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daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hun- 14 dred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

the giving both] The meaning both is uncommon, though instances

occur:

,(תת וקדש for תתו קדש) perhaps, with a redivision of the words :

we should read his giving the sanctuary,' &c., or (Bevan, Marti) In 'since he hath given,' &c.

the host] i.e. the army, fig. of the Israelites, as in v. 10.

(to be) trampled under foot] lit. (to be) a trampling (or treading down), exactly as Is. x. 6 (cf. R.V. marg.). See vv. 10 end (where the figure is the same), II end.

14. unto me] Sept. Theod. Pesh. unto him, which is adopted by most moderns, and is probably right.

unto two thousand and three hundred evenings, mornings] i.e. successive evenings and mornings: cf. v. 26 'the vision of the evenings and the mornings.' The expression is peculiar; but it seems to have been suggested by the fact that the burnt-offering (vv. 11, 13) was offered morning and evening daily (Ex. xxix. 38-42); the meaning consequently is that this offering would cease for 2300 times, i. e. during 1150 days (so most commentators). In vii. 25 (where see the note), xii. 7, the period of persecution is to last 3 years, i.e. (if the year be reckoned at 360 days) 1260 days, or, if account be taken of the varying possibilities of the Calendar in use in the 2nd century B.C.1, 1274 or 1309 days; and, according to 1 Macc. i. 54, iv. 52, 53, the interval which actually elapsed between the erection of the heathen altar upon the altar of burnt-offering, on the 15th of Chisleu, B.C. 168, and the dedication of the new altar on the 25th of Chisleu, B.C. 165, was 3 years and 10 days (i.e. 1090, 1102—3, or 1132-3 days). The period assigned here is some months less than 3 years; it is not however identified with the entire period of the persecution, but only with that part of it during which the daily sacrifice was interrupted and the Temple desecrated. It seems therefore (cf. xii. 11) that 15 Chisleu B.C. 168 must be the terminus a quo, the end of the period assigned not agreeing precisely with the event. Cornill's supposition (pp. 22-26) that the edict of Antiochus (1 Macc. i. 44-6) is the terminus a quo, in spite of the very ingenious argument by which he seeks to shew that this edict might have been issued just 1150 days before 25 Chisleu, B.C. 165, hardly does justice to the terms of v. 13 (which lay stress on the cessation of the daily sacrifice as the beginning of the period referred to); cf. Bevan, p. 128 f.

By some commentators the expression 'evening, morning' has been understood as equivalent to day (cf. Gen. i. 5 b, 8b, &c.); and the 2300 days have been reckoned either from the time when Menelaus, in 171, purchased for himself the high-priesthood from Antiochus (see on ix. 26) to the dedication of the Temple in Dec. 165, or from the profanation

1 Cornill, Die Siebzig Jahrwochen Daniels (1889), p. 22.

15

And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then behold, there 16 stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

of the Temple in Dec. 168 to the great victory of Judas over Nicanor at Adasa, near Beth-horon (1 Macc. vii. 43-50) on Adar 13, B.C. 162 (cf. Hävernick, Pusey, p. 219). But either of these periods seems to embrace much which is not legitimately included in the terms of the question in v. 13. And as against the second period suggested, the reference to an event some two years after the death of Antiochus is not probable.

then shall the sanctuary be justified] i.e. have justice done to it, be shewn not to have deserved desecration. "The justification of the sanctuary is the vindication of its cause, for as long as it is polluted it lies under condemnation" (Bevan).

15-27. Daniel seeks to know the meaning of the vision, which is imparted to him, as in vii. 16 ff., by an angel.

15. that I sought to understand (it), and, behold, &c.] cf. vii. 19. there was standing in front of me] appearing suddenly, some little way off (see v. 17, 'came near').

as the appearance of a man] The expression 'as the appearance of' is borrowed from Ez. (i. 13, 14, 26, 27, 28, viii. 2, x. 1, xl. 3, xlii. 11), and recurs below, x. 6, 18. The word for man (geber)—different from that in x. 18-is evidently chosen with allusion to the name 'Gabriel,' 'man of God' [not the word used in the common phrase, 'man of God,' for a prophet].

16. between Ulai] This singular expression can, it seems, mean only 'between (the banks of) Ulai' (v. 2): the voice seemed to come to Daniel from above the waters of the river (cf. xii. 6, 7).

Gabriel] mentioned also in ix. 21 as explaining to Daniel Jeremiah's prophecy of the 70 years, and in Luke i. 19, 26, as foretelling the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias, and acting as the angel of the Annunciation to Mary. Gabriel is also often mentioned in noncanonical Jewish writings. In Enoch ix. I and xx. 7, he is one of the four (or seven) principal angels or 'archangels' (see their names on x. 13); in xl. 3-7, 9, he is one of the four 'presences' (Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel; so liv. 6, lxxi. 8, 9, 13), who bless, or make intercession, or ward off the accusing 'Satans,' before God (comp. Luke i. 19, ‘I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God'); in x. 9 he is commissioned to destroy the wicked giants. Gabriel is also mentioned not unfrequently in the later (post-Christian) Jewish literature (Weber, System der altsynag. Theologie, pp. 162, 163—4, 167-8, 366): so, for instance, in the Targ. of Pseudo-Jon. on Gen. Xxxvii. 15, he is the 'man' who shews Joseph the way to his brethren, and in the Targ. on Job xxv. 2 he is said to stand on God's left hand, while Michael is at His right. See, further, on x. 13.

So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I 17 was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he was speaking with me, I 18 was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. And he said, Behold, 19 I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of

17. afraid] affrighted (R.V.), as Is. xxi. 4, A.V. (Job vii. 14 al. 'terrify'): 'afraid' is not strong enough. At the approach of the celestial being Daniel is terrified.

fell upon my face] a mark of awe or respect (Gen. xvii. 3; Jud. xiii. 20; Ruth ii. 10, al.); cf. in the visions of Ezekiel, Ez. i. 28, iii. 23, ix. 8, xi. 13, xliii. 3, xliv. 4.

son of man] Borrowed, no doubt, from the book of Ezekiel, where it is the standing title by which the prophet is addressed (ii. 1, 3, 6, 8, iii. 1, 3, 4, 10, 17, 25, &c.—more than a hundred times altogether).

for the vision belongeth to the time of the end] and therefore deserves attention. The 'time of the end' is a standing expression in Daniel (xi. 35, 40, xii. 4, 9; cf. 'the appointed-time [D] of the end' viii. 19, and 'the end' ix. 266), and means (spoken from Daniel's standpoint) the period of Antiochus's persecution, together with the short interval, consisting of a few months, which followed before his death (xi. 35, 40), that being, in the view of the author, the 'end' of the present condition of things, and the divine kingdom (vii. 14, 18, 22, 27, xii. 2, 3) being established immediately afterwards. This sense of 'end' is based probably upon the use of the word in Am. viii. 2, Ez. vii. 2, 'an end is come, the end is come upon the four corners of the land,' 3, 6: cf. also 'in the time of the iniquity of the end,' Ez. xxi. 25, 29, xxxv. 5; and Hab. ii. 3, 'For the vision is yet for the appointed-time [has reference to the time of its destined fulfilment], and it hasteth toward the end.'

18. I fell into a dead sleep] Daniel was alarmed when the angel approached (v. 17): when he spoke to him, he fell paralysed and motionless-or, as we might say (in a figurative sense), stunned-upon his face (cf. the similar passage, x. 9). The word is used of a deep sleep, Jud. iv. 21; Ps. lxxvi. 6 (here of the sleep of death): cf. the corresponding subst., Gen. ii. 21, xv. 12; Sam. xxvi. 12; Is. xxix. 10 (here fig. of insensibility).

set me upright] lit. made me stand upon my standing (cf. v. 17 Heb.), a late Heb. idiom for in my place, where I had stood (R.V. marg.), 2 Ch. xxx. 16, xxxiv. 31, Neh. xiii. 11, al.: in the same application as here, Dan. x. 11. For the fear occasioned by a vision, and the restoration by an angelic touch, cf. x. 8, 10, 16, 18; Enoch lx. 3, 4; 2 Esdr. v. 14, 15; also Rev. i. 17.

19. in the latter time (R. V.) of the indignation] The 'indignation' is the Divine wrath implied in Israel's subjection to the nations: the persecution by Antiochus is the last stage of this indignation: when

21

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the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall 20 be. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. And in the latter time that is over, the kingdom of the saints will be set up. Cf. xi. 36, 'and he (Antiochus) shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished;' and I Macc. i. 64, and there came exceeding great wrath upon Israel.' The word may be suggested by Is. x. 25, xxvi. 20.

23

for it (i.e. the vision, v. 17) belongeth to the appointed-time of the end] The sentence seems suggested by Hab. ii. 3 (quoted on v. 17), though the word 'end' has not there the special sense which it has acquired in Daniel.

20-26. The explanation of the vision.

20. having the two horns] see on v. 3.

21. the rough he-goat] v. 5. The word rendering 'rough' (sā'īr), treated as a subst., is the usual old Hebrew word for a he-goat (Gen. xxxvii. 31, &c.): the word here rendered 'he-goat' (saphir) being properly the Aramaic word for the same animal (Ezra vi. 17, and in the Targums), and being found in Heb. only in late passages (vv. 5, 8; 2 Ch. xxix. 21; Ezra viii. 35). Perhaps, therefore, sa'ir is not intended here to be an adj., but is simply the old Heb. synonym of saphir, added by way of explanation; and the whole expression should be rendered simply the he-goat.

Grecia] or, as we should now say, Greece. So x. 20, xi. 2 (but Zech. x. 13 'Greece'); and similarly Grecians for Greeks, Joel iii. 6, Acts vi. I al. The Heb. (both here and elsewhere) is Yavan, Gen. x. 2, 4=1 Ch. i. 5, 7; Is. lxvi. 19; Ez. xxvii. 13, 19(?), i.e. 'Idfwv, 'Iáfov-es, the name by which the 'Greeks' were known also to the Assyrians and Egyptians. The reason is to be found in the fact that the Ionians' on the west coast of Asia Minor were that branch of the Greeks which was the earliest to develope civilization, and to engage extensively in commerce; it was thus the first to become generally known in the Eastern world.

the first king] i.e. Alexander the Great.

22. And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up (R.V.), four kingdoms shall stand up, &c.] see on v. 8.

stand up] i.e. arise. Late Hebrew uses 'amad, 'to stand,' or 'stand up,' where early Hebrew would say kum, 'to arise' (e.g. Ex. i. 8): similarly v. 23, and several times in ch. xi.

out of the nation] There is no art. in Heb.; and the passage, as it stands, reads baldly. Read probably, with LXX, Theod., Vulg., 'his nation' (gōyō for gōy), i. e. Alexander's.

but not with his power] None of the four kingdoms which ultimately (see on v. 8) took the place of the Macedonian empire possessed the power which Alexander enjoyed. Cf. xi. 46.

of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, 24 but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the

23-25. A fuller description of the character and policy of Antiochus Epiphanes.

23. in the latter time of their kingdom] in the closing period of the rule of the Diadochi (which the author pictures as brought altogether to an end at the death of Antiochus).

when the transgressors have completed (their guilt)] i.e. filled up the measure of their transgressions (cf., though the Heb. word is not the same, Gen. xv. 16). Or, with 'transgressions' for 'transgressors' (Sept., Theod., Pesh., Ew., Meinh.: the difference affects only the vocalization), when they (or men) have completed transgressions. It is disputed whether the reference is to the Israelites (Keil, Behrm.) or their heathen oppressors (Hitz., Meinh., Bevan). In the former case, the meaning will be that when the measure of Israel's guilt is full, this final and severest of persecutions will fall upon them: in the latter case, Antiochus will be viewed as the climax of heathen impiety.

a king of hard countenance] i.e. unyielding, unmoved, defiant: lit. 'strong of countenance,' i.e. hard, firm (in a bad sense). The expression is borrowed from Deut. xxviii. 50: cf., with the corresponding verb, Prov. vii. 13 (of the harlot), 'she made her face strong,' i.e. hard, impudent, xxi. 29; ‘a wicked man hardeneth his face,' Eccl. viii. I.

and understanding riddles (v. 12)] a master of dissimulation, able to conceal his meaning under ambiguous words, and so disguising his real purposes. Cf. v. 25, 'deceit,' xi. 27, 'obtain the kingdom by smooth sayings.' Examples are afforded by his treatment of his nephew, Ptolemy Philometor, and the manner in which he completely misled the legates who were sent by the Romans for the purpose of ascertaining his feelings towards them (see on xi. 27, 40). Antiochus was habitually successful in concealing his real motives and intentions when his interests required it.

24. his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power] but rather, so it is implied in this rendering, by the permission of God (Häv., Hitz.). The rendering not by his power (but rather by intrigues) is, however, preferable: the first two clauses of the verse will thus contain an oxymoron. R.V. marg. 'Or, with his power. See ver. 22' seems to refer the pron. (with Ewald) to Alexander; but such a reference is here far-fetched.

destroy wonderfully] work destruction in an extraordinary degree;the idea of 'wonder,' 'wonderful' in Heb. is properly that of something distinctive, exceptional, extraordinary. Cf. xi. 36, xii. 6.

prosper, and do] cf. v. 12.

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