Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Up to this point Daniel has narrated his own affairs, and the deeds and dreams of the Babylonian kings; but here and henceforth he narrates his own visions. And so here properly begins the prophecy of Daniel. In this chapter, therefore, Daniel sees four beasts, which signify four monarchies, and the kingdom of Antichrist. Second, in verse 9, he sees God the Father, as an old man, judging concerning Antichrist and concerning Christ, and awarding the cause and the kingdom to Christ. Third, in verse 21, he describes the kingdom of Antichrist. Fourth, in verse 27, he describes the kingdom of Christ and the Saints, which will succeed all others and will be glorious and eternal.
Vulgate Text: Daniel 7:1-28
he said: 2. I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of heaven were striving upon the great sea. 3. And four great beasts came up from the sea, different from one another. 4. The first was like a lioness, and had the wings of an eagle: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon its feet as a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. 5. And behold another beast like a bear stood to one side: and three rows were in its mouth, and in its teeth, and they said thus to it: Arise, devour much flesh. 6. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, and it had wings as of a bird, four upon it, and the beast had four heads, and power was given to it. 7. After this I beheld in the vision of the night, and behold a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful, and exceedingly strong; it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet: and it was different from all the beasts that I had seen before it, and it had ten horns. 8. I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprang out of the midst of them: and three of the first horns were plucked up at the presence thereof: and behold eyes, like the eyes of a man, were in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things. 9. I beheld till thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days sat: His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like clean wool: His throne like flames of fire: His wheels like burning fire. 10. A swift stream of fire issued forth from before Him. Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before Him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened. 11. I beheld because of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke: and I saw that the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed, and given to be burnt with fire: 12. and the power of the other beasts also was taken away, and times of life were appointed for them to a time and a time. 13. I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and He came even to the Ancient of Days: and they presented Him before Him. 14. And He gave Him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve Him: His power is an everlasting power, which shall not be taken away: and His kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. 15. My spirit trembled, I Daniel was affrighted at these things, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16. I went near to one of them that stood by, and asked the truth of him concerning all these things. He told me the interpretation of the words, and instructed me: 17. These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth. 18. But the Saints of the Most High God shall receive the kingdom: and they shall possess the kingdom forever and ever. 19. After this I wished to learn diligently about the fourth beast, which was very different from all, and exceedingly terrible: whose teeth and claws were of iron: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet: 20. and about the ten horns that it had on its head: and about the other that had sprung up, before which three horns fell: and of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and was greater than the rest. 21. I beheld, and that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed over them, 22. until the Ancient of Days came, and He gave judgment to the saints of the Most High, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom. 23. And he said thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24. And the ten horns of that kingdom shall be ten kings: and another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mightier than the former, and he shall bring down three kings. 25. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall crush the saints of the Most High: and he shall think himself able to change times and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time. 26. And the judgment shall sit, that his power may be taken away, and be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end. 27. And the kingdom, and power, and the greatness of the kingdom, which is under the whole heaven, be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve Him, and shall obey Him. 28. Hitherto is the end of the word. I Daniel was much troubled by my thoughts, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the word in my heart.
and to have their eyes fixed upon Him; nor could Daniel see all of them ministering in any other way. Thus Gabriel, who is among the attending, as is clear from Luke I, 19, is also among the ministering who are sent forth; for he was sent to Daniel, ch. VIII, 16, and to the Blessed Virgin, Luke I, 26. Likewise Michael, who is the first of the angels, and consequently of the Seraphim who attend upon God, ministers and fights for the Church and the faithful, Daniel X, 13, and chapter XII, 1. Likewise the seven spirits, that is, the chief angels, who are before the throne of God, Apocalypse I, 4, and therefore belong to the attending, are said to be 'sent into all the earth,' ch. V, 6. Therefore the same ones who attend are also those who minister: because wherever they are sent, they always see the face of the Father, as Christ says, Matthew ch. XVIII, 10. Properly speaking, however, they are said to attend when they stand before God in the empyrean heaven; but to minister when they are sent forth. So Molina, Part I, Question CXII.
Verse 1: In the first year of Balsasar
1. In the first year of Balsasar. — Therefore this vision was presented to Daniel during the Babylonian captivity, in the year 97 from the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, as is clear from what was said in chapter V, 1.
Verse 2: The four winds of heaven strove upon the sea
2. The four winds of heaven strove upon the sea. — By the sea, understand the world, which is tossed about, and abounds with salt and bitter waves like the sea, in which the proud are lifted up on high by swelling, only to fall more deeply. So St. Jerome and Rupert. By the four winds, either with St. Jerome, understand the angels presiding over the four kingdoms that follow; for angels are like winds, invisible and swift. Hence the Psalmist says: 'Who makes His angels spirits.' How the angels fight among themselves for their kingdoms, we shall see in chapter X, 13. Or rather, with Theodoret, understand the tumults, commotions, and disturbances that arose at the beginning of each of these four kingdoms. Moreover, all these are represented simultaneously here to Daniel in vision, as also the four monarchies, although in reality they did not exist simultaneously, but in turn and successively. The winds also indicate the inconstancy, transience, and vicissitude of these kingdoms. Hence often in every century, or hundred years, we see individual kingdoms transferred to another family or nation, or greatly altered. With the angels, therefore, look down from heaven upon these winds.
Finally, Orosius, Book II of the History, ch. 1, and Book VII, ch. II, considers these four monarchies to have been situated in the four winds, that is, the four quarters of the world. For he says the Roman empire was western; the Babylonian, eastern; the Macedonian, northern; the Carthaginian (for he substitutes this with the African for the Persian, and says it lasted seven hundred years), southern. He adds that the Roman, rising from the West, was nourished by the inheritance of the East, and that the Macedonian and Carthaginian held the roles of guardian and tutor: for all empires ended and passed into the Roman. But there is no mention of Carthage here.
Verse 3: Four beasts
3. Four beasts. — These signify four kingdoms, as is clear from verse 17. Durandus, Pighius, Briedo, and from these Ludovicus Molina, On Justice, tract. II, disp. XXIV, note that these empires are likened to beasts, not to men, because they were for the most part unjustly and tyrannically acquired, as well as governed: 'For the common vice of monarchy is tyranny,' says Elias of Crete in the Apology of Nazianzus, oration 1. And St. Augustine, Book IV of The City of God, ch. IV and VI, calls such kingdoms great robberies. The monarchs of old, therefore, were great robbers. Hence pirates captured by Alexander the Great, when asked what they were doing, replied that they were doing with one ship and a few men in part of the sea what Alexander was doing with many in the whole world; that they were small robbers, and Alexander was a great robber, as Augustine relates in the same place. Nevertheless, it is said that these empires were from time to time given and granted by God: first, because God permitted them; second, because He used them for the pun-
ishment; third, it is specifically said of Cyrus that God made him king, because He directed him to empire for this end, that he might free the Jews from Babylon.
Verse 4: The first was like a lioness
4. The first was like a lioness. — This signifies the first monarchy, namely that of the Chaldeans; and especially the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, who marvelously enlarged it. He is called a lioness on account of his power and ferocity. For a lioness is more fierce than a lion, especially when nursing her cubs. Also on account of lust: for a lioness, as Aristotle and Pliny attest, is always eager for mating; and not content with the lion, she also mates with the hyena and the leopard: for from these unions leopards are born. Thus Jeremiah calls the same one a lion, chapter IV, 7: 'He has come up, he says, like a lion from his thicket, and the destroyer of nations has set out.' And Isaiah, chapter V, 29: 'His roaring, he says, is like that of a lion.' Here pertains the elegant and witty enigma, or rather epigram about the ass:
By hoof he is reckoned a horse, by ear a hare, by voice a lion, and by color a wolf, But by his whole head he is an ass.
And it had the wings of an eagle. — This king was like a monster; for he was partly a lion on account of his savagery, partly an eagle on account of his swiftness in waging wars: for a lion is the strongest, but an eagle is swifter; an eagle is the swiftest, but a lion is stronger. Thus Jeremiah, chapter IV, 13, says of the same: 'His horses are swifter than eagles,' and chapter XLVIII, 40: 'Behold, he shall fly like an eagle.' So Maldonatus.
Its wings were plucked off. — First, St. Jerome and Theodoret attribute this to Balsasar. For his wings were plucked when he was slain, and then it appeared that he was not a lion, but had the heart of a man, that is, was weak and mortal. Second, genuinely and properly these things are to be referred to Nebuchadnezzar: for his wings were plucked when he was stripped of his empire and sent out among the beasts; but being restored to himself, and made again a feeble man, he stood upright, who before had been bent over like a beast. And he had the heart of a man, because he acknowledged his own weakness; and he led a human life, whereas previously he had lived like a wild beast and raged like a lion. Although Nebuchadnezzar was already dead (for Daniel had this dream in the first year of Balsasar, who was his son), nevertheless he prophesies under his person about the future transfer of the kingdom; because to him first the transfer of the kingdom was prefigured through the fourfold statue, in chapter II, and through the hewn tree, in chapter IV.
Verse 5: And behold another beast like a bear
5. And behold another beast like a bear. — This second monarchy is that of the Persians; and, as the Syriac and Arabic translate, of the Medes. It is compared to a bear: first, because bears are most patient of labors and most tolerant of hunger; for, as Aristotle teaches, Book VIII of the History of Animals, ch. XVII, bears pass a great part of winter without any food or nourishment, and live solely by sucking their front paws. Aelian reports that the same thing is done by a she-bear whenever she grows too fat, so that, the fat being consumed, she may become more agile. Hence that famine, as Eustathius relates, was sent upon the Athenians by the angry Diana, because they had killed a she-bear that had been born in her temple at Munichia, so that they might be afflicted by hunger for having destroyed an animal most patient of hunger. Such also were the ancient Persians, as Xenophon and St. Jerome attest here, namely laborious, and living on bread and cardamom alone.
Second, because the bear has a weak head and poor eyesight: hence if it happens that it must throw itself from a cliff under pressing force, it covers its head with its paws and so throws itself down. Pliny, Book VIII, ch. XXXVI, reports that often in the arena, when a blow was struck on the head of bears, they were knocked senseless. He adds there that the eyes of bears often grow dim; therefore they seek out beehives, so that the blood from the wound on their mouth made by the bees may relieve the heaviness. Moreover, they are sometimes so weighed down by sleep that they cannot be roused even by being cut with wounds; and they grow wonderfully fat in that torpor, just as dormice grow fat by sleeping. So also the Persians prevailed, not so much by prudence, shrewdness, vigilance, or strength, as by an innumerable multitude of men, or by the cowardice of their enemies.
Third, the offspring of bears, says Pliny, is shapeless, and seems to be nothing but white and crude flesh, without hair, without eyes, without legs; but the mother, by licking it gradually, so shapes it as to render it perfect and handsome. So Cyrus, by training the lowly and crude Persians, through his prudence and military skill gradually advanced them to empire.
Fourth, a bear is savage, as everyone knows: such also were the Persians, being barbarians. Pererius denies this, but St. Jerome and Theodoret affirm it. And this is evident from their punishments of criminals and enemies. For they would even flay men alive, and by cutting their bodies limb by limb, they put them to death by a slow and bitter death. How cruel Shapur, Yazdegerd, and other Persian kings were to Christians, Theodoret teaches, Book V, ch. XVIII, and Socrates, Book VII, ch. XVIII. Finally, Tomyris, after slaying Cyrus, reproached his greed for blood, as I shall presently say.
It stood to one side. — The Syriac clearly says: It stood to one side, meaning: It rushed against one side only, namely against the Babylonians; for when these were conquered by Cyrus, the Persians gained the empire. So Vatablus. Even now for many centuries the Persian kingdom stands in part, because it contains only Persia, Media, Assyria, and a few other territories in its empire. The Hebrews explain it differently, meaning: Cyrus stood, that is, was kind to one nation, namely the Hebrews, while he fiercely attacked others. Theodoret explains it still differently, meaning: The kingdom of the Persians was overthrown by Alexander; yet it stood in part, because afterward under the Romans it raised its head, and stood in Persia alone. But these interpretations are irrelevant here. For the discussion concerns the beginning and growth of the Persian kingdom.
Three rows were in its mouth. — St. Jerome translates 'three rows'; Theodotion, 'three sides'; Theodoret, 'three wings'; others, 'three ribs in the mouth between its teeth': so the Syriac and Arabic; Vatablus, 'three morsels.' For it signifies that this bear had in its mouth not three rows of teeth, as some think, as though by them the greatest power were signified; but three rows of flesh or food, which it was chewing with its teeth (hence the Chaldean, the Greek, and Vatablus have 'between the teeth'). Hence what follows: 'Arise, devour much flesh.' The Hebrews think that three future kings of the Persians are signified here, but they are mistaken; for there were many more. I say therefore that these three rows are three empires, namely the Babylonian, the Median, and the Persian, which in the second monarchy were joined together by Cyrus and reduced to one. So St. Jerome. Hence Theodoret also understands here three regions of the world: for Cyrus conquered the East, Cambyses the South, namely Egypt and Ethiopia, and Darius Hystaspes the North, namely the Scythians.
Devour much flesh — that is, slay very many. Hence Tomyris, queen of the Scythians, having slain Cyrus, threw his head into a sack full of blood and taunting him said: 'Sate yourself, Cyrus, with the blood which you thirsted for, and of which you were insatiable.'
Symbolically, and as it were allegorically, Optatus of Milevis, Book III Against Parmenian, takes the lion to mean the persecution of the faithful under the emperors Decius and Valerian, and the bear to mean that which occurred under Diocletian and Maximian: 'To all, he says, it is known
what their artful cruelty accomplished. Every place was a temple for crime (of idolatry); those near death were defiled, unknowing infancy was polluted, small children were carried by their mothers to the abomination, parents were compelled to commit bloodless parricides, some were compelled to overthrow the temples of the living God, others to deny Christ, others to burn the divine laws, others to offer incense.'
Tropologically, the bear, which is greedy for honey, bears the image of lust, which pursues bodily pleasures. It devours much flesh, that is, very many carnal men. It has three rows of teeth, because it tears apart youths, men, and old men, whose gray hairs are not a sign of wisdom but only of age. It devours and tears apart the carnal, those softened by luxury, not those hardened by penance, not those armed with chastity and purity. For such men do not fear its teeth.
Verse 6: And behold another like a leopard
6. And behold another like a leopard. — This third monarchy is that of the Greeks and of Alexander, who is compared to a leopard. Note: Although Solinus, ch. XXI, considers the leopard and the panther to be two different animal species, nevertheless Aristotle, Pliny, Dioscorides, Gaza, and others say they are the same species and the same animal. The leopard therefore is the panther or rather the πανθήρ (for 'panthera' more often designates the female, while 'pardus' and 'panther' designate the male), that is, plainly wild and savage. Hence aconite is called παρδαλιαγχές, because it kills panthers. The leopard therefore, first, is spotted and variegated, as Jeremiah says in chapter XIII, 23. Second, St. Jerome says here, it is 'most swift, and rushes headlong to blood.' Third, it is cunning, and distinguished in its eyes and whole skin; and so partly by the variety and beauty of its pelt, partly by its scent, as Pliny says, it attracts animals to itself (meanwhile concealing its ugly and hideous head), and devours them, especially fawns, monkeys, gazelles, and wild goats. So Aelian, Aristotle, Volaterranus, and Gesner on the Panther.
Fourth, leopards delight in wine: hence perhaps the poets fable that they were once the nursing women of Bacchus; and for this reason they are even captured when made drunk with wine. So Oppian and Gesner. Fifth, the leopard is proud, and despises other beasts beneath itself. Plutarch, in his Moralia, relates a fable about the leopard: When, he says, the leopard was once looking down on the fox because it had a skin variegated with spots of every color, the fox replied that the beauty she had was in her mind, while what he had was only in his skin; and that it was far better to be endowed with a crafty intelligence than with a multicolored hide.
Sixth, although leopards are savage and swift, and, as Claudian says in Panegyric VIII, like lightning, nevertheless when they sense a hunter or enemy equal to them in strength, they are timid. Hence the heart of the panther is very large in proportion (for those that have a small heart are bold; those with a large one, timid), as with other timid animals, because of fear of wrongdoing, say Aristotle, Pliny, and Gesner. For thieving and rapacious animals, although bold in pursuing prey, are yet timid before hunters, on account of their consciousness of wrongdoing, namely theft and plunder.
Such in all respects was Alexander: namely a leopard, or panther, as Theodotion translates it: first, variegated and spotted, with both vices and virtues; second, savage and fierce in battles; third, shrewd and cunning; fourth, given to wine; fifth, arrogant; sixth, he had a mixture of shame and fear with boldness, and likewise mixed fortunes. For in life he was fortunate in victories, but in death unfortunate; inasmuch as he was destroyed by his own people along with his entire lineage.
The four wings signify both the swiftness of his victories — for in six years he subdued all of Asia, and a great part of Africa and Europe — and the greatness, vigor, and genius of his soul, like a fire-bird, which Pliny, Book VII, ch. XV, attributes to Julius Caesar; and also his ambition, by which he wished to be worshipped as a god, as if he were the son of Jupiter Hammon. Hence he was greeted by a priest of Jupiter Hammon with flattery as ὦ παῖ Διός, that is, 'O son of Jupiter!' instead of what he should have said, ὦ παιδίον, that is, 'O little son!' says Plutarch. Who also adds that when he was wounded by an arrow and tormented with enormous pain, he exclaimed: 'This blood, friends, which flows is human, not such as customarily flows from the blessed gods.' Hages and Cleo flattered him in this ambition, says Curtius, Book VIII, who opened heaven for him and boasted that Hercules and Bacchus, and Castor with Pollux, would yield to the new deity. Callisthenes opposed them, saying: 'Divinity sometimes follows a man, but never accompanies him. First nature must be removed from the eyes of mortals before fame can carry one to heaven. Make someone a king, if you can make him a god: for it is easier to give an empire than heaven.' Wherefore Callisthenes was at last put to death by Alexander. Indeed, even in dying, Alexander aspired to this smoke of divinity, as I shall say in chapter VIII, 8.
Moreover, Curtius, Book X, describes and compares Alexander's virtues with his vices as follows: 'It is clear that the good qualities of his nature were either from fortune or from his age; the incredible force of his spirit; patience for labor almost excessive; bravery outstanding not only among kings, but also among those whose sole virtue this was; a generosity that often bestowed more than is asked of the gods; clemency toward the conquered, so many kingdoms either restored to those from whom he had taken them in war, or given as gifts; perpetual contempt for death, the fear of which paralyzes others; desire for glory and praise, greater than what is just, yet to be allowed in a young man and in such great affairs; then his piety toward his parents — he had resolved to consecrate Olympias to immortality, and had avenged Philip; then his kindness toward nearly all his friends, his goodwill toward his soldiers; judgment equal to the greatness of his soul, and a shrewd-
ness which his age could scarcely contain; moderation of immoderate desires; the use of love within the bounds of natural desire; and no pleasure except that which was permitted — these were truly magnificent endowments.'
Then he adds his vices: 'The vices of fortune were: to make himself equal to the gods, and to seek heavenly honors, and to believe oracles that encouraged such things; and to be angry more violently than was fitting with those who disdained to worship him; to change his bodily attire to foreign dress; to imitate the customs of conquered nations which he had despised before victory. For just as youth had inflamed his irascibility and desire for wine, so old age might have tempered them. It must be confessed, however, that while he owed very much to virtue, he owed more to fortune.' Was not Alexander, therefore, a variegated and spotted leopard? Was he not a chameleon who put on the color, dress, and customs of the nations he had conquered?
Tertullian beautifully says, in his book On the Cloak: 'Alexander, he says, had conquered the Median nation (the Persians), and was conquered by the Median garment: having laid aside his triumphal armor, he went forth in captive trousers; his breast, sculptured with the emblems of scales, he bared by covering it with transparent fabric, still panting from the work of war, and extinguished it with silk fanning it more softly. The swelling Macedonian was not satisfied unless even a more inflated garment delighted him.' Hence he placed around his head a purple diadem bordered with white, such as Darius had worn, and put on Persian dress, says Curtius.
Finally, in the leopard is noted the immense glory of Alexander, which he acquired for himself from the subjugation of so many nations. For this is figured by the variegated and eye-spotted pelt of the leopard, 'which makes these beasts memorable,' says Solinus, ch. XXI. Just as therefore among birds the peacock, with its multicolored and ocellated tail, wonderfully expresses the vain glory of the world, so among beasts the leopard, variegated with eye-spots, best represents the same thing. And just as the peacock is proud of its feathers but dejected at its feet — for when it looks down at its feet, it lowers its beautiful circle of plumage and contracts what it had spread out — so also the leopard is proud of its eye-spots; but when it looks at its beastly feet, it puts aside its pride. So also Alexander lowered his spirits and his crest, when looking at the feet of man, he recognized himself to be fragile and mortal in death. So Alcazar on Apocalypse ch. III, 12, p. 685.
And it had four heads. — These are the four chief generals of Alexander, among whom he divided his empire: namely Philip, to whom Macedonia fell; Antigonus, to whom Asia Minor fell; Seleucus, to whom Syria fell; and Ptolemy Lagus, to whom Egypt fell. So St. Jerome and others generally.
And power was given to it. — This indicates that Alexander was to establish his monarchy not so much by his own strength, as by the gift of God.
Verse 7: And behold a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful
7. And behold a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful. — This is the fourth monarchy of the Romans. Daniel saw a certain beast, but one unknown to us, because he does not describe it, and this in order to signify the incomparable power and ferocity of the Romans, for the signification of which no species of beast known to us could be found adequate. Therefore in their usual manner the Rabbis conjecture, or rather talk nonsense, when they claim this beast was that boar of which Psalm LXXIX, 14 says: 'The boar from the forest has laid it waste, and the singular wild beast has devoured it.' In which place they think the destruction of Judea by the Romans under Vespasian is predicted, so that he himself is the boar; and the forest is Rome, which before its conversion to Christ, St. Leo in his Sermon on St. Peter rightly calls a forest of raging beasts. But they err: for a boar is not more savage than a lioness, a bear, and a leopard.
Moreover, Daniel does not express the species or name of this fourth beast, because it was various and monstrous: to signify that the government of the Romans would be new and varied. For first kings administered it; second, consuls; third, decemvirs; fourth, again consuls, with the addition of a dictator; fifth, emperors, with consuls and tribunes remaining. And so one monstrous republic was fashioned from monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, which embraced not one empire, but all the empires of the world, so that 'Rome was, as it were, the world in miniature,' as St. Cyprian says, epistle 45.
Such a beast, but a fabulous one, is that in Lucretius, Book V:
'In front a lion, behind a serpent, in the middle the chimera itself.'
And that in Virgil, Georgics IV:
'Or when suddenly it becomes a bristling boar, a black tiger, A scaly dragon, and a lioness with tawny neck.'
Such also was the sphinx, whose threefold appearance, as well as the riddle it proposed, Ausonius describes thus in his Gryphon of Threes:
'She too, seeking mates through a triple riddle, Who would be two-footed, four-footed, and three-footed, all things alone: Affrighted Aonia — a bird, lion, maiden in triple form: The sphinx, a bird in wings, a beast in feet, a girl in face.'
Oedipus solved this riddle of the sphinx:
Man, he said, is signified, who first as an infant creeps on hands and feet, as a quadruped; then stronger and taller, walks as a biped; finally, old and feeble, walks as a triped, leaning on a staff. Man therefore in the morning is a quadruped, at noon a biped, in the evening a triped.
Note: Daniel calls this beast, namely the Roman monarchy, first, terrible; second, 'wonderful,' that is, astonishing and horrible — for this is the Chaldean emtani; hence Theodotion also translates it φοβερὸν καὶ ἔκθαμβον (fearful and terrifying); third, exceedingly strong; fourth, he says it had iron teeth and great ones, that is, great and strong armies — for the weapons of a beast are its teeth. Fifth, he calls it a devouring and crushing beast, that is, tearing apart; because it seemed to devour men. Sixth, he says it trampled with its feet whatever it did not devour or tear apart, as beasts do that do not eat or kill men, but trample them: by which he signifies that the Romans would subjugate with tribute those whom they did not kill. Seventh, he says it had ten horns, that is, ten powerful kings (as the angel says in verse 24, and St. John, Apocalypse XVII, 12), who will exist toward the end of the world before the judgment, as the angel indicates in verses 26 and 9 and 13. See what was said on Apocalypse XVII, 12.
Verse 8: And behold another little horn sprang out of the midst of them
8. And behold another little horn sprang out of the midst of them. — First, Porphyry, according to St. Jerome, held this horn to be Antiochus Epiphanes; but he belonged to the third Greek monarchy, whereas Daniel is now treating of the fourth, the Roman.
Second, the Jews claim this horn is Christ, who preached for three and a half years; He, they say, made war against the Saints, because He overthrew the law of Moses and of the Jews. But this is blasphemy, as foolish as it is impious. For if that is so, why then do the Jews not reign after the death of Christ? For this is what Daniel asserts here about the Saints against whom that horn fought, in verses 18 and 27. Indeed, why were the Jews destroyed by Titus after the death of Christ? Why did Christ's kingdom flourish more after His death and subdue the whole world to itself? For Daniel plainly prophesies the contrary about this horn.
Third, the Lutherans take this horn to mean the Roman Pontiff; but foolishly and absurdly, as Calvin himself admits: for the ten horns have not yet been born, and much less this eleventh one; they are still awaited as yet to be born.
Fourth, Vatablus and others understand this horn to mean the Turk, who, growing from small beginnings, overcame two horns, that is, two kingdoms, namely Constantinople and Egypt; the third horn remains for him to overcome. Or these three kingdoms are those of Asia, Africa, and Egypt, which he has already occupied.
To this pertains the opinion of Giovanni Nanni and Hector Pinto, that this horn is Mohammed. But neither the Turk nor Mohammed overturned ten horns, nor did he reign for only three and a half years, but for many more; nor is he yet to be born, but was born long ago.
'Therefore let us say, says St. Jerome, what all ecclesiastical writers have handed down: that at the consummation of the world, when the Roman kingdom is to be destroyed, there will be ten kings,' as ten horns, who will indeed arise from the Roman Empire, but will not be Roman emperors, 'who will divide the Roman world among themselves,' and then the 'eleventh' little horn, that is, 'a small king will arise' (namely Antichrist), born in an obscure place and of common origin, 'who,' gradually growing, 'will overcome three kings from those ten,' namely 'the king of Egypt, the king of Africa, and the king of Ethiopia; and when these are destroyed, the remaining seven kings will also submit their necks to the victor,' as is said in verse 24. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Irenaeus, Book V, and Lactantius, Book VII, ch. XVI, Joseph Acosta, Book II On the Last Times, ch. IX, Ribera, and the interpreters generally, both here and on Apocalypse XIII and XVII. Only St. Augustine doubts, Book XX of The City of God, XXIII, whether by ten kings all kings are not meant, so that a definite number is put for an indefinite one; because in his time the division and partition of the empire had only
Moreover, this king is said to have 'the eyes of a man,' lest we think he will be a devil, as some have supposed; but rather a man, in whom all of Satan will dwell bodily. So St. Jerome. Second, and better, the eyes of a man signify the human wisdom and prudence of Antichrist, by which he will deceive many, says Theodoret; likewise, the simulation of humanity and virtue by which he will attract many. Maldonatus, however, thinks that through the eyes the pride of Antichrist is noted: for this appears especially in the eyes. He will also have 'a mouth speaking great things,' because he will be the man of sin, the son of perdition, so that he will dare to sit in the temple of God, making himself as God. Mystically, see St. Gregory, Book XXXII of the Moralia, ch. XII.
From this it is clear that Antichrist has not yet come, both because these ten horns, three of which are to be crushed by the little horn, have not yet been seen; and because the Angel, in verse 26, indicates that he will come at the end of the world and is to be killed by Christ, 'that his power may be taken away, and be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end.' Hence St. Paul says that Christ will slay him with the breath of His mouth. See what was said on II Thessalonians II, 3 and following.
of the East and West, had been made by the Caesars; for there were only two emperors of the world, and as it were two kings. Hence Augustine feared that perhaps we who expected these ten kings might be deceived; because it seemed to him that Antichrist was not far off, and he could not see how a double kingdom could be so quickly split into tenfold. But we should no longer fear this, since we now actually see it, and can easily count in the world ten, or even more, absolute kings subject to no one.
Hence it again follows that those err who take the ten kings to mean ten Roman emperors who formerly persecuted the Church, namely Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Antoninus, Severus, Aurelian, Decius, Maximian, Valerian, and Diocletian. For these ten kings will exist at the end of the world, and Antichrist will kill three of them, and then the remaining seven, terrified, will submit to him. For it cannot be explained how Nero, Decius, Severus, or any other of those first ten emperors could be crushed by Antichrist. Now, whether Rome is to be overthrown by the ten kings before Antichrist or under Antichrist, I discussed and resolved in Apocalypse ch. XVII, 16.
Verse 9: I beheld till thrones were placed
9. I beheld till thrones were placed. — Note: After the four monarchies, Daniel here, just as in chapter II, 44, describes the kingdom of Christ, which will succeed them at the end of the world. Daniel therefore here depicts the majesty of God, as it were judging concerning Christ and Antichrist, and awarding the cause to Christ, and delivering the kingdom to Him: a kingdom, I say, not only spiritual, as in chapter II, 44, but also corporal, namely a glorious one, when after the four monarchies and the kingdom of Antichrist have been overthrown, Christ on the day of judgment, His enemies, namely the reprobate, having been cast into eternal fire, will receive from the Father a stable kingdom, in which He will reign in heaven and on earth for all eternity.
Symbolically, the throne signifies, first, the majesty of God; second, His kingdom and empire; third, His judicial power; fourth, His immobility and immutability, as St. Dionysius teaches, On the Divine Names, ch. IX.
Note: These thrones are set for God the Father; for He is the judge here. But there are many, so that in them He may inaugurate Christ as King, and appoint His Apostles; or rather, so that through many thrones the greater and more holy majesty of God the judge may be represented. For this happens when a judge has many counselors around him, or when a king has many princes seated around him, more than when he sits alone. A similar scene is in Apocalypse IV and V. The angels therefore sit here on thrones as counselors of God, to distribute kingdoms among men. For thus in chapter IV, 17, the angels are introduced as judges in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, concerning the removal of his kingdom: 'The decree, he says, is by the sentence of the watchers.' So Maldonatus.
The Ancient of Days sat — not Christ, as St. Jerome would have it, but God the Father: for Christ here is rather the one being judged than the judge. God the Father therefore sits here on the tribunal, and the Son is brought before Him as one about to plead His case (similar to Apocalypse ch. IV and V). For He contends with Antichrist over the kingdom, which the Father awards to Him. Hence it is clear that this passage directly and properly does not treat of the last judgment (as some think), in which Christ will corporally and visibly judge the living and the dead; but of another spiritual and invisible one, by which God the Father at the same time will crush Antichrist and all his followers, the enemies of Christ, and subject them to Christ: just as by a similar judgment He subjected and overthrew Antiochus, Nebuchadnezzar, and other tyrants. Nevertheless, you may rightly apply all these things to the day of judgment: for its prelude and beginning are described here. For this will be the judgment of God, similar to the final judgment of Christ, near to it and preceding it, and will prepare the way for it by creating Christ as judge.
Note: The majesty of God the Father is described here, by saying first that He is the Ancient of Days: both because He is full of days; and because He existed before all days and times; and because He is the creator of all time, and in Himself and in His eternity eminently contains all the antiquity of time. Hence St. Dionysius, ch. X On the Divine Names, says: 'God is praised as the Ancient of Days, because He Himself is the age and the time and the day of all things, and before the day, and before the age, and time and day; existing as unchangeable and immovable, and in this that which always moves remaining in itself, and as the cause of age and time and days.' Also because He is more ancient than His Son, that is, prior in origin, insofar as the Son is God; and also prior in time, insofar as the Son is man. And finally, because He has immense wisdom and experience: for this is especially required in a judge, and is found in the aged; for, as it says in Sirach ch. XXV, verse 8: 'The crown of the aged is
much experience'; and Job XII, 12: 'In the ancients is wisdom, and in length of time prudence.' Some, as Theodoret attests, instead of 'Ancient of Days,' translate 'making days ancient'; meaning that by His eternity He transcends all days and times, and as it were antiquates, abrogates, and abolishes them as inferior to Himself; while He Himself remains stable and vigorous, free from all mutability, succession, and defect.
Thus the ancients, especially the poets, imagined Saturn, the father of Jupiter and the gods, to be an old man, sated with years, and thence to be called Saturn. Hear Cicero, Book II On the Nature of the Gods: 'They wished Saturn to be the one who contained the course and revolution of spaces and times; this god has the very same name in Greek. For he is called Kronos, which is the same as χρόνος, that is, a space of time. And he was called Saturn because he is saturated with years. For he is commonly depicted as devouring those born from himself; because age consumes the spaces of time, and is insatiably filled with years gone by.' Others consider Saturn to be called Kronos, as if from satiety of understanding: for in Greek κόρος means satiety, and νοῦς means mind and intellect. Saturn, therefore, they say, is a name composed of a first Latin part and a later Greek part, and means the same as satiety of mind, which God alone provides.
Second, He is said to have sat, by catachresis, that is, with the utmost tranquility, authority, and majesty He exercised the judgment by which He would deliver to the Son the kingdom merited by Him.
Third, His hair is white, that is, His locks are 'as clean wool,' that is, white, dyed with no color but its natural one, because gray hair belongs to the aged. Again, hair similar to wool suggests that in the divine judgments, even on that last day, much gentleness and clemency will be mixed in: for God never exhausts the dregs of His rigor, says Antonius Fernandius, vision XXIV, commentary II, section II.
Fourth, His garments are white; because He is most pure: for He is the very eternal and uncreated light; hence Psalm CIV, 2, says: 'Clothed with light as with a garment.' For since whiteness among all colors most reflects light, and has the greatest amount of brightness, therefore a white garment is always attributed to God, which signifies His splendor and glory.
There exists on this matter an enigma of the ancient Magi: 'There is a thing wholly bright, there is a thing wholly dark; there is a thing partly bright, partly dark.' Namely, in the order of bodies, the thing wholly bright is any star above the moon; the air is wholly dark; the moon is partly bright, partly dark. In the order of spirits, the thing wholly bright is God and the divine mind; the irrational soul is wholly dark; partly bright, partly dark is the intellect and reason. Hence the Apostle, I Corinthians III, 13, says that the day of the Lord (namely the day of the last judgment) will be revealed in fire — in fire, I say, both literal, by which the world will be consumed, and metaphorical, which will be the clear and exact, and as it were fiery examination of the works of each person. Hence Cajetan in the same place
His throne was like flames of fire — His throne is a flame, indeed many flames. The fiery throne of God the Father signifies, first, His inaccessible and immense glory; second, the sincerity and public manifestation of His divine judgment; third, the efficacy of the same, and the punishment of Antichrist and the reprobate by the fire of Gehenna. Hence God is called by Paul a consuming fire. So St. Jerome.
His wheels were a burning fire. — The Septuagint has 'burning fire'; Vatablus, 'blazing fire.' This throne has wheels, either because such were formerly the thrones of kings — hence Vatablus says: 'The seats of kings were formerly movable, and were constructed like triumphal chariots' — or to signify both the glory and the providence of God, which, as if carried on a chariot and wheels, courses through all things. On which matter I spoke regarding the chariot of the Cherubim, Ezekiel I, 15. Therefore it is signified here that God the Father, as though immovable according to His nature, sits on His throne; yet according to the wheels of His power and efficacy, He penetrates most efficaciously and most swiftly through all things that are in heaven and on earth, and therefore the wheels are fiery. From this passage is confirmed the ecclesiastical practice of depicting God: for why should we not be permitted to depict with similar image and colors the One whom Scripture depicts with words, indeed who depicted Himself with this image of Himself in the imagination of Daniel? For we do not attempt by an image to express the nature of God, since it can be depicted by neither colors, nor words, nor thought; but so that we may express His effects and attributes in this way, by which alone we can do so, just as we customarily depict angels, justice, prudence, and other virtues. So Maldonatus. For what is described is also painted, since the principle is the same for both — namely, the pen and the brush. Hence the Holy Spirit is depicted in the form of a dove, because in this form He descended upon Christ; and in the form of tongues of fire, because in this form He came upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost.
Allegorically Rupert says: The throne of God is the Church and each of the Saints, just as among the angels the order of Thrones is so named because they are as it were the thrones of God. The throne of God, therefore, is St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Francis, etc. The snow and clean wool is grace and the remission of sins. The river of fire is the Holy Spirit, given at Pentecost: then the Church had fiery wheels, that is, preachers inflamed with the love of God. For these are called fiery wheels: 'Because when out of their desire for God they course through various places, from the source where they themselves burn, they set others on fire,' says St. Gregory, homily 5 on Ezekiel. Hence then thousands of thousands of men, that is, innumerable ones, began to minister to God through the active life, and others to attend upon Him through the contemplative life.
Verse 10: A swift stream of fire
10. A swift stream of fire. — As from a fiery fountain (like Mount Etna) there emanates from God a river of fire, which signifies His sentence, as that of the supreme
judge, most efficacious and most swift, says St. Jerome. This river, therefore, is the two-edged sword, sharp and cutting on both sides, which John saw proceeding from the mouth of Christ the judge, Apocalypse I, 16, of which God also said to Moses, Deuteronomy XXXII, 41: 'If I sharpen My sword like lightning, and My hand takes hold of judgment.' Therefore the swift river of fire is the same as the flashing sword, rapidly brandished in judgment, which like the swiftest river will overthrow Antichrist and other enemies of Christ, blast them, and cast them headlong into hell. Others take this river of fire to mean the fire of the world's conflagration, of which it is said in Psalm XCVI, 3: 'Fire goes before Him, and will inflame His enemies round about.' But here the judgment described is not that of Christ, but of God the Father on behalf of Christ against Antichrist, as I said at verse 9. Therefore the former sense is the genuine one.
Symbolically, St. Dionysius, in the book On the Celestial Hierarchy, last chapter, applies these wheels, chariots, and river to the angels of God: 'The fiery rivers,' he says, 'signify the divine streams, bestowing upon the angels a most abundant and unfailing flood of bounty, and nurturers of life-giving fruitfulness. The chariots signify the united society of those who are similar and equal. The wheels, which are indeed lofty, yet always move forward without any turning aside in any direction, certainly suggest the power of angelic action, which always proceeds on a straight and arduous path. For all their course and spiritual rotation is directed by heavenly intention toward that upright and arduous way.' Then he offers another meaning of the wheels: 'For they have, as the Prophet (Daniel) says, the name galgil, which in the Hebrew tongue signifies revelations and revolutions. For the fiery and divine wheels have revolutions, in that they turn with perpetual motion around the same supreme Good; but revelations, in that they reveal hidden mysteries and promote all who are more humble, and descending, pour forth the sublime rays of the divine brightness into the lower ranks.'
Thousands of thousands. — The Septuagint has χίλιαι χιλιάδες, that is, a thousand thousands, meaning a million, namely ten times a hundred thousand. Second, and better, thousands of thousands means very many thousands of Angels ministered to God: for he does not designate a definite number of ministers, but only signifies that it is very great. Tertullian, Against Praxeas, reads: 'A thousand times a hundred times a hundred thousand stood before Him, and a thousand times a hundred thousand appeared before Him.' The illustrious St. Sophronius, Archbishop of Jerusalem, in volume II of the Library of the Holy Fathers, oration 6 On the Excellence of the Angels, addresses and invokes them thus: 'You are the ministers of the King of all; you are winds and spirits and waters and princes and horses and armies and deacons and apostles and preachers and prophets and evangelists and interpreters of divine things and guardians and governors and preservers and drivers and leaders and guides of the way and searchers and weighers and calculators and healers and illuminators and givers of wealth and lights and lamps and mountains and hills and clouds and judges and receivers and reporters and defenders and fighters and champions and divine mirrors and likenesses and images and sailors and ships and pilots. You are the ones who traverse heaven with the swiftest course, who tirelessly carry out the Creator's will, who are called minds and tabernacles of God, who are named coals and whirlwinds and flames: preserve my life unblemished, my hope unbroken, my love toward God and neighbor whole.'
And ten thousand times a hundred thousand — that is, a thousand millions. Those who think it is only a hundred times a hundred thousand, that is, ten millions, err in their calculation, since it is a thousand millions. The Syriac and Arabic have: Myriads of myriads stand before Him. So also in Greek it is μύριαι μυριάδες, that is, ten thousand times ten thousand, that is, a hundred million. But, as I said, no definite number is signified here, but an indefinite and very great one. Myriads of myriads, therefore, means very many myriads. Hence Cyril of Jerusalem, catechesis 15, notes that the myriads of angels are far more numerous; yet Daniel records only these, because he could not express a greater number than men could conceive in their minds. The sense, therefore, is this: Very many, and as it were innumerable angels stood before Him. Hence St. Dionysius and the theologians teach that the number of angels is properly speaking not infinite, but limited and finite; yet it is very great, and incomprehensible to men, and exceeds the number of corporeal things, to such an extent that St. Dionysius, Celestial Hierarchy XIII and XIV, asserts it is known to God alone. St. Ambrose, explaining the parable of the hundredth sheep that was lost and brought back by Christ, Luke XV, suggests that all men are the hundredth portion of the number of angels. See Gabriel Vasquez, Part I, Question LIII, disputation 180.
Again, from this passage St. Dionysius, St. Thomas, Part I, Question CXII, articles 2 and 3, and his followers in the same place, distinguish between the ministering angels, who are sent from God to earth and to men, and the attending angels, who always attend upon God; and they add that the four supreme orders, namely the Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, and Dominations, belong to the attending, and the remaining five inferior orders to the ministering, and that the former are far more numerous than the latter.
But at Hebrews I, 14, I taught that all angels are ministering. For, as the Apostle says, 'all are ministering spirits, sent to minister': although some, being inferior, are sent more frequently; others, being superior, more rarely, and almost always attend upon God. And for this reason the latter can be called attending, and the former ministering.
Add that in this passage the offices of the angels are not two different things — attending and ministering — but one and the same: for the latter is a repetition of the former, according to Canon XXV; for those who minister customarily stand before the Lord.
'By sitting and resting, the soul becomes wise'; because in this position the soul rests, and the mind is not distracted to doing or thinking about other things. Moreover, this judgment belongs to God the Father, as I said, which nevertheless Christ will complete and finish on the day of judgment, by condemning the wicked.
And the books were opened. — By the books do not understand human consciences, 'which are written not with ink,' but 'with the stain of crimes,' say St. Ambrose on Psalm I and Theodoret (for neither Antichrist nor his conscience appeared at this judgment of God the Father); nor the book of life and death, as St. Jerome says; nor the Old and New Testament, as others say; but the objections of the accusers and the responses of the defending advocates. For there are three kinds of books in the judgment of God: one book is that of the accusing angels or demons; another is that of the defending angels; the third is the book of life, from which the judge in some manner pronounces his sentence. This is gathered from Apocalypse ch. XX, 12: 'The books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life.' See what was said there. Daniel therefore signifies here that in the divine judgment, with angels standing by, there was a disputation concerning the fourth beast and its eleventh horn, that is, concerning the Roman Empire and Antichrist, and that the books of both the accusers and the defenders were opened, that is, the reasons on both sides were set forth, and especially that the measure of the sins of Antichrist and all his followers was now full. Finally, after examination, the sentence was pronounced,
namely that the fourth beast was to be removed from the midst, and the eternal kingdom was to be delivered to Christ. This is catachresis. So Maldonatus. Dogmatically, by these books being opened it is signified that it is the duty of the judge to diligently examine the laws and the proceedings of the case, lest he do injustice to a party. For 'the ignorance of the judge is usually the calamity of the innocent,' says St. Augustine, Book XIX of The City of God, VI.
Morally, consider what you do here: for whatever you do is written in these books, which are now closed, but will be opened and read on the day of judgment. Hear St. Basil, Book on True Virginity: 'Those things which before, while covered by the body as by a garment, we were thought to have in the least, will now stand naked before the eyes of all, and there will be no room for denial or defense, when the very deeds themselves will be seen conspicuous in their author. For they will not be known confusedly, but individually, part by part, as they are, as if in a painting.' And St. Ephrem, Book on True Penitence, ch. IV: 'Each one will see before his face his own works laid out, whether he sent ahead good or evil. Fearful books will be opened, in which our works are written, and our acts, and our words, and whatever we did in this life: and not only acts, but also the thoughts and intentions of the heart.' And St. Chrysostom, homily 5 on the Epistle to the Romans: 'What, he says, will then become of us wretches, when all things are made known to the entire world, in so open and so illustrious a thea-
says: 'That day will be the illumination of all works; because it will be revealed in the metaphorical fire of rigorous examination.'
The judgment sat. — 'Judgment,' that is, the judge, or judges, or the whole crown and order of judges, as the Gloss says, namely God the Father and His assessor angels appeared to me to sit on thrones. So we say: The magistrate sat, or decreed this or that, meaning those who belong to the magistracy sat or decreed. It is fitting that judges sit, both for the sake of authority, and for the sake of judging tranquilly and calmly. For, as Aristotle says, Book VI of the Physics:
That the latter number is greater than the former is done only for the sake of emphasis and amplification, to declare the innumerability of the angels. For so when we have seen a very great number of soldiers, we say we saw ten thousand, and then, having caught our breath, when we think we have said too little, we add and say we saw twenty, indeed thirty thousand. So Maldonatus. Tropologically, St. Clement, Book V of the Apostolic Constitutions, ch. XIV, refers this number to faithful and elect men. For these, he says, are 'the fullness of the number of those who are saved, thousands of thousands, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand.'
Morally, when you are singing psalms, think: 'In the sight of the angels,' indeed with the angels, 'I will sing psalms to You.' When you pray, let this be your composition of place: to think that you stand before God, whom so many myriads of angels serve. When you teach, when you study, when you work, think: I teach, study, and work for Him and in His presence, whom thousands of thousands serve, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand attend. 'With what reverence, therefore, with what fear, with what humility must a vile little frog, crawling forth from its swamp (which is every man, even kings, like Alexander and Darius, chapter VIII, 3), approach that place! How trembling, how suppliant, how humble and anxious and attentive with his whole soul to the majesty of glory, in the presence of the angels, in the council of the just and the congregation, will a wretched little man be able to stand? In all our actions, therefore, much vigilance of soul is needed, but especially in prayer,' says St. Bernard, Sermon on the Four Ways of Praying.
ter, stripped bare, will be subjected to the eyes of men, some known to us, some unknown?' Then, as Isaiah says, ch. XXIV, 23: 'The moon will blush and the sun will be confounded.' And St. Ambrose in the Apology of David: 'Woe to me, he says, because I wish to hide, and I cannot hide: for how shall I be hidden, who bear inscribed upon my breast the marks of my sins?' And St. Augustine on Psalm XLIX, 21, on the words 'I will reprove you, and set your sins before your face': 'The sins, he says, will be set in order before the unhappy soul, so that the proof may convict it and the recognition confound it.' And St. Bernard in the tract On Conversion, to Clerics, ch. II: 'The book of conscience, he says, is opened, the course of a wretched life is unrolled, a certain sad history is retold, reason is illuminated, and the memory, unfolded, is exhibited as if before certain eyes of its own. But each is not so much a faculty of the soul as the soul itself, so that it is both the one inspecting and the one inspected, placed before its own face, and forced to stand before the tribunal to be judged by certain violent apparitors, namely the thoughts that have been let loose upon it.'
Symbolically, St. Gregory, Book XXXIII of the Moralia, VI, calls Christ seen at the judgment the book of life: 'The book of life, he says, is the very vision of the coming judge, in which every commandment is as it were written; because whoever sees Him will immediately understand, with conscience as witness, what he failed to do.' And St. Anselm in the Elucidarium says the book of life is the life of Jesus, which is for all the norm of living, and as it were the law by which all will be judged.
Verse 11: I beheld because of the voice of the great words
11. I beheld because of the voice of the great words — that is, I was watching what outcome those words would have, full of pride and insult against God, which the eleventh horn of the fourth beast, namely Antichrist, was speaking; and shortly after I saw the beast itself slain and given to fire, that is, I saw the Roman Empire utterly abolished and as it were reduced to ashes.
Verse 12: The power of the other beasts also was taken away
12. The power of the other beasts also was taken away — that is, I saw also that the three former empires, namely of the Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks, had perished.
And times of life were appointed for them to a time, and a time. — The Chaldean is ad zeman veiddan, that is, up to a time and a definite period set by God; which having elapsed, I saw them fall and be overthrown: for they could not exceed the limits set by God.
Verse 13: One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven
13. One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven. — Note the word 'like,' meaning: I seemed to see in my dream someone in the likeness of a man, or having the form and appearance of a man, coming before the judge, namely God the Father, who was sitting on the throne. For he was not seeing a real man, but only the appearance of a man, and a phantom presented to him by God. Moreover, Christ, who is indicated, had not yet become, but was still to become a man; this is what the 'like' suggests. Third, Maldonatus considers that the 'like' does not signify that Christ would not be a true man, but that He would be more than a man, and so at the appointed time the divinity was lowered in Him, so that while He was truly God, He nevertheless appeared as though He were only a man. Hence St. Paul, Philippians II, 7, says: 'He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man.' This sense is more sublime, but the former is plainer and more solid. Hence Cyril, Book II on John, ch. LXXIII, proves from this passage that Christ will be judge of men not insofar as He is God, but insofar as He is man.
Note first: For 'like the Son of Man,' the Chaldean is kebar enos, that is, like the son of a wretched, miserable man, one soon to die, forgetful, and to be consigned to oblivion: for enos signifies all these things. Hence the Psalmist, marveling at the kindness of God toward men, says: 'What is man (in Hebrew, enos), that You are mindful of him?' This title, therefore, 'son of enos,' is a title of the highest condescension, which Christ assumed in the Incarnation, when He willed to become our brother and blood-relation so closely that He also willed to take upon Himself and feel our miseries, in order to expiate them in Himself, and so to heal and abolish them in us. This is the philanthropy (that is, the singular and wonderful love toward men) which the Apostle, marveling, speaks of to Titus, ch. III, 4: 'The goodness and kindness (in Greek, φιλανθρωπία) of God our Savior appeared.' This is 'the great mystery of piety, which was manifested in the flesh,' etc., I Timothy ch. III, 16: namely that 'the Word was made flesh' — the Word, I say, that eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful Word, consubstantial with God, and God Himself, of whom John had said a little before, ch. I, 1: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made.' This Word was made flesh, that is, a fleshly, fragile, lowly, and wretched man. Again, 'Son of Man,' that is, a man. He is called Son, however, to signify His new condescension, by which He deigned not to be created by God, as Adam and Eve were created, but to be born from a human being, namely from a virgin, so that He might be the same person as the Son of the Virgin and the Son of God, subject and obedient to the Virgin as to a mother. Wherefore St. Bernard rightly exclaims, Sermon I on the Missus est: 'On both sides there is astonishment, on both sides a miracle: both that God obeys a woman — humility without example — and that a woman rules over God — sublimity without equal. Blush, O dust: God humbles Himself, and do you exalt yourself?' And because of this immense condescension of Christ, God exalted Him immeasurably, and made Him, insofar as He is man, the king of angels, of men, and of the whole world, the prince and judge of all, as Daniel says here; and St. John, ch. V, 27: 'He gave Him, he says, power to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.'
Note second: Daniel speaks here not of Christ's ascension to heaven, as some would have it, but of His coming to judgment. For He will come in the clouds of heaven, Matthew XXIV, 30, but before He descends to judgment, He is here led to the Father, so that the sub-
I utterly shudder at falling into the hands of the living God: those enemies, namely Antichrist and other faithless and wicked men, and so that He may hand over to Him all power of judging. Moreover, the bright and glorious cloud is a symbol and veil of Divinity. On which matter I spoke at Ezekiel I, 4.
They presented Him. — In Chaldean it is hacrebuhi, that is, they brought Him: these words therefore signify not force, but honor; namely that Christ, prepared for judgment, with many angels accompanying and escorting Him, went before the Father; and then, having received power, descended with them to judgment, as is said in Matthew XVI, 27. The angels therefore presented Christ to the Father. Hence Tertullian, Book III Against Marcion, VII, and St. Justin, Against Trypho, read: And those who stood by Him brought Him forward; and St. Cyprian, Book II of the Testimonies: And those who stood by Him presented Him.
Verse 14: And He gave Him power
14. And He gave Him power — of judging and reigning: for although Christ had this from the first instant of His conception in first act, nevertheless on the day of judgment He will receive the same from the Father in second act, or as regards exercise, so that He may actually exercise it and truly carry out the judgment.
And all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve Him. — St. Justin and St. Cyprian in the passage just cited read: All the kings of the earth by race, and all brightness (all the most illustrious) shall serve Him.
Verse 15: My spirit trembled
15. My spirit trembled. — In Chaldean it means 'was cut short' or 'was shortened,' that is, my spirit, Daniel's I say, within its sheath. The sheath of the soul is the body, meaning: I suffered a fainting of the soul from disturbance, and was deprived of consciousness, and as if lifeless. Who would not shudder at all these things, especially considering the rigorous judgment of God, in which everything will be terrible for the wicked? On the right will be sins, on the left demons, below the dreadful hell, above the wrathful judge, outside the burning world, inside the burning conscience: where the just man is scarcely saved, what will the wretched sinner do? To hide will be impossible, to appear intolerable, says St. Bernard, tract. On the Interior House, ch. XXXVIII. 'When the Lord comes to judge, says St. Jerome to Heliodorus, the world will groan mournfully, tribes will beat their breasts against tribe, once most powerful kings will tremble with bare sides.' Rightly therefore St. Bernard warns, sermon 55 on the Song of Songs: 'Fear the scrutiny of the judge; fear Him who says through the Prophet: I will search Jerusalem with lamps. He has keen sight; His eye will leave nothing unsearched.' Hear the voices of the judged and the damned, Wisdom V, 3: 'These are they whom we once held in derision. We fools esteemed their life madness: behold how they are counted among the sons of God, and their lot is among the Saints. Therefore we erred from the way of truth, and the Sun of understanding did not rise upon us.' What counsel is there here? Hear and do what St. Bernard suggests in the passage cited: 'There is one thing: if we judge ourselves, we shall certainly not be judged. A good judgment, which removes and hides me from that strict and divine judgment.
I do not wish to be presented to the face of the wrath of the judging one, only to be judged. I will therefore judge my evils, I will judge also my goods: I will search out my ways and my pursuits, so that He who is going to search Jerusalem with lamps may find nothing unsearched in me, nothing unexamined.' St. Augustine gives the same counsel, sermon 181 On the Times. For this reason Jabbus, patriarch of Jerusalem, who was afterward called Pope Urban IV, bore as his symbol a human heart trembling in a thorn bush, with the inscription: 'Remember the last things,' as Sadoletus reports in his Symbols, vol. II, p. 78.
Verse 17: These are four kingdoms
17. These are four kingdoms. — In Chaldean, 'four are kings'; but he takes kings for kingdoms: for the discussion here is not about persons, but about things and kingdoms.
Will consume — the last three; for the first, namely the kingdom of the Chaldeans, had already arisen.
Verse 18: But the Saints of the Most High God shall receive the kingdom
18. But the Saints of the Most High God shall receive the kingdom. — So the Septuagint, Vatablus, and others translate. Therefore Calvin wrongly translates 'they shall receive,' namely the four kingdoms already mentioned, 'the kingdom of the Saints,' that is, the one owed to the Saints, meaning: These four kingdoms will reign on earth and will seize the kingdom that the Saints should have seized. Wrongly, I say; for these four kingdoms did not reign forever and ever; which nevertheless is said here. Therefore the happy and blessed kingdom is signified here, which after the four kingdoms the Saints will enter on the day of judgment, when they will rise again and be blessed in both body and soul, and will reign with Christ forever. Hence it is clear that all the Saints will be heavenly and eternal kings in heaven, who will have dominion over heaven and the whole world. Hence Apocalypse V, 10, they sing: 'You have made us a kingdom and priests to our God, and we shall reign upon the earth.' And they merited this both by their humility, by which in this life they were lowly, despised, and harassed by the wicked and the antichristians — hence Christ promised them this, saying, Matthew ch. V: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven' — and by their fortitude, by which they mastered their senses, desires, limbs, wealth, honors, crosses, and death.
The Saints of the Most High God. — In Chaldean it is kaddische elionin, that is, the Saints of the Most High ones, that is, the Saints of the Most High God: for elohim is understood, which because it is plural, hence also its epithet elionin, that is, 'of the most high ones,' is plural.
Maldonatus explains it differently: for he considers the Blessed to be called the Saints of the Most High ones, because they are the heirs, inhabitants, and possessors of the highest places and goods in heaven; because here on earth they led a higher life, saying with Paul: 'Our citizenship is in heaven'; and with Isaiah: 'I will lift you up above the heights of the earth.'
Verse 19: Concerning the fourth beast
19. Concerning the fourth beast. — This is the fourth Roman monarchy. The ten horns are ten future kings; the eleventh horn will be Antichrist, as I said at verse 7. This one prevailed against the Saints, until the
Ancient of Days came, and condemned his tyranny, and handed over the kingdom to Christ and His Saints, as Daniel explains in what follows.
Verse 22: He gave judgment to the Saints
22. He gave judgment to the Saints. — 'Judgment,' that is, the power and authority of judging; because the Saints, especially the Apostles and their followers, will judge with Christ, I Corinthians VI, 3; Matthew XIX, 28.
Maldonatus explains it differently: 'He gave judgment to the Saints,' that is, he says, He pronounced the sentence in favor of the Saints, He awarded the heavenly kingdom to the Saints, just as it says in Psalm LXXXI, 3: 'Judge for the fatherless and the widow,' that is, in favor of the fatherless and the widow.
Verse 25: And he shall crush the Saints of the Most High
25. And he shall crush the Saints of the Most High. — In Chaldean it is ieballe, that is, he will make old, wear down, consume, as garments are consumed by age. Hence the Septuagint translates παλαιώσει, that is, he will make old. For which others corruptly read μαξιών, that is, he will seduce; St. Augustine, Against Trypho, reads ζαραστρέψει, that is, he will overturn; others, ταπεινώσει, that is, he will humble.
And he shall think himself able to change times and laws. — 'Times' in Chaldean is zimnin, which is the same as the Hebrew moedim, that is, appointed times, namely fixed feasts, such as Easter, Pentecost, the Lord's Day, etc.; 'and laws,' in Chaldean is vedat, that is, and the law, namely the Evangelical law, meaning: Antichrist will abolish all feasts and every law, both of Christ and of Moses, and will introduce his own new sect and religion into the world.
Maldonatus explains it differently: 'Times,' he says, are the boundaries prescribed by God for individual kingdoms; 'laws' are the decrees of God, by which it is determined that this kingdom lasts only so long, that one only so long, because, he says, the discussion here concerns kingdoms and divine judgments. But this is more remote and obscure: the former sense is therefore plainer and more genuine.
Until a time, and times, and half a time. — Here it is not zimnin or zeman, as shortly before, but iddan, which corresponds to the Hebrew et, that is, time. Calvin claims that by this not a definite, but an indefinite time is signified, during which Antichrist, that is, the Roman Pontiff, will reign. But St. Jerome, Theodoret, Vatablus here, St. Augustine, Book XX of The City of God, XXV, Irenaeus, Book V, ch. XXX, Cyril, catechesis 25, Hippolytus, On the Consummation of the Age, and the ancients generally, take 'a time' as one year, 'times' as two years, and 'half a time' as half a year; and from this they commonly teach that Antichrist will reign as monarch for three and a half years. This is proved first, because Daniel himself explains it in chapter XII; for when in verse 7 he had said the desolation of Antichrist would last 'a time, and times, and half a time,' he soon explains this in verse 11, saying: 'From the time when the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation shall be set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days,' which make approximately three and a half years. Second, because St. John explains it thus, Apocalypse XII, 6, when he says the woman, that is, the Church, fled into the wilderness in the time of Antichrist for 1,260 days, which make three and a half years; and again in verse 14, he says wings were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness 'for a time and times and half a time'; and in chapter XIII, verse 5, he says power was given to Antichrist for 42 months, which likewise make three and a half years. Third, because there will then be a most fierce persecution: hence God appointed a brief time for it, lest the elect be led into error, who would certainly fall if it lasted longer, as Christ says, Matthew XXIV, verse 22. Fourth, because it is fitting that Antichrist not be permitted to reign and preach longer than Christ, who preached the gospel for three and a half years.
From this it is clear that some wrongly refer these three and a half years to the persecution of Antiochus; especially because after these years 'the judgment will immediately sit, that the kingdom may be given to the people of the Saints' in heaven, as Daniel adds. Others even more wrongly refer these years to the time when Nero and other Roman Emperors persecuted the Church.
Note: For the Chaldean iddanin, that is, 'times,'
perhaps it should be read in the dual iddanain, that is, two times, although iddanain in the plural is also used for the dual: because the Chaldeans more rarely use the dual, but generally the plural even for the dual, as Guido Fabricius teaches in his Syro-Chaldean Grammar.
Verse 26: The judgment shall sit
26. The judgment shall sit. — The judges shall sit, namely God the Father and His angels, who will take away the power of Antichrist and give the eternal kingdom to the people of the Saints, as I said at verse 10; for there he narrated the figure or symbol he had seen, and here he explains it.
Verse 27: The Greatness of the Kingdom
27. The greatness of the kingdom, which is under the whole heaven, be given to the people of the Saints. — This is the fifth monarchy, or the kingdom of the Saints. You will ask, what will this kingdom be? Porphyry answers that it was the kingdom of the Maccabees: for they are called Saints because they fought for God and the law. But he errs: for their kingdom was not eternal, but only lasted under Judas, Jonathan, and Simon for 32 years; then it continued in the descendants of Simon until Herod for 126 years.
Second, others, such as Papias and the Chiliasts, take this kingdom to mean the thousand years during which they think the Saints will reign on earth with Christ after the resurrection, from Apocalypse XX, 4. But this kingdom is fabulous; and even if it were true, it would not be eternal.
I say therefore, it is certain that this kingdom will be that of Christ and the Saints: and it will be not only spiritual, such as it was on earth, when they were subject to persecutions, martyrdoms, and death; but also corporal and glorious, by which the Saints, blessed in both body and soul, will reign gloriously with Christ in heaven forever and ever. Moreover, Christ and the Saints will begin this kingdom on earth, immediately after the death of Antichrist; for then, with the kingdom of Antichrist overthrown, the Church will reign everywhere on earth, and there will be made from both Jews and Gentiles one flock and one shepherd: and this is indicated here, when he says not 'which is above,' but 'which is under the whole heaven,' that is, in all the earth, or in every region beneath heaven. Then shortly after, this kingdom will be confirmed and glorified in heaven for all eternity.
Verse 28: Hitherto is the end of the word
28. Hitherto is the end of the word — namely of the angel, meaning: Here the angel made an end of speaking, here ends the vision which I narrated in this chapter. Up to this point Daniel wrote in Chaldean, but the rest henceforth he wrote in Hebrew.