Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Daniel detects the deceit of the priests of Bel and overturns Bel. Second, verse 22, he kills the dragon, and therefore is cast into the lions' den, but is freed by God.
Vulgate Text: Daniel 14:1-42
1. Now Daniel was a companion at the king's table, and honored above all his friends. 2. And there was an idol among the Babylonians named Bel: and there were spent upon it every day twelve measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine. 3. The king also worshipped it, and went every day to adore it: but Daniel adored his God. And the king said to him: Why do you not adore Bel? 4. And he answered and said to him: Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who created heaven and earth, and has power over all flesh. 5. And the king said to him: Does Bel not seem to you to be a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day? 6. And Daniel said with a smile: Do not err, O king. For this one is clay within and bronze without, and he never eats. 7. And the king, being angry, called his priests and said to them: If you do not tell me who it is that eats these provisions, you shall die. 8. But if you can show that Bel eats these things, Daniel shall die, because he has blasphemed against Bel. And Daniel said to the king: Let it be done according to your word. 9. Now the priests of Bel were seventy, besides their wives and little ones and sons. And the king came with Daniel into the temple of Bel. 10. And the priests of Bel said: Behold, we go out: and you, O king, set the food and mix the wine, and shut the door, and seal it with your ring: 11. and when you come in the morning, if you do not find all things eaten by Bel, we will suffer death, or Daniel who has lied against us. 12. But they thought nothing of it, because they had made under the table a hidden entrance, and through it they always entered and devoured everything. 13. So it came to pass after they had gone out, the king set the food before Bel: and Daniel commanded his servants, and they brought ashes, and he sifted them throughout the whole temple before the king: and going out they shut the door, and having sealed it with the king's ring they departed. 14. But the priests entered by night according to their custom, and their wives and children: and they ate and drank everything. 15. And the king arose early in the morning, and Daniel with him. 16. And the king said: Are the seals intact, Daniel? He answered: They are intact, O king. 17. And as soon as he had opened the door, the king looking at the table, cried out with a loud voice: Great are you, O Bel, and there is no deceit with you. 18. And Daniel laughed: and he held the king that he should not go in, and said: Behold the pavement, observe whose footsteps these are. 19. And the king said: I see the footsteps of men and women and children. And the king was angry. 20. Then he apprehended the priests and their wives and children: and they showed him the hidden doors through which they entered and consumed what was on the table. 21. The king therefore put them to death, and delivered Bel into the power of Daniel: who destroyed it and his temple. 22. And there was a great dragon in that place, and the Babylonians worshipped it. 23. And the king said to Daniel: Behold, now you cannot say that this is not a living god: therefore adore it. 24. And Daniel said: I adore the Lord my God; for He is the living God; but this is not a living god. 25. But you, O king, give me permission, and I will kill the dragon without sword or club. And the king said: I give it to you. 26. Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and boiled them together: and he made lumps, and put them into the mouth of the dragon, and the dragon burst asunder. And he said: Behold what you were worshipping. 27. When the Babylonians heard this, they were greatly indignant: and they gathered together against the king, and said: The king has become a Jew: he has destroyed Bel, killed the dragon, and slain the priests. 28. And they came to the king and said: Hand Daniel over to us, or else we will kill you and your household. 29. The king therefore saw that they were pressing upon him violently: and being compelled by necessity, he handed Daniel over to them. 30. And they cast him into the lions' den, and he was there for six days. 31. Now in the den there were seven lions, and there were given to them two carcasses daily, and two sheep: but then these were not given to them, so that they might devour Daniel. 32. Now there was Habakkuk the prophet in Judea, and he had cooked pottage, and had broken bread into a bowl: and he was going into the field to carry it to the harvesters. 33. And the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk: Carry the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, who is in the lions' den. 34. And Habakkuk said: Lord, I have never seen Babylon, and I do not know the den. 35. And the angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon above the den in the rush of his spirit. 36. And Habakkuk cried out, saying: Daniel, servant of God, take the dinner which God has sent you. 37. And Daniel said: You have remembered me, O God, and You have not forsaken those who love You. 38. And Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of the Lord immediately restored Habakkuk to his place. 39. The king therefore came on the seventh day to mourn for Daniel: and he came to the den and looked in, and behold, Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions. 40. And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: Great are You, O Lord God of Daniel. And he drew him out of the lions' den. 41. But those who had been the cause of his destruction, he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before him. 42. Then the king said: Let all the inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God of Daniel: for He is the Savior, working signs and wonders in the earth: who freed Daniel from the lions' den.
Verse 1: Now Daniel was a companion at the king's table, and honored above...
1. Now Daniel was a companion at the king's table, and honored above all his friends. 2. And there was an idol among the Babylonians named Bel: and there were spent upon it every day twelve measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine. 3. The king also worshipped it, and went every day to adore it: but Daniel adored his God. And the king said to him: Why do you not adore Bel? 4. And he answered and said to him: Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who created heaven and earth, and has power over all flesh. 5. And the king said to him: Does Bel not seem to you to be a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day? 6. And Daniel said with a smile: Do not err, O king. For this one is clay within and bronze without, and he never eats. 7. And the king, being angry, called his priests and said to them: If you do not tell me who it is that eats these provisions, you shall die. 8. But if you can show that Bel eats these things, Daniel shall die, because he has blasphemed against Bel. And Daniel said to the king: Let it be done according to your word. 9. Now the priests of Bel were seventy, besides their wives and little ones and sons. And the king came with Daniel into the temple of Bel. 10. And the priests of Bel said: Behold, we go out: and you, O king, set the food and mix the wine, and shut the door, and seal it with your ring: 11. and when you come in the morning, if you do not find all things eaten by Bel, we will suffer death, or Daniel who has lied against us. 12. But they thought nothing of it, because they had made under the table a hidden entrance, and through it they always entered and devoured everything. 13. So it came to pass after they had gone out, the king set the food before Bel: and Daniel commanded his servants, and they brought ashes, and he sifted them throughout the whole temple before the king: and going out they shut the door, and having sealed it with the king's ring they departed. 14. But the priests entered by night according to their custom, and their wives and children: and they ate and drank everything. 15. And the king arose early in the morning, and Daniel with him. 16. And the king said: Are the seals intact, Daniel? He answered: They are intact, O king. 17. And as soon as he had opened the door, the king looking at the table, cried out with a loud voice: Great are you, O Bel, and there is no deceit with you. 18. And Daniel laughed: and he held the king that he should not go in, and said: Behold the pavement, observe whose footsteps these are. 19. And the king said: I see the footsteps of men and women and children. And the king was angry. 20. Then he apprehended the priests and their wives and children: and they showed him the hidden doors through which they entered and consumed what was on the table. 21. The king therefore put them to death, and delivered Bel into the power of Daniel: who destroyed it
and his temple. 22. And there was a great dragon in that place, and the Babylonians worshipped it. 23. And the king said to Daniel: Behold, now you cannot say that this is not a living god: therefore adore it. 24. And Daniel said: I adore the Lord my God; for He is the living God; but this is not a living god. 25. But you, O king, give me permission, and I will kill the dragon without sword or club. And the king said: I give it to you. 26. Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and boiled them together: and he made lumps, and put them into the mouth of the dragon, and the dragon burst asunder. And he said: Behold what you were worshipping. 27. When the Babylonians heard this, they were greatly indignant: and they gathered together against the king, and said: The king has become a Jew: he has destroyed Bel, killed the dragon, and slain the priests. 28. And they came to the king and said: Hand Daniel over to us, or else we will kill you and your household. 29. The king therefore saw that they were pressing upon him violently: and being compelled by necessity, he handed Daniel over to them. 30. And they cast him into the lions' den, and he was there for six days. 31. Now in the den there were seven lions, and there were given to them two carcasses daily, and two sheep: but then these were not given to them, so that they might devour Daniel. 32. Now there was Habakkuk the prophet in Judea, and he had cooked pottage, and had broken bread into a bowl: and he was going into the field to carry it to the harvesters. 33. And the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk: Carry the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, who is in the lions' den. 34. And Habakkuk said: Lord, I have never seen Babylon, and I do not know the den. 35. And the angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon above the den in the rush of his spirit. 36. And Habakkuk cried out, saying: Daniel, servant of God, take the dinner which God has sent you. 37. And Daniel said: You have remembered me, O God, and You have not forsaken those who love You. 38. And Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of the Lord immediately restored Habakkuk to his place. 39. The king therefore came on the seventh day to mourn for Daniel: and he came to the den and looked in, and behold, Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions. 40. And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: Great are You, O Lord God of Daniel. And he drew him out of the lions' den. 41. But those who had been the cause of his destruction, he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before him. 42. Then the king said: Let all the inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God of Daniel: for He is the Savior, working signs and wonders in the earth: who freed Daniel from the lions' den.
1. NOW DANIEL WAS A COMPANION OF THE KING. — This king was not Cyrus, as Theodoret and Irenaeus, book IV, chapter XI, would have it, nor Astyages, as St. Athanasius seems to suggest, sermon 4 Against the Arians; but Evilmerodach, or Balthasar. This is proved first, because he was king of Babylon while it was still standing and flourishing. Secondly, because he, being a Babylonian, worshipped Bel; but Cyrus and the Persians did not worship Bel, but the sun: indeed Xerxes destroyed the tomb of Bel, as Strabo attests, book XVI. Thirdly, because the Babylonians wanted to kill this king, verse 28, unless he handed Daniel over to them: but they would not have dared to threaten Cyrus, since they had already been subdued by him; nor Nebuchadnezzar, since he was powerful and terrible. So say Torniellus, Pererius, and others.
From this it is clear that Daniel, when he overthrew Bel and when he was cast into the lions' den, was not twelve years old, as St. Chrysostom would have it, homily 1 on Psalm XXX; for he was then at least 72 years old. This is clear first from the fact that this history occurred under Balthasar, who began to reign in the 45th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar; for in that year Balthasar succeeded his dying father; and Daniel was 20 years old before Nebuchadnezzar began to reign. Secondly, because this history occurred after the reign of Astyages, when Cyrus was already reigning, as is clear from the title, or from the last words of the preceding chapter; and Astyages, as I said there, began to reign in the sixth year of the Babylonian captivity, when Daniel was 34 years old, and he reigned for 38 years: now add 34 and 38, and you will have 72 years of Daniel's life. Daniel was therefore 72 years old when Astyages died and Cyrus began to reign, under whom this history occurred.
Verse 2: BEL
2. BEL. — Bel, or Beel, Baal, Bal, and Belus was Nimrod, the founder and first king of Babylon, the father of Ninus, as I said in Genesis X, 10. Concerning the temple and idol of this Bel, marvelous things are written by Herodotus, book I, who was barely 100 years later than Daniel; by Diodorus, book II, chapter IV; by Strabo, book XVI, where among other things they report that the golden statue of Jupiter Bel was 40 feet long, weighing a thousand Babylonian talents: and dedicated to it was a bowl of gold weighing 1,200 talents. This statue seems to have been made of bronze, but covered with gold; or certainly of orichalcum, that is, golden bronze: for Daniel calls it bronze.
Tropologically, those who imitate Bel and idols are, first, those who outwardly adorn themselves with silken and golden garments,
but inwardly have an earthen mind or conscience, that is, they dwell in the mire and filth of gluttony, lust, etc. Secondly, hypocrites, who outwardly appear golden, but inwardly are clay. Hear Billius in his Anthology:
Bel was outwardly most beautiful, and covered all over with bronze; But inside he was nothing but worthless clay. He who pretends to be a Curius, while being most wicked, Why should I not rightly call him a Bel? A Bel he will be, who outwardly like a tomb is white, But inside contains only a worthless corpse.
ARTABAS. — The artaba contains 72 sextarii, says Epiphanius, in his book On Weights and Measures, and Isidore, book XVI of the Etymologies; therefore a great quantity of fine flour was expended daily on this idol of Bel.
There were three kinds of artaba, namely the Persian, containing a medimnus and three choenices; the Median, containing a medimnus; and the Egyptian, containing five modii. So says Pererius.
AMPHORAE. — An amphora contained 48 sextarii, or larger cups, each of which contained twenty ounces of water or wine, as I said in the appendix to the Pentateuch.
Verse 12: THEY DESPISED
12. THEY DESPISED. — Correct to 'they were confident': for the Greek is κατεφρόνουν, that is, they looked down upon, namely the danger of their fraud and death.
Verse 13: AND HE SIFTED
13. AND HE SIFTED, — that is, by sifting he scattered ashes throughout the whole temple, lest, if pebbles mixed with ashes were scattered, the priests coming by night would feel them underfoot and detect the trick, and disturb the ashes. By sifting, therefore, he caused only pure, fine ash to pass through the sieve onto the floor, which they could not feel with their feet. Hence the Septuagint translate κατέσαρον, that is, 'they strewed the floor with ashes.' So the Complutensian. The edition of Caraffa therefore reads obscurely, 'they swept the temple,' as if to say: by sifting with a sieve they shook out dust through the whole temple, so that the sieve transmitted only dust, but retained coals, pebbles, and other coarser material, which Pliny, book XVIII, chapter XI, and Columella, book V, chapter VI, call 'sifting through a sieve,' or 'bolting,' that is, sieving. And so in this ash the priests unknowingly left footprints by night, and by these they were detected, namely that they themselves ate the food offered to the idol, not Bel: and therefore the king killed them, and through Daniel the idol of Bel was overthrown.
Verse 22: THERE WAS A DRAGON
22. THERE WAS A DRAGON. — So the Romans during a plague brought a serpent from Epidaurus to Rome and worshipped it, as the city's Aesculapius, concerning which see Valerius Maximus, book I, chapter VIII. St. Augustine notes, book XI of On Genesis, literally chapter XXVIII, that the devil is accustomed to use the form of serpents to deceive men, God permitting, 'to commemorate the memory of what first happened, because he has a certain familiarity with this species,' namely because in the form of a serpent he deceived Adam and Eve, and there he saw that this fraud succeeded well for him. Hence Pherecydes the Syrian said that demons were hurled from heaven by Jupiter, whose leader was called Ophioneus, that is, 'the serpentine one.' Add that the dragon by nature is both monstrous and horrible, and strong and robust, and ever-watchful with the keenest sight (whence the dragon is called from the Greek ἀπὸ τοῦ δέρκειν, 'from seeing'); therefore it has something of the divine about it. For this reason, the ancients assigned to the dragon the guardianship of buildings, inner sanctuaries, oracles, treasures, and the infancy of heroes, as of Hercules; and even of Nero the Poets fabled. Hence also the dragon was among the ancients a symbol of prudence, wisdom, and even of prophecy, as Carolus Paschalius teaches, book IX of De Coronis, chapter XV, near the end. Accordingly, by Ovid, in Metamorphoses IX, the dragon is called 'sleepless,' and in book VII, 'unsleeping': and by Valerius, Argonautica II, 'watchful': for such was that Colchian dragon guarding the golden fleece, which nevertheless the Argonauts seized. Hence also Cicero, Philippics XIII: 'Will not he,' he says, 'give it back, who has embraced his master's patronage, like a dragon guarding a treasure?' Finally, some dragons are enormous, so much so that they are accustomed to swallow oxen, whence they are called boas; such was the one that drew herds and shepherds to itself by the force of its breath and swallowed them, which St. Hilarion, ordering it to climb a pyre, burned to death, as St. Jerome attests in his Life.
Maximus of Tyre, and from him Pierius, Hieroglyphica 16, report that in the time of Alexander there was a dragon five jugera in size. Hence also a dragon seen in a dream by his mother portended for Alexander the Great, as also for Scipio, Augustus, Aurelian, Severus, and others, a vast and illustrious empire: as Pierius reports, Hieroglyphica 15. Again, Pliny asserts that among the Indians and Ethiopians there are dragons twenty cubits long. Hear him, book VIII, chapter XI: 'Africa produces elephants, etc., but India the largest, and dragons of such great size fight with them in perpetual conflict, that they easily encircle them with their coils, and bind them with the grip of their knot. Both die in the struggle; and the vanquished one, falling, crushes the one embracing it with its weight.' He adds the cause of the battle in chapter XII: 'The blood of elephants is very cold, and for this reason they are especially sought by dragons in scorching heat. Therefore they lie in wait in the river for those drinking, and binding their trunk in a tight grip, they sink their bite into the ear.' It is not surprising, then, if the Gentiles and Babylonians thought that a divine power resided in the dragon above all other animals. Even more wonderful are what Pliny writes about dragons, book XXIX, chapter IV, namely: 'The dragon has no venom. Its head placed under the threshold of doors, with the gods propitiated by adoration, is said to make the house fortunate. Its eyes, when aged and ground with honey and applied as an ointment, prevent even the timid from being frightened by nocturnal apparitions. The fat of its heart, bound in a deerskin with deer sinews on the arm, contributes to victory in lawsuits. The first vertebra softens access to those in power. Its teeth, bound in goatskin with deer sinews, make masters gentle and authorities amenable.' But these things seem fabulous, or rather magical than natural. Hence Pliny immediately adds:
'But above all is the recipe by which the lies of the magi make men invincible,' etc. For these reasons the devil wished to appear, be depicted, and be worshipped in the form of a dragon or serpent.
Dio writes in his Life of Hadrian that the same Emperor placed in the temple of Olympian Jupiter, which he had most sumptuously erected at Athens, a dragon brought from India as a divine figure.
Lucian narrates in his Pseudomantis that Alexander the impostor, a disciple of Apollonius of Tyana, publicly exhibited a serpent to be worshipped, and pretended that it gave oracles; and therefore to this new vocal oracle there flocked Ionians, Galatians, Cilicians, and even Romans, such as Rutilianus who commanded the Roman army.
A dragon is depicted at the feet of St. Sylvester, because he, having converted Constantine, took away from the demon, as from a dragon, the worship given through idols, and vanquished and trampled it with the cross of Christ. Indeed, in the Acts of St. Sylvester, marvelous things are narrated about an enormous dragon confined and shut in by him, the memory of which survives at Rome at the foot of the Capitoline, in the church called S. Maria Libera Nos de Poenis Inferni, about which Baronius writes much, tome III, year of Christ 324, page 238.
Not only by pagans, but also by heretics did the devil wish to be worshipped in the form of a dragon or serpent. The Ophites received their name from the fact that they kept and worshipped a serpent as though it were Christ, which licked their Eucharist, and thus sanctified it, as Epiphanius reports, Heresies 37, Theodoret, book I of the Fables of Heretics, and St. Augustine, On Heresies, where he also adds that the Ophites said that Christ was that serpent who deceived Eve.
Furthermore, Sacred Scripture calls and depicts the devil as a dragon, on account of his malice and cruelty, Apocalypse XII, 3, 9, 13; Isaiah XXVII, 1; Job XL, 20; Psalm XC, 13; Psalm CIII, 26. Thus St. Gregory reports, homily 19 on the Gospels, that in his monastery a demon appeared in the form of a dragon to a certain worldly young man who was dying and who had lived too freely, but was driven away by the prayers of the monks. And in book IV of the Dialogues, chapter XXXVII, recounting the same incident, he says the young man was called Theodore, who was wholly converted to God by this vision; and that after a long purification through illness and penance, he departed this life.
Finally, for the reasons already stated, the ancients believed that serpents were of an immortal and divine nature, says Philo of Byblos. Hence Taautus, the god of the Egyptians, said: This 'is the most spiritual of all animals; and most fiery, moreover long-lived, and shedding its old age with its skin, it grows young again, and is scarcely killed by natural death.' Hence also Lampridius writes of Heliogabalus: 'He kept at Rome little Egyptian dragons, which they call Agathodaemons.' The Phoenicians also called the serpent 'the fortunate one,' says Eusebius, book I, Preparation for the Gospel VII. Indeed, the pagans attributed so much worship to serpents that they named temples 'draconia,' as Strabo attests,
book XIV, because the first seeds of idolatry were connected with serpents, and because the devil took special delight in this form. Hence Horus Apollo, Hieroglyphica 1: 'The Egyptians,' he says, 'place a basilisk made of gold around their gods.'
Verse 23: BEHOLD NOW YOU CANNOT SAY
23. BEHOLD NOW YOU CANNOT SAY. — The Greek has: 'Will you say that this one also is bronze? Behold, he lives and drinks.'
Verse 26: THE DRAGON BURST ASUNDER
26. THE DRAGON BURST ASUNDER. — Not because pitch or hair are poisonous or have a natural power of bursting; but because the lumps made from this mixture stuck firmly in the very narrow passages of the throat and stomach, and these being completely blocked, with no exit given either to the food consumed or to gas, the dragon burst.
For pitch and fat, being sticky and adhesive, block the food passage, and when entangled with hair they cling much more tenaciously: thus, with breathing and respiration blocked, the dragon, filled with this food, burst. So says Valesius, book On Sacred Philosophy, chapter LXXXI. For Solinus writes, chapter XLIII, that real dragons have small mouths, not gaping open for biting, but narrow tubes through which they draw breath and thrust out their tongue: therefore these could easily be blocked by this mass of pitch from Daniel, and thus the dragon was suffocated and burst. In a similar way was destroyed and burned the Marneion, that is, that famous shrine and idol of Marnas, in the year of the Lord 401, under the Emperor Arcadius, by St. Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza, at the command of God, who through the mouth of a Syrian boy of seven years, speaking in Greek, which he had never learned, declared: 'Burn the temple that is within down to the ground; for many terrible things have been done in it, and especially human sacrifices. But burn it in this way: bring moist pitch, and sulfur, and pig fat, mix these three, and smear the bronze doors, and set fire to them, and so the temple will be burned: for otherwise it cannot be done; and after it has been burned, cleanse the place and establish a holy church there. For I testify before God that it cannot be done otherwise: for it is not I who speak, but Christ who is in me.' Obedient to this decree of Christ, St. Porphyry burned the most famous shrine. So, from the Acts of St. Porphyry, which Marcus the Deacon of Gaza wrote, narrates Baronius under the year of Christ 401.
Allegorically, St. Chrysostom, homily 38 on I Corinthians: Just as, he says, when the dragon tasted this food of Daniel's, it burst; so, when the body of Christ was swallowed, hell was split open, this body bursting its belly, and thence returning gloriously with so many thousands of Saints.
BEHOLD WHAT YOU WERE WORSHIPPING. — ἴδε τὰ σεβάσματα ὑμῶν: Behold your deities, namely Bel and the dragon which you worshipped, how weak, how deceitful they are!
Verse 30: THEY CAST HIM INTO THE LIONS' DEN
30. THEY CAST HIM INTO THE LIONS' DEN. — From this it is clear that Daniel was cast twice into the lions' den, namely, first, under Evilmerodach for six days, here; secondly, under Darius the Mede for one night, because he had invoked his God contrary to his decree, as was stated in chapter VI, 16. Although some
formerly, as St. Jerome attests in his preface to Daniel, some thought that the Daniel who freed Susanna and destroyed Bel was different from the one treated in the first twelve chapters: for the latter was of the tribe of Judah, as is clear from chapter I, 3; but the destroyer of Bel seemed to have been of the tribe of Levi. For the Septuagint indicates this, in whose version formerly at the beginning of chapter XIV, it read thus: 'There was a certain man, a priest named Daniel, son of Abda, a companion of the king,' as St. Jerome witnesses in his preface to Daniel.
But to this, first, Dionysius the Carthusian responds from Isidore that Daniel was descended from Levi on his father's side, and from Judah on his mother's side. Secondly, and better, Pererius responds that that Greek edition was corrupt: for it is no longer found there. Hence the Church acknowledges only one Daniel, and him descended from the royal line of Judah. Truly Cyprian, in his sermon On the Lapsed: 'What is more glorious than Daniel? Who was more robust than he in the firmness of faith for enduring martyrdom? More blessed in God's favor? Who so often both conquered when he fought, and survived when he conquered.' And Ambrose, book I of Offices, chapter XXXV: 'How invincible,' he says, 'was Daniel, who was not afraid of the lions roaring about his sides! The beasts raged, and he feasted.' And St. Basil, homily In Praise of Fasting: 'Daniel,' he says, 'the man of desires, when he had not eaten for three weeks, nor drunk wine, cast into the den, even taught the lions to fast.
For the lions did not want to sink their teeth into him, as if he had been made of stone or iron. So just as dye hardens iron, so fasting had hardened the man's body, and rendered it invincible to the lions.' Again, in Daniel that saying of St. Augustine, Sentences 249, proved true: 'No misfortune breaks him whom no good fortune corrupts.'
Verse 31: TWO CARCASSES AND TWO SHEEP
31. TWO CARCASSES AND TWO SHEEP, — that is, two whole bodies of two sheep. It is a hendiadys; or 'and' is used for 'that is.' Secondly, more simply and plainly: 'two carcasses,' namely either of slaughtered animals or of men condemned to death, or otherwise killed: 'and two sheep,' alive. For the lion pursues living prey for food, so that it may tear it with its claws. For two sheep daily would not have sufficed for seven lions, being so fierce and voracious. Besides the two sheep, therefore, two other carcasses or corpses were given to them. Hence the Syriac translates: 'Two carcasses per day (daily) and two rams'; and the Antiochene Arabic: 'And their food each day was two bulls from the cattle, and from the sheep, two rams.' So also the Alexandrine Arabic.
Verse 32: NOW THERE WAS HABAKKUK THE PROPHET IN JUDEA
32. NOW THERE WAS HABAKKUK THE PROPHET IN JUDEA. — Note: Although at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, many Jews were led away to Babylon, and others fled to Egypt or to other regions; nevertheless some remained or returned to Judea, among whom was this Habakkuk.
One may ask: Was this the same Habakkuk as the one among the twelve Minor Prophets? St. Jerome seems to affirm this, in his preface to Habakkuk, and Epiphanius and Dorotheus in their Synopsis, and Pererius and Pintus here. But Torniellus and others deny it, and this seems more likely. For our Habakkuk here was later than that one. For the former lived before the Babylonian captivity; for he predicted it: but this one lived after it under Evilmerodach, unless you say he lived to a very advanced age. For if you suppose he was 75 or 80 years old at this time, he could have been one and the same, whence both here and there he is called a Prophet. Some think that this Habakkuk wrote this history, because formerly the history of Bel was prefaced according to the Septuagint with this title: 'The prophecy of Habakkuk son of Jesus of the tribe of Levi,' as St. Jerome attests in his prologue to Daniel.
Epiphanius and Dorotheus narrate the history of Habakkuk in their Life of Daniel: 'When Nebuchadnezzar finally came to Jerusalem with an army to attack it, Habakkuk fled to the land of the Ishmaelites; but afterwards he returned to his own land. And when he had once prepared pottage for his harvesters, he prophesied among his people, saying: I am going to a distant land, and will return quickly; but if I am delayed, carry the food to the harvesters. And when he had been to Babylon, and had given the meal to Daniel, he stood among the harvesters as they ate, and said nothing of what had happened to him. He knew, moreover, that the people would shortly return from Babylon: and two years before the people returned, he died and was buried in his own field.' The credibility of these things rests with the authors.
POTTAGE, — porridge.
IN A BOWL, — in a pot or similar hollow vessel. The Arabic calls it a pila, that is, a hollow vessel made of wood.
Verse 33: AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD SAID TO HABAKKUK: CARRY THE DINNER...
33. AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD SAID TO HABAKKUK: CARRY THE DINNER WHICH YOU HAVE TO BABYLON, TO DANIEL. —
Verse 35: And the angel took him, etc., and SET HIM IN BABYLON
35. And the angel took him, etc., and SET HIM IN BABYLON. — The angel could instantly, and as if in the blink of an eye, transport Habakkuk from Judea to Babylon, and bring him back with the same speed: because the angel who moves the sun causes the sun in any given hour to cover as much space as one would cover if in one hour one ran around the entire globe of the earth fifty times. But the angel who moves the firmament causes any star on the equator to cover in one hour 42 million miles, and more: that is, as much as if one flew around the globe of the earth two thousand times, and more. See what was said in Genesis I, 14.
Verse 36: TAKE THE DINNER WHICH GOD HAS SENT YOU
36. TAKE THE DINNER WHICH GOD HAS SENT YOU. — Truly St. Cyprian, in his treatise On the Lord's Prayer: 'Since all things are God's,' he says, 'the one who has God will lack nothing, if he himself does not fail God. Thus for Daniel, shut up in the lions' den by the king's command, a meal is divinely provided, and among fierce beasts that are hungry yet spare him, the man of God is fed.' 'Why then,' says the same author in his treatise On Good Works and Almsgiving, 'do you fear that food will fail you who labor and seek to please the Lord?'
You have remembered me. The Greek adds: 'And there is no other besides You.'
Verse 37: YOU HAVE REMEMBERED ME, O GOD
37. YOU HAVE REMEMBERED ME, O GOD. — So the Greek and the Roman editions; the Plantinian therefore reads incorrectly: 'For God has remembered me.'
THOSE WHO LOVE YOU, ἐκζητοῦντάς σε, 'those who seek You.'
Verse 40: GREAT ARE YOU, O LORD GOD OF DANIEL
40. GREAT ARE YOU, O LORD GOD OF DANIEL, — whom Daniel worships, and who freed Daniel from the lions.
Verse 41: BUT THE WICKED
41. BUT THE WICKED. — He inflicts the law of retaliation upon them, as Darius also did, chapter VI, 24; for the law of retaliation is most consonant with natural justice and equity. Hence not only the Jews, but also the Babylonians, Persians, and other Gentiles made use of it.