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ever.' Bring hither to me the Jews. What will they say concerning this prophecy? for it is by no means right to say of any human kingdom, that it shall be everlasting, or without end. In the days of those kings,' to wit, the Romans. But if they say, how can he break in pieces the gold, the kingdom of the Babylonians, destroyed long ago? how can he destroy the silver, the kingdom of the Persians? how the brass, the kingdom of the Macedonians? for these are past long ago, and are come to an end--how can he destroy the kingdoms which are already destroyed? But to destroy others, in which these are included, amounts to the same thing.”*

Sulpicius Severus having given an account of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and of all the particulars relating to it, subjoins an exposi

• Τίνος δ' ένεκεν την αύτε βασιλειαν καλει χρυσην, την δε των Περσών άργυρον, και την των Μακεδόνων χαλκην, και την των Ρωμαίων σιδηραν και ιερακινην; δρα καταλληλες τας ύλας· ὁ γαρ χρυσος πλοτε μεν ἐςι ἐμφαντικον———έτω και ἐκείνη ἡ βασιλεια-κεφαλην δε ἐπεχει, ἐπειδη πρωτη ἐφανη· ἡ δε Περσων ἐκ έτως εὐπορος, ὥσπερ ἐν ὧδε Μακεδόνων, ἡ δε 'Ρωμαίων χρησιμωτερα τε και ισχυρότερα, ύσερα μεν τοις χρόνοις. διο και απόδων ταξιν ἐπέχει ἐςι δε αύτης τα μεν άσθενη, τα δε ισχυρότερα. Quare autem regnum Nabuchodonororis vocat aureum, Persarum autem argenteum, Macedonum æreum, Romanorum ferreum atque testaceum? Vide dispositas convenienter materias. Nam aurum divitias quidem repræsentat― Sic et regnum Babylonium--Caput autem occupat · quia regnum illud fuit primum. Persarum vero imperium non adeo opulentum fuit: sicut nec Macedonum: at Romanorum utilius ac fortius; tempore quidem posterius, quare et pedum locum obtinet. Porro sunt hujus regni quædam infirma, et quædam robustiora.- -Και ἐν ταις ἡμεραις των βασιλεων ἐκείνων ἀναζήσει ὁ Θεός το έρανο βασιλειαν, ἡτις εἰς τες αἰώνας & διαφθαρήσεται και ἡ βασιλεια αὐτω λαω ἑτέρω έχ υποληφθήσεται λεπτύνει και λικμήσει πασας τας βασιλειας και αύτη ἀναςήσεται εἰς τες αιώνας. Αγε μοι της Ιωδαιος ἐνταυθα· τι άν είποιεν περι της προφητείας ταύτης; & γαρ δήπε περὶ ἀνθρωπίνης ταυτα θεμις εἶπειν, ὅτι ἀπειρος έσαι ἡ βασιλεια- η ταις ἡμεραις των βασιλέων ἐκείνων, των ̔Ρωμαίων δηλονότι. Αλλως δε ει' λεγοιεν, και πως τον χρυσον συνέτριψε, την Βαβυλωνίων βασιλειαν παλαι κατασκευασθεισαν [κατασκεδάσθεισαν;] πως δε τον άργυρον, την Περσων; πως δε τον χαλκον, την Μακεδόνων ; ταυτα γαρ παλαι έγενετο, και τέλος έλαβενπως τας ήδη σβεσθινσας βασιλείας καθαίρει ; άλλα το καθαιρεῖν ἑτερας ἐν αἷς αἱ τοιαῦται εἰσιν, εικοτως ἐμποιει. Et in diebus regum illorum suscitabit Deus coeli regnum, quod in sæcula non corrumpetur: et regnum ejus populo alteri non relinquetur: comminuct et ventilabit universa regna: et ipsum exsurget in sæcula.' Adducito mihi huc Judæos. Quid de hac prophetia dicturi sunt? Neque enim profecto de humano regno hæc fas est dicere; scilicet, regnum infinitum fore— In diebus regum illorum: Romanorum videlicet. Quod si dicant: quomodo aurum conterere potuit, nempe regnum Babyloniorum, quod jam olim erat destructum? Quomodo etiam argentum, nimirum regnum Persarum? Et quomodo æs, scilicet regnum Macedonum? Hæc enim quondam fuerant, et finem acceperant. Quomodo jam extincta regna destruat? Quia nimirum destruit alia regna, m quibus hæc continentur.-S. Jo. Chysost. in Danielem, p. 214 et 216, tom. 2, edit. Benedict. [Translated in the text.]

tion of it, agreeable to Daniel's interpretation. "The image is an emblem of the world. The golden head is the empire of the Chaldæans: forasmuch as that was the first and most wealthy. The breast and arms of silver signify the second kingdom: For Cyrus, the Chaldæans and Medes being overcome, transferred the empire to the Persians. In the brazen belly the third kingdom is declared to be portended; and that we see fulfilled: Forasmuch as the empire, taken from the Persians, Alexander vindicated to Macedonia. The iron legs are the fourth kingdom: and that is the Roman, the strongest of all the kingdoms before it. But the feet, part of iron, and part of clay, prefigure the Roman empire to be so divided, as that it should never unite again: which is equally fulfilled-Forasmuch as the Roman territory is occupied by foreign nations or rebels ——And we see (saith he, and he lived at the beginning of the fifth century†) barbarous nations mixed with our armies, cities, and provinces---But in the stone cut out without hands, which brake in pieces the gold, the silver, the brass, the iron, and the clay, we have a figure of Christ. For he shall reduce this world, in which are the kingdoms of the earth, to nothing, and shall establish another everlasting kingdom. Of which alone the faith of some is still dubious, and they will not credit future things, when they are convinced of the past."

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Nay, Grotius himself, the great patron of the other opinion, that the fifth kingdom is the Roman empire, commenting upon those words, ver. 45,—it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay,

* Igitur secundum prophetæ interpretationem imago visa, figuram mundi gerit. Caput aureum, Chaldæorum imperium est; siquidem id primum, et opulentissimum fuisse accepimus. Pectus et brachia argentea secundum regnum annunciant. Cyrus enim, victis Chaldæis atque Medis, imperium ad Persas contulit. In ventre æreo, tertium regnum portendi pronunciatur: idque impletum videmus. Siquidem Alexander ereptum Persis imperium Macedoniæ vindicavit. Crura ferrea, imperium quartum : idque Romanum intelligitur, omnium ante regnorum validissimum. Pedes vero partim ferrei, partim fictiles, dividendum esse Romanum regnum, ita ut nunquam inter se coeat præfigurant quod æque impletum est,Siquidem Romanum solum ab exteris gentibus aut rebellibus occupatum :- exercitibusque nostris, urbibus atque provinciis permixtas barbaras nationes - videmus.In lapide vero sine manibus abscisso qui aurum, argentum, æs, et ferrum testamque comminuit, Christi figuram esse. Is enim mundum istum, in quo sunt regna terrarum, in nihilum rediget, regnumque aliud incorruptum confirmabit. De quo uno adhuc quorundam fides in ambiguo est, non credendum de futuris, cum de præteritis convincantur. [Translated in the text.] Sulpicii Sacr. lib. 2, p. 66, 67, edit. Elzevir. 1656.

Cave, Hist. lit. vol 1, p. 374.

the silver, and the gold,' cannot but acknowledge, that "the sublimer sense is, that Christ will put an end to all earthly empires, according to 1 Corinth. xv. 24,"* -'that he shall put down all rule, and all authority, and power.'

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Thus it pleased God to reveal unto Daniel, and by Daniel unto Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest and most signal events of this world. As Daniel said unto Nebuchadnezzar, ver. 45,— The great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof is sure.' The king hearing his dream related with such exactness, might be better assured of the truth of the interpretation, and of the great events which would follow. And from hence we are enabled in some measure to account for Nebuchadnezzar's propheysing a little before he died. Abydenus wrote the history of the Assyrians. It is not well known in what age he lived, and his history is lost but there is a fragment of it preserved by Eusebius, wherein it is asserted, upon the authority of Megasthenes, that Nebuchadnezzar was divinely inspired, and prophesied in this manner: "I, Nebuchadnezzar, foretel unto you, O Babylonians, an imminent calamity, which neither Belus my progenitor, nor queen Beltis can persuade the fates to avert: A Persian mule shall come, assisted by your demons, and impose servitude upon you; whose coadjutor shall be a Mede, the boast of the Assyrians."+ And soon after he died. Herodotus, who was a much older historian than Megasthenes, relates, that a Delphic oracle was given to Croesus, king of Lydia, that "when a mule should rule over the Medes, then he should not be ashamed to fly away." Which oracle was afterwards thus interpreted by the Py

* Sensus sublimior, Christum finem impositurum omnibus imperiis terrestribus. 1 Cor. xv. 24. [Translated in the text.] Grot. in locum.

† Εγω, Ναβικοδροσορος, ὦ Βαβυλωνιοι, την μελλησαν ύμινπροαγγέλλω συμφορήν, την ο τ Βήλος έμος προγονος, ή τε βασιλεια Βηστις αποτρέψαι μοιρας πεισαι ἀσθενεσιν ἥξει Πορσης ἡμιονοι, τοισιν ὑμετέροισι δαίμοσι χρεωμένος συμμαχοισιν, έπάξει δε δηλοσυνμν· ὁ δὲ συναίτιος ἐσα, Myồng, to 'Accupied avɣnua. Ego Nabucodrosorus, O Babylonii, imminentem vobis calamitatem prænuncio, quam Parcis uti averruncent, nec Belus generis nostri auctor, nec regina Beltis persuadere unquam poterunt. Persicus veniet mulus, qui dæmonum vestrorum usus auxilio, durum cervicibus vestris jugum imponet. Atque hujus cladis auctor etiam Medus quidam erit, quo ante Assyrii magnopere gloriabantur. [Translated in the text.] Euseb. Præp. Evang. lib. 9, cap. 41, p. 45€, edit. Viger.

† ̓Αλλ' ὅταν ἡνοις (ασιλευς Μηδοισι γενηται,

Και τότε κ. τ. λ.

Regis apud Medos mulo jam sede potito,

'Lyde fugam, &c.-Hero. lib. 1, cap. 55, p. 21 edit. Gale

Translated in the text.]

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thian priestess: "Cyrus was this mule; for he was born of parents of different nations, the mother the better, and the father the meaner, for she was a Mede, and the daughter of the king of the Medes, but he was a Persian, and subject to the Medes."* If any credit is to be given to these stories, if any such prophecy was uttered by Nebuchadnezzar, a little before his death, if any such oracle was received and believed of Cyrus and the Persians subduing Asia, the notion, the tradition may very well be supposed to have been derived originally from this prophecy of Daniel, which, being so solemnly delivered to a great king, and published in Chaldee, might come to be generally known in the east; and the event soon afterwards evinced the truth of it.

It was from this prophecy too, that the distinction first arose of the four great empires of the world, which hath been followed by most historians and chronologers in their distribution of times. These four empires, as they are the subject of this prophecy, are likewise the subject of the most celebrated pens, both in former and in later ages. The histories of these empires are the best written, and the most read of any; they are the study of the learned, and the amusement of the polite; they are of use both in schools and in senates: we learn them when we are young, and we forget them not when we are old; from hence examples, instructions, laws, and politics, are derived for all ages; and very little in comparison is known of other times, or of other nations. Not but that there have been empires as great or greater than some of these, as those of the Tartars for instance, and of the Saracens, and of the Turks; and you may think, perhaps, that they are as well deserving of a place in this succession of kingdoms, and were equally worthy to be made the objects of prophecy, being as eminent for the wisdom of their constitutions, the extent of their dominions, and the length of their duration. But those four empires had a particular relation to the church and people of God, who were subject to each of them in their turns. They were therefore particularly predicted; and we have in them, without the intermixture of others, a line of prophecy (as I may say) extending from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar

• Ην γαρ δη ὁ Κυρος έτος ἡμιονος· ἐκ γαρ δυοιν ἐκ ὁμοεθνέων ἐγεγόνεε, μητρος άμεινονος, πατρος δε ὑποδεέσερα ἡ μεν γαρ ήν Μηδις, και 'Αςυάγεος θυγατηρ το Μήδων βασιλεως· ὁ δε Περσης το ἦν, nxi ápxquevos væ' èxeivo. Nam mulus hic Cyrus erat: quippe qui duobus diversarum fentium parentibus ortus sit, generosiore matre quam patre. Nam illa quidem Meda erat, Astyagis Medorum regis filia; hic autem Persa, et Medis subjectus. [Translated in the text.] Herod. ibid cap. 91, p. 39.

to the full and complete establishment of the kingdom of the Messiah. He who is arbiter of kingdoms, and governor of the universe, can reveal as much of their future revolutions as he pleaseth: and he hath revealed enough to manifest his providence, and to confirm the truth of religion. What Daniel said upon the first discovery of these things, well may we say after the completion of so many particulars: ver. 20, 21, 22,- Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever! for wisdom and might are his. And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings : he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

DISSERTATION XIV.

DANIEL'S VISION OF THE SAME.

WHAT was revealed unto Nebuchadnezzar in the second year of kis reign concerning the four great empires of the world, was again revealed unto Daniel, chap. vii., with some enlargements and additions in the first year of Belshazzar, that is, about eight-and-forty years afterwards. But there is this difference, that what was exhibited to Nebuchadnezzar in the form of a great image, was represented to Daniel in the shape of great wild beasts. The reason of which is ingeniously assigned by Grotius, and after him by Mr. Lowth, "that this image appeared with a glorious lustre in the imagination of Nebuchadnezzar, whose mind was wholly taken up with admiration of worldly pomp and splendor; whereas the same monarchies were represented to Daniel under the shape of fierce and wild beasts, as being the great supporters of idolatry and tyranny in the world."*

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Daniel dreamed, and the angel interpreted, These great beasts, which are four,' says the angel, ver. 17,-are four kings,' or kingdoms, as it is translated in the vulgar Latin, and the Greek and Arabic versions, and as the angel himself explains it, ver. 23,The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.' They arise out of a stormy and tempestuous sea, that is, out of the wars

Lowth's Comment. on chap. II, 31. Grotius, ibid

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