shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures 43 of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north 44 shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he 45 shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas

shall not escape] i.e. shall have none to escape; lit. shall not become an escaping body (Gen. xxxii. 8 [9 Heb.]).

43. have power] lit. rule. He will secure great treasure from Egypt: cf. (in 170 or 169) 1 Macc. i. 19.

and the Libyans and the Ethiopians (shall be) at his steps] i.e. will follow in his train. The Libyans, on the W. of Egypt, and the Kushites (or Ethiopians) on the South, are both mentioned either as helping the Egyptians, or as serving in their army, in Nah. iii. 9, the Ethiopians also in Jer. xlvi. 9 (cf. Ez. xxx. 4, 5). Here they are represented as joining the army of the conqueror.

44. But tidings] or rumours, as the same word is rendered in 2 Ki. xix. 7 (=Is. xxxvii. 7), of the tidings which caused Sennacherib to withdraw. So Jer. li. 46; Ez. vii. 26. Lit. something heard. Here, probably, rumours of insurrections, or wars, in the E. and N. of his dominions.

trouble] alarm. See on iv. 5.

and he shall go forth] viz. out of Egypt.

to destroy and utterly to make away many] lit. and to ban (or devote) many.' The word, which means properly to set apart, seclude, is used primarily of the ban laid upon persons or objects hostile to Israel's religion (Ex. xxii. 20; Deut. ii. 34, vii. 2, 25, 26; Josh. vi. 17-19, &c.) as this involved generally their destruction, it is often rendered in A.V. utterly destroy (so also in R.V., when applied to persons), though, of course, this rendering expresses only a secondary idea. In the present late passage, however, as in 2 Ch. xx. 23, it is simply a synonym for destroy.

45. plant] viz. as a tree fig. for fix. A late usage: cf. Eccl. xii. 11; and see Levy, NHWB. iii. 380.

the tents of his palace] the large and sumptuous tent, or collection of tents, which would form naturally the headquarters of an oriental king3. The word for palace' (appéden) occurs only here in the O.T.: it is a Persian word, denoting properly a large hall or throne-room (see on viii. 1). From Persian it passed into Aramaic, it is used in the Targ. of Jer. xliii. 10 of the 'royal pavilion' which Nebuchadnezzar was to erect in Egypt, and occurs frequently in Syriac in the sense of 'palace.' The present passage shews that it passed similarly into late Hebrew.

between the seas and the beauteous holy mountain] between the

1 See further the writer's Commentary on 1 Sam. xv. 33, or Deut. vii. 2.

2 Polyaenus (Strateg. IV. iii. 24) describes the spacious and gorgeously decorated tent in which Alexander administered justice whilst in India.

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in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall 2 be found written in the book. And many of them that

Mediterranean Sea (for the poet. plur., see Jud. v. 17, Deut. xxxiii. 19) and the hill of Zion; 'holy mountain,' as Ps. ii. 6, and frequently; 'beauteous' as vv. 16, 41.

and he shall come to his end] Antiochus died actually at Tabae in Persia. It is certainly not said here in so many words that he should meet his end at the spot on which his royal tent was to be pitched; but the connexion between the two parts of the verse naturally implies it : Antiochus is to meet his death in Palestine, the country in which he had committed his greatest crimes, and which he was even now threatening to invade and ravage again. Other prophets also represent the powers hostile to Israel as defeated in proximity to Jerusalem: cf. Ez. xxxix. 4, Joel iii. 2, 12 f., Zech. xiv. 2.

XII. 1-3. There should be no break here: xii. 1-4 forms the concluding part of the angel's revelation to Daniel; and what is described in vv. 1-3 forms the immediate sequel of the fall of Antiochus. The overthrow of the world-power is pictured by the author as accompanied by a season of trial-perhaps political convulsions-out of which, however, the faithful among God's people are delivered; a resurrection of Israelites follows; and the age of bliss then begins for the righteous.

1. Michael...the great prince] i.e. the patron-angel of Israel (x. 13, 21).

stand up] as champion and defender (xi. I; cf. x. 13). Hitherto the power of the prince' of Greece has been unchecked: now Michael interposes, for his people's final deliverance.

standeth for] i.e. protects (Est. viii. 11, ix. 16).

a time of trouble] The expression seems borrowed from Jer. xxx. 7 (where also Israel is spoken of as 'saved from it').

such as never was since, &c.] cf. Ex. ix. 18, 24, Joel ii. 2, Mark xiii. ii. 19 (|| Matth. xxiv. 21).

shall be delivered] The period of deliverance here spoken of is the same as the period of redemption described in vii. 18, 26, 27, ix. 24. written in the book] viz. of life, the register of the living: in Ps. lxix. 28 (cf. lxxxvii. 6, Ex. xxxii. 32) applied to the register of living members of the Theocratic community, which God is represented as keeping. Here, however, the expression is used, not of those living in the present life, but of those destined to share in the glorious life of the end; it is the 'register of the citizens of the Messianic kingdom' (Hitz.), including both those who enter it while yet living,

sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. and those (v. 2) who enter it after their resurrection. Cf. Is. iv. 3, where those who are worthy to survive the approaching judgement are described as 'written down unto life [i.e. a glorified, but still earthly life] in Jerusalem.' The same figure occurs in Enoch xlvii. 3 ('the books of the living were opened before Him'), cviii. 3 (the names of the wicked 'will be blotted out of the book of life, and out of the books of the holy ones'); and, applied in a Christian sense, in Phil. iv. 3, Rev. iii. 5, xiii. 8, xvii. 8, xx. 12, 15, xxi. 27; cf. Luke x. 20, Heb. xii. 23, Enoch civ. I (your names written before the glory of the Great One').

are

2. The resurrection. The doctrine of a future life is not fully developed in the O.T.; it is nascent; and the stages in its growth are clearly distinguishable. The idea of a resurrection appears first, though in a national, not in an individual sense, in Hos. vi. 2: it appears next, also in a national sense (see Davidson's note, p. 267), in Ezekiel's famous vision of the Valley of dry bones (xxxvii. 1-14) the resurrection of individuals appears first in the postexilic prophecy of Is. xxiv.-xxvii., viz. xxvi. 19 (see Skinner's note), though, as in Ezek. (xxxvii. 11), it is still expressly limited to Israel (it is denied, v. 14, of Israel's foes) in the present passage, a resurrection of the wicked, as well as of the righteous, is taught for the first time, and the doctrine of a different future reserved for each is also for the first time enunciated. See further the Introd. p. xcii.

:

many] The resurrection is still limited implicitly to Israel. It is not said who are to compose the 'many': perhaps the author thinks in particular of the martyrs, and apostates, respectively, who, on the one side or the other, had been prominent during the reign of Antiochus. sleep] in death: cf. Jer. li. 39, 57; 1 Thess. iv. 14, V. 10.

in the dusty ground] lit. the ground of dust. The expression is peculiar, and occurs only here. Dust' is often said of the grave, as to lie down upon the dust' (Job xx. II, xxi. 26), and 'they that go down to the dust' (Ps. xxii. 29).

shall awake] cf., in the same sense, Is. xxvi. 19; also (where it is denied) Job xiv. 12, and (of the Babylonians) Jer. li. 39, 57.

some to everlasting life] The expression occurs only here in the O.T., but it is frequent in post-Biblical Jewish writings: e.g. in Enoch (xxxvii. 4, xl. 9, lviii. 3, lxii. 14); Psalms of Sol. iii. 16 (cf. xiii. 9); 4 Macc. xv. 3 (cf. 2 Macc. vii. 9, 36); and in the Targums (in which passages of the O.T. relating really to the present life are often interpreted as referring to a future life)1. A more common synonym is the life of the age to come' (an obiyn “n), Aboth ii. 7, &c. (Dalman, Die Worte Jesu, p. 129).

some to reproaches (Ps. lxix. 9, 10 [Heb.]) and everlasting abhorrence] the last word (only once besides) from Is. lxvi. 24 'And they

1 See examples in the writer's Sermons on the O.T. (1892), pp. 83, 88—91; Dalman, Die Worte Jesu, p. 128.

3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as 4 the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

[the carcases of the transgressors, slain outside Jerusalem] shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.' Cf. in the N.T., Matt. xxv. 46; John v. 29. 3. Those who in the time of trial had by example and precept preserved many in righteousness and faith, will then receive their reward.

they that be wise] The words do not mean the 'wise' generally, but those mentioned in xi. 33, 35 (the word being the same which is there used), men like Mattathias (1 Macc. ii.), the staunch and firm leaders of the loyal Jews, during Antiochus' persecutions. These "are distinguished from the rest of the faithful Israelites-they not only live for ever, but are eternally glorified" (Bevan). Cf. Enoch civ. 2 ( Be hopeful for aforetime ye were put to shame through ills and affliction; but soon ye will shine as the stars of heaven, ye will shine and ye will be seen, and the portals of heaven will be opened to you'); Matt. xiii. 43.

as the brightness of the firmament] cf. Ex. xxiv. 10.

and they that make the many righteous] The expression, as Is. liii. 11, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant make the many righteous.' In neither case is the verb to be understood in the later technical sense of 'justify': the meaning, in both cases, is to lead to righteousness by teaching-in Is. liii. by instruction in the ways and will of God (by his knowledge'), here by warning, exhortation, and example of constancy (cf. xi. 33 'shall make the many to understand '). 4. The closing injunction to Daniel.

shut up, &c.] The injunction is similar to that in viii. 26. until the time of the end] i.e. (viii. 17) the time of Antiochus' persecution, regarded from the standpoint of Daniel himself. The words are meant to explain why the visions in the book, though communicated to Daniel, were not made generally known until the time of the persecution. Cf. on viii. 26; and contrast Rev. xxii. 10.

many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased] A famous passage, prefixed by Bacon in its Latin form (Multi pertransibunt, et multiplex erit scientia) to the first edition of his Novum Organum, and interpreted by him (1. 93) as signifying that the complete exploration of the world (pertransitus mundi), which seemed to him to be then on the point of accomplishment, would coincide with great discoveries in science (augmenta scientiarum). This explanation of the words is, however, unhappily, too foreign to their context to be probable. But it must be admitted that the words are enigmatic. The verb rendered run to and fro occurs elsewhere, Jer. v. 1, Am. viii. 12 (of literal movement hither and thither); Zech. iv. 10, 2 Ch. xvi. 9 (of Jehovah's eyes, present in every part of the earth);

Then I Daniel looked, and behold, there stood other 5 two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said 6 to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which 7 was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his

and the sense generally given to the passage is that many will then run to and fro in the book, i.e. diligently explore and study it, and so the knowledge of God's providential purposes, to be obtained from it, -how, for instance, He tries, but at the same time rewards, His own faithful servants, and how the course of human history leads ultimately to the establishment of His kingdom,—will be increased.

The text, it must be owned, is open to suspicion. Prof. Bevan making a slight change (y for ), in a sense suggested by the LXX., obtains the rendering 'many shall run to and fro (viz. in distraction), and evils (calamities) shall be increased,' i.e. the revelation is to remain concealed, because there is to ensue a long period of commotion and distress. For the thought of the emended clause, he compares I Macc. i. 9 (of the wars and other troubles brought upon the world by the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies) 'and they multiplied evils in the earth.' (3) xii. 5—13. Conclusion. The revelation (xi. 2—xii. 4) is ended; but nothing has been said about the duration of the troubles foretold in it. And yet, to those living in the midst of them, this was a question of vital interest. Daniel accordingly asks, and receives, specific information on this point (v. 6 ff.).

5. other twoli.e. (as we should now say) two others, in addition, viz. to the glorious being, whom Daniel saw (x. 5, 6), and who had been speaking to him since (x. 11-14, 19, x. 20-xii. 4).

river (twice)] Heb. ye'or, an Egyptian word, elsewhere in the O.T. the regular name of the Nile (Ex. ii. 3, &c.), but here and in vv. 6, 7, denoting the Tigris (see x. 4). The proper force of the word must have been forgotten; and it must be used in the general sense of stream.

6. And one] i.e. one of the angels just mentioned, whom Daniel hears speaking (cf. viii. 13).

the man clothed in linen] The glorious figure described more fully in x. 5, 6.

upon] above, i.e. hovering in the air, above the stream; cf. viii. 16. the wonders] or extraordinary things, viz. the extraordinary trials and sufferings described in xi. 31-36 (cf. the same expression, with regard to the deeds, or words, of Antiochus, in viii. 24 and xi. 36).

7. The answer to the inquiry, given with solemn emphasis, and overheard by Daniel.

upon] above, as v. 6.

and he lifted up, &c.] The lifting up of the (right) hand implied an appeal to heaven, and is frequently mentioned as a gesture accompanying an oath: Gen. xiv. 22; and (with another Heb. word