Глава 8

1–14. A vision of two animals - a goat and a ram. 15–27. Explanation of it by a celestial being. Daniel 8:1. In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that appeared to me before. The subject of the vision of this chapter is the history of the change of Medo-Persian rule by the Greco-Macedonian (Dan.8:3–7) and the characteristics of the latter’s relations with God’s chosen people (Dan.8:8–14). In both points it complements the vision of the previous chapter. Daniel 8:2. And I saw in a vision, and when I saw, I was in Susa, the capital city in the region of Elam, and I saw in a vision, as if I was at the Ulai River. The vision was received by the prophet in Susa, on the banks of the Ulaya River. According to some exegetes (Berthold, Kühnen, Corneli, Knabenbauer), Daniel was really in Susa, where he retired during the reign of Nabonidus and Belshazzar; according to others (Smirnov, Pesotsky), he only imagined that he was in Susa. He was here spiritually (cf. Ezek. 8:3; Ezek. 40:2), but not physically. But the presence of the prophet can be mentally assumed only on Ulai, as evidenced by the expression of this verse: “and I saw in a vision how I would be at the river Ulai.” In contrast, regarding Susa, he says: “and when I saw it, I was in Susa.” The country or region of Elam, in which Susa was the main city, received its name from the name of one of the sons of Shem (Gen. 10:22). Repeatedly mentioned later in the Bible (Gen.14:1; Is.21:2; Is.22:6-7; Ezek.32, etc.), and in wedge-shaped inscriptions known under various names: Numaki - in ancient Akkadian, Kissi and Ilamma - in Assyrian, Uyaga - in Persian (“mountainous country”), it was located in the northeast of the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates along the southwestern slope of the Zagros mountain range. Representing a powerful state in ancient times, Elam was defeated for the first time by the Assyrian king Assurbanipal, and then, among other areas, conquered by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 25:25; Jer. 49:34; Ezek. 32:24), and became part of the Babylonian Empire. Its main city, Susa, was founded, according to Strabo, by Typhon, the father of Memnon, a contemporary of the siege of Troy, and is mentioned in one of the inscriptions of Assurbanipal. “I,” he says, “returned to the Babylonian city of Erech the image of the goddess Nana, taken from there as a trophy of war to Susa by the Elamite king Kubur-Naihundi 1,635 years earlier.” During the time of Cyrus, Susa was the spring residence of the Persian kings, and under Darius Hystaspes it was turned into the capital. They were located on the Ulae River, known to the Greeks and Romans as Euleaia (present-day Karun east of Susa). Dan.8:3. I lifted up my eyes and saw: behold, one ram stood by the river; he has two horns, and the horns are high, but one is higher than the other, and the highest rose up after. According to the explanation of the angel Gabriel, an ram with two horns means “the kings of the Medes and Persians” (Dan.8:20), i.e. the Medo-Persian kingdom, personified in its kings (cf. (Dan.2:38, 8:21–22) - the large horn between the eyes of the goat is the first Greek king, and the four other horns of the same animal are “the four kingdoms that are about to rise from this people.” The animal is the image of an entire people). Consisting of two nationalities, but essentially inseparable, the Medo-Persian kingdom began its history as the Median kingdom: under Cyaxares, the Persians were subordinate to the Medes. But under Cyrus the Persian, relations between nations change: power passes to the Persians (cf. Esther 1:3), who created a world monarchy. This historical sequence in the predominance of the stronger Persians over the Medes is indicated in the vision by the detail that “the highest (horn) rose after.” As for the representation of the Medo-Persian kingdom under the image of a ram, it, in accordance with Persian symbolism (see interpretation of Daniel 7: 2-3) and also in Amonius Marcellinus, according to whom, the Persian king, standing at the head of the army, as its leader, wore the head of a ram instead of a diadem), characterizes the Medo-Persian monarchy in terms of its strong material well-being, strength, combined with inactivity and slowness. Dan.8:4. I saw how this ram butted to the west and to the north and to the south, and no beast could resist him, and no one could save him from him; he did what he wanted and was proud. With the appearance of the “higher horn,” the ram began to show its strength: it gored (an image of dominance - Ezek. 34:21), and none of the animals could resist it. Indeed, the accession of Cyrus was followed by a whole series of campaigns undertaken by the Persian kings to the west (Asia Minor cities, Syria, Babylon), north (Pontic and Scythian peoples) and south (Egypt). Dan.8:5. I looked attentively at this, and behold, from the west there came a goat across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground; this goat had a prominent horn between his eyes. Dan.8:6. He went towards that ram with horns, which I saw standing by the river, and rushed at him in his great rage. Dan.8:7. And I saw how he, approaching the ram, became angry with him and struck the ram, and broke both of its horns; and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him, and he threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one who could save the ram from him. The west, north and south experienced the all-crushing power of the Medo-Persian kingdom. Only the east remained untouched; as you know, Xerxes’ campaign against Greece ended in failure, but from here (Persia in relation to Greece lies to the west - the goat comes from the west) in the person of the first Greek king (Dan.8:21) came death. The incredibly fast campaign of Alexander the Great in Asia (the goat walks with extraordinary ease, “without touching the ground”), his victories over Darius Codomanus at Granicus, Issus and, finally, near Susa and the Eulea River - between Gaugamela and Arbela - put an end to the existence of the Medo-Persian monarchy. Dan.8:8. Then the goat became extremely exalted; but when it grew stronger, the great horn was broken, and four came out in its place, facing the four winds of heaven. Having reached the highest degree of glory as a result of the campaigns undertaken after the conquest of the Medo-Persian kingdom in Bactria, Sogdiana and India to Pendbazh, the Greco-Macedonian monarchy lost its famous leader Alexander the Great: “the great horn was broken,” and at the same time lost a significant share of its power and strength. According to his will (1 Mac.1:5-6), it was divided into four new kingdoms (four horns - four kingdoms - Dan.8:22), smaller, of course, both in size and in strength (Dan.8:22): Macedonian (Macedonia and Greece), Syrian (Syria, Babylon and Persia), Thracian (Thrace, Bithynia and Asian possessions along the Hellespont and Bosphorus) and Egyptian (Egypt, Libya, Arabia and Palestine). Dan.8:9. From one of them came a small horn, which grew enormously to the south and east and to the beautiful country, According to the explanation of the celestial (Dan. 8:23), the new horn that appeared on the head of the goat means a arrogant and skilled king in deceit, who has to rise at the end of the political existence of the four kingdoms, “when the apostates fulfill the measure of iniquities.” Based on 1 Mac. 1:7–15), this king must be understood as Antiochus Epiphanes. “Alexander,” says the author of the first Book of Maccabees, “reigned for 12 years and died. And his servants each ruled in his own place. And after his death they all laid crowns on themselves, and after them their sons for many years; and increased evil on earth. And out of them came the root of sin - Antiochus Epiphanes. ... In those days the wicked sons came out of Israel and persuaded many, saying: Let us go and make an alliance with the nations that surround us, for since we separated from them many calamities have befallen us. And this word seemed good in their eyes. Some of the people expressed a desire and went to the king; and he gave them the right to carry out pagan statutes. ... And they established uncircumcision among themselves and departed from the holy covenant.” If, according to the book of the prophet Daniel, an arrogant and skillful king will rise when “the apostates fulfill the measure of their iniquities,” then, according to the testimony of 1 Maccabees, the ascension of Antiochus Epiphanes coincides with the appearance among Israel of “apostates from the holy covenant.” The introduction of uncircumcision is the highest measure of lawlessness. The identity of the era and persons is beyond any doubt. The initially small horn then grew enormously to the south, to the east and to the beautiful country. Likewise, Antiochus Epiphanes, at the beginning the king of Syria, waged successful wars against the south - Egypt (1 Mac.1:16-18), the east - Persia (1 Mac.3:31, 37; 1 Mac.6:1-4), Babylon (1 Mac.6:4) and Armenia, and subjugated the Armenian king Artaxias. A beautiful country, that is, Palestine (Jer. 3:19; Ezek. 20:6), so named for its fertility, also submitted to his power. Daniel 8:10. and he ascended to the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth part of that host and the stars, and trampled them underfoot, According to the Angel’s explanation, the “heavenly army” trampled by Antiochus Epiphanes means the “nation of saints” (Dan. 8:24), i.e., Old Testament Israel, which received a similar name due to its appointment to be a nation of saints. The name “armies” assigned to it in the Bible (Ex. 12:41) is filled in the present case with the epithet “heavenly” due to the fact that Israel carried out a heavenly mission on earth and had the Lord of heaven as its king. According to the testimony of 1 book. Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes’s trampling of the “army of heaven” was expressed in his slaughter of many children of Israel (1 Mac. 1:24, 30, 32, 37). Dan.8:11. and he even ascended against the Captain of this army, and the daily sacrifice was taken away from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was desecrated. Not content with the extermination of the Jews, Antiochus Epiphanes ascended to the Leader of the heavenly host, which he showed by taking away his daily sacrifice and desecrating the place of His shrine. Expressing the desire that all his subjects would be one people and leave their former law (religious), he, as stated in 1 Maccabees, made a similar demand on the Jews: he forbade them to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices, make libations to Jehovah and celebrate the Sabbath (1 Mac. 1:45), in the place of the destroyed altars he built temples and altars to idols, forcing the Israelis to make sacrifices on them pagan gods (1 Mac. 1:47–49). And the order of Antiochus was carried out: on the fifteenth day of Hasleva he built the abomination of desolation on the altar, and altars were built in the cities of Judea (1 Mac. 1:54; cf. 2 Mac. 6 etc.). Dan.8:12. And the army was delivered up along with the daily sacrifice for wickedness, and he, casting the truth to the ground, acted and succeeded. The reason for such success lay not in the strength of Antiochus (Dan. 8:24), but in the “wickedness of the army.” Palestine was delivered into his hands by apostates from the holy covenant; they “joined themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil” ( 1 Mac. 1:15 ; cf. Dan. 8:11–13 ). Dan.8:13. And I heard one saint speaking, and this saint said to someone who asked: “How long will this vision of the daily sacrifice and the devastating wickedness last, when the shrine and the army will be trampled underfoot?” Dan.8:14. And he said to me: “for two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; and then the sanctuary will be cleansed.” The duration of the tradition given to Antiochus to trample both the sanctuary and the people is, according to the Angel, 2,300 evenings and mornings. And since, according to biblical usage, the expression “evening and ... morning” denotes a special, separate day (Gen. 1: 5, 8, 13, etc.), then in the present case “2,300 evenings and mornings” should be understood in the sense of 2,300 full days - days. The end point of this period is the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary - “then the sanctuary will be cleansed,” that is, the restoration of true worship in the church on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Haslev, 148 (1 Mac. 4:52–53). As for the starting point, it defies precise definition. The open struggle of Antiochus Epiphanes with the Old Testament church began in 143, when, after the defeat of Egypt, he marched on Jerusalem, entered the sanctuary and robbed it (1 Mac. 1:20–23); but hostile activity generally took its toll somewhat earlier. In particular, in 142, with his consent, the high priest Onias was deprived of his position through the efforts of the wicked Jason. In turn, this latter was eliminated by a certain Menelaus, who stole and sold the vessels of the church (2 Mac. 4:32). In view of this, the entire period of the hostile activity of Antiochus Epiphanes is determined by the time from 148 to 142, which includes 2,300 days, equal to 6 years and 3 or 4 months with several days. In addition to the indicated understanding and calculation of “2,300 evenings and mornings,” there is also something else. Prophetic revelation is said to have as its main subject the question of sacrifice. And since they were offered according to the Law of Moses in the morning and evening, the expression evening - morning indicates that the prophet Daniel refers to the morning and evening sacrifices - the temporary points of their performance. Accordingly, evening and morning should be counted separately, and the number 2,300 evenings and mornings should be determined as 1,150 days, or full days. But such a calculation is, first of all, contrary to biblical usage. In cases where a Jew wants to separately designate the components of the day - day and night, he keeps a separate account for each part; he says: 40 days and 40 nights (Gen.7:4, 12; 1 Kings 19:8), three days and 3 nights (Jon.2:1; Matt.12:40). Secondly, taking into account the chronological dates of the activities of Antiochus Epiphanes according to the Maccabean books, it is impossible to find in it a period of time to which it would be possible to date 1,150 days. Thus, the starting point of the desecration of the sanctuary is considered (Delich) or the 15th day of Haslev, the time of setting up the idol altar in the church (1 Mac 1.54), or the time of the arrival of the tax chief Apollonius in Judea and their capture of Jerusalem in the same year 145 (Black 1 Mac 1:29 and 2 Mac 5:24). But in the first case, only 3 years and 10 days passed until the end of Antiochus’s hostile activity on the 25th day of the month of Haslev 148 (1 Mac. 4:52), or 1,090–1,105, and not 1,150 days. In the second case, without any reason, but only in order to acquire the required number, they assign the time of Apollonius’s arrival to the first month of 145. Daniel 8:15. And it came to pass: when I, Daniel, saw this vision and sought its meaning, behold, he stood before me as the form of a man. Dan.8:16. And I heard a human voice from the middle of Ulai, which called out and said: “Gabriel! explain this vision to him!” Daniel 8:17. And he came to the place where I stood, and when he came, I was horrified and fell on my face; and he said to me: “Know, son of man, that the vision refers to the end of time!” Dan.8:18. And when he spoke to me, I lay unconscious with my face on the ground; but he touched me and put me in my place, The sudden and rapid appearance of a creature resembling a husband testified to his unearthly existence and heavenly nature. The name of the one who appeared, Gabriel, “the man of God,” convinced the prophet of the same thing. According to Gabriel, the vision refers to "the end of... the time" (cf. Dan. 8:19). But as Daniel 8:20–23 shows:), by “the end of time” we mean the time of the end of the Old Testament period, at which the activity of the “arrogant king” Antiochus Epiphanes falls. And only taking into account the vision of chapters 10–12, where the Old Testament enemy of the saints of God, emerging from the third monarchy, is clearly presented as a prototype of the last enemy of the Church - the Antichrist, one must conclude that in the vision of chapter 8. the plight of the Church at the end of the world is covertly contemplated. Daniel 8:26. The vision about evening and morning, about which it is said, is true; but hide this vision, for it belongs to distant times.” The vision of the morning in the evening must be “hidden” - that is, it must be preserved and preserved in its entirety and undamaged. You might be interested in: