The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 112

olOllllr to the roe.I meaning of the symbol. thereof aure. The Greek versions di.trer A good dee.I ca.n be e11,id for Dr. BonnBr's from the l\fassoretio text only in the ordor theory, the.t it ie the effort of mone.rchy to in whioh the materie,ls of the statue are re- l'el!t on demool'IICy. As to the number, ten, corded, These are arre.nged in the reverse it is not to be mnde e.beolute; it me.y be order in which they are first mentioned, that more thRn ten or fewer th11,n ten. All ihe.t is to ee.y, we he,ve first the clny, then the iron, is neoeeearr is the.t the number be oonsid01'- and so on, to the gold. This is the order e.bly more ihe.n four, e.nd not so numerous e.s followed by Jerome. On the other hand, to Bllggeet e.n indefinite multitude. The the Peshitta follows the l\foeeoretio order. fe.et of " the toes " occupying the ea.me por- The roe.son for the order adopted in the tion of the ime.ga, seems to signify the.t those Septuagint, Theodotion, and the Vulgate ten dinsions were eimulta.neouely existing. is evidently a. symmetrical one, e.nd there- Wbe.t ie symbolized is clearly e. state of fore more likely to be the result of emenda- matters not unlike whe.t we.s in Greeoe e.fter tion the.n the somewhat he.pha.ze.rd order of the defeat of the Persie.ne, and before the the received text. It is, however, not im- Maoedonie.n domination-a number of possible the.t the similarity of sound ha.e separate ete.tes forming part of one system. led to ~pa, "clay," being brought out of Such, to e. oerte.in extent, was the empire of its proper place at the beginning of thc list the Die.dochi, or 81looeseors of Alexander, and placed in juxtaposition with l:cupa, only they were not generally more than " silver." Ewald thinks the.t the order of four, five. or six-mainly four, the Seleu- the Greek versions is to be preferred. cide, the Le.gids, the A.tta.lids, and the A.nti- ProfeBBOr Bevan is doubtful, and refers gonide. Such was the state of matters t.o the order of the meta.le in eh. v. 4, under the Holy Roman Empire, when what which begins with "gold" and ends with e.re now the six gTee.t powers were gTe.dually "et.one." In the days of thlille kings. Thie separo.ting themselves off. A similar state must refer to the kings who ma.de up the of matters existed at the ea.me time among la.et dyne.sty, especially the kings of the the Mohammedan powers, which a.eknow- Bllb-dyna.stiee represented by the ten toes. ledged a certain suzerainty in the Caliph of If the tra.d.itione.l interpretation ie correct, Be.gde.d, but warred with each other with these de.ye e.re still future. It is not im- great freedom. While we have said that possible that e.ll the dyne.sties of the vision there ii! an appearance of simultaneity given a.re implied, e.nd that the kingdom of heaven to these monarchs or dyne.sties, candour is preparing during the whole period; only the compels us to acknowledge that they may natnra.l meaning is that we he.ve a.seumed. be succeseive. We would not desire to Shall the God of hea'IJen set up a kingdom. anticipate what we say below in a. special It may be noted that, while in the rest of excunnu; on the four monarchies of Daniel ; this chapter the Septuagint renders this yet we may be permitted to indicate two title, K6p,os Toii obpa.11oii or K6p,os t, 1!1/111nos, senses in which the number ten may indicate here the rendering is, t, e,bs Tov obpa.11oii. Rome. There were ten emperors to the This is a clee.r statement of the Messianic capture of J erusa.lem, and the end of J ode.- hopes of the Jews on one side-a Messianic ism rui a civil power, and the consequent kingdom and Messianic times. Thie new independence of the Church from the tram- kingdom is on a. different plane from those mels of Judaism. Further, a. fair case that preceded it, which go to make up the might Le made out for the duferent magi.s- mysterious image. It is explained to- be ire.tea that exercised authority, more or lesa from the direct interference of the God of supreme, in Rome--consuls, pr,etors, dicta- heaven that this new kingdom is intruded tors, mngistri equitum, censors, tribunes. upon history. When we look at the A.II these were repla.ced by the emperors. material, it is inferior to all that had gone We merely indicate this, e.s we shall con- b~fore-inferior even to the fire-baked clay sider the subject more at large below. of the potter, which formed the toee of the Vers. 44, 45.-And in the day■ of these image. Thie way of representing the kings shall the God of heaven set up a Messianic kingdom would he.ve appeared kingdom, wbioh &hall never be destroyed: ina.dequa.te to an ordinary Jew. Waiving and the kingdom shall not be left to other the fe.ct that he regarded the Meseie,nio people, but it shall break in pieces and empire to be another such as the empires coD.Bume all these kingdoms, and it shall of Aeeyrie. and Babylonia, only greater, stand for ever. Fore.smnoh a■ thou 1&we■t the Jew would certainly have decla.red th&t the ■tone we.■ cut out of the mountain that the ll1eeeianic kingdom of heaven was without bands, and that it brake in pieces the e. precious stone, not an ordinary piece of iron, the bre.11, the clay, the silver, and the rock that goes to build up the framework gold ; the great God bath me.de known to the of the mountains. It is impossible to deny Iring what ■hall come to pas■ hereafter: and that it is strange that the symbol should be the dream ill certain, and the interpretation thus a lees precious material than even that CII. II, 1-49.] 'I'llE BOOK Oft' DANIEL.