The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 365

thing. Professor Bevan, who holds tbo.t the whole spiritual ~o~mery of the Book of mari-cle referred to o.re the events foretold, Daniel; the nngcls of tho nntions are the quotes lso.. xxix. 14 o.e n. po.re.lie] insto.nce, n.gents uuder God for carrying out the but. though mnrvels nro there mentioned, deorees of providence. That it Phall be /or such mo.r•·cl~ tho.t all the wisdom of the a time, times, and an half. Thie is a spaoe wise should fail, etc., vet here nothing is of time repeatedly need in the Diblico.l told of ihe nature of these ma.rvels. l:Io.d apocn,lypses (eh. vii. 25 ; Rev. xii. H ). In !here been l"isione of symbolic animals, 1\8 Rev. xi. 3, the same period scorns to be ropre- rn the seventh end eighth cho.ptere, we sented by twelve hundrod nnd sixty do.ye. could have underetood these thinge being In the present case twell'e hundred nnd spoken of as marvels. The probability, ninety days seem to be regarded ne equiva- then. is IH.'ightened that there have been lent to the "time, times, and o.n half omissions as well 88 in•ertions here. The (ver. 11). The divergonoy of interpretation time eonteruplnted is the end, when judg- cornea to its height here. A great number mcnt and resurrection are p88Sed. It is, of interpreters-not merely those of the in fact, the question of the apostles (Matt. critical school-maintain that "time" here xxi,. S), "Tell us, when shall these things is a literal year, n.nd the days of the suc- be? o.nd what shall be the sign of thy ceeding verses literal days, and that the coming, and of the end of the world?" period in question is that between the dese- Yer. 7.-And I hee.rd the man clothed in cration of the temple by Antiochus'e orders line!l, which was upon the we.ters of the and the setting up "the abomination of river, when he l::eld up his right hand and desolation" (1 Mace. i. 54), till the Jews his left hand Ullto heaven, and sware by were able to sacrifice once more in the re- him th&t liveth for ever that it shall be for consecrated temple (1 Maco. iv. 52). This a iime, times, and an half; and when he period, however, is only ten days over &hall have accompliihed to soa.tter the power the three years from the 15th Casleu 9 145 of the holy people, ell these things shall be of the era of the Seleucids, to the 25th finished. The Septuagint essentially agrees Caslen, 148. Or, if we take the date from with this. It omits "man" in the fust the time that sacrifices to Jupiter beaan, cltiuse ; he.a "we.ter " instead of " waters ; " till the re-establishment of the worship of adds ''God" as explanatory of "him that Jehovah, it is then exactly three years liveth for ever;" it renders "scatter the from the 25th Casleu to the 25th Ce.slen. power" by "loose the he.nds." Theodotion, Thie period is not sufficient. Professor while agreeing with the Maseoretic text Moses Stuart gets over the di.Ill cul ty by as to the fust portion of the verse, di1fere reckoning back from the cleansing of the very much in the end. He renders, "when temple to what he considers the probable the scattering is furiBhed, they shall know date of Antiochus's entrance into Jerusa- these things." There is, as will be seen, lem on his retreat from Egypt. This how- no reference to the "holy people." His ever, is arbitrary, as the eleventh verse ~kcs manuscript must have omitted "holy,'' for the terminus a quo the setting up of the the rest may be expln.ined by a false division "abomination of desolation," which occurred into words, or,, being read ,p,.. The M88• in H.5, Seleucid era. Professor Bevan would eoretic reading is to be preferred. The reckon to the death of Antiochus. Of this Peshitta and V ulgate do not call for remark. event we only know it happened in 149 Wl,en he lield up M,a rigid hand and hia Seleucid era (1 Maco. vi. 16). If the yea.; left hand unto hear,en. The lifting up the began, as the Maccabrean reckoning seems band, in sign of me.king a solemn asseve- to have been, with the month Nisan, it ration, is used of God himself (Dent. xxx.ii might be tha.t approximately three yeare 40), of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 22), of the and a half was the time from the desecra- angel in the passage in Revelation foUllded tion of the temple to the death of Anti- on this (x. 5). Here the fact that; both ochns. But the death of Antiocbus pro- right hand and left ha.nd are lifted up to duced but little change on the condition of heaven gives greater solemnity to the act. the Jews. In the following year Lysia.s .And ••nare l,y him that liooth for er,er. This inflicted a defeat on Judas and besieged title is ascribed to God in eh. iv. 34 (31) ; Jerusalem, and captured a portion of the also in Dent. :urii. 40 ; the idea is involved city. To somo extent we have anticipated in the DJlllle Jehovah (Yahveh). The re- our remarks on this text when considering lationship between the oath and the ascrip- eh. viL 25. There are, however, peculi- tion to God, on whOll8 faithfulness its e.rities due to the fa.et that Aramaic, fulfilment depended, is obvious. 'fhe fact not Hebrew, is the language need in tho.t the "man olothed in linen" thus that passagfl, iP,'lc (mo'ed), here rendered "swears " implies that in some way he "time," is tra.uslated "congregation" moat is the source of the determination of the generally in the Peutateuch. Sometimes period. This notion ie involved in the it is "feast," and sometimes it is "sco.son_;" OU, XII, 1-18,] THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 339