Interpretation of the vision of the Prophet Daniel

Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 If it were convenient for everyone to explain the prophecies of the divine Prophets, and, extending beyond the literal meaning, plunge into the depths and grasp the hidden beads of understanding there; then, perhaps, it would be fair to recognize it as unnecessary to write an interpretation of the prophecies, because it is not difficult for anyone to comprehend the prophetic thought while reading. But because, although we all have the same nature, not everyone is given equal knowledge; for it is said: “to whom is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the benefit: to one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit, and to another the word of understanding by the same Spirit: to another faith, by the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:7-9), and likewise everything else is communicated separately; then I think that I will do no harm if I communicate their teaching in writing to those who do not know the divine prophetic writings, having been fed by them from childhood, and having collected at least a little information from many pious writers. For the law of God commands that what we learned from our fathers be taught to our descendants. It is said: teach this “to your sons and your sons’ sons” (Deut. 4:9). That is why the great teacher David says: “My people, give ear to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth: I will open my mouth in parables, I will proclaim decrees from the beginning” (Ps. 77:1, 2). Then, showing where he knew this, he continues: “I have heard and known, and our fathers have told us that they are not hidden from their children, their generation” (Ps. 77:3, 4). And explaining the reason for this knowledge, he also says: “You have laid down a law in Israel: a great commandment was given by our fathers, that I should say to my sons: that another generation may know that they that are born sons, and they will arise and command their sons” (Ps. 77:5, 6). And showing the benefit of this training, he adds: “Let them put their trust in God, and not forget the works of God, and seek His commandments” (Ps. 77:7). Therefore, having accepted this teaching from our fathers, we are obliged to pay a just debt to our younger ones and to those who will come after us; and, moreover, justice demands that this debt be repaid graciously. And it is not only God’s law that prompts us to this; Many significant people close to me, with zealous and urgent requests, forced me to dare to undertake this feat. Therefore, we will try to make the prophecy of the divine Daniel as clear as possible for those who do not know. And perhaps this work will not be useless for those worthy of knowledge; because they will either find something more than what they themselves have understood, or finding their own in ours, with such communication they will confirm what they themselves have comprehended. For the agreement of many usually confirms our thoughts. Let us now accept the interpretation of this Prophet, not because we neglect the other Prophets - (let that not happen! For we know that they are all instruments of God's Spirit) - but, firstly, because those close to us demanded the interpretation of this Prophet, and we considered it fitting to satisfy those who asked for what they asked for. And besides this, the madness and shamelessness of the Jews dispose us to leave the other Prophets this time, and to reveal and clarify the prophecies of Danilov; because the Jews have reached such shamelessness that they exclude Daniel from the host of Prophets, and even deprive him of the very name of Prophet. And this trick of theirs, beyond their shamelessness, has a special purpose. Because Daniel, much more clearly than all the other Prophets, foretold the coming of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, not only predicting what He would do, but predicting the time, even indicating the number of years before His coming and clearly depicting all the sorrows that would befall them for unbelief; then, as haters of God and enemies of the truth, it is not without reason that they dare to shamelessly assert that the one who predicted this and much more is not a prophet, considering such a verdict to be sufficient to confirm the lie. And it is not the least surprising if, having rebelled furiously against the Only Begotten, they slander the zealous servants of the Lord; the latter is consistent with the former. That is why the Lord says: “If you cast out Me, you will also be cast out” (John 15:20); and again: “If you have given the lord the house of Beelzebub much more than his household” (Matthew 10:25). In order to further expose the shamelessness of the Jews, he asked them this way: what do you call characteristic of the Prophet? Maybe they will say: foreknow and predict the future. Therefore, let us see whether blessed Daniel foreknew and predicted the future? Let us not touch upon the word about the Lord Christ for now, but let us visualize his other prophecies. So we find that he predicted a lot about the kingdom of Babylon, a lot about the kingdoms of Persia and Macedon, and a lot about the kingdom of Rome; predicted what would happen to the king of Babylon, how the Persians would dominate his kingdom, and then the Macedonian king, having crushed them, would soon end his life, and instead of one, four kings would inherit the kingdom - descended from one of them to cause thousands of evils to the Jews, but using God's help, they would get rid of his atrocities. Then, moving on to the next, Daniel predicts the power of the Romans, predicts that they, having overcome all the kingdoms, will collect tribute from everyone. Should we talk about what he predicted about the kings of Egypt and Syria? How much harm will they do to each other? After this, how will they enter into peace treaties, marriages and family ties, then again, after the former pacification, will they begin irreconcilable wars? Therefore, whoever foreknew and predicted all this and left it in the scripture as a memorial for them, is it not wicked and unlawful to exclude him from the host of the Prophets? For if this is alien to prophecy, then what is characteristic of it? If, on the basis that he does not begin his prophetic speeches with the words: “This saith the Lord,” they deprive him of the title of Prophet, then let them tell us: what similar thing was said by Patriarch Abraham, whom the God of all called the Prophet? for it is said about Abraham: “Now give your wife to her husband, for there is a Prophet, and he will pray” for “you, and you will live and” your whole house (Gen. 20:7). And blessed David says about Abraham, his son and grandson: “And the kings reproached them, saying: Touch not My anointed, and do not deceive My prophets” (Psalm 104, 14, 15). And the great Prophet Samuel, who served in the church from childhood, does not have the distinctive signs of prophecy like other Prophets, but either in dreams, or in any revelations that happened during the day, he was awarded foresight, insight and prophecy. Therefore, declare open war on them, and clearly cast them out from the host of the Prophets. If you refuse to inflict such an insult on them, then avoid slandering Daniel; because he is a Prophet, and the Prophet, who through strong desire and zeal accepted the knowledge of the future, then through labor, fasting and suffering achieved the fact that he was taught the future, foreknew and foretold not only what would happen to the Jews, but the dispensation of general events in the universe. Therefore, consider whether it is not extremely unfair to count among the Prophets Obadiah, who predicted disasters that befell only the Edomites, also Jonah and Nahum, who foretold about one city of Nineveh, and blessed Daniel, who predicted not only about one city, not about a small people, but about the greatest kingdoms, Chaldean, Persian, Macedonian, Roman, about what was accomplished by each of to deprive them of the prophetic title and assert that he is alien to spiritual grace? And you, with your extreme ingratitude, should have been ashamed of Nebuchadnezzar, this evil, bestial barbarian, not initiated into the divine secrets, who, however, cries out and says about Daniel: “Have the Holy Spirit of God in you” (Dan. 4:5). For it was truly the work of the Spirit of God to tell a dream that another had seen and forgotten by him, and to interpret it in detail and truly. But this does not convince you to stop your fury against the Prophet; on the contrary, in the person of the Prophet, you rebel against the Lord of this Prophet. However, the Prophet will not suffer harm from your tricks. For the divine Scriptures show him to be a Prophet, and his foresight is confirmed by the fulfillment of the prophecy. And now, considering the events, we understand these ancient foreshadowings, and, guided by the events themselves, we easily reach the understanding of the writings 1; and thus you reveal your madness. But now we have briefly outlined the denunciation of your shamelessness, but a detailed interpretation will expose your folly even more strongly. Therefore, having said enough about what serves to justify ourselves and condemn the Jews, let us first clarify the content of the prophecy, and then touch on the interpretation of the prophetic sayings. After Josiah (and this was a pious king), his son Jehoahaz reigned in Judea for three full months and several days; he had two names; in the books of Kings and Chronicles he is called Jehoahaz; and the blessed Prophet Jeremiah called him Sellim (Jer. 22:11). The king of Egypt, Pharaoh Necho, having taken him captive, took him captive to Egypt, and instead of him he installed Eliakim, his brother, as king, whom he named Joachim: the latter reigned for eleven years and several months. In the third year of his reign, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, taking up arms against him, took quite a number of captives, distinguished by the nobility of the family; He also took several sacred vessels used during divine services, and, having imposed some tribute on Joachim, returned to Babylon. Then, when Joachim did not want to pay a certain tribute, Nebuchadnezzar again took up arms against Jerusalem, and taking the city, killing the king, installed his son as king in his place, who was called Joachim among the Jews, but was also renamed Eliakim. And this blessed Prophet Jeremiah calls Jehoiachin. For he says: “As I live, says the Lord: if Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim be king of Judah, a ring is on my right hand, I will tear you out from there, and deliver you into the hands of those who seek your life, whose face you fear, and into the hands of Chaldeans” (Jer. 22:24, 25). But after he had ruled the kingdom for three months and several days, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, again sending an army and a military commander, took him captive to Babylon, and handed the kingdom to his paternal uncle, Zedekiah. And when Zedekiah, having reigned for eleven years, did not pay the imposed tribute, the king of Babylon took up arms against Jerusalem with great force, then, besieging the city, and together exhausting the Jews with hunger, and moving battering guns to the fences, he destroys the walls, kills quite a few, and, having enslaved the rest, takes them captives, setting both the city and the church on fire. But the God of all, allowing the Jews to endure all this for their great iniquity, and punishing them, did not deprive them of his care for them at all, but gave to those who remained in Judea, as if some kind of pestuns, Uriah, the son of Samean, and Jeremiah, the son of Chalkiev, a man distinguished by the priesthood and the gift of prophecy; and with those who were taken captives to Babylon during the first captivity, he sent blessed Daniel, Ezekiel, Ananias, Azariah and Mishael, so that, having accurate instructors in living according to the law, they would not suffer great harm from communicating with the barbarians, but would have before them examples that would remind them of the virtue and wisdom of their ancestors. God provides so much for sinners that, for their benefit, He allowed those who work diligently and are always ready to serve Him to be taken into captivity, to endure heavy slavery, to be exposed to many dangers and to spend their lives amidst storms and unrest. For this is what he says through the Prophet Hosea: for you, “your prophets have killed them with the words of my mouth” (Hos. 6:5). Thus, bringing about the salvation of the universe, he allowed the holy Apostles to endure the suffering that is known to us from the Scriptures about them. So, thinking about the Jews, he arranged that blessed Daniel was taken to Babylon along with them, who, being young and distinguished by his beauty, raised together with these God-loving youths in the royal palaces, abounding in Divine grace from childhood, when he was filled with all wisdom and understanding, gained great boldness before those in power and preached the word of piety, and for became useful to him, and not even only for him, but for all his subjects; because what the king learned from his instructions, he passed on to his subjects, establishing a law that clearly commanded that all those under his authority should worship the God revered by Daniel. So, we briefly said when and why this God-wise Prophet was taken to Babylon, and how many benefits he brought not only for his fellow tribesmen, but also for the barbarians; We will more accurately demonstrate the power of prophecy in a detailed interpretation. Therefore, calling on Divine grace to help, let us begin the explanation. Here, to the ordinary reading: τ ή ν τῶν πραγμἀτων κατἀληφιν, the reading is preferred: τῆν πῶν γραμμἀιων κατἀληφιν