The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 242

eomewhnt ec11tterod. Cyrus then might ee.sily nanBtivo. The verh tr11nsl!tte<l " strove " in gnin ndv1mtage ovor tho emnll division of our Authorized Veririon is better ren,\crcrl n~ Mnnda that held tho cnnton of AneBn. Ae in tho Hevised," brake forth upon." L11th;,, •• ueunlly, the nttncke of Elam and Media. on version ie, " atunneten wider eino.ndcr." llnbylonill nnd Assyria ho.d been mndo This, like tho Anthorized Version, seems to ncross tho cnnton of Anean, the rebellion be the result of the Vnlgate pugrv,1,,,nt. of Anenn would thus sepa.ro.te the Manda. The only objection to this is that it 0ll!!;ht in Ele.m e.nd Medin from those in Bnby- to be followed by a preposition (Bevan). lonin-the latter being the main portion. The trnnslation suggested by Levy, "stirred Cyrus succeeded in rousing the Medes, up," appears still better. The sea refcncrl Elnmites, and Persinne against this in- to is naturally to be taken as the Mediter- vading horde, e.nd wrested the power from ranean; it is "the great BeB" of tho them. Ne.bune.hid, in n pious inscription, prophets (Ezek. xlvii. 10). JerusBlem is regnrds Cyrus e.s the instrument in the not eo for from the eea but thBt Daniel hnnd of Me.rduk to overthrow these op- might have seen it in hie boyhood. Tho pressive Mnnde.. Shortly e.fter thie up- symbolic meaning of the eea is the mass of rising of Cyrus, N abuna.hid is to e.ppearance heathen nations (Pa. !xv. 7). The "four stricken with illness, nnd for severe.I yea.re winds of heaven" usually stand for the takes no part in the business of the empire. points of the compass (Jer. xlix. 36). Here, In the seventh yee.r of Ne.buns.hid, we learn however, the winds are pictured e.e actual from the a.DDals that the king wa.e in Terna, forces dashing down upon the sea, and and did not come to Babylon, but that the stirring it up to its depths. It may be king's son conducted the affairs of the objected that this is an impossible picture. monarchy. It wae probably, then, in this It might be replied that Virgil, in the first year, when Cyrus had defeated the book of the '.lEneid,' 8!-86, and Milton, Scythians, and had driven them out of in ' Paradise Regained,' ha.a the same thing. Elam, Media., and Babylonia, that Daniel Daniel has more freedom, for he nanatce had the vision recounted in this chapter. a vision, and, further, to him the win,l.s Keen political insight might easily foresee ( rucheen) were under the guidance of ange 1~. the events in the compo.ra.tively immediate Hitzig denies that the winds can be angelic.e future. The rise of e. vigorous new power potestates, as Jerome maintains; and, when like the.t of Persia. mee.nt menace to the Jerome supports his position by a quotation neighbouring powers. Be.bylonie., filled from the Septuagint Version of Dent. xxxii. with treachery e.nd discontent, we.a in no 8, gives s.s answer a mark of exclamation. condition to resist. The fall of Babylon The passage, "He eet the nations according seemed imminent-its pla.ce was to be to.ken to the number of the angels of God," repre- by Persia.. But Babylon had succeeded sents a phase of thought in regard to Assyria., e.nd before Assyria had been the angelology, which Daniel elsewhere obvi- empires of Egypt e.nd the Hittites. He ously has. The double meaning of the remembered the dream of his old master word ruach made the transition easy. We Nebuchadnezzar. Now a drea.m is vouch- see the same doublo meaning in Zech. vi. 5. se.fed to himself, which repeats the vision of Tho sea., then, is to be regarded as the Nebuchadnezzar with some differences. He great mass of Gentile nntions, and the win,ls is reminded tha.t the cha.nges tha.t come are, therefore, the spiritual agencies by over the affo.irs of men are not unending. which God canies on the history of the The riee nnd full of empires is not the con- world. As there are four winds, there aro fused whirl of uncontrolled atoms, but all also four empires. There are angelio tending towards nn end-the establishment princes of at least two of these empin·s of tho kingdom of God upon the earth. referred to la.ter. May wo not argue tl,at Ver. 2.-Daniel spe.ke and said, I saw in these empires ha.d, according to the thought my vision by night, and, behold, the four of Daniel, ea.oh e.n angelic hea.d? It ruay winds of the heaven strove upon the great be doubted whether the most a.dvanccd eea. The Septua.gint omits the introductory critics know more of angelology than D,iniel, clnuse, and renders, "On my couch I saw or co.n be certain that hie view was a mis- in my night-sleep, and, behold, the four taken 'one. Moreov,,r, the Mediterranean winds of heaven fell upon the great sea.." Sea we.s the centre rounil which the epic Thcodotion, like the LXX., omits the intro- of history, as rovealed to Dank!, unfolded ductory olnuee, and renders, "I Daniel be- itself. Nebuchadnezzar marched along tho held, a.nd, lo, the four win cl. of the heaven eastern shores of that m.idlo.nd sc,i; the rushed upon (1rpou'f{Ja.'l\ov) the great sea.." Porsia.n monarchs essayed to command it by Tho Peehitta seems e.s if tranefened from their fleets; across a bro.nch of that sea the Massorctio toxt, the resembbnco ie so came Alexander; and from yet further close. 'l'ho Vl\ri11tions in the Greek Version across its blue ,rnt0rs ci\m~ the Tiornans. ruay be duo to coullrnsation of a fuller The Meditcrra.nco.n so.w most of the history  208 TIIE BOOK OF DANIEL. [en. vu. 1-28.