctuary], to finish the transgression, and to make an end
of [seal up] sins, and to make reconciliation for [cover] iniquity, and to bring
in everlasting righteousness, and to seal iq^ the vision and prophecy, and to an-
25 oint the Most Holy [holy of holies]. Know, therefore [And thou shalt know],
and understand [be wise], that from the going forth of the commandment [word]
to restore [return] and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall he
seven weeks [sevens], and threescore and two weeks [sevens] : the street shall
be built again, and the wall [trench], even [and, i.e., but] in troublous [trouble
26 of the] times. And after [the] threescore and two weeks [sevens] shall Mes-
siah be cut olf, but not for himself [and there shall be nothing to him] : and the
people of </je prince that s/j«Z^ come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;
and the end thereof [or, his end] shall be with a [the] flood, and unto [till] the
27 end of the war desolations are determined [tJi^re is a decision of desolations].
And he shall confirm the covenant with [to] many /'or one week [seven]: and
in the midst [half] of the week [seven] he shall cause the sacrifice and