the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in 24 pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that 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 great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be

25

the whole earth] To be understood with the same limitations as when it is said (ii. 39; cf. also on iv. 1) that the Persian empire should include the whole earth.'

6

tread it down] The word is used in Hebrew, and at least sometimes in Aramaic, of threshing (which was performed in ancient times by the feet of oxen, Deut. xxv. 4): hence R.V. marg. 'Or, thresh it.' Cf. for the figure Mic. iv. 13; Is. xli. 15.

24. The ten horns are ten kings.

and he (emph.) shall be diverse from the former ones] The king represented by the 'little horn' will differ from the others, viz. by being aggressive and presumptuous.

and he shall subdue three kings] put down (R.V.), as the same word is rendered in the A.V. of v. 19 and Ps. lxxv. 7. Abase, bring down, lay low, is the idea of the word (Is. ii. 12, xxv. 11, 12, xxvi. 5). Cf. v. 8. On the interpretation, see the Additional Note at the end of the Chapter.

25. Expansion of the 'great things' of v. 8 end. He will blaspheme the Most High (cf. xi. 36 will speak marvellous things against the God of gods'), and seek to ruin His saints.

wear away] LXX, кaтaтρiye. An expressive figure for continuous persecution and vexation. The idea of the word is to wear or rub away, applied often to clothes (Deut. viii. 4; Josh. ix. 13; Is. 1. 9, al.), though in the usual rendering of A.V., R.V., 'wax old,' this is unfortunately obliterated. Cf. Job xiii. 28 and he, like a rotten thing, weareth (or falleth) away'; 1 Ch. xvii. 9 'neither shall the children of unrighteousness any more wear them away' (altered from the 'afflict' of 2 Sam. vii. 10); Is. iii. 15, Targ. and the faces of the poor ye wear away' (for Heb. grind).

think to change times and law] The phrase is worded generally; and it is true that Antiochus, according to 1 Macc. i. 41, 42, sought to interfere arbitrarily even with heathen cults: but the allusion is more particularly to the attempts made by him to suppress the Jewish religion by prohibiting the observance of religious festivals and other ordinances of the Law (see 1 Macc. i. 44-49). 'Think' means plan or even hope, a sense which the word used has often in the Targums and in Syriac (Luke xxiv. 21, Pesh.). For 'times' in the sense of fixed times (here, the times fixed for religious observances, the Hebrew mo'ădim, Lev. xxiii. 2, 4 [R. V. set feasts], Is. i. 14 [A.V., R.V., appointed feasts], xxxiii. 20 [A.V., R.V., solemnities]), see in the Targ. Gen. i. 14; Ex. xiii. 10, xxiii. 15; Numb. xxviii. 2; Is. xxxiii. 20 (for 'solemnities'); Jer. viii. 7. By 'law' is meant the Mosaic law, as vi. 5.

given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgement shall sit, and they shall take 26 away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness 27 of the kingdom 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

until a time and times and half a time (R.V.)] The saints will be given into the hand of this godless king for three years and a half. 'Time' (a different word from that in the preceding clause, and in the note on v. 12 rendered season) has the same sense of year, which it had in iv. 16 the same expression (in its Hebrew form) recurs in xii. 7 (also of the duration of Antiochus' persecution); comp. also Rev. xii. 14. For the particulars of Antiochus' persecution, see the notes on xi. 31. It began with the mission of Apollonius against Jerusalem, probably about June 168, and with the edict of Antiochus which was immediately afterwards put in force (1 Macc. i. 20—53); and it ended (substantially) with the re-dedication of the Temple, after its three years' desecration, on the 25th of Chisleu [Dec.], 165 (1 Macc. iv. 52 f.). This, in all probability, is the period of 3 years which is here intended. The 3 years might also, however, be reckoned from the erection of the heathen altar in the court of the Temple, on the 15th of Chisleu, B.C. 168, to the death of Antiochus, which took place probably about the middle of 164 (see on viii. 14): the terminus a quo would then agree with that of the 1290 days in xii. 11, and the two periods would be (approximately) the same; but the six months before December 168 are more likely to have been included in the period of persecution, than the six months after December 165, when the victories of Judas had stemmed the tide of the persecution, and public worship had been resumed in the Temple.

26-27. At the end of 3 years his power will be taken away from him; and the persecuted saints will receive the kingdom of the entire world.

26. the judgement shall sit, &c.] vv. 10, 11.

they shall take away his dominion] or, his dominion shall be taken away (cf. v. 12).

to destroy and cause it to perish even unto the end] i.e. finally, for 'Even unto the end,' as vi. 26.

ever.

27. of the kingdoms under the whole heaven] not merely the kingdom ruled by the little horn,' but all the kingdoms of the earth, will be given then to the saints of the Most High. Under the whole heaven,' as Deut. ii. 25, iv. 19; cf. Job xxviii. 24, xxxvii. 3, xli. 11. its kingdom is, &c.,...shall serve and obey it] The pronouns, as the context shews, must refer to 'people,' not to 'the Most High.' In this verse, even more distinctly than in vv. 18, 22, the universal and never-ending dominion, which in v. 14 is given to the one like unto a son of man,' seems to be conferred upon the people of the saints.

For

the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in 24 pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that 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 great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be

25

the whole earth] To be understood with the same limitations as when it is said (ii. 39; cf. also on iv. 1) that the Persian empire should include the whole earth.'

tread it down] The word is used in Hebrew, and at least sometimes in Aramaic, of threshing (which was performed in ancient times by the feet of oxen, Deut. xxv. 4): hence R.V. marg. 'Or, thresh it.' Cf. for the figure Mic. iv. 13; Is. xli. 15.

24. The ten horns are ten kings.

and he (emph.) shall be diverse from the former ones] The king represented by the 'little horn' will differ from the others, viz. by being aggressive and presumptuous.

and he shall subdue three kings] put down (R.V.), as the same word is rendered in the A.V. of v. 19 and Ps. lxxv. 7. Abase, bring down, lay low, is the idea of the word (Is. ii. 12, xxv. 11, 12, xxvi. 5). Cf. On the interpretation, see the Additional Note at the end of the

v. 8.

Chapter.

25. Expansion of the 'great things' of v. 8 end. He will blaspheme the Most High (cf. xi. 36 will speak marvellous things against the God of gods'), and seek to ruin His saints.

wear away] LXX, кaтaтρiyeι. An expressive figure for continuous persecution and vexation. The idea of the word is to wear or rub away, applied often to clothes (Deut. viii. 4; Josh. ix. 13; Is. 1. 9, al.), though in the usual rendering of A.V., R.V., ‘wax old,' this is unfortunately obliterated. Cf. Job xiii. 28 and he, like a rotten thing, weareth (or falleth) away'; 1 Ch. xvii. 9 ‘neither shall the children of unrighteousness any more wear them away' (altered from the afflict' of 2 Sam. vii. 10); Is. iii. 15, Targ. 'and the faces of the poor ye wear away' (for Heb. grind).

think to change times and law] The phrase is worded generally; and it is true that Antiochus, according to I Macc. i. 41, 42, sought to interfere arbitrarily even with heathen cults: but the allusion is more particularly to the attempts made by him to suppress the Jewish religion by prohibiting the observance of religious festivals and other ordinances of the Law (see 1 Macc. i. 44-49). 'Think' means plan or even hope, a sense which the word used has often in the Targums and in Syriac (Luke xxiv. 21, Pesh.). For 'times' in the sense of fixed times (here, the times fixed for religious observances, the Hebrew mo'ădim, Lev. xxiii. 2, 4 [R.V. set feasts], Is. i. 14 [A.V., R.V., appointed feasts], xxxiii. 20 [A.V., R.V., solemnities]), see in the Targ. Gen. i. 14; Ex. xiii. 10, xxiii. 15; Numb. xxviii. 2; Is. xxxiii. 20 (for 'solemnities'); Jer. viii. 7. By 'law' is meant the Mosaic law, as vi. 5.

away his dead

CH. VII.

B.

Lion with eagle's
wings

CH. VIII.

Babyl, empire

end. Aty breast and = Bear with three ribs = First and shorter = Median

of theirms

to thBronze belly and = thighs

Iron legs, feet and

toes partly iron
partly clay

The difference between the two interpretations comes out most markedly in the explanation given of the fourth empire: A, for convenience, may, therefore, be termed the Roman theory, and B the Grecian theory.

A. This interpretation is first found in the apocryphal book of 2 Esdras (written probably under Domitian, A.D. 81–96), xii. 1If., where the eagle, which Ezra is supposed to see in his vision and which unquestionably represents the imperial power of Rome, is expressly identified with the fourth kingdom which appeared to Daniel: though (it is added) the meaning of that kingdom was not expounded to Daniel as it is expounded to Ezra now. The same view of the fourth kingdom is implied in Ep. Barnab. iv. 4-5 (c. 100-120 A.D.), where the writer, in proof that the time of trial, preceding the advent of the Son of God, is at hand, quotes the words from Dan. vii. 7, 8, 24, respecting the little horn abasing three of the ten horns. Hippolytus (c. 220 A.D.) expounds Dan. ii. and vii. at length in the same sense (ed. Lagarde, 1858, pp. 151 ff., 171 ff., 177 ff.). The same interpretation was also general among the Fathers; and it is met with likewise among Jewish authorities. Among modern writers, it has been advocated by Auberlen, Hengstenberg, Hofmann (Weissagung und Erfüllung, 1841, p. 276 ff.), Keil, Dr Pusey, and others.

Upon this view, the fourth empire being the Roman, the ten toes, partly of iron and partly of clay, of the image in ch. ii., and the ten horns of the fourth beast in ch. vii., represent ten kingdoms, into which the Roman empire is supposed to have broken up, each retaining to a certain extent the strength of the Roman, but with its stability greatly impaired by internal weakness and disunion: the mouth speaking great things,' which is to arise after the ten kingdoms and to destroy three of them, being Antichrist, who is identified by some with the Papacy, and by others is supposed to be a figure still future.

It is implied also (apparently) in Joseph. Ant. x. xi. 7.

2 The writer seems to have understood by the 'horns' the Roman emperors: but there is great difficulty in determining precisely which are meant; see in Gebhardt and Harnack's edition (1878), p. lxix f.

Cf. Hippolytus, p. 172, The legs of iron are the Romans, being as strong as iron; then come the toes, partly of iron, partly of clay, in order to represent the democracies which are to arise afterwards (similarly, p. 152); p. 153, 'the little horn growing up among the others is Antichrist.'

Thus Dr Rule1 writes: 'This little horn is too like the Papacy to be mistaken for anything else; and taking this for granted, as I believe we may venture to do, ten kingdoms must be found that came into existence previously to the establishment of the Pope's temporal power in Italy. Accordingly the ten kingdoms enumerated by him are

I. The kingdom of the Vandals in Africa, established A.D. 439.

2. Venice, which became an independent state in A.D. 452, and long maintained an extremely important position in the affairs of Christendom.

3. England, which, properly so called, was founded in A.D. 455, and in spite of the Norman Conquest still retains her independence.

4. Spain, first Gothic, A.D. 476, then Saracenic, and still Spain.

5. France. Gaul, conquered by the Romans, lost to Rome under the Visigoths, and transferred to the Franks under Clovis, A.D. 483.

6. Lombardy, conquered by the Lombards, A.D. 568.

7. The exarchate of Ravenna, which became independent of Constantinople in 584, and flourished for long as an independent state.

8. Naples, subdued by the Normans about 1060.

9. Sicily, taken by the Normans under Count Roger about 1080.

IO.

Rome, which assumed independence under a Senate of its own in 1143, and maintained itself so till 1198. The tumultuary revolution headed in Rome by Arnold of Brescia, tore away the ancient city from its imperial relations and brought the prophetic period of the ten kingdoms to its close.'

The 'little horn diverse from the ten, having eyes and a mouth speaking very great things,' is Pope Innocent III. (A.D. 1198-1216), who immediately after his consecration restored, as it was called, the patrimony of the Church, by assuming absolute sovereignty over the city and territory of Rome, and exacting of the Prefect of the city, in lieu of the oath of allegiance which he had hitherto sworn to the Emperor of Germany, an oath of fealty to himself, by which he bound himself to exercise in future the civil and military powers entrusted to him, solely in the interests of the Pope. 'Here is the haughty speech, and here are the watchful eyes to survey the newly usurped dominion, and to spy out far beyond.' Of the three 'horns' which fell before Innocent III. and his successors, the first was thus the Roman Senate and people, with the so called patrimony of St Peter, in the year 1198; the other two were the two kingdoms cf Naples ard Sicily, which having in 1060 and 1080 fallen under the rule of the Dukes of Normandy, were afterwards offered by Urban IV. to the Duke of Anjcu, to be held by him in subjection to the Church, with the result that ultimately, in 1266, the two Sicilies,' as they were afterwards called, fell under the subordinate rule of a branch of the house of Bourbon, and so remained until recent times. The war on the saints is referred to the Inquisition, organized by Innocent III. and carried on by his successors, and abetted by every device of oppressive legislation, and artful diplomacy.' Concerning the change of times and laws, a few words will suffice. He shall think to change times" by the substitution of an ecclesiastical calendar for the civil. He shall ordain festivals, appoint jubilees, and so enforce observance of such times and years as to set aside civil obligations, and even supersede the sanctification of the Lord's days by the multiplication of saints' days. With regard to laws he will enforce Canon Law in contempt of Statute Law, and sometimes in contradiction to the Law of God.'

Auberlen, on the other hand, points more generally to the many different ways in which the influence of Rome has perpetuated itself even in modern Europe. The various barbarian nations out of which have developed gradually the states of modern Europe, have, he observes, fallen largely under the spell of Roman civilization. 'Roman culture, the Roman church, the Roman language, and Roman law have been the essential civilizing principles of the Germanic world. The Romance nations are a monument of the extent to which the influence of Rome has penetrated even into the blood of the new humanity: they are the products of the admixture "by the seed of men." But they do not cohere together: the Roman element is ever re-acting against the Germanic. The struggles between Romans and Germans have been the determining factor of modern history: we need mention only the contests between the Emperor and the Pope, which stirred the Middle Ages, and the Reformation, with the consequences following from it, which have continued antil the present day. The fourth empire has thus a genuine Roman tenacity and 1 An Historical Exposition of Daniel the Prophet, 1869, p. 195 ff. Der Prophet Daniel (1857), pp. 252-4