Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Prooemium
Daniel, the noble prophet, partly prophesies about the succession of the four monarchies of the world, namely those of the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans; likewise about the seventy weeks, about Christ, about the resurrection, about the destruction of the city and the world, about the Antichrist, and about the judgment. Hence Daniel aptly signifies in Hebrew "the judgment of God"; or, as St. Jerome translates, "God has judged me": for he describes in this work the manifold judgments of God, especially concerning various kings and kingdoms. Partly he weaves together the history of his own time: for he records the events from the third year of Joakim, king of Judah, up to the third year of Cyrus; at which time Jeremiah and Ezekiel also flourished. At the same time Ancus Martius and Tarquinius Priscus ruled the Romans; Astyages and Cyaxares the Medes; Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonians; Cyrus the Persians; Croesus the Lydians; Phalaris the Sicilians. At the same time the seven sages of Greece flourished; and the three noble poets, namely Stesichorus, Alcaeus, and Sappho the poetess: at that time also the oracle of Dodona began to be venerated. Finally, at that time three kingdoms — those of the Assyrians, Jews, and Chaldeans — and their three capitals, namely Nineveh, Jerusalem, and Babylon, were overthrown. So says Pererius. See what was said in the Preface to Ezekiel, Question II, at the end.
Question 1: Who Was Daniel?
You will ask first, who was Daniel? I answer first: Daniel was born of the tribe of Judah, namely from the royal line of the kings of Judah, as is clear from chapter I, 3. His homeland was Upper Beth-horon, say Dorotheus and Epiphanius, which is in the lot of Ephraim near Emmaus, and is nine miles distant from Jerusalem.
Second, Daniel as a youth was captured with King Joakim in the third year of his reign, which was the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and was led by him into Babylon. Pererius thinks he was then ten years old, Maldonatus twenty: and this latter is more likely, and is sufficiently gathered from chapter I, 3 and following. Whence it follows that Daniel was born around the fifteenth year of the reign of Josiah king of Judah, which was the year of the world 3320, and the year 630 before Christ.
Third, Daniel began to prophesy as a young man: for as a young man he carried out the judgment of the elders, in which he convicted them, and freed the chaste Susanna from death, as will be clear in chapter XIII, 45. For the opinion of some that there were two Daniels — one from the tribe of Levi, who freed Susanna in chapter XIII and killed the dragon and overthrew Bel in chapter XIV; another from the tribe of Judah, who performed and wrote the rest of this book — is false, as I will show in chapter XIV, 30.
Fourth, Daniel interpreted the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, both the first in chapter II, and the second in chapter IV, when he was 55 years old. The vision in chapter VII he had in his 63rd year. The vision in chapter VIII he saw when he was 63. The handwriting on the wall he explained when he was 96 years old. In his 97th year, which was the first of Darius king of the Medes, the time of the Messiah's coming and death, comprehended in those 70 weeks of chapter IX, was divinely revealed to him. The visions recorded in chapters X and XI occurred in the third year of Cyrus, that is, in Daniel's 101st year.
Fifth, Pererius calculates that Daniel died in his 138th year. For he was born, according to Pererius, in the 25th year of Josiah, who then reigned six more years, namely up to his 31st year. After Josiah, Jehoahaz reigned three months; after Jehoahaz, Joakim eleven years; after Joakim, Jehoiachin three months; after Jehoiachin, Zedekiah eleven years; after whom followed the Babylonian captivity of 70 years up to Cyrus. After the captivity Cyrus reigned 30 years; after Cyrus, Cambyses 8 years; after Cambyses, the Magi one year; after the Magi, Darius Hystaspis, in whose first year (if we believe Isidore, in his book On the Life and Death of the Prophets) Daniel died in Babylon. Now add all these years, and you will find 138; so many years therefore Daniel lived. So says Pererius. But this is an extraordinary age for a man, and unheard of in that era. Hence others think that Daniel did not exceed his hundredth year. For they hold that the Babylonian captivity of 70 years should be reckoned not from the captivity of Zedekiah, but from the captivity of Jehoiachin, as I showed in Jeremiah XXIX, 10; and thus the eleven years of Zedekiah's reign must be subtracted here, for those are included within the 70 years of captivity. Likewise they think that Cyrus after the captivity did not reign 30 years, but only three; so that once Babylon was overthrown, having already
become sole monarch, he reigned only 3 years. Hence Daniel too mentions only the first and third years of Cyrus, namely from the overthrow of Babylon: for he overthrew it near the end of his life, as historians teach. Therefore 27 years must be subtracted from Cyrus's years, during which he reigned while the Babylonian captivity was ongoing. Now add 27 and 11, you will have 38, which subtract from 138 years (for so many Pererius assigns to Daniel), and 100 years of Daniel's life will remain. Add that Sacred Scripture makes no mention of Daniel after the third year of Cyrus; from Scripture therefore we can only gather that Daniel lived 91 years; for so many there are from the 25th of Josiah to the 3rd of Cyrus. Whether, and how much longer Daniel lived, is not clear, except that Isidore says he lived until the beginning of the reign of Hystaspis; which if true, it follows that Daniel reached his hundredth year. This is according to Pererius, who holds that Daniel was ten years old when he was led to Babylon: but it is more likely that he was then about 20 years old: hence 10 years must be added to his life; so that he was born not in the 25th but in the 15th year of Josiah. This will be clear from Daniel XIII, 45. Therefore if Daniel died in the 5th year of Cyrus, he died in his 101st year: but if in the 1st year of Darius Hystaspis, he died in his 111th year. Hence it is clear that the Alexandrian Chronicle, or the Sicilian Fasti, err when they assign Daniel's death to the 1st year of Cyrus, and say he prophesied only 50 years.
Question 2: Of What Quality Was Daniel?
You will ask, second, of what quality and stature was Daniel? I answer first, he was the most reliable and celebrated chronologist of that age. Second, he was the wisest man of all people of that era, and most versed in every science, even that of the Chaldeans and other Gentiles: so much so that, when he was only 38 years old, Nebuchadnezzar and all the kings regarded his wisdom as an oracle; to the point that the king of Tyre, who considered himself the wisest, yet did not dare compare himself to Daniel. For this is what Ezekiel, mocking him with sarcasm, throws in his face in chapter XXVIII, 3: "Behold, you are wiser than Daniel, no secret is hidden from you," as I showed there. Moreover, Daniel merited this wisdom by his abstinence, as is clear from chapter I, 17.
Third, he was a Prophet and interpreter of all divine dreams (that is, those sent by God). Fourth, he was the prince and ruler of the entire Babylonian empire and monarchy, as is clear from chapter II, 48. Pliny, book VII, chapter XXVII, asserts that Cato excelled in three gifts, because he was "the best orator, the best commander, the best senator": but Daniel excelled in even more.
Fifth, he was celibate, and preserved his spotless virginity until death, as all agree: indeed Damascene, in book IV On the Faith, chapter XXV, says that on account of such great chastity both Daniel and his companions, as well as the three youths, were inviolable from the Babylonian fire.
You will object: Ezekiel XIV, 14 and 16, says: "If these three men were in the midst of it (Jerusalem) — Noah, Daniel, and Job — they by their righteousness would save their own souls, etc., not sons nor daughters." Therefore Daniel had children; therefore he was not celibate. I answer, first, that this proposition is conditional; for it says: If Daniel, Noah, and Job had children, and prayed for them, God nevertheless would not hear them, and would be inexorable. I answer, second, that "sons and daughters" must be referred respectively to Job and Noah, who had offspring, not to Daniel, who had none; so that it is a syllepsis, such as is found in Matthew and Mark, when they say the disciples murmured at the pouring out of the ointment, whereas John testifies that Judas alone murmured: and in Matthew, when he says the thieves on the cross blasphemed Christ, whereas Luke says only one blasphemed.
Hence sixth, the holiness of Daniel is evident, because he is compared by God in Ezekiel with Noah and Job, who were most holy. Three therefore stood forth in the world like suns of justice: Noah, Job, and Daniel. Note here: when God said this, Daniel was still alive, and was only 34 years old, as I said on Ezekiel XIV.
Seventh, Daniel was most zealous not only for his own salvation and perfection, but also for that of others: hence he is called "the man of desires" in chapter IX, 23; hence by praying for the people, he obtained their return from the Babylonian captivity both from God and from Cyrus. For Daniel continued in his position of authority and governance until Cyrus, who in the first year of his monarchy released the Jews from captivity. Hence finally he asked for and obtained the shortening of the time of Christ the Redeemer, and of His birth and passion, in chapter IX, 24.
Eighth, he was a martyr: for on account of his piety and invocation of the God of the Hebrews, he was cast into the den of lions, and this twice: although by God's help he escaped unharmed. For in the same way St. John is called a martyr by the Fathers, because he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil: although he came out unharmed by God's grace. Moreover, in that ancient codex of the Emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus, adorned with images and golden letters, which is preserved in the Vatican Library, Daniel with the three youths is depicted as beheaded under Attalus, and the accompanying inscription narrates the history. The credibility of this rests with the source itself: for no ancient Father or historian, as far as I know, has recorded this.
Finally, Daniel lived and died in Babylon; for he did not wish to return to Judea with Ezra and the others, for whom he had obtained the return from Cyrus — both so that he might promote the welfare and affairs of the Jews with Cyrus, and so that he might be the director and protector of the Jews who remained in great numbers in Babylon, says Theodoret on chapter X. Concerning the many and wonderful prodigies which Daniel foretold to the Babylonians before his death, Dorotheus in his Synopsis and Epiphanius in his Life of Daniel have astonishing accounts, the credibility of which rests with them. Daniel was buried in a certain cavern in Babylon with royal honor. He was enrolled by the Church in the catalogue of Saints, and his feast day is noted in the Martyrology on July 21. Dorotheus adds: "He also produced many portents for other kings of the Persians, which have not been recorded: he died in Chaldea, and was buried alone in a royal tomb with honor."
Josephus narrates, in book X of the Antiquities, that Daniel built a magnificent tower at Ecbatana in Media, so that the kings of the Medes, Persians, and Parthians might be buried in it, and that the custody of that tower was entrusted to one of the Jewish priests. "He built," says Josephus in book X, near the end, "at Ecbatana in Media a tower, a most beautiful work and worthy of singular admiration, which endures to this very day, and appears to those who see it as though of the most recent construction, just as if it had been completed on the very day it is viewed: so great an appearance of newness and so perfect a beauty does it retain, with nothing at all damaged by the long passage of time, contrary to the custom of other buildings. And the custom persists to the present time, that in that tower the kings of the Medes, Persians, and Parthians are buried, and its custody is entrusted to a priest of Jewish origin to this day." For before Daniel, the burial place of the Persian kings was at Persepolis, according to Strabo, book XV, and Diodorus Siculus, book XVII. Cyrus, however, was buried in the citadel of Pasargadae in a golden sarcophagus, says Arrian, book VI, with this inscription, says Onesicritus: "Here I lie, Cyrus, king of kings."
Note from St. Jerome: the Church before St. Jerome used the Septuagint version in the Bible, except for Daniel: for there it used not the Septuagint version, but that of Theodotion, an Ebionite heretic. After St. Jerome, however, the Church used Jerome's own translation from the Hebrew: and what Jerome did not find in the Hebrew Daniel, he translated from the Greek of Theodotion.
Question 3: Authority, Obscurity, and Excellence of Daniel
You will ask third, what is the authority, obscurity, and excellence of this prophecy of Daniel? I say first: This book has always been held as canonical among the Hebrews and Catholics, with the exception of four sections, namely the prayer of Azariah, the hymn of the three youths, the history of Susanna, and likewise that of Bel and the dragon: about which Origen, Eusebius, and Apollinaris in their time expressed doubt, calling these stories fables, because they do not exist in the Hebrew, as St. Jerome testifies in his Prologue. Yet now it is certain that all these are canonical, as is clear both from the Council of Trent, session IV, and from St. Augustine, Athanasius, Cyprian, Chrysostom, Gregory, and many other Fathers throughout, who frequently cite them just as they cite other canonical Scriptures. That they also formerly existed in Hebrew is evident from the versions of the Septuagint, Aquila, and Theodotion. For whence did they translate them into Greek, if not from the Hebrew text which then existed? Therefore Lyranus and Dionysius the Carthusian were wrong to say that these histories are true, but not canonical Sacred Scripture; but this must be pardoned in them, because they lived before the Council of Trent.
I say second: Daniel surpasses the other prophets in both obscurity and excellence. The obscurity is evident, first, from the variety both of chronology and of history so ancient, and in the reconciliation of it with pagan historians (who often narrate things different from, indeed contrary to, these). Hence St. Jerome says that for the understanding of Daniel, a knowledge of all histories — Latin, Greek, and Chaldean — is necessary. Second, from the fact that in Daniel there is frequent hysterology (inversion of chronological order) and reversed sequence. Third, because God deliberately willed the writing of Daniel to be obscure: for He says in chapter XII, 4: "But you, Daniel, close up the words and seal the book."
Note: This book was written at the beginning, namely from chapter II, 4, to the end of chapter VII, in Chaldean: for it records the deeds and words of the Chaldeans. The rest was written in Hebrew, and that by Daniel himself, as is clear from chapter VIII, 1, and chapter IX, 2, and chapter X, 2, and Matthew XXIV, 15. Therefore Porphyry, cited by St. Jerome here, was wrong to deny this, as are the Anabaptists now: but even St. Isidore, on the argument that Daniel sometimes speaks of himself in the third person. But this argument is frivolous: for this is customary among the Hebrews, as is evident from Isaiah I, 1; Jeremiah I, 1, and elsewhere.
Question 4: Scope and Division of the Book
You will ask fourth, what is the scope of this book, and what is its division? I answer: The scope is to describe the kingdom of Christ, which he begins to do in chapter VII. For the histories of the kings of Babylon, the Medes, and the Persians, which are presented in the first six chapters, and the rest which is said in chapters VII, VIII, and XI about the vicissitudes of four kingdoms, all pertain to this: that we might understand that all other kingdoms will perish, and only the kingdom of Christ will be perpetual.
Hence the division of the book is clear. For there are three parts: the first is contained in the first six chapters, which narrate the deeds of Daniel and his three companions. The second comprises six other chapters, which deal with the kingdom of Christ and the Antichrist, the one kingdom of God and the many kingdoms of the world, to be transferred from one to another. The third consists of the two final chapters, where the history of Susanna and of Bel is recounted. So says Maldonatus.
Moreover, Epiphanius in his Life of Daniel, and following him Dorotheus in his Synopsis, record other prophecies of Daniel about the destruction of Babylon and the world. Hear Epiphanius: "That Prophet (Daniel) on the high mountains of Babylon announced a prodigy, saying: Where you see a mountain on the north side blackened with smoke, at the gates of Babylon the end will be at hand. But when you see it blazing with fire, the end of the whole world will be near. But when the mountain drives the waters southward, the people will return to their native land alone, and Jerusalem will be founded far and wide, with a broader plain, as was done through Jesus the High Priest, and through Shealtiel. But if finally that mountain drips with blood, it portends the slaughter of Belial himself throughout the whole world." Belial appears to be the Antichrist. But the credibility of these things rests with Epiphanius himself.
Allegorical Types of Christ in Daniel
Allegorically, Daniel, like the other prophets, was a type and image of Christ. For, first, Daniel, led away to Babylon and made a servant, antitypically represented Christ, who from heaven descended into this world full of confusion through His incarnation, taking the form of a servant.
I say third: The excellence of this book is evident, first, from the excellence of the author, about which I have already spoken. Second, from the excellence of the subject matter, which is, first, historical; for it narrates the events of 80 years, namely from the third year of Joakim to the third of Cyrus — the events, I say, of the Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians. Hence St. Jerome, in epistle 103 to Paulinus, calls Daniel one acquainted with all times and a polyhistor of the whole world. Daniel therefore continues and carries forward the history of the Books of Kings, which ends at the Babylonian captivity, through the entire time of the captivity up to its conclusion. Second, it is prophetic: for he predicts future events in each of the monarchies, and especially among the kings of Syria, the Seleucids and Antiochids, and their overthrows and successions; likewise he predicts the birth, the death (whose year Daniel alone defined and determined by 70 weeks), and the kingdom of Christ; again, the desolation of Jerusalem and of the Jews; and finally the universal resurrection of all. Third, it is dogmatic and likewise moral; for it suggests most beautiful teachings and examples of virtues: of chastity in Susanna, of faith and constancy in the three youths, of abstinence and devotion in Daniel, of humility in Nebuchadnezzar transformed into a beast, of temperance in Belshazzar killed for his drunkenness. Finally, clear testimonies of God's judgments and providence shine forth here and there throughout. For this reason the Hebrews place Daniel not among the Prophets, as the Latins and Greeks do, but among the Hagiographa.
Second, the abstinent Daniel prefigured Christ the abstinent, living on the food and manner of the poor and fasting for 40 days.
Third, Daniel the prophet, interpreter of dreams and wisest of mortals, was an image of Christ, who is the Prince of Prophets and the Wisdom of the Father — both uncreated as God, and created as man — who narrated to us the mysteries He drew from the bosom of the Father, and brought forth things hidden from the foundation of the world.
Fourth, the stone cut from the mountain that crushed the fourfold statue, which Daniel saw in chapter II, is Christ born of the Virgin, and as it were cut out by the power of the Holy Spirit, who crushed the four kingdoms of idolaters and brought in His own heavenly kingdom of grace and glory, and spread it throughout the whole world. Again, Daniel appointed by the king over all Babylon prefigures Christ, who by the Father as man was set over the whole world. Hence He Himself says, in Matthew XXVIII: "All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth"; and therefore He has written on His thigh: "King of kings and Lord of lords," Apocalypse XIX, 16.
Fifth, the Angel resembling the Son of Man, who kept the three youths unharmed in the Babylonian furnace, Daniel III, was a figure of Christ, who frees us from the fire of hell as well as from concupiscence.
Sixth, Daniel in chapter IV, interpreting the dream of the felled tree — namely that the proud Nebuchadnezzar was to be deprived of his kingdom and cast out among the beasts — signifies Christ, who humbles the proud and exalts the humble, and who compelled the proud Roman emperors and kings ruling throughout the world to submit their necks to His faith and His cross.
Seventh, Daniel in chapter V, by mene, tekel, peres, threatening the impious Belshazzar with the destruction of his life and kingdom, allegorically is Christ threatening the impious with death, judgment, and hell.
Eighth, Daniel in chapter VI, because he worshipped God, was accused by his rival satraps and cast into the den of lions. This signifies Christ, who on account of His obedience and worship of God the Father, was driven by the envious and raging Jews — like lions — to the cross and death, descending into the pit of the sepulcher as to His body, and into the pit of the underworld as to His soul. But just as Daniel was drawn out of the pit and as it were restored to life, so too Christ on the third day rose gloriously from death, the tomb, and the underworld.
Ninth, Daniel in chapter VII saw the Ancient of Days, that is God the Father, sitting on the throne of majesty, giving to the Son of Man, that is to Christ coming on the clouds of heaven, the kingdom and judgment, to overthrow the Antichrist with his followers; and that all peoples, tribes, and tongues should serve Him, and His power should be an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and the kingdom, and the power, and the greatness of the kingdom which is under all heaven, should be given to the (Christian) people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is everlasting.
Tenth, Daniel in chapter VIII saw the he-goat, that is Alexander, Antiochus, and the Antichrist, butting against the ram, that is against Darius and against Christ and Christ's faithful — both Jews and Christians, gentle and meek — and pursuing them to death.
Eleventh, Daniel, in chapter IX, hears the year of the coming of Christ, namely that 70 weeks have been shortened until Christ the leader, so that sin may end, and iniquity be blotted out, and everlasting justice be brought in, and vision and prophecy be fulfilled, and the Holy of Holies be anointed. And after 62 weeks, Christ shall be killed: and His people — who are to deny Him — shall no longer be His. And He shall confirm the covenant with many in one week: and in the middle of the week the sacrifice and offering shall cease; and in the temple there shall be the abomination of desolation, and the desolation shall continue until the consummation and the end.
Twelfth, Daniel, the man of desires, foretells Christ desired by all nations; thus He was the desire of the eternal hills, who with immense zeal thirsted for and procured the salvation of all mankind.
Thirteenth, the Angel clothed in linen, girded with fine gold, whose face was like lightning, his eyes like a burning lamp, etc., whom Daniel saw in chapter X, represents Christ, as is clear from Apocalypse I, 13. See what I said on both passages. Again, it is Christ who there set Michael, Gabriel, and the other angels over His Church, and entrusted to them the care and protection of the faithful.
Fourteenth, the wars between the kings of the North and the South, which Daniel saw in chapter XI, signify the wars of unbelievers against the faithful, and of the Antichrist against Christ: for the faithful fight not by killing, but by dying bravely for God and Christ. Hence he says in verse 31 that for a brief time the continual sacrifice will be taken away by the Antichrist, and the abomination of desolation will be set up. And the learned among the people will teach many, and they will fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and plunder for a time, so that they may be refined, chosen, and made white until the appointed time — namely until three and a half years — after which Christ will overthrow the Antichrist with his followers in Apadno, and no one will help him.
Fifteenth, Daniel in chapter XII prophesies that through Christ all of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awaken — some to eternal life, others to everlasting reproach. But those who have been learned shall shine like the splendor of the firmament; and those who instruct many to justice shall shine like stars for all eternity.
Sixteenth, Daniel in chapter XIII, judging and condemning the elders, and absolving Susanna from calumny, bears the type of Christ the Judge, who on the day of judgment will assign the just to heaven and the unjust to hell.
Seventeenth, Daniel in chapter XIV, destroying Bel and killing the dragon, is a type of Christ, who shattered idols throughout the whole world, stripped the devil of his power, weakened him, and as it were killed him.
Tropological Application: Daniel the Stylite
Tropologically, Daniel represents the continent, the wise, prelates, religious, prophets, and contemplatives; for these are his followers, descendants, and as it were children. Therefore Daniel's successor and heir, both in abstinence, holiness, miracles, and the spirit of prophecy, as well as in name and glory, was Daniel the Stylite, who succeeded as almost an equal to Simeon the Great Stylite. For he was born near the Tigris in Mesopotamia, not far from Babylon where our prophet Daniel here had lived and prophesied, having been brought there from Judea. And when as a five-year-old he did not yet have a name, a certain holy man said that a name was to be given him by God. And so, ordered as a small child to bring one book from the many that were on the altar, by God's guidance he brought the prophecy of Daniel, and from this he was likewise named Daniel. And then, like Elisha, who having received the mantle of Elijah likewise inherited with it the double spirit of Elijah, when he received — on the very day that Simeon died — Simeon the Stylite's cowl, which had been sent through the disciple Sergius to the Emperor Leo but not accepted by him, he became the heir of his spirit and power in the working of miracles. And he ascended a pillar, standing on it continually as on a cross, as Simeon had done, and this he did by God's calling, which he understood through a dream (just as our Daniel here prophesied through dreams). For in ecstasy he saw a lofty pillar of cloud, and standing at the top of the pillar Simeon the Stylite, saying to him: "Come up here to me, Daniel." And when he doubted he could climb so high, lifted up by two shining youths, he ascended there. Simeon embraced him and, raising him toward heaven, cried out: "Be strong, Daniel; show yourself vigorous and robust, and stand handsomely and nobly." Strengthened by this vision he ascended the pillar in the year of Christ 460, and there predicted the fire of the city of Constantinople, which occurred in the year of Christ 470, and extinguished it by his prayers.
Moreover, like Daniel, he was formidable to kings on account of his prophecy and miracles: for he freed the Emperor Leo from mortal danger in a fall from a horse when Leo was visiting him. He sucked out and destroyed a horrible serpent, just as Daniel destroyed the dragon in chapter XIV. He predicted to the Emperor Zeno that, like Nebuchadnezzar, he would be expelled from his empire and nourished in exile, and for lack of food would eat herbs, and afterwards would be recalled by those who hated him, and would return to the empire, and would meet the end of his life in it. All these things happened just as he had predicted. He rebuked the heretical Emperor Basiliscus, who was prostrating himself at his feet, but insincerely, calling him a new Diocletian, and predicted that he would be deprived of the empire. He died at eighty years of age, having stood on his pillar for twenty-nine years, in the year of the Lord 489, in the presence of many Saints and Angels visiting him from heaven. Cyrus the prefect, whose wife and daughter he had freed from a demon, inscribed this epigram on his pillar: "Here stands a man who does not fear the winds that assail him from every side; he uses ambrosial nourishment and is free from human thirst. On deep foundations he has built his edifice, upon a double pillar. For the root is Simeon, proclaiming the Son of a mother free from corruption." He mentions Simeon, because Daniel was his imitator, and as it were his disciple and successor. Thus each was a miracle and a wonder to the world. Hence by the holiness and miracles of Daniel the Stylite, the king of the Lazi was converted from idolatry to Christianity, as Baronius teaches, in the year of Christ 522. For he was plainly, like our Daniel, a wonder-worker, and powerful in deed as well as in prayer and speech. Wherefore over his coffin, as he was being buried, three crosses formed by stars appeared, though it was daytime and the sun was shining most brightly; moreover, the whitest doves also appeared. Likewise, the relics of the three youths who had been in Babylon were placed upon him, as the Saint had ordered — lest those approaching should worship his relics rather than those who had been placed upon him: for he fled all human glory. These and more details are found in his Life on December 11.