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Chapter 47. Jews in Babylon The country into which the Jews were taken into captivity was a vast, low-lying plain between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Here, instead of their native picturesque mountains, the captives saw before them vast fields, crossed by artificial canals, among which rose the gigantic towers of immense cities. Babylon, the capital of the kingdom, at that time was the greatest and richest city on earth, and shone with the luxury and grandeur of numerous churches and palaces, in front of which the captives stopped in silent amazement. Herodotus, who visited it around 450 BC, a century after the captivity of the Jews, when the walls and buildings were still intact, says that this city was a square of almost 21 miles on each side 343. Other writers, such as Strabo, give a different measurement, but according to the smallest measurement, inside the walls there was a space of 21 square miles, which would be four times the area inside the walls of Paris, and exactly twice the space occupied by the city limits of London. Babylon owed its greatness mainly to its position. Built on a wide and flat spur of rock, jutting out from the rich soil of the vast plains and representing the last vestige of the northern mountains, it enjoyed a healthy and secure position even amid the periodic floods around it. Protected from the south by the wide waters of the united channel of the Euphrates and Tigris, which here quickly flow together into the waters of the Persian Gulf, which at that time extended much further to the north than at present, it was protected on all other sides by wide areas of desert. His high prosperity was also ensured by his very position, because he stood on a large trade road between the Mediterranean Sea and the East, at the point where the Euphrates, after a wide flood, narrows and is a full-flowing, deep and magnificent river, bringing the wealth of the north to the shipyards of the great city and at the same time providing free access for ships from the Indian Ocean and Africa. The surrounding area does not provide a supply of stones for buildings and houses, but it was easy to make bricks from the deep clay layer of the plain by drying them in the sun, and the resin brought by river from the north supplied the necessary cement. The walls of this gigantic human habitation were in accordance with the enormous space that they contained. Rising from large ditches filled with water on both sides, they rose, according to the testimony of Herodotus and others, 300 feet in height, 344 and their width was such that chariots drawn by four horses could freely move apart on their top, which was supposedly 80 feet wide. Such a monstrous fortified wall, designed to protect against desert predators or more civilized enemies, obviously involves an almost incomprehensible amount of labor. Constructed of baked bricks, alternately with whole layers of reeds for bonding, and held together with earthen resin, the walls contained, not including the 250 towers that rose above them, no less than 5,560,000,000 square feet, and were built from at least three times this number of the largest bricks ever used by the Babylonians. 345. One hundred gates with huge ropes, heavy doors, closed with iron and copper locks (Isa. 45:2) led into the city. On each side of the river there were then further internal walls with huge gates at the end of each of the wide and spacious streets leading to the river, along which stretched excellent embankments, adapted for industry and the decoration of the city. Ferries crossed the river from each gate, and the drawbridge, which was removed at night, offered a convenient route of communication for citizens on both sides of the river. Inside this space were the ordinary houses of the inhabitants, sometimes three or four stories high. But they were completely dwarfed in comparison with the quarter where the great royal palace was located, which itself was a city, up to 11 miles in circumference. Within its boundaries there were three or four extensive buildings, the wall of which, according to Herodotus, was slightly smaller in strength compared to the wall of the city itself. The vastness of the royal dwellings can be judged by the fact that the hill on which one of them stood occupies 37 acres of land, and the other, still known today as Qasr, that is, the palace, was 400 fathoms long and 300 fathoms wide. Near the center of this gigantic square, which, although 70 feet high, was only an artificial terrace, one remnant of the palace still stands. Walls, pillars and piles of bricks, miraculously preserved to this day and in some parts decorated with pilasters, even now point us to the very building that was one of the wonders of the world; but the ruins are too pitiful to enable us to fully understand the plan of this building in its entirety. It undoubtedly contained a whole labyrinth of courtyards, large halls, galleries and smaller rooms, resplendent with all kinds of colors, or decorated with sculpture and painting, depicting scenes of war and hunting (Ezek. 22:14, 15). Even the interior walls shone with all sorts of bright colors; Countless fragments of their bricks are still hidden by a thick layer of enamel over bright blue, red, yellow and black colors 347. The palace gardens were definitely one of the wonders of the world. Nebuchadnezzar was married to a Median princess and, thinking that she was homesick for her native mountains, looking at the flat surface of the Babylonian plains, he decided to somehow satisfy her homesickness and at the same time show how much he loved her. He ordered that forested hills be erected in the “paradise” of her palace. For this purpose, monstrous arches like pyramids up to 400 feet high were erected, and artificial hills and mountains made of earth were built on them, onto which huge trees were transplanted from the forest, brought in all their color, and bushes of flowering bushes, among which cool rooms with royal decoration were placed at various heights. To make the illusion even more complete, streams were drawn along each terrace, waters sparkling in the sun, flowing among groves and forests; the water for them was raised to the top of the hills by a special hydraulic machine 348. But the most remarkable of all the wonders of Babylon was the great church of Bel, already described above. Not a single religious building in ancient or modern times could compete in its grandeur with this gigantic church, which rose like a mountain from the level of the surrounding area. In its treasuries, Nebuchadnezzar stored booty captured from the Jerusalem temple, and much more, sacrificed in gratitude to the main god for the victory he had won over his enemies. He, of course, thought little of the fact that he was unknowingly preserving the sacred vessels of Israel in this safe and impregnable stronghold until the day when Jehovah would again decide to restore His people. Babylon owed its greatness mainly to Nebuchadnezzar. This king could well be proud that he was the one who built this great Babylon (Dan. 4:30). This proud remark of his is fully confirmed by historical data. The great, new palace, as he himself says in the inscriptions, was completely built by him, as well as the famous Hanging Gardens; Qasr's bricks also bear the imprint of his name. The inscriptions tell us that he restored the old palace, and, having expanded it, carefully restored the vast ancient reservoir of the city. Bricks with an inscription confirm his testimony that he actually restored the great church of Bel, and besides it, he built or restored up to eight other churches. But his greatest construction was the restoration of the gigantic walls of the city, which, at his accession to the throne, were in ruins. “Ingur-Bel and Nimiti-Bel, the great double wall of Babylon,” he says, “I built. I finished installing piles to strengthen its moat, and made two long dams of brick and cement along both banks of the river, connecting them with the dam made by my father. I fortified the city and built a wall on the west side of the river using bricks. I built the wall of the Babylonian fortress to protect it in war, and skillfully fortified the surroundings of the city” 349. But Nebuchadnezzar's amazing energy as the restorer of Babylon was not limited to the city itself. He dug two wide and deep canals, one of which connected the Tigris with the Euphrates, and over the latter he built a large bridge connecting the two halves of the city. In Sippar, he dug a huge reservoir, supposedly 210 miles in circumference and 180 feet deep, providing it with special gates through which water could, if necessary, be released for irrigation. A large canal, traces of which are still visible today, was dug by him from Gita on the Euphrates to the Persian Gulf, over an area of ​​600 miles, and at the mouth of the river, at his command, embankments and breakwaters were erected for the convenience of merchant ships coming from distant countries. On the shore he founded a city whose task was to repel the nomadic Arabs. In Borzippa, in addition to building five other churches, he restored the church of Nebo, identified by some with the Tower of Babel and now representing the most grandiose ruin in Mesopotamia. Stones bearing his name are found throughout the country, in at least a hundred places in the district immediately adjacent to Babylon, thus showing that it owed its chief splendor to him. In fact, 9/10 of the bricks brought from Mesopotamia and stored in various museums bear his name. Being the creator of the later empire of Babylonia, he was also the culprit of its architectural splendor. He must be considered the greatest builder that ever existed in ancient or modern times 350. Such a gigantic city had to have a correspondingly large population, since otherwise it would have been a desert. Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar, having greatly expanded the boundaries of the city, decided to fill them with population, and for this purpose he usually resettled entire tribes and nationalities, which he conquered and settled them in the newly allocated quarters of his capital. A special quarter was also set aside for the settlement of Jews, especially for those who voluntarily came over to it. These latter were given various advantages. Other captives were also given land for settlement. There were still many uncultivated places in Babylonia, and even as far as the city itself there were fields, the cultivation of which could only serve the benefit of the state. The captives had to cultivate the plots of land thus provided either themselves or with the help of their fellows. In general, the condition of the Jews in Babylonian captivity was somewhat similar to the condition of their ancestors in Egypt. The simple mass of the people was undoubtedly used for field and other hard work: they were forced to dig and repair numerous canals, build fortifications, and perform menial work in the construction of those numerous buildings with which Nebuchadnezzar decorated his proud capital. But there these works, however, were not particularly onerous and did not have the character of hard labor or slave labor, as was the case in Egypt. The Babylonian government treated the captives with some kindness and gave them complete freedom in their inner life, so that they were governed by their own elders, built themselves houses, planted vineyards, and in general, except for some exceptional cases, enjoyed freedom of religious conscience. Many of them, in addition to farming, began to engage in trade, and became so settled that they even forgot about their native land; but for the majority of the people the memory of Jerusalem remained sacred. Finishing their daily work somewhere on the canals and sitting by these “rivers of Babylon,” the captives cried at the mere memory of Zion, and involuntarily sent out a plea for vengeance to the “cursed daughter of Babylon, the desolator.” Under the weight of the trial and far from the Promised Land and its destroyed shrine, the Jews awakened more than ever to repentance for their past sins and, as a result, strengthened their attachment to true religion, which, in the absence of a church, was manifested in home prayer at private meetings for prayer and sacred chants. The state of the Israeli people in captivity to a foreign conqueror is depicted with sufficient completeness in the history of two pious persons, namely Tobit and Susanna, of whom the history of the first characterizes before us the trials of a pious Israeli in Assyrian captivity, and the history of the second - the trials of a pious Jewish woman in Babylonian captivity. The story of Tobit provides comforting proof that even in the era of complete decline of the people of Israel, before the fall of Samaria, there were still some righteous people who were strict guardians of the law of God and were fully aware of the high purpose of the chosen people. He came from the tribe of Naphtali, and “all the days of his life he walked in the ways of truth and righteousness.” While still a young man, when the entire tribe of Naphtali, following the example of the other northern tribes, was in apostasy from Jerusalem, with its sanctuary, and when all the separated tribes made sacrifices to Baal, he unreasonably went to Jerusalem on holidays, as prescribed for all Israel, gave the due tithe to the priests, sold the second tithe, and spent the proceeds on various godly deeds in Jerusalem; he even gave the third tithe, as his pious grandmother Deborah, his father’s mother, bequeathed to him when he was left an orphan after his father. Upon reaching adulthood, he married a certain Anna from his family, and to this pious couple a son, Tobias, was born. The house of Tobit enjoyed the full blessing of God and was a full cup. But the country suffered one of those great disasters that it had to endure from the formidable Assyrian conquerors in the era of its decline, and during one of the enemy invasions, precisely under Shalmaneser, Tobit was taken captive with many of his other compatriots and taken to Nineveh. As a pious and wealthy man, he could more easily endure Assyrian captivity than others. His further life shows that the Assyrian government, taking captives to the borders of their country, provided them with significant freedom, leaving behind them their former property, so that in the country of his captivity Tobit had significant money. He had one relative named Gabael, who was settled in Ragai of Media, and he had the opportunity to give to this relative, either for preservation, or as an allowance for settling in a new land, ten talents of silver. This prosperity was a direct reward to him for his true piety and complete obedience to the law, which he obeyed in the country of his captivity. Thus, when his brothers and fellow tribesmen, oppressed by need, were not averse to eating even what, from the point of view of a true Israeli, was considered pagan and bad, Tobit carefully abstained from all such things. Exemplary piety and strict adherence to the law drew the attention of the Assyrian government to him, and over time he even became a supplier of provisions to the court, which gave him the opportunity to maintain his well-being and at the same time provide assistance to his brothers in need. Tobit was a philanthropist known to all Jews: there was not such a poor man among his needy brethren whom he would not feed in case of famine, would not clothe the naked, and as a special virtue he chose the burial of those of his dead brethren who were simply thrown out by the Assyrians beyond the wall of Nineveh to be devoured by wild beasts. He selected all such people and buried them at his own expense. Such charity did not stop even when, on the occasion of Sennacherib’s defeat in Judea, the government’s mood changed greatly in relation to the Jews, and the king, enraged by his failure, upon returning to Nineveh, even killed many of the captive Israelis in order to satisfy the feeling of his powerless vengeance. Tobit, despite the strict prohibition of the government, secretly buried all such murdered Jews. The cruel king, enjoying the spectacle of the beaten corpses of his enemies, according to the custom of the Assyrian conquerors, wanted to make of them the object of his special celebration, and, perhaps, to build a pyramid of their heads; but, to his surprise, all the corpses of the Jews he had beaten usually quickly disappeared, and he could not find them. Then one of the Ninevites reported to the king that all these corpses were buried by Tobit. The enraged king immediately gave the order to find the culprit, and Tobit had to flee. Tobit, having learned that the royal detectives were ordered to find him and bring him to the palace, where the enraged king could immediately carry out his rage and subject the culprit to one of the most severe punishments that the Assyrian kings enjoyed, fled from the city out of fear. The government then had only to satisfy its vengeance by confiscating his property; and indeed, “all his property was plundered, so that he had nothing left except his wife Anna and his son Tobias.” But not even fifty days had passed before Sennacherib was killed by his two sons, and his son Saherdan reigned in his place. This new ruler turned out to have a certain Ahiahar Anail, Tobit’s nephew, as a steward and in charge of the entire accountable part of the kingdom. Ahiakhar interceded for his disgraced uncle, and the new king gave him permission to return to Nineveh. Ahiakhar enjoyed so much confidence from the king that he was his cupbearer, keeper of the ring, housekeeper and treasurer, and in general Saherdan trusted him more than any of the ministers around him. Upon returning to his home, Tobit improved his circumstances, and since, probably, at least part of the confiscated property was returned to him, he again lived a happy, blessed life and still continued to fulfill the deeds of his piety. One day on the feast of Pentecost, “in the Holy Week of Weeks,” he had a good dinner prepared, and Tobit already lay down at the table. But at the sight of the multitude of dishes, the pious Tobit involuntarily remembered how many of his brothers not only did not have such luxury, but even had nothing at all with which to satisfy their hunger. Therefore, he said to his son: “Go and bring whomever you find poor of our brothers who remembers the Lord, and I will wait for you.” The obedient son set off, but soon returned with the sad news that one of their foreigners, recently hanged, was abandoned in the square. Then Tobit, before starting dinner, hurriedly went out, put his ill-fated hanged brother in one room, before sunset, and, only having fulfilled this sad duty, and upon returning home, having performed the ablution prescribed by law, with involuntary sadness about the plight of his people in Assyria, he began to eat his bread. Remembering at the same time the prophecy of Amos, who said: “your righteous will turn into sorrow and all your pleasures into mourning,” Tobit actually cried. When the sun set, he went and dug a grave and buried the Jew. The neighbors mocked him and said: “He is not yet afraid of being killed for this matter, he has already run around, and now he is burying the dead again.” Returning home after burial and being, according to the law, unclean, he could not enter his house, as a result of which he decided to spend the warm Assyrian night in the open air, behind the wall of the courtyard. He lay down with his face uncovered and did not notice that there was a sparrow’s nest on the wall. “When his eyes were open, the sparrows sent forth warmth into his eyes, and they became a thorn in his eyes.” He turned to doctors, but they did not help him, and over time Tobit even became completely blind. As a result, his situation became sad. Unable to engage in further trades and not possessing any significant supply of money after all his property had already been plundered, he immediately found himself in extreme need and for some time enjoyed the food that his nephew Akhiachar provided him. But soon Ahiachar also had to go to Elemais, and Tobit was left completely helpless. His wife Anna somehow tried to support her husband with work and spun wool in the women's departments, offering her yarn to rich people, who gave her some payment. One day, knowing the plight of this family, they gave her a kid in addition to the usual price. When the wife joyfully brought this gift of hers to her husband, and the kid began to bleat, Tobit involuntarily asked his wife: “Where does this kid come from? isn't it stolen? Give it to whomever it belongs to; for it is unlawful to eat stolen goods.” The wife replied that it was a gift to her in addition to payment, but Tobit did not believe and insisted that she give it to whomever it belonged to, and even became angry with her. Then his wife irritably answered him, “Where are your alms and righteous deeds? That’s how they all showed up on you!” Such a reproach from his wife, apparently now trying to partly take revenge on her plight on her helpless husband by reminding him of his immoderate extravagance during his prosperity, extremely upset Tobit: he began to cry and turned to the only consolation left to him, namely prayer. His prayer was ardent and sublime, and it was heard, as it turned out from the subsequent miraculous story. Being in extreme need, Tobit remembered the silver that he had once given for safekeeping to Gabael in the Ragas of Media. Believing that he himself was destined to die soon, he called his son Tobias and addressed him with the last dying instructions, revealing the full height of morality with which this righteous man was distinguished. “My son! - he told him; - when I die, bury me, and do not leave your mother; Honor her all the days of your life, do what is pleasing to her, and do not cause her grief. Remember, my son, that she had many sorrows because of you even during her pregnancy. When she dies, bury her next to me, in the same coffin. Always remember, my son, the Lord our God, and do not wish to sin or transgress His commandments. Do righteousness all the days of your life, and do not walk in the ways of iniquity. For if you act truly, your deeds will prosper, like all who do what is right. Give alms from your wealth, and let not your eye spare when you give alms. Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor; then the face of God will not turn away from you. When you have much, give alms from it, and when you have little, do not be afraid to give alms, and little by little you will lay up for yourself a rich treasure for the day of need. Almsgiving is a rich gift for all who do it before the Most High” (Tob. 4: 3–11). Then Tobit, adding detailed instructions regarding the life and behavior of his son, finally revealed to him that he had once given ten talents of silver for safekeeping to Gabael in the Ragas of Media, and ordered him to go to this relative of his and get this silver back from him. Tobit concluded his instructions with the words: “Do not be afraid, my son, that we have become poor. You have much if you fear the Lord and, avoiding all sin, do what is right in His sight.” The obedient son answered his elderly father: “My father, I will fulfill everything that you bequeath to me; but how can I get the silver without knowing the man?” Then his father gave him a receipt and said: “Find yourself a person who would accompany you; I will give you wages while I am still alive, and go get the silver.” Having said goodbye to his father, Tobiah set off on a long journey, and, upon leaving the city, he met a young man who, to Tobiah’s great joy, as it turned out, was also heading to Raga Media, and thus could be Tobiah’s companion. The young man could be all the more useful to Tobias because he had already been to the Ragas of Media before and even personally knew the Gabael to whom Tobias was going for silver. This meeting was so unexpected and pleasant that Tobiah returned to his father to share this joy, and Tobit, calling the young man to himself and making sure of his reliability as his son’s companion, blessed them for the last time and promised even him a special payment for the companionship, one drachma per day. And so, the young people set off on the journey, taking with them the dog that was with the young man, who was called Azariah from the family of Ananias, one of the relatives of Tobit himself. When the young men set off, Anna, Tobit’s wife, began to feel sad and, crying, said: “Why did you let our son go? Was he not the support of our hands when he went in and out before us? Do not prefer silver to silver; let it be like rubbish in comparison with our son. For as long as the Lord has determined for us to live, we have enough for this.” Then Tobit, comforting her, said to her: “Don’t cry, sister, he will come healthy and your eyes will see him, for a good angel will accompany him. His journey will be prosperous and he will return healthy.” In these words, the elderly righteous man uttered, without realizing it, a great truth, since Tobiah’s companion turned out to be the truly incarnate angel Raphael. The path ahead of the young men lay long, but since Azaria knew the road well, they walked forward cheerfully and came to the Tigris River. It was already evening and they stopped there for the night. The night was warm, and Tobias, tired from the dusty road, wanted to freshen up and went to swim in the river; but as soon as he entered the river, a large fish rushed at him and wanted to swallow him. Tobiah was frightened, but his companion shouted encouragement to him, and Tobiah grabbed the fish and pulled it to the ground. On the advice of his companion, he cut this fish, took the heart, liver and bile, which were considered healing from diseases, especially during the journey. Tobiah did so, and then they baked and ate the fish, and then, having spent the night quietly, they moved on and reached Ekbatan. During the journey, Tobias asked to know what the liver, heart and bile from fish could be used for. Azariah, as a man whose experience and extensive knowledge had long since managed to inspire Tobias complete trust and respect, answered him: “if someone is tormented by a demon or an evil spirit, then with his heart and liver he should smoke in front of such a man or woman, and he will no longer be tormented; and anoint a person who has a thorn in his eyes with gall, and he will be healed.” When they entered Ecbatana, the companion told Tobias that they would go to spend the night with one of their compatriots and relatives of Tobit, namely with a certain Raguel, a rich man. This Raguel had a daughter, Sarah, “a beautiful and intelligent maiden.” Since Raguel is a pious man and, completely following the law of Moses, is looking for a groom for his daughter from his distant relatives, then Tobias may turn out to be just a suitable groom. Tobiah, however, was embarrassed by this proposal. He probably already heard from his father about Raguel and his daughter Sarah, who became famous throughout the country for the ill-fated fate that befell all her suitors. “Brother Azariah,” said Tobiah, “I heard that this girl was given to seven husbands, but they all died in the bridal chamber; but I am alone with my father, and I am afraid that if I go to her, I will die like the others. She is loved by a demon who harms no one except those who approach her. Therefore, I am afraid that I might die and bring the lives of my father and my mother, through sorrow for me, to their grave; and they have no other son to bury them.” But Azariah said to him: “Have you forgotten the words that your father commanded you, that you should take a wife from your family? Listen to me, brother: she should be your wife, but don’t worry about the demon; this very night they will give her to you as a wife. Only when you enter the bridal chamber, take the incense burner, put the heart and liver of a fish into it and smoke, and the demon will smell the smell and leave and never return. Whenever the demon approaches her, stand up, both of you, cry out to the merciful God, and He will save and have mercy on you. Do not be afraid, for she is destined for you from God, and you will save her, and she will go with you, and I know that you will have children by her.” Then Tobias decided to follow the advice of his companion, and they came to Ecbatana. When they approached Raguel's house, Sarah came out to meet them and greeted them warmly. Tobias, who had already fallen in love with Sarah in absentia, was fascinated by her beauty and courtesy. She immediately brought the young men into her house, and Raguel, seeing the travelers, remarked to his wife Edna: “How similar this young man is to Tobit, my brother’s son!” Imagine his joy when, from questioning, he learned that Tobiah was the son of Tobit. Raguel rushed to him, and kissed him, and cried, and, blessing him, said to him: “You are the son of an honest and kind man.” But when he heard that Tobit had lost his sight, he was saddened and wept, and Edna, his wife, and young Sarah wept with him. In general, they received the young companions very cordially, slaughtered a ram and offered them “abundant food.” Encouraged by this reception, Tobias turned to Azariah with a request that he talk with Raguel about what he had already spoken about on the road, so that the whole matter could be settled as quickly as possible. Raguel was even more delighted at this proposal and said to Tobias: “Eat, drink and be merry; for you must take my daughter.” At the same time, however, he did not hide the ill-fated fate that befell Sarah’s previous suitors, but put everything on the will of God, saying: “May the merciful God arrange you in the best possible way.” Calling Sarah his daughter, and taking her hand, he gave her to Tobiah as a wife, and said: “Behold, according to the law of Moses, take her and bring her to your father,” and blessed them. Calling Edna, his wife, and taking the scroll, he wrote the marriage contract and sealed it. A feast was arranged, and then the newlyweds went to the bedroom, not without the parents' fear for the life of this dear husband of their daughter and relative. Tobias remembered the advice of his companion and fumigate the room with the heart and liver of a fish caught in the Tigris, and indeed, as Azariah predicted, “the demon, sensing this smell, fled to the upper countries of Egypt, and an angel bound him there.” Tobiah, left alone in the room with Sarah, sincerely prayed to God, and his fervent prayer found complete sympathy with Sarah, who confirmed it with the word “Amen.” And both slept peacefully that night. Meanwhile, Raguel, extremely worried about Tobiah's participation and considering him dead, got up that same night and went to dig a grave to bury him before the news of this reached the neighbors, who had long mocked him and his daughter Sarah as possessed by a demon. Having finished the grave, upon returning home he told Edna to send one of the maids to see if Tobias was alive, so that in case of death he could be buried when it was still dark and no one would know. The maid, opening the door, entered and saw that they were both sleeping, and when she came out she announced to her parents that Tobiah was alive. Then the delighted Raguel thanked God and ordered his slaves to quickly bury the grave, and made a great feast for the newlyweds for fourteen days. Then, turning to Tobiah, Raguel said to him: “Do not leave until these fourteen days of the wedding feast are completed, and then, taking half of the estate, go safely to your father; You will receive the rest when I and my wife die” (Tov. 8:20, 21). As a result of this turn of affairs, Tobias did not particularly need to go to Raga of Media to Gabael himself, and he asked his good companion Azariah to do this work in his place. “My father,” he added, “is counting the days, and if I slow down too much, he will be very sad.” Azariah readily agreed to fulfill his friend's request, and, going to Ragi, presented a receipt to Gawail, who immediately brought bags of silver, behind seals, and handed them over to him. Early the next morning he returned again to Ekbatany. Tobit, the father of Tobias, meanwhile, really counted every day of his son’s absence, and when the days supposedly required for the journey were completed, and his son did not return, Tobit began to worry and thought to himself: “Have they been detained? or is not Gabael dead? and there is no one to give them the silver,” and he was very sad. His sadness was further depressed by the crying of his wife, who kept repeating: “Our son died, that’s why he doesn’t come.” Tobit consoled her, saying: “Be quiet, don’t worry, he’s healthy.” But she no longer listened to his consolations and answered him irritably: “Be silent, don’t deceive me, my child is lost.” In her extraordinary grief, she walked outside the city every day, to the road along which they set off, looked into the distance, did not eat bread, and at night did not stop crying for her son. Meanwhile, the days of feasting in Ecbatana ended, and Tobias, knowing the alarming situation of his elderly parents, began to ask his father-in-law Raguel to let him go as soon as possible. His father-in-law begged him to stay with him for a little more time, but Tobias resolutely insisted on his own, and Raguel actually decided to let both Tobias and his daughter go. Having given him half of his property, endowing him with slaves, cattle and silver, he blessed his beloved children, saying: “children, may the God of heaven prosper you before I die.” Then, turning to his daughter, he said: “Honor your father-in-law and mother-in-law, now they are your parents; I wish to hear good rumors about you,” and kissed her. Edna saw off her children with the same blessing. The young people set off, accompanied by their inseparable friend Azariah, and headed to Nineveh. When the travelers approached Nineveh, Azariah said to Tobiah: “You know, brother, in what position you left your father. Let us go ahead before your wife and prepare the room; and take the bile of the fish in your hand.” Tobiah agreed, they actually went ahead of the caravan, and the dog accompanying them ran after them. Meanwhile, Anna sat looking out for her son on the road. Seeing her son from afar, with the companion accompanying him, she joyfully rushed to her husband Tobit, to share this joy and console him in grief, “Behold,” she told him, “your son is coming and the man who went with him.” And Azariah meanwhile said to Tobiah: “I know, Tobiah, that your father’s eyes will be opened; You anoint his eyes with bile, and he, feeling the acridity, will wipe them, and the eyesores will fall away, and he will see you.” The elderly Anna ran up, threw herself on her son’s neck and said to him: “I saw you, my child, now I can even die,” and both began to cry. Hearing the voice of his son, Tobit also hurriedly went to the door, but, due to his blindness, stumbled. The son hurried to him, supported his father and, having greeted him, applied bile to his father’s eyes and said: “Be of good cheer, my father.” His eyes were stuck, and he wiped them, and the eyesores were removed from the edges of his eyes.” Then, in extraordinary joy and surprise, seeing his son, Tobit fell on his neck and, weeping, said: “Blessed are You, O God, and blessed is Your name forever, and blessed are all Your holy angels, because You have punished and had mercy on me. Behold, I see Tobiah my son.” The son then joyfully told his father everything that had happened to him in Media. His parents were extremely happy about his marriage, went out to meet their daughter-in-law at the gates of Nineveh and, rejoicing, blessed God. Everyone who saw him coming was amazed at how he regained his sight. And Tobit told how God had mercy on him. Approaching Sarah, his daughter-in-law, Tobit greeted her with great joy, saying: “Hello, my daughter! Blessed be God, who brought you to us, and blessed be thy father and thy mother!” All relatives and acquaintances of Tobit; Having heard about everything that happened to his son, they were delighted and came to congratulate him. Ahiachar, his nephew, also came, and together they joyfully celebrated the marriage of Tobiah for seven days. At the end of the celebration, Tobit, calling his son, told him to finally settle accounts with his good companion, who had provided him with so many services throughout his journey and had been such a devoted friend to him. Tobit would like his son not only to give him the conditional payment, but also to add to it. Then Tobias answered: “My father! I will not be at a loss if I give him half of everything I brought, because he brought me to you healthy, and healed my wife, and brought my silver, and also healed you.” The elder fully approved of his son’s thought and said: “That’s what he should do.” Calling Azariah, they told him: “Take half of everything we brought and go in peace.” Then Azariah, calling both of them specially, said to them: “Bless God, glorify Him, recognize His greatness and confess before all the living what He has done for you. It is a good deed to bless God, extol His name and reverently preach about the works of God, and you are not lazy in glorifying Him; It is proper to keep a king’s secret, but it is commendable to announce the works of God. Do good and evil will not befall you. A good deed is prayer with fasting and almsgiving and justice. Better is a little with justice than a lot with unrighteousness; It is better to give alms than to collect gold. For alms delivers from death and can cleanse any three. He who does alms and works of righteousness will prosper, but sinners are the enemies of their lives. I won’t hide anything from you; I have already said: it is proper for a king to keep a secret, but it is commendable to announce the works of God. When you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I offered up the memory of your prayer before the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was also with you; and when you were not lazy to get up and leave your dinner to go and remove the dead, your charity was not hidden from me, but I was with you. And now God has sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who offer the prayer of the saints and ascend before the glory of the Holy One” (Tov. 12:6-15). When father and son heard about this, they were extremely embarrassed and fell face down on the ground, because they were in extraordinary fear. But the angel said to them: “Do not be afraid, peace will be with you. Bless God forever, for I came not by my own will, but by the will of our God. Therefore bless Him forever. All the days I was visible to you, but I did not eat or drink, only your eyes imagined it. And so, now glorify God, for I ascend to Him who sent me. And write everything that happened in a book.” Tobit and his son rose from the ground, but they no longer saw the angel. “And they began to tell about the great wonderful works of God, and how the angel of the Lord appeared to them.” The house of the elderly Tobit was again filled with the blessing that he deserved for his piety. The righteous old man was eighty-eight years old when he lost his sight, and after eight years he regained his sight. And his life again flowed calmly and peacefully, so that he had the happiness of seeing grandchildren from his beloved Tobius. But he finally became very old, and calling his son and six of his grandchildren, he turned to Tobias with the words: “My son, now I have grown old, and at the end of my life. Go to Media, my son; for I am sure that Nineveh will be ruined, as the prophet Jonah said, and in Media it will be calmer for the time being. Our brothers who are in our own land will be scattered from this good land, Jerusalem will be a desert, and the house of God in it will be burned, and for a time it will remain empty. But again God will have mercy on them and return them to the land; and the house of God will be built up, not like it was before, until the times of the age are fulfilled. And after that they will return from captivity, and they will build Jerusalem magnificently, and the house of God will be restored in it for all generations of the century, a magnificent building, as the prophets spoke about it. And all the nations will be converted, and will truly revere the Lord God, and will cast down their idols, and all the nations will bless the Lord. And so, my son, leave Nineveh, for what the prophet Jonah said will certainly be fulfilled.” Then, from his great life experience, he gave the last instruction to his son and his grandchildren, and then “his soul left him on his bed, he was one hundred and fifty-eight years old,” and his son buried him with honor. Then the elderly Anna died, and Tobiah buried her and his father. After that, Tobias with his wife and children went to Ecbatana to Raguel, his father-in-law. There he reached an honest old age and, having decently buried his father-in-law and mother-in-law, received as an inheritance the property of them and Tobit, his father. And he died one hundred and twenty-seven years old in Ecbatana of Media, but before he died, he heard about the destruction of Nineveh, and finding in this justification for his father’s dying prophecy, he consoled himself with the hope that the further part of his sublime prediction would be fulfilled. Another story depicts before us an extremely interesting picture of the life of the Jews in Babylonia itself. This is exactly the story of Susanna. In Babylonia, during the first years of captivity, there lived one devout man named Joachim. He was married to Susanna, daughter of Hilkiah, a very beautiful and God-fearing woman. Her parents were righteous, and raised their daughter in the strict rules of the Law of Moses. Joachim was very rich, and, taking advantage of the favorable attitude towards rich and noble people on the part of the Babylonian government, which through them tried to more successfully influence the rest of the Jewish people, in order to force them to become attached to their new fatherland, he acquired a house in Babylonia with a magnificent garden, and his house was a meeting place for the Jews, since Joachim enjoyed extraordinary honor among them. The Babylonian government provided the Jews with complete internal self-government, so that they were governed by their own judges from the elders, who were usually chosen in twos in Babylonia itself. The elder judges often visited the house of Joachim, in which they had a kind of judicial presence, and there everyone who had controversial cases came to them for trial. When the people left in the afternoon, Susanna usually went to her husband’s garden for a walk. Both elders saw her every day going into the garden and walking there, and a criminal lust for her arose in them. “And they perverted their minds and turned away their eyes, so as not to look at heaven and remember righteous judgments. Both of them were wounded by lust for her, but did not reveal their pain to each other, because they were ashamed to announce their lust.” Inflamed by lust, they diligently kept watch every day to see her, and, deceiving each other, said: “Let's go home, because it's dinner time.” Having left Joachim’s house, they dispersed from each other as if to their own homes, but in fact, upon returning, they came to the same place where, to their surprise, they met each other. At such an involuntary meeting, they asked each other about the reason for this return, admitted their lust, and then together they set a time when they could catch Susanna. And then one day, when the lustful judges were waiting for an opportune day, Susanna, as usual, entered the garden with only two maids, and, since it was very hot, she wanted to bathe in the garden. Fully confident that there were no strangers in the garden, she told her maids to bring her oil and soap, lock the garden doors and leave her to wash. They did as she said, locked the doors of the garden, went out through the side doors to bring what was ordered to them. Susanna, having received from the maids everything she needed, calmly undressed and began to wash herself, and of course did not suspect that two elder judges were sitting in the neighboring bushes, fueled by lust. Seeing her now naked and alone, both of them could not overcome their criminal passions, they stood up, ran up to her and said: “Behold, the doors of the garden are locked, and no one sees us, and we have lust for you. Therefore, agree with us and stay with us. If not so, then we will testify against you that there was a young man with you, and therefore you sent your maidservants away from you.” Extremely frightened by this, Susanna groaned, and seeing herself in such an unpleasant position, she said: “I’m cramped everywhere. For if I do this, death is mine; but if I do not do it, I will not escape from your hands. It is better for me not to do this and to fall into your hands than to sin before the Lord.” Then, gathering all her strength, she screamed in a loud voice. But the elders, seeing that she did not agree to satisfy their vile passion, in turn shouted even louder than her, and began to show as if they had caught her red-handed in a crime. One of them ran and opened the garden doors. When those in the house heard a scream in the garden, they ran through the side doors to see what had happened to the mistress of the house and, to their amazement, heard the elders report that they had caught their mistress in adultery. Susanna's servants were extremely confused, since they had never heard anything like this about Susanna before. The next day, the people gathered to Joachim, and both elders came to whose house, “full of lawless intent against Susanna, to put her to death.” Trying to give the whole matter as much solemnity as possible, they told the people to send for Susanna, the wife of Joachim, and bring him to them, since they had a great accusation against her. Susanna came, and with her were her parents, her children and all her relatives. “She was very tender and beautiful in face, and these lawless people ordered her face to be opened, since it was closed, in order to be satisfied with her beauty. The relatives and everyone who looked at her cried.” Both elders, standing in the midst of the people, put their hands on her head, and she looked at the sky in tears, because her heart trusted in the Lord. The elders then publicly made accusations against her. “When we,” they said, “were walking alone in the garden, this one came in with two maids, and closed the doors of the garden, and sent the maids away. And the young man who was hiding there came to her and lay with her. We, being in the corner of the garden and seeing such lawlessness, ran towards them and saw them copulating; And they couldn’t hold him back, because he was stronger than us, and opening the doors, he jumped out. But we grabbed this one and interrogated: who was this young man? But she didn’t want to tell us; of this we bear witness,” they concluded their brazenly false accusation (Dan. 13:36–40). The accusation was terrible, especially for a married woman, and, according to the Law of Moses, the criminal was subject to the death penalty. The position of the elder judges was so honorable and their voice enjoyed such trust that the entire assembly believed them and a determination was made by which Susanna was condemned to death. Hearing about the verdict, Susanna cried out in a loud voice and turned to her only hope, namely the justice of God. “Eternal God,” she exclaimed, “knowing the unseen and knowing everything before its existence! You know that they falsely testified against me, and now I am dying without having done anything that these people maliciously invented against me.” And the Lord heard her prayer. When Susanna was already led to her death, with the cry of the relatives surrounding her and with the extraordinary grief of her husband Joachim, who, along with grief, bore the shame of his wife, suddenly a young man named Daniel emerged from among the people, and he shouted in a loud voice: “I am clean from her blood.” The people involuntarily paid attention to him and asked him: “What is this word that you said?” Then he, standing in the midst of them, said: “Are you so foolish, sons of Israel, that without examining and knowing the truth, you condemned the daughter of Israel? Return to court, for these have testified falsely against her.” The people were extremely amazed by this, and indeed insisted that the judges try the case again. Indeed, the trial was held again, and some elders invited the young man as a witness, telling him: “Sit down among us and tell us, because God has given you eldership.” Then Daniel said to them: “Separate them (the elder judges) away from each other, and I will interrogate them.” When they were separated from one another, Daniel called one of them and said to him: “He who has grown old in evil days! Now your sins have been revealed, which you committed before, carrying out unjust judgments, condemning the innocent and justifying the guilty, while the Lord says: Thou shalt not put to death the innocent and the righteous. So, if you saw this, tell me, under what tree did you see them talking to each other?” Extremely embarrassed, the elder judge, who did not expect such a turn of events, did not know what to answer, but said at random: “under mastic.” Daniel immediately noticed his hesitation and indecision and said to him: “It’s as if you lied on your head; for behold, the Angel of God, having made a decision from God, will cut you in half.” Having then removed this old man, he ordered to bring another and addressed him with a similar accusatory speech: “The tribe of Canaan, and not of Judah,” he said to him, “beauty has deceived you, and lust has corrupted your heart. This is what you did to the daughters of Israel, and they had fellowship with you out of fear. But the daughter of Judah did not tolerate your iniquity. So, tell me: under what tree did you find them talking to each other?” This old man again also became extremely embarrassed, and, not knowing what to answer, he also said at random: “under the green oak tree.” Then Daniel remarked to him: “It’s as if you lied on your own head; for the angel of God is waiting with a sword to cut you in half and destroy you.”351 Such contradictory testimony and together the entire situation of the case immediately revealed the deceit of the elder judges, and the entire assembly loudly expressed its indignation at such criminal judges, who, because of their lust, were not embarrassed to accuse the most honest woman among the people, and almost subjected her to death. The people blessed God, who saves those who trust in Him, and rebelled against both elders, accused them of perjury and treated them as they plotted against their neighbor; according to the law of Moses, in a word, they themselves were condemned to death, which they deservedly suffered. This turn of events filled everyone with great joy, Susanna’s parents glorified God for their daughter, and Joachim, her husband, was consoled in his grief by the fact that no shameful deeds were found in his wife, so maliciously accused. In turn, the young man Daniel from that time began to enjoy great respect from the entire Jewish people. Chapter 48. Prophet Ezekiel The prophets continued to take care of the maintenance of religious and moral life in the captive people, who, as faithful guardians of Jehovah’s covenant, did not abandon the chosen people even in the time of their disaster. Thanks to the non-interference of the Babylonian government in the internal life of the captives, the prophets had every opportunity to continue their activities of spiritual leadership of the people. The great prophet Ezekiel devoted himself to such activities at this time among the people. He was taken into captivity under King Joachim, before the destruction of Jerusalem, and settled near the Chebar River, which flows into the Euphrates, not far from the famous trading city of Carchemish, or Carhamish. Prophet Ezekiel, son of Buzi, was of priestly origin and was prepared in advance for prophetic activity. Living among the captive people, he saw their great religious and moral need, and as a person gifted with extraordinary patriotism and, at the same time, zeal for true religion, he tried to help them with his activities. In himself, he was a man gifted with a strong, captivating eloquence, a sweet, persuasive voice and completely imbued with the sublime ideal that the Jewish people should realize. Fully aware that the disaster that befell the people depended entirely on their criminal unfaithfulness to Jehovah, he decided to use every effort to bring them back to the true faith and thus restore the glory of Israel as a people by returning to them the mercy of Jehovah. His own heart cried out to God. Since the church on the holy Mount Zion was already lost to the captives, he wanted to lead the people to Jehovah in a more spiritual sense, making their hearts a living church of God. His living thought involuntarily surveyed the historical destinies of the people and the great revelations associated with them: the terrible revelation at Sinai, the miracles performed for Israel in Egypt, the wilderness and the Promised Land, the revelation of God in the church on Mount Moriah, and His majestic messages to the people through a long series of prophets, were the subject of Ezekiel’s all-consuming meditation. Others might have been busy with wild dreams of political change and a speedy return to Palestine, but he lived in a higher sphere - the spiritual presence of Jehovah and among the more substantial blessings of eternity. Religious enthusiasm filled his soul just as a flame fills the sparkling crystal of a lamp. To be close to God himself and to bring his people closer to Him was his most sacred task. Thus unconsciously prepared for divine suggestions, Ezekiel one day indulged in quiet meditation, perhaps in his home, probably in his vineyard, or under a fig tree. It was a hot day in July, the hottest month in Babylonia. A striking and mysterious vision suddenly opened before his enthusiastic soul. He saw a stormy wind rise from the north, with a large cloud and swirling fire spreading a radiance around it. From the middle of it appeared as if the light of a flame. But Ezekiel was not so much amazed by this phenomenon, which could seem to him one of the ordinary atmospheric phenomena of a country little known to him, but by the fact that among this phenomenon “the likeness of four animals was visible.” Their appearance was unusual: “their appearance was like that of a person; and each one had four faces, and each one had four wings; and their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of a calf’s feet, and they sparkled like shiny brass (and their wings were light). And the hands of men were under their wings, on their four sides; and they had faces and they had wings—all four of them. Their wings touched one another; during their procession they did not turn around, but each walked in the direction of his face. The likeness of their faces is the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side of all four of them; and on the left side the face of a calf in all four and the face of an eagle in all four. Both their faces and their wings on top were separated, but each had two wings touching one another, and two covered their bodies. And they walked, each in the direction that was in front of him; Where the spirit wanted to go, that’s where they went; during their procession they did not turn around! And the appearance of these animals was like the appearance of burning coals, like the appearance of lamps; fire walked among the animals, and a radiance came from the fire, and lightning came from the fire, and the animals quickly moved to and fro, like lightning flashes. And I looked at the animals, and behold, on the ground next to these animals there was one wheel in front of their four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their structure are like the appearance of topaz, and the likeness of all four is the same; and from their appearance, and from their structure, it seemed as if there was a wheel within a wheel. When they walked, they walked to their four sides; They didn’t turn around during the procession. And their rims were high and terrible; and all four of their rims around were full of eyes. And when the animals walked, the wheels walked beside them; and when the animals rose from the ground, then the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, there they went; Wherever the spirit went, the wheels rose up along with it: for the spirit of the animals was in the wheels. When they walked, they walked too; and when they stood, they stood; and when they rose from the earth, then the wheels also rose along with them: for the spirit of the animals was in the wheels. Above the heads of the animals there was a semblance of a vault, like the appearance of an amazing crystal, stretched from above their heads. And under the arch stretched out their wings, straight one to the other, and each one had two wings that covered them, and each one had two wings that covered their bodies. And as they walked,” the prophet continues, “I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the almighty, a strong noise, like the noise in a military camp; and when they stopped, they lowered their wings. And a voice came from the vault that was over their heads; when they stopped, then they lowered their wings. And above the vault, which was over their heads, there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance as if made of sapphire stone; and above the likeness of the throne was the likeness of a man above it. And I saw, as it were, flaming metal, as if the appearance of fire was inside it all around. From the sight of his loins and above, and from the sight of his loins and below, I saw a kind of fire, and a radiance was around him. In the same form as a rainbow appears on the clouds during rain, this is the appearance of this radiance all around” (Ezek. 1:4-28). Struck by such an amazing vision, Ezekiel fell on his face, and when he lay on the ground in extraordinary mental shock, he was raised by a command issued from the Almighty: “Son of man! stand on your feet and I will speak to you.” Along with these words came the power to obey them; the soul and body of the prophet, which had been almost completely exhausted, received the strength to rise before the Almighty and listen to His message, and the prophet instantly rose to his feet, and then heard again the words that reached his ears from Him who sat on the throne: “Son of man! - said the voice. “I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a disobedient people who rebelled against Me; they and their fathers are traitors to Me to this very day. And these sons with hardened faces and hard hearts; I am sending you to them, and you will say to them: Thus says the Lord God! Will they listen or will they not, for they are a rebellious house; but let them know that there was a prophet among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, if they become thistles and thorns for you, and you will live among the scorpions; Do not be afraid of their speech, and do not be afraid of their face, for they are a rebellious house. And speak My words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are stubborn. But you, son of man, listen to what I will tell you; Don't be stubborn like this rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you” (Ezek. 2:3–8). Following these words, in the vision, a hand holding a book scroll reached out to the prophet. The hand unfolded the scroll in front of the prophet, and this scroll was written inside and outside, and on it were terrible words: “crying, and groaning, and grief.” The prophet was then told to eat this scroll, and when he, in obedience to the divine command, ate it, “it was as sweet as honey in his mouth.” This was a visible symbol of Ezekiel’s initiation into the high position of prophet of the Most High, and explaining this symbol, the divine voice continued to him: “Son of man! Arise and go to the house of Israel and speak to them in My words. For you are not sent to a people with unintelligible speech and an unintelligible tongue, but to the house of Israel, not to many nations with unintelligible speech and an unintelligible language, the words of which you do not understand. Yes, if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you; but the house of Israel will not listen to you; For they do not want to listen to Me, because the whole house of Israel is of a strong forehead and a hard heart. Behold, I will make your face strong against their face, and your forehead strong against their forehead. I have made your forehead like a diamond that is stronger than stone. Do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid in their presence; for they are a rebellious house.” After a certain interval, which gave the prophet the opportunity to reflect on the great commission given to him, the voice continued: “Son of man! accept all My words that I will speak to you with your heart and listen with your mouth; Arise and go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God! whether they will listen or whether they will not.” The miraculous vision was now about to end. Ezekiel wholeheartedly accepted the great divine commission. But the end of the vision was unusually sublime and amazing. The Holy Spirit descended on the prophet, lifted him up, and he heard a great thunderous voice behind him: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from his place!” At the same time, there was the sound of the wings of animals touching one another, and the sound of wheels next to them, accompanied at the same time by a strong clap of thunder. The vision was terrible and amazing, but at the same time it revealed to the prophet the entire abyss of the wickedness of his people, and when the vision stopped, the prophet felt in great grief and an anxious spirit. But since “the hand of the Lord was firmly upon him,” he went to fulfill his mission to the immigrants in Tel Aviv, who lived near the Khobar River, and stayed among them for seven days, amazed at everything that happened and at the same time preparing his strength for the upcoming feat of prophetic activity. As for the vision presented, it is distinguished by its extraordinary mystery and sublimity. Clear in its great truths of the omniscience, omnipotence and greatness of Jehovah, it cannot be subject to detailed explanation in its particulars. The difficulty of fully understanding it was always recognized by interpreters, and already early among the Jews, the “book of the prophet Ezekiel” occupied a place among those “treasuries” that were not allowed to be read by persons under the age of thirty 352. Much, however, can be understood even in such a mysterious vision if we delve into the relationship between the natural and divine sides of inspiration. The source of many of his most striking features is not difficult to trace. Jehovah descended on Sinai amid thunder, lightning and storms, just as now. He came from the mysterious country of the north. The fiery cloud was based on the cloud that hung over the tabernacle; winged animals overshadowed the sanctuary in the Egyptian churches, and in Solomon's temple there were two cherubim bending over the mercy seat, with two other cherubim of gigantic size standing on the sides of the Holy of Holies. In Babylonia, in addition, the prophet’s attention could constantly dwell on the huge figures of winged creatures that combined the most diverse features. Winged bulls, lions and eagles on each side guarded the entrances to palaces and churches in Babylon. Seen for the first time by captives upon their arrival in Babylonia, they must have struck them with extraordinary fear, as people brought from a country where all sculptural images were prohibited, and where even the idols, introduced in direct violation of their sacred law, had only a human form, with the possible exception of the hair-headed Moloch. Forms that were in all respects similar to the cherubs of Ezekiel’s vision could not, of course, have previously appeared to the prophet’s eyes, but in any case, he could already see gigantic images with the face of a man, with the wings of an eagle and with the body of a lion or bull. That these forms could be partly combined in his soul with a vision of the greatness of Jehovah is completely consistent with the laws of revelation and our rational nature. We can comprehend the unknown only through what we know. We can expand or combine elements that are familiar to us, but we do not have the ability to create images from nothing. Hence, divinely inspired writers of all centuries used facts and images that were already familiar to them. The first book of the Pentateuch bears strong traces of the customs and symbols of Egypt. In Palestine, the images and metaphors of the sacred writers are borrowed from the objects around them, and in a similar way in Babylonia they had recourse to those images with which they became acquainted in the country of their new residence. It is interesting to point out that the very word “cherub” finds a close correspondence in the Assyrian word “kerub”. The symbolism of Ezekiel, when compared with that of earlier prophets, is nevertheless very significant. At Sinai, the ancestors of the Jewish people “saw no likeness” of God. But since he had to live among the gigantic human figures of gods, shining with gold, it is in his vision that for the first time we see the image given to Jehovah. Borrowing for the image of Jehovah all the splendor and grandeur, before which native idols should have paled, the prophet seemed to want to raise the thoughts of his compatriots to a clear idea of ​​​​the infinitely great glory of Jehovah, however, using for this purpose objects that were partly provided by the local religion. It must be remembered that in this respect Ezekiel was fully followed by Daniel, whose book bears traces of the same influences. In his vision we see the same symbolic creatures and images. Evidence that Ezekiel's vision bore traces of local influence is provided by an interesting image on an Assyrian cylinder, now in the British Museum, which bears a strange resemblance to the images of Ezekiel's vision. A mysterious ship floats on the waves, represented by jagged lines. Its extremities at the bow and stern have a human shape, reaching half of the body. On the ship itself are two kerubs or winged bulls; standing with their backs to each other, they turn their human faces towards the viewer, and from their position one can conclude the presence of two others behind them, so that they support the four corners of a flat surface resting on their shoulders and, perhaps, corresponding to the firmament of Ezekiel’s vision. On the plane there is a throne on which sits a bearded god, dressed in a long and luxurious robe, his head adorned with the Babylonian tiara, and his outstretched hand holding a scepter and a large circle, or ring, which has no ornaments. A small human figure, dressed in a long robe, stands before the god to receive orders, his angel, or in Assyrian, shikkal. He is the intermediary through whom only mortals can approach the deity. Above the head, on the sides, there are two crescents, as if pointing to celestial bodies, and above them parts of an arc are still visible, which may partly correspond to the rainbow mentioned in the vision of Ezekiel. Human-headed bulls in Assyria and Babylonia were usually placed at the gates of palaces and churches, like guarding geniuses, to guard the buildings inside and block access to them for all those who were prohibited. They were considered as if alive, and, according to popular belief, spirits lived in their huge stone forms. Such creatures in living bodies, not encased in stone, according to popular belief, guarded the gates of the heavenly chambers of the gods, as well as the gates of the underground regions; these last underground creatures supported the earth on their shoulders, guarded the entrance to the kingdom of the dead, and were the subject of worship, as the guardians of this kingdom of the sacred tree of life 353. For seven days after the vision, Ezekiel, as he himself tells it, could do nothing, but sat among his people in Tel Aviv in great sorrow and solitude; his soul was suppressed for a time both by the terrible vision that had happened to him and by the greatness of the responsibility as a prophet assigned to him by divine commission. It was only after a week had passed that his silence was finally broken and he then heard the voice of God speaking in the silence of his spirit. He was formally appointed as a public servant of Jehovah, but could not yet fully understand what his position consisted of. Before going to his brothers, Jehovah wanted to make him aware of the importance of his service. Appointed to the ministry of the divine word among people, he had to fully reflect on the importance of this service, thereby providing an instructive example for all those who now take upon themselves the care of human souls. "Son of man!" – the voice of God said to him: “I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, and you will hear the words from My mouth, and you will admonish them from Me. When I say to the wicked: You will surely die! but you do not admonish them and speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, then that wicked will die in his iniquity, and I will require his blood at your hands. But if you admonished the wicked, and he did not turn from his iniquity and from his lawless way, then he will die in his iniquity, and you will save your soul. And if a righteous man departs from his righteousness and acts wickedly, when I place a stumbling block before him and he dies, then if you did not admonish him, he will die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he did will not be remembered, and I will require his blood at your hands. If you admonish the righteous, so that the righteous does not sin, and he does not sin, then he will live, because he was admonished, and you saved your soul” (Ezek. 3:17-21). Having received this warning and instruction, Ezekiel went among his people, as was his custom, with the purpose of proclaiming among them the need for repentance and a better life, and to destroy among them the empty and harmful dreams that they would soon have to return to Judea and find Jerusalem in the same condition as they left it. With his inspired words he tried to convince them that they were destined to remain in Babylonia for seventy years, and that the holy city would undoubtedly be destroyed for the sins of the people. But he had to tell people who bitterly opposed predictions that were so different from their cherished dreams. The fiery indignation of his soul with which the prophet exposed the wickedness and infidelity of his people could only further irritate the people, who wanted to believe their own pipe dreams rather than the word of the prophet. As a result, the prophet had to encounter great obstacles and troubles, but among them he found support in new revelations. Meanwhile, it turned out that the people, coarsened in their feelings, became more and more insensitive to the preacher. Then the prophet, temporarily abandoning the fate of his people, uttered several sublime prophecies regarding the surrounding nations, in order, as a harbinger of the fate threatening them, to more strongly impress the idea of ​​God's punishment for the chosen people in their error. He uttered several prophecies about various tribes of Western Asia - Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia and Damascus, the conquest of which by Nebuchadnezzar was supposed to serve as clear evidence of the fulfillment of his prophecies. And indeed, these peoples soon, so to speak, disappeared from the face of the earth, and were no longer considered among the peoples of the then historical world. Edom retained its independence more than others, but even from it, in its original residence, there remained an insignificant settlement rather than a kingdom; others disappeared forever. Following these peoples, according to the prophet’s prediction, Tire, the richest and most majestic city of the Mediterranean coast, which concentrated wealth from all over the world in its harbors, was to disappear. True, this city continued to exist not only during classical times, but even until the Middle Ages, and as a small town it exists even to the present day, but as a state, it fell under the blow of the Babylonian conqueror. The last time we see this city in all its grandeur and glory, it is in the brilliant image of the prophet Ezekiel, who painted it under the image of one of the most glorious and richest ships, proudly sailing on the seas subject to it with sails from the excellent linens of Egypt and with purple upholstery of the seats, having as their sailors the richest merchants of the world (Ezek. 27: 1-24). The Prophet depicts how this magnificent ship is instantly captured by a storm from the east, and suffers a final wreck amidst a cry of despair and horror that swept along all the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. But Ezekiel's prophetic vision extended even further than the historical grave of the small surrounding nations. A more majestic picture unfolded before his eyes. He was also presented with that game event, according to which the hitherto powerful Assyrian monarchy, which forced all the surrounding nations to tremble before it, instantly fell from a terrifying shaking, like the age-old cedar of Lebanon, so that its fall led to the shaking of all the kingdoms of the earth (Ezek. 31: 3-17; 32: 22, 23). The same fate, according to the prophet’s prediction, was to befall the even more ancient and glorious Egyptian monarchy. Egypt, the ruler of primitive culture, also had to share the fate of all the peoples of the then world and submit to the new conqueror. The prophecy for Egypt is distinguished by its striking imagery, reflecting the most characteristic features of Egypt under the guise of the Nile crocodile. “You are like a young lion among the nations,” the prophet Ezekiel addressed Egypt: “and like a monster in the seas, you rush into your rivers, and muddy the waters with your feet, and trample their streams. Thus says the Lord God: I will cast My net over you in the gathering of many nations, and they will pull you out with My snare. And I will throw you to the ground, I will cast you in an open field, and all the birds of the air will land on you, and the beasts of all the earth will feast on you. And I will scatter your meat over the mountains, and fill the valleys with your corpses, and water the land of your voyage with your blood to the very mountains; and the ruts will be filled with you. The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you. Your people will fall by the swords of mighty men; all of them are the most cruel of nations, and they will destroy the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude will perish” (Ezek. 32:1-6, 11, 12). Meanwhile, political events quickly followed one another, as if following the words of the prophet Ezekiel and giving them factual confirmation. The regiments of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar conquered one nation after another and increasingly surrounded the ill-fated Jewish people, who were increasingly approaching their well-deserved fate. The prophet Ezekiel followed the course of these events with a sinking heart and tried to explain their meaning to his erring brothers. But since these latter still remained deaf and blind to everything that was happening, and their hearts had become so coarse that they had ceased to pay attention to the words of the prophet or listened to him only as “a funny singer with a pleasant voice and a well-playing musician” - in order to listen and forget - the prophet began a kind of preaching through symbols, in the hope that this sermon could have a stronger influence on the coarsened heart of the people. From here we see a whole series of remarkable symbols that constitute the distinctive feature of Ezekiel's prophecy. In order to show his brethren the certainty of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, especially contrary to the false predictions of the false prophets, who misled the people with pipe dreams about the imminent return of the people to Jerusalem, in order to more clearly depict the upcoming siege of Jerusalem and all its associated disasters, Ezekiel resorted to a number of symbolic actions. So, he took one of the ordinary sun-dried bricks, from which almost all the buildings surrounding him were built, and inscribed on it an image of Jerusalem, with all the circumstances of the siege; erected walls around Jerusalem, depicted the usual wooden towers towering above it, huge earthen ramparts from which the besiegers could strike the besieged - in a word, all the devices used in ancient times during the siege of cities. Having done this, he took an iron board and placed it, like an iron wall, between himself and the city, and visually began to besiege it. Everyone passing by the prophet involuntarily paid attention to this symbolic action of his, and he, thus, silently taught them a great lesson about the impending destruction of Jerusalem. Then, in order to depict the disastrous state of the city during the siege, and in general the suffering of the entire people in its twelve tribes, the prophet was commanded from above to lie down on his bed, like a person tied to it by illness or force. In this position he was to lie for three hundred and ninety days on the left side, to indicate the duration of the iniquity of the ten tribes, and then forty days on the right side, to indicate the corresponding number of years of the iniquity of the house of Judah. Then the prophet resorted to other symbols to depict various disasters coming to the people. Thus, he baked barley cakes in human feces - as a sign of hunger and extreme need of the besieged, destroyed the hair on the head and beard with a sword, fire and wind - to depict the plight of the Jews during the destruction of Jerusalem, and this silently symbolic sermon had a stronger effect on the people than a simple verbal one, in which false prophets with their false eloquence could obscure the true prophet with his the unvarnished truth. Meanwhile, the terrible event was drawing to a close. For a whole year, from the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, the prophet Ezekiel remained silent, teaching his fellow men only with visual symbols. But behold, at sunset of that day on which, according to the Jewish reckoning, the fall of Jerusalem took place, Ezekiel again opened his mouth, and was no longer silent; a deep premonition of the great event that had taken place appeared in his soul. And indeed, at dawn a fugitive from Jerusalem appeared to him, who conveyed to him the terrible news that the holy city had fallen. Thus, the Jewish people suffered the most terrible blow, and the kingdom of David no longer existed. One might think that this event should have completely crushed Ezekiel’s heart with deepest sorrow, but in reality this was not the case. From that moment on, Ezekiel's spirit became emboldened, brighter and more majestic pictures began to appear before him, and this was not simply a transition from uncertain expectation to a certain destiny, as was the case with David after the death of his first son by Bathsheba, but something much more. The hand of the Lord was upon him again, and set him in the midst of the wide, open plain of Mesopotamia. In this desolate area he saw a sight so familiar to travelers in the desert - the bones and skeletons of people and animals, dry and scorched by the sun on the yellow sands, the remains of some vast caravan, which had left behind hundreds of animals and people who had died from hunger or exhaustion, or, perhaps, the burial place of some wild tribe, or some powerful army of ancient times, the remains of which, long covered with sand, could be again exposed by some strong, gusty whirlwind. When he saw the picture of these dry and lifeless bones, the prophet heard a voice familiar to him from previous visions, which said to him: “Son of man! will these bones live?” - “Lord God! answered the prophet, “You know this.” He was then ordered to pronounce a prophecy to these dead bones as if to living people. Ezekiel began to prophesy to these strange listeners, and when his voice was heard among the silence of the dead desert, then in response he heard something like a clap of thunder, and the hard, dry earth shook under his feet. The Prophet saw an amazing sight: the bones came together joint to joint, flesh appeared on them again, and they lay dead and lifeless, like the corpses of a newly beaten army. At the sight of this terrible sight, the prophet again uttered his prophetic cry, and the wind by which he himself was brought here again swept across this dead desert, and to the amazement of the prophet, the corpses began to come to life and stand on their feet, and the lonely terrible desert suddenly found itself overcrowded with a huge multitude of living people. This magnificent vision of the resurrection of the withered bones was a graphic picture of the restoration and deliverance of the people. And the meaning of this vision was confirmed by a new vision, which should have encouraged the prophet even more. The same spirit took Ezekiel and carried him to his native country. He saw that he was standing on the top of a high mountain, and there a mysterious plan of the city and a church opened before him, completely corresponding to the one that was familiar to him in his youth even to the smallest detail, but in gigantic size. Then he saw how, from under the church porch, a source that had previously been hidden under the rocky arch suddenly began to flow, which, having turned into a full and majestic stream, rushed down the steps to the eastern gate. The dry hollow of Kidron was filled with a majestic stream, which, rising higher and higher, finally became a vast river, and from its irrigation the rocky and barren rocks framing this stream became covered with greenery, and the stream, dividing into two rivers, rushed into the desert plain of the Jordan and into the lifeless waters of the Dead Sea, which, from the life-giving effect of its waters filled with living creatures and countless fish, like Lake Tiberias or the Mediterranean Sea. As a result, many fishermen appeared on its banks, and its very banks were covered with luxurious vegetation, “all sorts of trees began to grow, providing food; their leaves did not wither, nor did their fruit fail” (Ezek. 47:1–12). Thus, the prophet Ezekiel was not only the teacher of the chosen people in this sad era of their historical existence, but also a reflection of both the sad destinies of their present life and the glorious fate destined for them in the future. Chapter 49. The Youth of the Prophet Daniel The activity of the prophet Ezekiel was limited to the immediate circle of the Jewish people, and only partially concerned the pagan peoples, against whom he uttered a formidable prophecy in absentia. But besides him, another prophet acted during the Babylonian captivity, who was the representative and preacher of the true God in the face of the conquering kings themselves. This is the prophet Daniel. As a youth, he was taken captive during the first capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. In order to bind the Jewish people to himself, Nebuchadnezzar then ordered the chief of his eunuchs, Asphenaz, to select several of the noblest, most beautiful and most capable Jewish youths, “to teach them the books and the language of the Chaldeans,” with the goal of preparing them later as capable and devoted servants of the throne in Babylon. Among them was Daniel with his companions, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, who were all given new names in Babylon: Belshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. But with the change of name, their deep piety and unshakable devotion to the true religion did not change in them, which were rewarded with a number of miraculous events, especially in the fate of the prophet Daniel. The latest monuments and historical research amazingly confirm and illustrate the story of the prophet Daniel in all its details. From them it appears that the kings of Assyria and Babylonia, in order to facilitate the government of their subjects from various nations and languages, usually selected from the captives or hostages of each nation young men of noble birth, and brought them up in the royal palace, where they were placed under the supervision of the chief eunuchs, and received the highest education that was possible at that time. Thus, from the inscriptions of Sennacherib we accidentally learn that he had such a school in his palace of Nineveh for the children of nobles of the provinces he conquered. “Belibus,” he says: “from the Babylonian people, who was brought from early childhood to my palace, was placed by me over the kingdom of the Sumirs and Akkadians” 354. This custom of the kings of Assyria and Babylonia, thus confirmed by the inscriptions of Nineveh, was known only from the book of the prophet before their discovery. Daniel, the exact local color of which in this respect, as in many others, is strikingly confirmed by the evidence of modern documents. Various travelers noticed a similar custom in Turkey, when it was still a conquering power. The pages of the seraglio, the servants of the court, and most government officials and local rulers were drawn from Christian youths captured during the war or purchased as slaves. The most beautiful and intelligent of them were taken to the palace and entrusted to the care of white eunuchs, although they themselves were not castrated. Special schools were set up for them, in which they received the best education that the country could provide, including the study of the Turkish language, in its highest purity. Their contents were carefully determined, with the type of food itself prescribed, and they wore special clothes as cadets of the royal service. Special educators watched over them day and night, and reported on their behavior and successes, which determined their future fate in appointment to various places. Curious evidence of similar institutions in Nineveh and Babylonia was discovered by examining clay tablets found in huge quantities in the libraries of Assurbanipal in Nineveh. They were mainly intended for teachers and students of the court school, where young men of both sexes were educated for the royal service. Most of them consist of syllabaries, grammars, dictionaries, histories, geographies and various scientific manuals. Even the very exercises and tasks assigned to students in some cases are open; one tile, between the others, contains a lesson for the young princess in Assyrian reading and folding 355 . Learning to read and write Assyrian or Babylonian was by no means easy, since the Assyrian script consisted of numerous combinations of pointed or wedge-shaped figures, the different pronunciations of which gave a completely different meaning to the same word. But in addition to the Assyrian and Babylonian languages ​​themselves, another language was taught in schools, Akkadian, which had long gone out of use, but was taught in order to receive a classical education, since in this language all the most ancient works about the gods, on various scientific subjects, on magic developed in these countries, etc. were preserved. This was in fact the “Chaldean language,” and the youths of the court schools had to carefully study it. Newly discovered documents and tablets confirm Daniel's story in many other ways. Thus, the change of name given to the young prophet and his companions upon entering the palace school was also in accordance with the custom of that century. Psammetichus, the famous king of Egypt, when he lived in Nineveh, also had a special Assyrian name given to him by Assurbanipal 356. In like manner the names of Daniel and his companions were changed to names which were undoubtedly Babylonian, since they included the names of various Babylonian deities. Thus, the name given to Daniel Belshazzar, or Balatzu-Usur, means “Bel may protect his life,” and the names given to his companions mean: Abednego, or Abed-Nebo - “servant of the god Sky.” The other names, Shadrach and Meshach, undoubtedly mean something similar, although in the Hebrew script they are so modified that it is now difficult to assign them a correspondence in the Babylonian language. In any case, such a competent scholar as Lenormand says that “all these names, if they had not been changed to the point of making it impossible for their real meaning to be discovered by the scribes, are exactly Babylonian in character, and in any case could not have been invented in Palestine in the second century BC,” to which time some critics date the composition of the book of Daniel. The school, in which noble Jewish youths were supposed to study, represented the highest concentration of scientific knowledge of that time. Everything that was known as Chaldean wisdom was concentrated here. This wisdom consisted of various departments of knowledge. First of all, a very complex system of Babylonian theology was studied here - complex due to the fact that the Babylonian religious worldview, as based entirely on polytheism, had extremely many ramifications, since individual gods, gradually starting from a common principle, became independent in various individual cities. Along with abstract theology, many purely ritual practical decrees were studied, associated with general religious principles. In this regard, the Babylonians also had a very complex system. Not only was each month dedicated to God, but each day of the month was designated for service in honor of some special god. The Babylonians had their own calendar for every day, and the most precise rituals were observed every day. So, in addition to ordinary days, it was also prescribed to observe the Sabbath. The Sabbath was observed every seventh day, although its original establishment is not mentioned in Babylonian literature. On certain special occasions, it was customary to appoint special fasts or festivals, so that the Babylonians, who really wanted to be pious, could have many occasions to exercise their religiosity. There is no need to add that in addition to the main gods, various lesser gods were also recognized in a limitless variety, some of which were so little known that their very names did not give people a clear idea of ​​their essence, and were mixed with semi-historical heroes, although they were given the power to protect or even harm people. The minds of the Babylonians were diligently engaged in various speculations on religious issues. Thus, from very ancient times they discussed the ancient question of the origin of evil. The Babylonians apparently resolved this difficult question in the following way. Judging by what they saw in nature, namely the good side and the bad side in every object, one can think that they looked at their gods as the creators of good and at the same time evil. Over time, the evil principle was erased among the higher gods, who were considered the benefactors of man, who listened to their prayers, etc., while the lesser gods or demons at the same time became the exclusive bearers of evil. “But the ancient idea, which derived both good and evil from the same source, did not completely disappear, and evil was never considered completely opposite to good, but rather was considered as a necessary complement and a serving instrument of good” 357. They did not try to go further than this. To explain how the Babylonians treated evil, one remarkable example can be given. Pestilence was considered a demon who waged war against the human race. The plague was not only personified, but actually considered a divine being. This terrible creature was even attributed a special appearance. It was depicted as having four wings, the body of a man, the claw-like legs of a vulture, and the head representing a dilapidated dry skull. There is an ancient epic poem that celebrates the apotheosis of Dibbara, the demon of pestilence, and it says, among other things, the following: “Dibbara lies at the great gate on the bodies of nobles and slaves; There he established his seat; Vavilov's people, even they themselves are subject to damnation, which you throw down upon them, O warrior of Dibbara, you are not moving away, When you go somewhere else Destroying both the dog and the palace you enter.” The entire religious worldview of the Babylonians was contained in religious books, which were also taught in the school of Chaldean wisdom. Among these books were large collections of hymns and prayers to the gods 358 . One large work consisted of the history of Istara and Tammuz, which in its Western form appears as the legend of Venus and Adonis. In addition to this work, among many others, mention can be made of the Chaldean story of the creation of the World, which in some points represents a remarkable correspondence with the first chapter of the book of Genesis 359. It also contained legends about the Tower of Babel and the Flood, in which one can also notice some agreement with the revealed tradition contained in the book of Genesis. It was all this Chaldean wisdom that Daniel and his companions had to study. There is no need to believe that during his life at court he participated in the religious acts of the Babylonians, which would be contrary to his religious faith, as “a servant of the living God.” The strength of his character which he showed in the time of Darius the Mede shows what his behavior might have been in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and we may be quite sure that if he had been required to worship the golden image of Bel, he would sooner have decided to suffer the most terrible death, which was intended for his three companions, than to carry out this order of the king. Along with the Babylonian religion, there were all kinds of spells and magic formulas that were required for various purposes. Familiarity with them was also considered necessary in order to have the title of a learned person. We have many of these formulas, and to familiarize yourself with them, two or three examples of them can be given. First of all, attention is drawn to the prayer for the sick, which reads this way: “on a sick person, through sacrifices, may perfect health shine like bronze; may the sun god give this man life; May Merodach, the Eldest Son of the Deep, give him strength, prosperity and health; may the king of heaven preserve him, may the king of earth preserve him.” But in many cases, instead of offering prayer, especially when the illness was supposed to come from an evil spirit, they turned to exorcism. Thus, from the inscriptions a spell formula is known, which reads: “may the goddess... the wife of god... will turn his heart in the other direction, so that the evil spirit comes out of him and moves away from him, and so that good spirits and good forces settle in his body” 360. Then, many different rules were taught regarding the healing of the sick. Great importance was attached to magic knots tied around the hands or head of the patient. One rule was: “Take a woman’s handkerchief, tie it around your right hand, take it off your left hand, tie it with seven knots. Do this twice. Sprinkle it with light wine. Tie it around the head of a sick person. Tie it around his hands and feet like shackles and chains. Put him on the bed. Sprinkle it with sacred water. He will hear the voice of Ea, Davkina will protect him, Marduk, the eldest son of heaven, will find him a happy dwelling” 361. Hence the expression arose among the Babylonians that a wise man, capable of doing the most difficult things, was a man capable of “loosening knots” (Dan. 5:12). One can also add various spells used for various purposes, and most importantly, signs extracted from various objects in the natural world. The significance of these latter can be seen from the following two examples: “if a white dog enters a church, then the foundation of this church is unstable,” “when a child is born with six toes on each foot, then the children will not go to school” 362. In addition to the religious and ritual sciences, which were of a completely exceptional nature, the Babylonians also had more serious sciences relating to astronomical and other natural fields. Of particular importance in this regard is the work entitled “Observations of Bel,” a very large work, which has as its subject various astronomical phenomena, such as eclipses, comets and phases of Venus, etc. Of course, all these sciences were not studied immediately, but gradually, and in this regard, the latest discoveries show that the Babylonians developed a strictly gradual system. Very simplified manuals were intended for new students. Recently, a whole list of books has been discovered that contain lessons assigned to children for study. They consist of poems and hymns, such as. “Merodach, lord of glory,” and others, or from fables like “the story of the fox,” “the story of the ox and the horse,” “the story of the twins,” and others. From this we can conclude that the Babylonian teachers tried to make the initial education not only easy, but also entertaining, and it is not without interest to see that the fox in these ancient children's manuals plays no less important role than the one it plays in these manuals at the present time. One of the most developed sciences in Babylon was medicine. Although there were quite a few trainees who healed the sick with spells and all kinds of incantations (like those mentioned above), however, others studied medicine as a science, and in a number of written slabs they presented the results of their scientific observations. In these latter we find various instructions and recipes intended for the healing of known diseases. True, traces of superstition can also be seen here, but this only proves that the Babylonian doctors, like some of the newest representatives of medicine, were in the habit of pleasing their patients in every possible way. Thus, there was even a special healing from despondency of spirit. The doctor ordered the sufferer from this disease to stand in front of his image; his mouth was covered with a special ointment made from cow's milk, barley and other sticky substance. By “image” we most likely mean a wax figure of the patient himself. Doctors, in some cases, treated this latter as the person himself, but if they did not do this with the goal of simply cheering up the patient, then it is difficult to explain such techniques. Babylonian doctors were then able to make a diagnosis of the disease. Thus, in the case of heart disease, after a variety of different medicines that needed to be mixed and thoroughly ground, it was prescribed that on the fourth day the doctor “observe” the face of the sick person; “If it is white, then the person’s heart is healed; if it seems dark, then his heart is still being consumed by fire; if it appears yellow, then the person will recover within a day; if it appears black, it will make him worse and he will not live.” These few extracts, however insignificant they may seem in themselves, are nevertheless not without interest in the sense that they give us a clear idea of ​​the course of science that Daniel and his companions were forced to undergo in the school of wise men in Babylon. Taken in the general composition of the sciences, this Chaldean wisdom was a very difficult thing, and the Jewish youths required a lot of mental effort in order to overcome it, especially since it was the complete opposite of the wisdom of the true religion in which they were brought up in their native land. In addition to mental education, the Babylonians paid great attention to physical education, so that both food and general behavior were carefully prescribed for students, especially at the court school. The food that was given to the young Jews obviously represented the ordinary food of the country, and it, as far as we know from the writings of ancient travelers to the eastern countries, consisted of various fruits, of which the main ones were dates, meat and vegetation of all kinds, natural products of Babylonia, to which were added various foreign delicacies. The country used a special wine made from the date palm; but we know that the finer drink was brought from the upper reaches of the Euphrates in small circular boats, and was sold to the richer inhabitants of the city. The richer part of the Babylonian population was distinguished by extreme luxury, and as an example of this we can point to the well-known circumstance that the long stay of the troops of Alexander the Great in this city significantly pampered the soldiers, and even destroyed military discipline among them. At the same time, one should not lose sight of the fact that Babylon was distinguished by extremely strong moral depravity. As noble youths, Daniel and his companions were allowed to enjoy food and wine from the royal table, but they, fearing that they would somehow become defiled by accepting something dedicated to idols, preferred to eat simple vegetables and drink water. Their steward Amelsar was very doubtful as to what effect such a transition from luxurious food to the simplest and coarsest could have on them, but at the request of the young men he allowed them to make an experiment for ten days. The experiment was successful, and during the rest of the period the youths were under the leadership of Amelsar, they lived without the usual portion of wine and meat. The consequence of this was what Daniel foresaw. The appearance of the four friends improved even more, and they not only did not suffer any weakening in their mental powers, but at the same time they also showed brilliant progress in the wisdom of the Chaldeans. Their faith made them acceptable to God, and He blessed their labors with extraordinary success. At the same time, two questions involuntarily arise that require at least a brief comment. What type of wisdom did Daniel acquire: miraculous or natural? Of course there can hardly be any doubt as to the answer. Wisdom comes not from within, but from without, and therefore is a gift of God. The blessings of God which He gives to what may be called the natural endowments of man are equally wonderful with those which He gives to inert matter, causing it to bear food, etc., for the sons of men. We talk about these objects as natural, but it would be much more accurate to call all this a gift, miraculously coming from God. Another question is: Was it consistent with Daniel's character to study Babylonian wisdom if his prejudices were so strong that he could not even eat Babylonian food? In answer to this question, it should be noted that although Daniel expressed concern about not being defiled by the Babylonian food, however, in reality he only desired a simple lifestyle, and the influence of this lifestyle on him was such, as it always is with moderation in food and drink, giving health and strength. As for Chaldean philosophy and theology, his soul was so imbued with the decrees of the law of the true God, his conviction was so firm in the true religion, that no harm could come to him from the study of Babylonian wisdom. For those whose faith is firm, no harm can be done by studying such subjects as Daniel had to study, just as a spark of fire can never harm a crystalline source. Daniel studied all these Babylonian sciences, not out of vain or frivolous curiosity, but in order to gain the opportunity to understand the spiritual life of the people with whom he was in constant contact. At the end of the training course, Daniel and his companions were put to the test, and the king, after the examination he carried out, found them, and especially Daniel, “ten times higher than all the mysticians and magicians who were in his entire kingdom.” Thus, God, in providence for His chosen people, at every difficult trial, raised up for them a leader who stood at the height of the wisdom of his enemies. Such was Joseph, a wise interpreter of dreams and a great statesman, when he moved to Egypt; at the exodus - Moses, who knew “all the wisdom of Egypt,” and now Daniel, the greatest sage of the Babylonian kingdom. Through him, it was God who determined to teach the proud Babylonian conqueror three great lessons, which were supposed to show him that the power and strength of even the most powerful king on earth (which was Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon at that time) was powerless before the power and might of that very God, whom he considered defeated in the person of the Jewish people. Having conquered all the surrounding nations and standing at the pinnacle of his power, Nebuchadnezzar, like all the great eastern conquerors, indulged in the dream of founding a world monarchy under the rule of Babylon. This is the same dream that was noticed by the first founders of Babylon and led to the construction of a tower to heaven, which was destroyed by God. But in response to this dream, he was taught the first lesson. Nebuchadnezzar saw an extraordinary dream, which struck him with its mystery, especially since the king forgot its very content in detail. Dreams, both in general in ancient times and in Babylonia and Assyria, were given very great importance. From one inscription it is known that Assurbanipal of Assyria was extremely alarmed by a dream that he saw before the Scythian invasion of Assyria, and during this dream he received a certificate from Istara of the success of his fight against the enemy. This view of dreams was common in ancient times, as is especially known from the example of the Egyptian pharaohs, and it is not without its inner meaning. Almighty God was pleased to reveal his will, through the mediation of the Holy Spirit, to those whom he considered suitable in the sense of an instrument for carrying out his will. Thus, He revealed to the pagan Pharaoh the disaster that was about to befall his country, and allowed the pagan soothsayer Balaam to foretell the coming of the Messiah. The same revelation was made now to the great idolatrous king in order to pull back before him part of the veil covering the future of the kingdom of God. Alarmed by the dream, the king immediately summoned all the sages and magicians of the Chaldean land so that they would recall and explain this extraordinary dream. Babylon, as the capital of the greatest state at that time, was the center of wisdom of its time. But the special wisdom for which he was famous was the study of astrology or science, which made it possible, by the movements of the heavenly bodies, to explain the mysterious phenomena of the present and predict the future. At the main churches there was a whole class of sages or magi who constantly, from special observatories or the tops of pyramidal churches, made their observations and reported to the king about what, according to their conclusions, was going to happen in nature, politics and private life. These wise men were divided into several classes, and of these the Khartumim are mentioned in the book of Daniel, 363 who were probably sacred scribes, interpreters of omens, or revealers of secret things; ashafim, or utterers of magical incantations 364; mexafims, mouthers of various conspiracies, people who admitted to being in communication with evil spirits; Hasdiim or Chaldeans (Dan. 2:2), who were astrologers and interpreters of the influence of the stars on human affairs, since Chaldea was the birthplace of this science 365; gakashims or magicians, that is, sages, by which title all the classes listed above were called, and gazerim, perhaps, is another name for astrologers, since the word means “casting horoscopes” and interpreting the supposed influence of stars and planets on the fate of individuals and kingdoms. All these sages and occultists were called upon to clarify the dream that alarmed Nebuchadnezzar. Some see inconsistency in Nebuchadnezzar’s such demand. But it must be remembered that, like all great conquerors, he was endowed with a strong common sense. He was still a young man and, perhaps, was not particularly inclined to believe that these sages had any ability of interpretation, which he himself did not possess. In other words, he was saying: one thing is no more supernatural than another. Nothing is difficult for the gods. If by supernatural means you propose to tell me what my dream means, then of course you, by the same powers, will be able to tell me what my dream was. “If you tell the dream and its meaning, you will receive gifts, rewards and great honor from me; So, tell me the dream and its meaning.” The Chaldeans humbly bowed to the king and answered him: “King, live forever!” Tell your servants the dream, and we will explain its meaning.” When this request from the Chaldeans was expressed twice by them, the king became angry and sharply remarked to them: “I know for sure that you want to gain time, because you see that the word has departed from me. Since you do not tell me your dreams, you have one intention: you are going to tell me lies and deception while time passes; So, tell me the dream, and then I admit that you can explain to me its meaning.” The sages were extremely embarrassed by the king’s insistence and answered him: “There is no man on earth who could reveal this matter to the king, and therefore not a single great and powerful king demanded this from any occultist, fortuneteller or Chaldean. The matter that the king demands is so difficult that no one else can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with the flesh.” Such stubbornness of the Chaldeans, showing all the powerlessness of their renowned wisdom, finally infuriated the despot. “The king was enraged and very angry at this, and ordered all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed” (Dan. 2:1–12). Since Daniel and his three companions were also students of the school of wisdom and, after the test, were numbered among the wise men of the Chaldeans, the command issued to exterminate all the wise men naturally applied to them as well. It is true that they were not present at the time when others were required of the king. Perhaps they did not dare to anticipate the paths of Providence, which was vigilant over them, and did not strive to receive those rich gifts that were promised for the interpreters of the dream. Perhaps even they were not allowed to appear at the palace, due to the envy of those who were considered their elders. Only when preparations began to carry out the king’s terrible command, and when the king’s servants began to look for Daniel and his comrades in order to kill them, then only Daniel decided to act. He turned for advice to Arioch, the chief of the royal bodyguard, who was making preparations for the beating of the wise men of Babylon, and asked him: “Why such a formidable command from the king?” When Ariuh told what was the matter, Daniel, who obviously enjoyed the favor of Nebuchadnezzar, secured a personal meeting with him and begged him to give him time, with the promise that he would present an interpretation of the dream that had so alarmed him. The king, reassured by such assurance, agreed to this request, and Daniel, returning to the room allotted to him, told the whole matter to his companions: Ananias, Azariah and Misail. Seeing the seriousness of the matter, they turned to the God of their fathers with a prayer to reveal this secret, so that they would not perish along with the wise men of Babylon. Their prayer was not in vain. In a night vision, the secret of the royal dream was revealed to Daniel, and this led him to religious delight, expressed in a song of praise to God: “Blessed be the name of the Lord from everlasting to everlasting! For with Him is wisdom and power. He changes the times and the years; Deposes kings and installs kings; Gives wisdom to the wise and understanding to the understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. I praise and magnify You, God of my fathers, That You have given me wisdom and strength, And He revealed to me what we prayed to You for; For You have revealed to us the work of the king." 366 Delighted by the supreme revelation, Daniel first of all turned to Arioch. The meeting with this high-ranking courtier took place in extreme haste, since Daniel wanted, by the divine revelation given to him, to prevent the fulfillment of a terrible command in relation to other Chaldean sages. Appearing to him, he said to him: “Do not kill the wise men of Babylon; Bring me to the king and I will reveal the meaning of the dream.” Arioch immediately did as Daniel asked him, and from his words to the king we can see that Arioch was greatly impressed by Daniel’s similar wisdom, and he was already in some way brought to the knowledge of the power of the God of Israel. He was extremely touched by the fact that Daniel prayed for his enemies, and, introducing him to the king, did not fail to mention that Daniel was by no means a Babylonian priest or sage, but simply a Jewish captive, which gave special significance to his ability to carry out the royal order, which turned out to be beyond the power of the wisest Chaldeans. When Daniel was introduced to the king, apparently in a solemn atmosphere, as usually happened in such cases, the king, still extremely busy with his dream and struck by the very mystery of its content, turned to Daniel with the question: “Can you tell me the dream that I saw and its meaning?” Daniel modestly answered the king: “The secret that the king asks about cannot be revealed to the king by wise men, charmers, mystic scholars, or fortune-tellers. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar what would happen in the last days.” To understand why the dream Nebuchadnezzar saw caused him such great anxiety, you need to keep in mind the very time when this vision happened. This was the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, or, according to our chronology, the third year 367. He was just beginning to feel the power in his domain. The boundary line between Egypt and Babylonia was drawn to his advantage. In the north he was at peace with the Medes. In fact, with their assistance, he ascended the throne. But there was another power that served as a source of anxiety for him, namely Persia. This kingdom was already beginning to make its influence felt in the east, and Nebuchadnezzar might fear that the time of peace, on which he had counted in order to fully develop the internal resources of his state, might suddenly be disrupted. Then, from the west, through the medium of many mercenaries who served in his army, information reached him about the existence of a special people there, the Greeks, whose valiant deeds were already beginning to become a theme for foreign poets. Could they also cause some harm to his state? Under such circumstances, his thoughts involuntarily had to worry about his offspring. Will his descendants be able to retain what his warlike energy has acquired? Or, on the contrary, will not his majestic monarchy scatter with the same lightning speed with which it was created by force of arms? All these natural anxieties could have aroused in him a strange dream. Although the dream was in itself supernatural, there may also have been a purely natural element underlying it, just as in all the miracles recorded in the Bible, with the exception of creation, God was pleased to use natural means to carry out His will. And so, when he was occupied with all such political considerations, they found an echo in his strange dream. Daniel began to tell him in detail what exactly his dream was. This dream consisted of the following: “You, king,” said Daniel, “on your bed, thought about what would happen after this. And the Revealer of the secret showed you what will happen. But this secret was revealed to me, not because I was wiser than all the living, but so that the king’s understanding might be revealed, and so that you might know the thoughts of your heart. You, king, had such a vision: behold, some kind of big idol, this idol was huge; he stood before you in extreme splendor, and his appearance was terrible! This image had a head of pure gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of copper, its legs were of iron, its legs were partly iron and partly clay. You saw him until the stone was torn away from the mountain, without the help of hands, it struck the image, its iron and clay feet, and broke them. Then everything was crushed together: iron, clay, copper, silver and gold became like dust on the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, and no trace remained of them; and the stone that broke the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” When Daniel told this dream, the king was amazed at the accuracy of his reproduction, since the whole picture he had seen was immediately clearly reproduced before him. But what did this dream mean? Daniel then proceeded to interpret its meaning. But before presenting Daniel's interpretation of this dream, it is not uninteresting to note that the history of the whole world is here presented for the first time as the history of one colossal man - a man who changed the mind of all philosophical worldviews that the human mind has ever invented, and reigned over the whole world, as it was and always will be with various conquerors from beginning to end. Here for the first time we notice in the Bible an indication that man is a small universe in himself (microcosm). From this we learn that every person contains in the very form of his body the stories and prophecies of the fate of the entire universe from the beginning of the Babylonian captivity to the most distant future. But let us return to the interpretation of the dream, as it was given by Daniel. “You, king, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven gave kingdom, power, strength and glory, and all the sons of men, wherever they lived, the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air, He gave into your hands, and made you ruler over them all; you are a golden head! Babylon really seemed to represent the golden head of the world kingdoms; it was overflowing with treasures collected from so many foreign kingdoms, as a result of which the prophets of Israel called it the golden city (Isa. 14:4). The chest and arms of the image, made of silver, according to Daniel's interpretation, meant another kingdom, as inferior to Babylonian as silver is inferior to gold. Daniel did not name this kingdom by name, but we, in the light of history, see in it the Medo-Persian monarchy, which was foretold to become the successor to the Babylonian monarchy, by the hand that several years later inscribed the mysterious words on the wall. This kingdom is called the lowest of Babylon, and this is what it actually was, if not in terms of spatiality, then at least in terms of its harmonious organization and stability; the copper part of the image meant the third kingdom, which was also destined to rule over the earth in its time. This kingdom of copper is the Greek monarchy, which in an incredibly quick time destroyed the Persian monarchy, and under Alexander the Great ruled the entire then known world. By the Greek kingdom we must mean the kingdom of Alexander the Great and his successors, the two brass parts (the belly and thighs) in particular pointing to the two modern dynasties of Greek rule - the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, which were later destined to play such an important role in the history of Israel. The iron part of the image meant the onset of the fourth kingdom, and Daniel stopped more than others in explaining this fourth kingdom, since the very composition of this kingdom was more complex than others. Like the second and third kingdoms, it was divided into two main parts, symbolized by the feet of the image. Unlike the previous ones, it was still subdivided both by substance and by form. The substance consisted of two dissimilar elements: iron and clay. Its shape contained subdivisions of the legs, feet and fingers. This part represents the Roman Empire in its various phases of existence, with the two legs representing the Eastern and Western Empires, into which the Roman Monarchy subsequently broke up. This monarchy was at different times either formidable and strong like iron, or weak like clay, and the mysterious number 10, indicated by the toes, probably pointed to some special phase in the development of the fourth empire, which had not yet been verified by history. As for the stone that was torn from the mountain, without the help of hands, it represented that indestructible kingdom that God would restore in the days of the kings of the fourth kingdom. This kingdom is nothing other than the kingdom of God Himself, which has already been founded, but for the full coming of which Christians still pray in the words of the prayer taught by the Lord Himself. This stone had already been cut off from the mountain and was heading towards the image to break it, but had not yet fallen on it and had not overthrown it. “The great God made the king know,” Daniel completed his interpretation, “what would happen after this. And this dream is true, and its interpretation is accurate!” If the very presentation of the dream by Daniel had already greatly amazed Nebuchadnezzar, then the interpretation he presented amazed the king even more and filled him with irresistible awe. Nebuchadnezzar saw that he had before him not an ordinary young man with ordinary Chaldean wisdom, which so often proved powerless in resolving difficulties, but a young man inspired from above. In extraordinary reverence, Nebuchadnezzar “fell on his face and worshiped Daniel, and ordered gifts and incense to be brought to him.” The king confirmed this extraordinary honor shown to Daniel by declaring his recognition of the truth of the God of Danilov. “Truly, your God,” exclaimed Nebuchadnezzar, “is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, the revealer of secrets!” Completely pleased with the divinely inspired wisdom of Daniel, the king immediately elevated him to a high rank and gave him many great gifts, making him the commander over the entire region of Babylon and the chief commander over all the wise men of Babylon. But Daniel was too modest to accept such a high appointment, and therefore he limited himself to asking the king to appoint his companions, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, over the affairs of the Babylonian country, and he himself preferred to remain at the king’s court. Chapter 50. The miraculous salvation of the three youths The elevation of three young men to high positions of leadership in the Babylonian monarchy served as the occasion for a second lesson for Nebuchadnezzar. The latter, not knowing the limits of his autocracy and exaltation, in one of the fits of his despotic whim ordered the erection of a huge golden idol near Babylon, and on a holiday arranged to glorify his exploits, he ordered the entire population to worship it. Colossal golden statues were quite common among the Babylonians. According to the description of Diodorus Siculus, three such statues adorned the great church of Bel until it was robbed by Xerxes, and represented the image of the three great gods of the city. How valuable these statues were can be judged by the fact that they contained a mass of precious metal, the value of which goes back to one hundred or more million rubles in our money (1889) 368 . In addition, in the church at Borzippa until the time of Xerxes, according to the testimony of Herodotus, who visited Babylon soon after, there was a golden statue 18 feet high. In the British Museum there is a tablet containing an accusation brought before the king against two high dignitaries, that they had stolen seven talents of pure gold, intended for a statue of himself and his mother 369 . The very clothes of gold, apparently donated by Assurbanipal to the great idols Merodach and Tzirpanit in the pyramidal church of Babylon, weighed, as can be seen from one inscription, four talents, which would amount to 87,000 rubles (1889), and, in addition, were decorated with various precious stones. The amount of gold carried off by Nebuchadnezzar as booty, collected throughout Western Asia, is beyond all imagination and would seem unreliable if it were not supported by undoubted documents. One of his inscriptions reports that he overlaid the altar in front of the church of Bel with pure gold of immeasurable weight, and the entire interior of the sanctuary on the top of the upper story or terrace of the church was decorated with “wrought gold, shining like the rising and setting sun.” A statue of one of the Assyrian kings and statues of the gods Sky and Istara were found in Nimrud. Thus, Nebuchadnezzar’s command to make a golden image in honor of himself was quite consistent with the customs of that time, and its gigantic volume in this case was fully consistent with other similar works in Babylon. Such idols were opened with extraordinary solemnity, and the statue, with all kinds of signs of reverence, was carried in a solemn procession by noble persons and priests, passing among the people, who filled the air with loud cries of festive rejoicing. The Assyrian king Shalmaneser, who was a contemporary of Ahab and Jehu, as well as his son Samai-Rimmon, erected statues similar to themselves in Nineveh to exalt their royalty, and such a great monarch as Nebuchadnezzar, of course, was not averse to the desire to far surpass them in this regard. As a result, he ordered that on the field of Deire, in the Babylonian region, a golden image should be erected, representing either the king himself or his main god Merodach, and it should be covered entirely with slabs of gold. The field of Deir is a place near Babylon, and to this day still retains the same name. It lies about eight miles from Babylon, to the southeast of it, in an area cut by dry hollows of various ancient canals that once spread fertility in all directions. It is now called Nar-Dura, that is, “stream of walls,” perhaps due to the large ditches that ran around the fortifications. From here the road leads to a series of hills stretching for a mile. These hills are generally called the Dura mounds, and at their foot the ancient water pipelines end. One of these, now known as Mohattat, the "square mound," faces the four cardinal points, and rises to a height of nearly 20 feet, each side at its base being nearly 56 feet in length. At the top of it, Oppert found four ruins of bricks that originally made up something whole. “Looking at this mound,” he says, “you are involuntarily struck by its resemblance to the pedestal of a colossal image, and everything leads to the conclusion that it was precisely the foot of that image spoken of in the book of the prophet Daniel” 370. The image Nebuchadnezzar made, including probably the pedestal on which it stood, was 60 cubits high (that is, 105 feet) and 6 cubits wide (10 ½ feet), which seems to indicate that this image was in a sitting rather than a standing position, like some of those colossal statues that Nebuchadnezzar had to see in Egypt. Such an idol could be seen at a great distance, since the terrain in the vicinity is very flat and presents a very distant view right up to the horizon. This huge image was supposed to be placed with solemn ceremonies, which were the custom at that time in Babylon. Couriers were sent to various countries, who were ordered to call satraps and their authorities, Shallites and petty princes, military leaders, treasurers, judges, lawyers and all governors of the provinces to the festival. In obedience to this royal command, all these authorities marched towards the capital, and the roads leading to it were crowded with magnificent cavalcades stretching towards Babylon, and in due course many brilliant representatives of the state assembled at Deir to increase the splendor of the festival by their presence. Religion in ancient times was a completely state matter; disrespect for gods exhibited for public worship could easily be interpreted as disloyalty to the monarch who ordered them to be respected. And then a command came out that all the enormous multitude of assembled representatives should bow before the idol as soon as the solemn sound of music was heard; for refusal to fulfill this command, a terrible punishment was imposed - burning alive in a red-hot oven. In general, daring rebels like Saulmugina, who rebelled during the reign of Aseurbanipal in Assyria, or blasphemers like Dimaun, who cursed the gods during the reign of the same Assyrian sovereign, were subjected to such punishment. One image on the walls of this monarch's palace at Kuyundzhik depicts how these two unfortunate men were burned alive, their tongues first being pulled out. Finally the holiday itself has arrived. In all likelihood it was early morning, and the just risen sun was pouring its warm rays across the vast plain, brightly reflected on the bronze roofs of the churches. Representatives of the entire vast monarchy of Babylonia crowded around the idols. Various attire, all kinds of weapons, all kinds of representatives from Syria, Arabia, Armenia and from the distant East increased the beauty and originality of the scene. After the others, surrounded by extraordinary pomp, the king himself appeared, accompanied by the princes of the conquered provinces. Closest to the king was the high priest or nisakku, whose duty it was to pour libations in honor of the gods. The other subordinate priests moved in a long procession - the sangu, the chief assistant to the high priest, the pasisu or anointed one, the kali or famous one, each in his appointed place. The celebration, of course, attracted many of the richest merchants and artists of Babylon. A libation was poured out to the new god, the image was anointed, a special sangu was appointed, whose duty it was to perform all the services related to him, and when the stunning sound of all kinds of musical instruments was heard, the entire huge assembly, from the king to the last villager, fell prostrate as one person and worshiped “the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.” The biblical historian, talking about the musical part of the celebration, says that the sign for worship was given by the sound of a trumpet, flute, harp, harp, harp and all kinds of musical instruments (Dan. 3:7). Since some of these instruments are of a Greek character, some critics have suggested that the book of Daniel was composed at a much later period than the course of events suggests. But although musical instruments are rarely found in the sculptures of ancient kings, they formed a prominent feature in all religious and social ceremonies in Assyria and Babylonia and at the beginning of the 6th century BC, just before the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and nothing is more natural if we remember how widespread the Greek settlements were even at an earlier period than the reign of Nebuchadnezzar; so foreign musical instruments could well have been known on the Euphrates at this particular time. Greek troops were a common sight in Egypt for generations. Sargon, long before the time of the prophet Isaiah, already knew the Ionians or Greeks. Sennacherib made an invasion of Cilicia. Assargaddon and Assurbanipal came into conflict with the Phoenician people, and the Greek kings of Cyprus paid tribute to both of these kings. Foreign instruments, moreover, were also an object of curiosity and interest in Babylon, as they are today, and if we find Sanskrit words for Indian works in the biblical story of Solomon's sea trade, then it is not at all surprising to find Greek names for musical instruments in the book of Daniel, since these instruments again could also be the subject of foreign imports. In any case, it is known that musicians in later Assyrian sculptures are depicted as wielding a variety of instruments, many of which were undoubtedly of foreign origin, such as the Syrian kinnor, the Asia Minor double flute and the seven-string guitar, which is undoubtedly a Greek invention. At the same time, it is not without interest to remember how captives from various nations were forced by their Babylonian masters to sing and play their national songs, which is so movingly reported in the psalms regarding the captive Jews (Ps. 136). When this solemn worship of the new idol took place and the king, with complete satisfaction, in view of the unconditional fulfillment of his command, wanted to give the sign to begin various amusements on the occasion of this celebration, some of his courtiers came closer to him and made a denunciation to him that not all of his subordinates had fulfilled his command. The unconditionality with which the order to worship the idol was given, in itself already revealed the influence on Nebuchadnezzar of strangers, the court magicians, who, apparently jealous of the success of the foreigners they hated, and especially of Daniel, who surpassed them with his wisdom and thereby subjected them to shame in the eyes of the king and the people, in every possible way sought an opportunity to subject him to the disgrace of the king. And this holiday gave them a sure chance of success. They knew well that the Jews, whom they hated, would rather die than worship the idol. This was indeed the case. The young men, who had recently been elevated to the high rank of regional rulers, refused to bow to the idol. They were not present at the celebration, which the Magi, hostile to them, did not hesitate to bring to the attention of the king. Approaching the king, they said to him: “King, live forever!” You, O king, have given a command that every person who hears the sound of a trumpet, a flute, a zither, a harp, a harp and a symphony, and every kind of musical instrument, should fall down and worship the golden image; and whoever does not fall and worship must be thrown into a fiery furnace. There are men of Judah whom you have placed over the affairs of the land of Babylon - Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; These men do not obey your commands, O king, they do not serve your gods, and they do not worship the golden image that you have set up” (Dan. 3:9–12). The accusation was made with malicious skill. These Jews were state dignitaries and therefore were obliged to set an example of obedience to the royal commands. They owed their rise to the royal mercy, and for this very reason, by virtue of gratitude itself, they should have shown honor to the king before others. They were foreigners placed above the people, and they had the responsibility not to offend national beliefs in any way. Nevertheless, they showed clear disrespect for the king, because they did not serve his gods, did not bow before the image he set up. Nebuchadnezzar, of course, in this very sense could understand such a non-appearance of the Jews he had benefited from. But what made these three noble people put their lives in danger? This, of course, was not done by them out of disrespect for the king. After many military enterprises, it is very possible that Nebuchadnezzar himself was transformed from the former humane man into the cruel and bloodthirsty despot that he is portrayed in subsequent history. But in any case, the young Jews refused to fulfill his command not out of any hostile feeling towards the king himself. They meant something much more important. They were brought up in the principles of true religion, which absolutely forbade all worship of idols, and as a result they were ready to sacrifice their lives rather than violate the clear definition of the law of God. This is not how the king himself looked at it, of course. As soon as he heard the denunciation made to him and personally verified the absence of the Jewish youths he had benefited from, he became extremely furious and immediately ordered those responsible to be brought to him. When the culprits were actually presented to Nebuchadnezzar, he turned to them with a reproach and, wanting to ascertain the reality of their mood towards themselves and their religion, asked them: “Are you deliberately, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, not serving my gods and not worshiping the golden image that I have erected?” Then he invited them to exonerate themselves from the accusation and wanted them, at the sign again given by the musical instruments, to publicly bow before the idol and thereby honor both the king and the gods he revered. “If,” he added, “you do not worship, then at that very hour you will be thrown into a fiery furnace, and then what God will deliver you from my hand?” Nebuchadnezzar added with evil irony. The proposal was terrible and the threat was terrible. But she did not confuse the heroic youths, who courageously answered Nebuchadnezzar: “There is no need for us to answer you to this,” they said: “Our God, whom we serve, is able to save us from the fiery furnace, and from your hand, O king, He will deliver us. If this does not happen, then let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor will we worship the golden image that you have set up” (Dan. 3:16–18). Such an answer could only confirm Nebuchadnezzar's worst assumptions. He saw in the young men daring rebels who refused to show any honor to both the king who had benefited them and his gods. Filled with rage, with his face purple with anger, the king ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than it was usually lit, in order to throw the disobedient young men into it. The oven was located next to the place where the celebration was taking place in honor of the idol, and it was soon prepared for the execution of those whom the king sentenced to this punishment for unbelief and disobedience. The oven itself, as can be judged from the biblical narrative, consisted of two large holes, one of which was in the vaulted roof, and the other on the side. Fuel was abundant in the surrounding area, and since there are many oil springs around Babylon, it was not difficult to achieve very high heat under relatively minor conditions. Since the punishment by burning was intended for state criminals, the execution was carried out in public. And in order for the criminals to be better visible to the gathered masses, the approaches to the furnace itself were deliberately prepared in the form of special elevations, from which the burning process itself could be clearly seen. When everything was prepared for execution, the young men were tied up in their underwear and outer clothes, in headbands and other clothes, and in this form they were thrown into a red-hot oven. This execution usually did not last long, and the assembled spectators could only see in horror how the flames instantly killed those doomed to be burned. But this time something completely unexpected happened. Since the furnace was seven times hotter than usual, it turned out that when the executioners, having tied up the condemned, threw them into the fiery mouth, they themselves were killed by the unbearable flame. If such a fate befell even the executioners, then it is clear that there was no outcome for the condemned. Imagine the surprise of both the king and the assembly when it turned out that the young men thrown into the red-hot furnace were not only not immediately killed by the flames, but, having risen from their prostrate state, remained completely unharmed. Among the crackling and peculiar hissing of the terrible elements, suddenly even singing was heard, which amazed everyone. Amazed by all this, Nebuchadnezzar bent down from his seat to look closer into the furnace, and to his great surprise he noticed that in the furnace there were not even three young men, as many of them had been thrown into, but four. Hastily interject, he said to his nobles: “Didn’t we throw three men into the fire bound?” “That’s true, king,” they answered. “But,” Nebuchadnezzar remarked, “I see four unbound men walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no harm to them, and the appearance of the fourth is like the Son of God” 371. Having found confirmation of his remark from the nobles, Nebuchadnezzar completely changed his mood, and, approaching the opening of the red-hot furnace and without fear of causing himself any harm, he turned to the young men with the words: “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God! Come out and come!” Obeying this call, the young men actually came out of the fire. In the eyes of the entire assembly present here, they seemed to have risen again from death, and therefore they were surrounded by a whole crowd of curious people. “And the assembled satraps, governors, military leaders and advisers of the king saw that the fire had no power over the bodies of these men, and the hair on their heads was not singed, and their clothes did not change, and even the smell of fire was not on them.” Then Nebuchadnezzar was again forced to recognize the omnipotence of the God of Israel and exclaimed with extraordinary enthusiasm: “Blessed is the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who sent His angel and delivered His servants, who trusted in Him and did not obey the king’s command, and gave up their bodies to fire, so as not to serve and worship another God besides their God! And a command is given from me that from every people, tribe and language, whoever blasphemes against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, be cut into pieces, and his house turned into ruins, for there is no other God who could save like that.” This was a remarkable recognition of the one true God on the part of the greatest controller of the destinies of the ancient world, and this very fact shows how Providence, by scattering the people of Israel and its best sons among the nations of the pagans, thereby prepared the way for the spread of the light of the true faith among the darkness of the pagan world. But the king did not limit himself to this recognition of the true God. He raised up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the land of Babylon and made them leaders over the rest of the Jews in his kingdom. And in order to make the lesson he received known to all his subjects, he addressed all the peoples that were part of his monarchy with a special decree, which said: “Nebuchadnezzar, king to all peoples, tribes, languages ​​living throughout the whole earth: peace be multiplied to you. I am pleased to announce to you the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed on me. How great are His signs, and how powerful are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion endures throughout generations and generations.”372 Chapter 51. Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream and his punishment Several years passed after the events described, and Nebuchadnezzar enjoyed a completely prosperous world. The wars were over by him, he was the ruler of most of the then known world and completely indulged in his usual passion for construction. The lessons he received, despite all their astoundingness, apparently did not have a particularly lasting impact on his soul, and he, completely immersed in the affairs of his public life, soon forgot about them again. Meanwhile, new events were quietly preparing in the world, and God was pleased to again warn the great king. Nebuchadnezzar had a new dream, which also struck him with its unusualness. In order to find an interpretation of this dream, he also convened all the wise men of his country. According to custom, “mysteries, charmers, Chaldeans and fortune-tellers” came to him. Their case was now made easier by the fact that Nebuchadnezzar did not forget the content of the dream and told it to them, but the wise men of Babylon, who had previously justified their powerlessness by the fact that they did not know the content of the dream, now found themselves powerless to interpret the dream, although it was told to them. No longer relying on the wise men and having become convinced of their powerlessness, Nebuchadnezzar, based on previous experience, now turned to Daniel himself and solemnly, as if to shame the other court wise men, said to him: “Belshazzar, head of the wise men! I know that the Spirit of holy God is in you, and no mystery troubles you; Explain to me the vision of my dream that I saw and its meaning.” Then he told the dream itself. He saw in his dream a huge tree planted in the middle of the earth; this tree grew more and more as he looked at it, until finally it reached such a volume that it could be seen from all corners of the earth. “Its leaves are beautiful, and there is plenty of fruit on it, and there is food on it for everyone; the beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.” And so, when the king lay, wondering what this vision would mean, “someone came down from heaven, the Awakening and Holy One. Exclaiming loudly, He said: Cut down this tree, cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit; let the beasts be removed from under it, and the birds from its branches; but leave its main root in the ground, and let it, in chains of iron and copper, among the grass of the field, be watered with heavenly dew, and let a part of it be with the animals in the grass of the earth. The heart of man will be taken away from him, and the heart of a beast will be given to him, and seven times will pass over him. This was determined by the command of the Watchful, and by the judgment of the Saints it was appointed, so that the living might know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men; He gives it to whomever he wants, and appoints over him one who is lowly among men” (Dan. 4:7–14). Before presenting Daniel’s interpretation of this dream, it is worth paying attention to some outstanding features in it. First of all, the symbol of the tree itself attracts attention. This symbol was very common to the Semitic mind. A green leaf was considered an external sign of the well-being of a righteous person, and a withering leaf, drying up with the onset of heat, depicted just the opposite state 373. Thus, the tree was considered a symbol of human life (Ex. 65:22), and over time, among various peoples, trees even became the subject of special worship. So it was with the Israelites during the period of the monarchy; Among the Assyrians, the tree was considered the emblem of the god Assur, and images of the sacred tree were found on sarcophagi dating back to a time much later than the time of Daniel. During the Babylonian captivity, the tree was apparently considered a symbol of the Assyrian monarchy. Ezekiel, in his prophecy about the fall of Egypt, especially chose cedar as an image for Assyria in the days of its greatest power. “Behold,” he says: “Assur was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and shady foliage, and tall; its top was among thick branches. The waters raised him, the abyss raised him; its rivers surrounded his nursery, and it sent its channels to all the trees of the field!.. That is why its height exceeded all the trees of the field, and there were many branches on it, and its branches multiplied, and its branches became long from the multitude of waters when it grew. All kinds of birds of the air built their nests on its branches, all kinds of wild animals brought up their children under its branches, and under its shadow dwelt all its numerous nations” (Ezek. 31:3-6). It is difficult to read this passage without being struck by its similarity to Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Since the comparison of peoples with trees was not unknown to the Babylonians, this itself already provided some clue to understanding the meaning of the dream, and even more revealed the pitiful inability of the sages to penetrate the secrets of the spiritual world. Secondly, it should be noted that the king saw the tree while it was growing. We must remember the general rule that the basis of every ordinary dream is, for the most part, some detail taken from our everyday life, which especially occupies our mind during the day, is reproduced at night, accidentally taking on some very fantastic form. The same thing apparently happened with Nebuchadnezzar. While he was awake, he was constantly occupied with the thought of the growth of his monarchy. This thought naturally served as the reason for his dream, like the thought of the extraordinary growth of the tree. His own world monarchy appeared to his spiritual vision as a tree of enormous size, and like those countless masses of all kinds of birds and animals that depended on this tree for their sustenance. Perhaps he himself guessed the reason for his dream, but now he was not interested in the reason for this dream, but in its inner meaning. Then the “Wakeful” one also draws attention, who went to the tree and gave the order to cut it down. The meaning of the word itself, which denotes “Wakeful”, is very difficult. Greek translators explain it in the sense of an Angel, which opinion is approved by Bl. Jerome, and involuntarily recalls one saying in the Psalm: “He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Ps. 120:4). But the question is what exactly the king of Babylon himself meant by it. It is known that the Babylonians very clearly believed in the existence of divine Providence 374 . They believed that nothing happens on earth without the permission of the gods. These latter, however, needed to be informed about what was happening on earth, and therefore they had a special messenger named Papsukal, just as in Greek mythology the sun acquainted the gods with what was happening on earth. Hence, we have no reason to doubt that some Babylonian deity constituted what can be called the natural basis for this phenomenon in the king’s dream. But in reality this dream did not come from the Babylonian god; it was, as Daniel shows, “the decree of the Most High, which shall befall the lord king” (Dan. 4:21). Finally, the meaning of the word “seven times” also attracts attention. The number "seven" was sacred among the Babylonians and therefore does not require any special explanation, so the whole difficulty revolves around the use of the word "times." Is it possible, in this case, to mean a year of 365 days by “time”? According to Josephus, we must understand by this saying a prediction of a disaster to the king, from which he was to suffer for seven years. But from a very early time this expression was given a more limited interpretation. “Times” were understood in the sense of the two main seasons of the year - summer and winter, so that seven times were explained in the sense of three and a half years. This is exactly the opinion of Bl. Theodoret, whose interpretations are generally distinguished by remarkable thoroughness. In general, the meaning of this word remains hitherto unexplained. But, in any case, whether by the words “seven times” we mean years or months, the punishment that threatened the king was in itself so terrible that the length of time no longer mattered particularly much. When Nebuchadnezzar told his dream to Daniel, this divinely inspired sage was simply amazed by it. He immediately saw that the foreshadowing contained in the dream was extremely unfavorable for the king. A rather close friendship had already been established between the sovereign and his famous subject. One was elevated to his high position by the kindness of the other and always turned out to be faithful to his master. It was the feeling of extraordinary gratitude to the monarch that made Daniel now become unusually embarrassed, so that “he remained in amazement for about an hour, and his thoughts confused him.” To bring Daniel out of embarrassment, the king turned to him with encouraging words: “Belshazzar! Let this dream and its meaning not confuse you.” - “My lord!” - answered Daniel, - “this dream would be your haters, and your enemies the meaning of it!” “The tree,” Daniel began to explain, “which you saw, which was large and strong, reaching in its height to the heavens, and was visible throughout the whole earth, on which there were beautiful leaves, and an abundance of fruit and food for everyone, under which the beasts of the field lived and in whose branches the birds of the air nested - this is you, king, exalted and strengthened, and your greatness has increased and reached to the heavens, and your power to the ends of the earth. And that the king saw the Watching One and the Holy One descending from heaven, who said: Cut down the tree and destroy it, only leave its main root in the ground, and let it be in chains of iron and copper, among the grass of the field, watered with the dew of heaven, and let a portion of it be with the beasts of the field, until seven times have passed over it - then this is the meaning of this, king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which will befall my lord, king You will be separated from people, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field; They will feed you grass like an ox; You will be watered with the dew of heaven, and seven times will pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wants. And the fact that it was commanded to leave the main root of the tree means that your kingdom will remain with you when you know the power of heaven. Therefore, king, may my advice be pleasing to you: atone for your sins with righteousness and your iniquities with mercy towards the poor; this is how your peace can last” (Dan. 4:17–24). Both the dream and its sign were terrible and should have had a sobering effect on every person. But the king of Babylon was too arrogant and self-confident to obey the warning voice of a wonderful dream. He did not pay due attention to him and therefore all this soon came true for him. Another year passed, and the king could easily even forget the prediction made to him, so that the dream itself was inclined to be classified as unfulfilled. But the hand of God was already raised over the proud conqueror, and he had to experience the extreme degree of humiliation and humility. Having completed his many magnificent buildings in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar used to go out onto the roof of his palace and from there admire the magnificent panorama that opened before him over the entire city, with its churches, magnificent publications and motley crowds of people swarming in wide squares and moving along wide and extensive canals. One day the picture was especially magnificent, and the king, in involuntary delight, in which extraordinary arrogance sounded, exclaimed: “Isn’t this the majestic Babylon, which I built in the house of the kingdom, by the power of my might and for the glory of my greatness!” But as soon as he made a proud speech, a voice thundered above him from heaven: “They tell you, King Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom has departed from you! And they will separate you from people, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field; they will feed you grass like an ox, and seven times will pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wants!” Struck by such a voice, the king became confused and his mind went crazy. He suffered from one of the most terrible forms of mental illness, the so-called lycanthropy, and began to alienate people. Such a disease is not anything unusual and it has long been known to medicine. The word “lycanthropy” actually applies to those who imagine themselves to have changed into wolves, and who, in this assumption, commit murder and hide in the forests from people. It seemed to Nebuchadnezzar that he had turned into an ox, or rather into one of those most majestic winged bulls with which the entrances of royal palaces were decorated, and which were symbols of the power and greatness of the gods. Even during his insanity, the king’s thoughts took on Babylonian forms, which were presented to his mind at the sight of his surroundings. Seeing the complete insanity of the king, the courtiers, who of course carefully tried to ensure that the secret of this terrible illness of the king did not go beyond the palace, excommunicated him from the people, and he actually “ate grass like an ox, and his body was watered with the dew of heaven, so that his hair grew like a lion, and his nails like a bird.” It can be assumed that during this terrible illness, moments of enlightenment of his thoughts came, and then the king more than once had the opportunity to fully reflect on how vain the greatness of man is, and how pitiful he is before the omnipotence of the punishing hand of God! Finally, the seven times appointed for the king passed and Nebuchadnezzar’s mind brightened again. In extraordinary gratitude, he raised his eyes to God, who mercifully restored his common sense and, remembering the lessons taught to him earlier, decided to once again make the experience of his life known to all the peoples subordinate to him and addressed them with a decree in which he told in detail the history of this terrible test of his. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,” he concluded his decree, “glorify, exalt and magnify the King of heaven, whose deeds are true and his ways are righteous, and who is able to humble the proud who walk.” It is unknown how many more years Nebuchadnezzar lived after his recovery, since we do not actually know the time of his illness. It is known, however, that he reigned for only 43 years, and if we assume that the golden image was erected by him in the 30th year, then we can think that after that he reigned for another 10 years in peace and prosperity. The British Museum contains tablets dating to the 36th and 40th years of his reign. But since they relate primarily to the affairs of individuals and do not contain any particularly important documents, there is no need to present them here. We know nothing about the death of the great king. Various passages from ancient historians are preserved by Josephus and other writers which indicate some mystery surrounding the last days of his life. Berosus notes that Nebuchadnezzar suffered from a long illness before his death. Megasthenes also, having mentioned that he was making an invasion of Libya and Iberia, testifies that he ascended to the roof of his palace and, being struck by some god, exclaimed: “I, Nebuchadnezzar, foretell to you, Babylonians, a disaster that will befall you and to avert which neither Bel, my forefather, nor Queen Beltis are able to persuade fate. A Persian mule will come with whom your gods will enter into an alliance and subject you to slavery... After pronouncing this prediction, he then disappeared.” In these testimonies one cannot help but see some echo of the biblical narrative, which was naturally distorted in the minds of pagan peoples. Everything that is known from historical data about Nebuchadnezzar is limited to the fact that the greatest of the pagan heroes of the Bible at this very point disappears from the pages of history and again never appears on the pages of St. Scriptures. If we are amazed at the greatness of his conquests and public buildings, then we are even more amazed at his last conviction, which he expressed in his last decree, calling on all his subjects to praise and glorify the King of Heaven. It is not our business, of course, to speculate what his fate will be at the Last Judgment of God, whether he will stand on the right or left side of the Judge. But we can be sure that if God’s mercy was already shown to him during his life and his heart became accessible to the truth, then the same God who gives everyone who receives His Holy Spirit to do everything through Jesus Christ, and who led him to the knowledge of the one, true God, will then show him His mercy on the last day of judgment. Chapter 52. Fall of Babylon Under the successors of Nebuchadnezzar, the position of the Jews in Babylon became even better, since the kings, being less warlike and less relying on the strength of their power, tried to bind the captive peoples to themselves by being gentle with them and granting them various civil rights. The increasing contentment with life in Babylonia, and at the same time the weakening of grief over the loss of their homeland, made the captives themselves calmer in their new homeland. The language of Babylonia was so close to Hebrew, and its use was so easy that it began to gradually displace the latter, thus introducing among the descendants of their great ancestor Abraham again the dialect he once used and leaving the Palestinian dialect, which was adopted in its place for dozens of centuries. The prophets Ezekiel and Daniel show by their writings how early this change in language began; Some of their books were already written in the so-called Aramaic or Chaldean language. At the same time, the abilities and talents and even the beauty of a considerable number of the Jews from the very beginning attracted attention to them in the highest spheres of government, as can be seen from the examples of Daniel and his companions, and in later times from the examples of Nehemiah and Queen Eseri. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach, and his short reign was even more favorable for the captives. Joachim, languishing in prison for 37 years, was finally released, and he was given a place at the table of the great king, along with the provision of royal robes. Having been imprisoned at the age of 18 and now already an elderly man at 55, he, as can hardly be doubted, used his influence in favor of his brothers, who, due to all his sufferings, were firmly devoted to him as their king. But two years later, the weak and pampered son of Nebuchadnezzar was killed by his brother-in-law Neriglissar, who occupied the throne from 559-556, after which he was succeeded by his younger son, who died 9 months later from a conspiracy of the nobility. One of the latter, a certain Nabonidus (or Nabunagid), seized the vacant throne and occupied it for 17 years, until the capture of Babylon by Cyrus. Meanwhile, in the very state of the people in Babylonian captivity, important phenomena took place. It is not known how many actual Jews were in captivity, but in any case their number could not have been particularly large. At the time of David there were about a million souls in Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, not including the Levites, and the increase over the next four centuries must have been considerable. But probably no more than 100,000 people were taken prisoner. Many fled to Egypt, and many villagers were left in the land, so that those who were taken to Babylon represented, in any case, a minority of the population. Among them, however, were the noblest representatives of the people, from whom, as from the root, the people were to arise again. In them, Judea lost its center of organized social life. The flower of the princes, nobles and priests of the Jews, skilled mechanics and once prosperous citizens were transferred to the Euphrates in sufficient numbers so that in due time it could serve as a revival for the state. Unfortunately, even the disaster that befell the people could not immediately bring about moral improvement among the mass of captives. Idolatry, to which they had long been accustomed in Palestine, flourished among them in Babylonia. Noble people treated their brothers with the same cruel heartlessness for which the prophets in Judea so often reproached them; they oppressed their fellow-subordinates, oppressed the poor with all sorts of extortions, perverted the law to their own advantage, and, finally, disdainfully turned away from those whom their predation brought to misery. It seemed as if all hope for the restoration of the people was lost, as if there was nothing left of the people, once so glorious, except dry, unburied bones. But it was precisely the depth of disaster that could lead to good. Some, in their misery, learned to turn to the God of their fathers. Such pious people eagerly listened to the promise of the prophets that they were again destined to return to Palestine, and they examined St. Scripture. The priests from the family of Zadok, who never succumbed to idolatry, brought with them from Judea the books of the law; the disciples of the prophets cherished the most glorious sayings of their schools, which they had received from past centuries; the Levites zealously preserved the psalms composed from the time of David to their own days; the sages collected sacred parables and other instructive books; chroniclers kept and transcribed national historical records. The prophets Joel, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others became, through their written books, “sources of salvation for pious people among the people.” The songs of Zion were again heard on the banks of Chebar and in every Jewish colony in Babylonia. Every day the mood of the people became more and more serious. The people read the divinely inspired chronicles and found in them evidence of the truth of their ancient faith. In addition, the very course of events contributed to the religious and moral strengthening of Jewish communities. More than a century before, the ten tribes of Israel were carried into captivity by Assyria; but, on the destruction of Nineveh, many of them joined the captives from Judah, and thus the confidence of the godly people in the restoration of the chosen people increased, since this reunion of the tribes was itself the fulfillment of prophecy. Among the people, there was an increased feeling of repentance for past sins and a determination to henceforth be faithful to Jehovah (Isa. 66:2, 5; Ezra 10:3.). Four disastrous days in the recent history of the Jewish people, namely the day of the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the 10th month, the day on which the city was taken in the 4th month, the day of its final destruction in the 6th month and the day of the killing of Gedaliah in the 10th month - all these days were set aside as days of solemn fasting and lamentation 375. This religious revival was noticeable among the entire people, from the simple masses to the upper classes. The custom of observing established hours of prayer came into general use among him. The time of offering incense in the morning and evening became so sacred for pious people that the very word “incense” subsequently became equivalent to prayer (Rev. 8:3). It became a custom among people who feared Jehovah to often gather together for prayer and religious conversation (Mal. 3:16), usually, as one might think, on the banks of flowing streams, where it was easy to get water for purification 376. During prayer, their faces always turned to the place of the destroyed church, as to the place where God was once closest to man (Dan. 6:11). In addition to morning and evening, prayer began to be performed at noon (Dan. 4:11; Isa. 54:17). From that time on, devotion to religion acquired such importance as it had not been among the people for a long time. The house of prayer became a substitute for the church, and many penitential psalms were composed at the same time. In the fact that many of the captive Israelites joined the captive Jews after the fall of Assyria, the national feeling of the people found special encouragement, and devotion to the ancient faith was strengthened by the fact that many of the pagans unwittingly succumbed to the influence of the captives and, as proselytes, accepted the true faith (Is. 56:6). The reason for this could be not so much the reading of the sacred books of the Jews, since they were written in a language inaccessible to the majority of the Babylonians, but rather the zealous effort of pious people among the captives, who tried to make up for their previous indifference by zeal for the spread of the glory of Jehovah. The fact that many Jews, like Daniel, occupied prominent positions, and their constant inclination towards closer fellowship in the affairs of everyday life, undoubtedly also contributed to this missionary spirit. In addition, the generation born in Babylonia should have been much more friendly towards this country and its people than its fathers were. Some of them actually even took Chaldean names, as was the case with Zerubbabel, who bore the Chaldean name of Samanaser, or with Mordecai, which is either a Babylonian or Persian name. Under such circumstances, the immeasurable superiority of the Jewish faith over idolatry could easily attract the attention of the more serious of the surrounding pagans. The proselytes of the true faith, as one might think from the parallel experience of ancient Christianity, were predominantly the poor, since the poor Jews freely mixed with them, and with their pious behavior won them over to their side. Once acquired, these proselytes kept the Sabbath and respected the law, perhaps even undergoing circumcision, and their devotion to the new faith had a beneficial effect on the Jews themselves, kindling in them even greater love for their faith and devotion to it. But if some Jews learned during the captivity to truly and highly value their religion, then many, on the other hand, were subjected to the pagan influences of the world around them. Babylon was the Paris or London of its time, serving as the center of a similar gigantic trade and a huge influx of strangers from all countries who flocked here for trade or religion, or simply for pleasure. Immorality was not considered a shame in him. The churches themselves received a significant portion of their income from the prostitution that existed within their boundaries. Harlots, in fact, constituted an institution recognized by law among them, and there was even a law that every woman had to at least once sacrifice herself in such a vile manner in the service of the gods. It is not surprising that the mass of captives was infected by such an unclean cult. Babylonian idols were revered in Jewish families, many of whom then broke the law by taking part in feasts during which they consumed unclean animals offered to these gods. Jerusalem was forgotten, and the very idea of ​​returning to Palestine was ridiculed and rejected with contempt. Many of the people in fact became true Babylonians and mocked the fanaticism of their brethren who still yearned for Palestine. Vices and impiety of all kinds flourished among them. It is clear that the return, if it was destined to take place, was to take place only in that part of the people who retained in their hearts the true faith and true traditions of the people, so that the rest of the masses, subjected to Babylonian influence, were to remain forever in the land of captivity. The prophet Hosea predicted that Israel needed to visit the desert again in order to again strengthen its loyalty to Jehovah, and during the Babylonian captivity, when masses of people were taken through the eastern desert, this prophecy was fulfilled. The cries of the psalmists and prophets of that time expressed only the inconsolable grief of the better class of captives. The sword, prison, scourge, hunger, nakedness, contempt undoubtedly destroyed them a lot during the first days of captivity. Of the masses of people who left Judah, many died on the way to Babylon (Ezek. 33:27). For those who remained alive, life among unclean idolaters was constant torment, since at every step they were in mortal danger of breaking the law through pagan defilement. Under such circumstances, the pious captives preferred even some beans, or even the simplest vegetables, to all sorts of delicacies from the royal table (Ezek. 4:12–15; Dan. 1:5–16). In Psalm 101, which refers to the final years of captivity, the times of this captivity are vividly reproduced before us. The true servants of God, languishing with the hope of the fulfillment of the promise of returning to their homeland, poured out in lamentable words the sorrow that weighed on their hearts: “Lord, hear my prayer, And let my cry come to You. Hide not Your face from me; On the day of my sorrow, incline Your ear to me. On the day when I cry to You, quickly hear me. For my days have vanished like smoke, And my bones are burned like brand. My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So I forget to eat my bread. Because of the voice of my groaning my bones clung to my flesh. I am like a pelican in the desert; I became like an owl on the ruins. Every day my enemies revile me, And those who are angry with me curse me. My days are like a retreating shadow; But you, Lord, remain forever, And the memory of You for generations and generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For it is time to have mercy on him, For Thy servants have loved even its stones, And the nations will fear the name of the Lord, And all the kings of the earth are of Your glory. For the Lord will build Zion, And He will appear in His glory." 377. The deep devotion to Jerusalem and Jehovah" breathing in this psalm marks the change produced in the better classes of the captives by the disaster that befell them. This captivity destroyed all the charm of idolatry in the eyes of the people. Henceforth, for all future times, they and their descendants became zealous monotheists. They began to see their national shame and suffering as a punishment for the idolatry of their fathers, and decided to forever become worshipers of the one God. The harshness with which the prophets condemned all worship of visible objects became a common feeling for the entire Jewish people. In the epistle of Jeremiah, Babylonian idolatry is depicted in the most vivid colors as a lesson to everyone. Gods made of silver, gold and wood, according to the prophet's description, are carried there on the shoulders of people in great religious processions; their entire surface is covered with gold and silver. They have golden crowns on their heads and are dressed in magnificent clothes. “But,” the prophet continues, “they are not saved from rust and moth, although they are clothed in purple clothing. They wipe their faces from the dust in the church, of which there is a lot on them. He also has a scepter, just as a man is a judge of the country, but he cannot kill the guilty before him. He has a sword in his right hand and an ax, but will not defend himself from the army and robbers: from this it is known that they are not gods; So, don't be afraid of them. For just as a broken vessel becomes useless to a person, so are their gods. After they are placed in the churches, their eyes are full of dust from the feet of those entering. And just as the entrance to the dwelling of a king who has insulted him is blocked when he is taken to death, so their churches are guarded by the priests with their doors, locks and bolts, so that they are not robbed by robbers. They light lamps for them, and more than for themselves, but they cannot see any of them. They are like logs in a house; Their hearts, they say, are eaten away by earthworms and they eat them and their clothes, but they do not feel. Their faces are black from smoking in the churches. Bats and swallows and other birds fly onto their bodies and heads, and cats also climb on them. From this you will understand that these are not gods; therefore, do not be afraid of them” (Post. Jer. 11–22). Then the prophet describes the vile debauchery associated with idolatry in Babylonia, the uncleanness of the food offered to idols, the strange cries of the priests who “roar with a cry before their gods, like others at funerals for the dead”; even the self-interest and predation of the priests, when they seize clothes from the gods and dress their wives and children with them - the prophet describes all this in detail to expose the real essence of paganism. And such a message could not but have a very strong and sobering influence on the people. Along with such a negative attitude towards paganism, the purely spiritual side of religion gradually developed among the Jews. From the reaction against idolatry, a sublime spiritual worldview was developed, in which a contrite heart and a humble spirit were recognized as a much better sacrifice for the invisible God than all kinds of burnt offerings and incense. To what extent the later theology and morality of Judaism owed their origin to the influence of the times of the Babylonian captivity is difficult to say, since subsequently the Jewish worldview was significantly influenced by the philosophical schools of Alexandria. But there is no doubt that the Jews after the Babylonian captivity became completely different people in comparison with their fathers, who brought this captivity upon themselves by their sins. The teaching in the Book of Daniel concerning angels represents a significant step forward in the development of religious views. For the first time here there is a mention of Michael, prince of Israel, prince of the Persian kingdom (Dan. 10:13; 12:1). This book contains the first, most clear teaching about the resurrection of the dead (Dan. 12:2), and in the mysterious Son of Man, who came to the “Ancient of Days” (Dan. 7:13), the divine personality of the expected Messiah is clearly revealed - the “Divine Word” of later Judaism, and the Word made flesh, according to the teaching of the Evangelist John. Particular care for the burial of the dead and for alms, as can be seen from the “Book of Tobit” and in general from the non-canonical books of St. The Scriptures, apparently, also originate from the time of the Babylonian captivity, when, as the earth became darkened for the captives, the sky became more and more bright for them. We must not lose sight of the weakening of the former exclusivity, which was expressed in the zeal with which the Jews tried to attract the pagans to themselves through proselytism. At this particular time, the fulfillment of the glorious prophecy of Isaiah began for the first time, according to which the pagans as far as the western islands, including the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and even Tartess on the Atlantic coast of Spain, and numerous nations as far as the shores of distant China, were all to unite into one community to worship the one true God in the one true temple. One of the very strong sources of religious excitement was the fact that the time of the Babylonian captivity was mainly the period in which the storage, copying and study of St. The Scriptures became the subject of special care for a special class, which subsequently gained enormous fame as scribes. Deprived of his former privileges and forced to hope for a better future rather than to enjoy the present, every serious Jew focused his thoughts on St. Scripture, devoting himself to it with all the piety with which he had previously devoted himself to the church and worship in it. At this time, the writings of the prophets were collected, and most of the canonical books were added to them, among which the book of the Law of Moses, which contained the most ancient chronicles of the people and all of humanity, received especially great importance. The last two “Books of Kings,” as well as the works of later prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, date back to the same period of national humiliation. God, in His providence, subjected His people to humiliation and misfortune for some time, so that, purified by them, they could again return to their land with zeal for His glory, carrying with them, for the benefit of all future centuries, the rich treasures of His word, the keeping of which was entrusted to this distressed people. Meanwhile, events were occurring in the world that were to bring about a complete change in the situation of the Jewish captives. The last 20 years of the Babylonian captivity must have been a time of extraordinary excitement for the Jews throughout Western Asia and especially among the captive Jews themselves. When the mighty Nebuchadnezzar was still finishing his reign, in the distant mountains, beyond the southern course of the Tigris, a movement began that was destined to make a decisive revolution in the history of the world. The ancient eastern monarchies, being based on conquest and oppression, did not have the makings of strength and vitality. These were for the most part forcibly united from heterogeneous and often mutually hostile parts of the state, which held out only as long as the hand of the conquering king was strong, and disintegrated at the first weakening of the ruler or the first push from the outside. As a result, the life of peoples was in constant ferment, and both inside and outside the monarchy, revolutions constantly took place, thanks to which some rulers and peoples fell, while others rose to take their place. The same thing happened after the death of Nebuchadnezzar. As soon as death took his iron hand away from the helm of the monarchy he exalted, under his weak successors, fermentation began within the state of diverse peoples who tried to take advantage of the opportunity for their liberation and thereby weakened the power of the monarchy. This, in turn, attracted external conquerors who, hoping to find allies among the dissatisfied peoples of the monarchy, boldly began to destroy the once formidable kingdom. Such a conqueror was Cyrus, the founder of the powerful Persian monarchy. He traced his descent from one of the members of the royal Persian family, Teispus, who apparently ruled Elam after the fall of Assyria; he transferred his Persian possessions to his son, Darius's great grandfather Hystaspes. Cyrus himself, even in his later years, calls himself primarily the king of Babylon, Sumir or Sinar, Akkad and Elam, and only once mentions Persia 378. The Persian monarchy was founded by Darius Hystaspes, although Ezra gives Cyrus the title of king of Persia, like the one he himself assumed in his later years. Cyrus was the son of Cambyses, king of Elam, and Maidana, daughter of Astyages, king of the Media, who himself was the son of King Cyaxares, whose daughter Nebuchadnezzar married after the fall of Assyria. Elam at this time, apparently, was in vassal subordination to Media and paid tribute to it; but Cyrus, in a war that lasted from 552 to 549 BC, overthrew Astyages and himself became king of Media. Taking advantage of the alliance of the king of Armenia, another vassal of the Media, he then won over to his side Iarpig, the leader of the Median army sent against him. Following the example of their commander, the mass of the army also went over to the side of the Elamites, who soon defeated Astyages and took him prisoner. The king soon died from humiliation and grief, and Cyrus, having betrayed the heir of the Media to death, took Amita, the daughter of Astyages, the wife of the heir he killed, into his harem, through which he actually came into possession of the Median crown. Having successfully entered the field of conquest, the great Elamite warrior quickly began to conquer one country after another with his victorious weapons, until the entire east, right up to the Himalayan mountains, which constituted the last limit of the world he knew, submitted to his rule. Having no more space to conquer in the east, he moved to the west, which also had to bow before him. Cyrus's advent to conquest marks a very important period in the history of mankind. In his person a new tribe appeared in the field of world history. Hitherto, dominance and the main role belonged to the Hamitic and Semitic peoples (Egypt and Assyro-Babylonia), now this role passed into the hands of the Aryan tribe (Japheth), the very one to whom the future belonged and which was already beginning to grow and strengthen in the west. The very accession of Cyrus to the throne of his father (in 560) coincided with the reign of Pisistratus in Athens, Croesus in Lydia and Tarquin the Proud in Rome - those individuals who are representatives of a completely new Western world, which was about to replace the old, eastern world. The Persian monarchy was a transitional stage to this new world. Turning to the west, Cyrus first directed his weapons against Croesus, son of Gyges. It was an ally of Egypt against Babylonia, and, continuing his father’s war with the Greek cities of Asia Minor, by this time he had greatly increased his power. But he was especially famous for his unparalleled wealth, and this, in addition to his alliance with Egypt, the hereditary enemy of the monarchs of Western Asia, was enough to draw the attention of the new conqueror to him. Cyrus did indeed immediately move against him. The eagle (which was the banner of the new conqueror), summoned according to the word of the prophet Isaiah “from the east, from a distant country,” to fulfill the orders of God (Is. 46:11), triumphantly swept west to the very shores of the Aegean Sea, and all the peoples of Western and Asia Minor bowed before it. At least 20 years passed in these conquests, but Babylon still retained its independence, although many of the peoples subordinate to it had already broken away from it and became the prey of Cyrus. Meanwhile, to complete the aggressive activity, it was necessary to take Babylon, which could only serve as the focus of the new monarchy. It was the greatest city of its time and the center of world life. Behind its formidable walls, crowned with battle towers, lay a whole galaxy of cities with gardens, meandering rivers and large fields spread between them. The main trade routes of Asia passed through it, and human industry and industry turned the surrounding desert into a richly irrigated oasis, the most fertile plain on the globe. The highest learning of that time flourished in his schools, and in his palaces and chambers were collected countless treasures taken from all conquered kings and peoples. Finally, Babylon was the religious center of the east, the stronghold of great and terrible gods, before whom peoples trembled. Therefore, the Persian monarchy could not be considered world-wide without conquering and humbling Babylon, and Cyrus actually moved to the proud “capital of the world,” and was, as it were, the stone that (according to Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream) was supposed to break the proud building of the Babylonian monarchy. This is what happened under Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar. The history of the Babylonian monarchy at this time is very vague, and it is difficult to get a clear idea of ​​the actual state of the state. Only one modern inscription, recently discovered, throws some light on this story. Harran, according to this inscription, was taken and destroyed by the “barbarians” of Ektabana, i.e. by the Medes, who destroyed the Church of the Moon located in it. “At the beginning of my long reign,” says Nabonidus: “Merodach, the great lord, and Sin, the god of the Moon, the illuminator of heaven and earth, powerful in the universe, revealed to me a dream. Merodach spoke to me thus: O Nabonidus, king of Babylon, mount the horse of your chariot, make bricks for the church of joy, and let the seat of Sin, the great lord, be built in it. “I answered Merodach, the ruler of the gods, reverently: I will build this house that you spoke about. The barbarians (Medes) approached him and their forces were terrible. “Merodach answered me: the barbarians you spoke about will not exist, neither they, nor their land, nor the king, nor the allies. - In the third year, when they (the barbarian Medes) forced Cyrus, king of Elam, his (Merodach) young servant, to move against his army, they challenged him to battle; He overthrew numerous barbarians: he captured Aspagus, the king of these barbarians, and captured their treasures; he took them into his own land.” After this, Nabonidus was able to fulfill the promise he had made. Gathering his large army from Gaza, in the west, and from the Persian Gulf, in the south, he began to restore the church in Harran, which was built 300 years before by Shalmaneser II, and subsequently restored by Assurbanipal. But the military storm that had swept over so many countries was now ready to fall on Babylon itself. One "cylinder", written at the behest of Cyrus and discovered by Rassam, gives us the opportunity to follow the course of this catastrophe. “In the 9th year of Nabonidus,” this “cylinder” says: “Cyrus, king of Persia, in the month of Nisan gathered his warriors and crossed the Tigris, below Arbel, and the next month moved against the land... Her king took his silver and himself and forced his own children to go up (to the funeral pyre), and then both the king and his children were burned in the midst of it.” Nabonidus, not enlightened by the fate of this neighboring country, still continued to remain inactive and careless. He spent the year 645 at his favorite residence in the city of Thame; He entrusted the leadership of his army to his heir Bel-Shazzar or Belshazzar, who established his main headquarters in Akkad. “Until Nisan, the king did not come to Babylon, just as the gods, neither Heaven nor Bel, did not come to it. But the people held festivals in honor of these gods and made peace offerings in the churches of Saggil and Zid for the preservation of Babylon and Borzippa.” Meanwhile, danger was increasingly approaching the monarchy, since “on the 21st day of Sivan, the Elamite warriors invaded Akkad.” But another 6 years passed before the final crisis. Cyrus was unable to defeat the Babylonian army in Akkad, and it temporarily blocked his path to the capital. Therefore, he either engaged in political intrigue, entering into contact with the population living on the shores of the “Lower Sea”, i.e. Persian Gulf, and, in all likelihood, with the Jews in Babylon, or even made an invasion of the low-lying provinces and subjugated them. Finally, in 539, these districts rebelled against Nabonidus, who now trembled for his safety and no longer dared to live outside Babylon. Bel, after his long absence, and the famous local gods from distant and near places were brought to Babylon, so that all of them together, for the sake of the special honors bestowed upon them, would save the state in danger. According to the inscription, “gods were brought to Babylon from various places, and among other things from Akkad, and only the gods in Borzippa, Culla and Sippar were left as guardians of these sanctuaries. However, everything was useless, and Cyrus persistently moved forward, getting closer and closer to Babylon. His troops simultaneously approached the capital from the north and south, and as they approached, Nabonidus's position became increasingly worse, especially due to the Akkadian revolt. The result of this was that the city of Sippar (Sepparvaim) was taken on the 14th of Tammuz (in July) without a battle, and the king who was in it had to flee to Babylon. Then, as the “cylinder” tells us, there was no longer any proper resistance to Cyrus, so that the Elamite conqueror could unhinderedly approach the very walls of Babylon. But here he encountered impregnable fortifications. Babylon, as mentioned above, was a huge square area through which the Euphrates flowed. Double walls, 40 fathoms high and 12 wide, with 250 fortified towers and many other fortifications and devices for defense, made it absolutely impregnable, so that, despite the siege of the capital, its king and all the inhabitants could blithely indulge in all the pleasures of life. But the supreme verdict had already been pronounced over Babylon, and no stronghold could defend against it. The weak Nabonidus, meanwhile, either died from the political upheavals he suffered, or transferred power into the hands of his more energetic son, but in any case, the main character in Babylon at that time was Belshazzar. This young king, who had previously had to meet Cyrus in an open field and offer him serious resistance, now, being within the impregnable walls of Babylon, was quite confident in the safety of the capital and indulged in the carefree life that generally distinguished the life of the Babylonian court of that time. One day he gave one particularly magnificent feast, to which up to a thousand nobles and courtiers, with their wives and royal concubines, were invited. The Babylonian feasts were characterized by extreme immoderation. Not only men reveled in wine, but also women, who in the intoxication lost all shame. The luxurious chambers resounded with music, and precious vessels taken from various conquered peoples served as table bowls. To further enhance the solemnity of the feast, the amused king ordered to bring those gold and silver vessels that were captured in the temple of Jerusalem. And so, in desecration of this church to God, “the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them; they drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, copper, iron, wood and stone,” blasphemously contrasting their power with the God of the Jews. Such a desecration of the predominantly Jewish God could be explained by the fact that the Jews turned out to be the least faithful subjects of Babylon, and many of them, as can be concluded from some of the latest data, were eagerly awaiting the fall of Babylon and therefore were ready to provide any assistance to Cyrus. But then, in the midst of this blasphemous bacchanalia, suddenly on the wall, in the full light of the chandelier, a human hand appeared and slowly began to write some words on the lime of the wall plaster. Seeing her, “the king’s countenance changed, his thoughts were confused, the ties of his loins were weakened, and his knees (from horror) began to beat against each other” (Dan. 5:5, 6). In terrible fear, he shouted to immediately call the wise men to explain the inscription. According to custom, the king, to encourage the wisdom of the priests, promised them a great reward: “Whoever reads this written and explains to me the meaning of it, he will be clothed in purple and a golden chain will be around his neck, and he will be the third ruler in the kingdom.” All the king's wise men were immediately summoned, but despite the high reward offered by the king, they stopped in silent amazement before the inscription, which was mysterious to them, to the even greater embarrassment of the king, who turned pale and trembled. His nobles became confused along with him, and the merry feast turned into a scene of mortal anxiety and horror. Then the queen, probably the mother or grandmother of Belshazzar, entered the feast hall, and she, remembering the wonderful wisdom that Daniel had once shown under Nebuchadnezzar, advised him to turn to him for an explanation of the terrible inscription. Daniel at this time, apparently, did not enjoy any special royal favor and did not even participate in the feast itself. As a result, when the queen reminded Belshazzar of how this sage showed extraordinary “light, intelligence and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods,” so that Nebuchadnezzar even made him the head of the mystic scholars, charmers, Chaldeans and fortune-tellers, the king immediately ordered Daniel to be summoned. The prophet was indeed brought to the king, and the king addressed him with the words: “Are you Daniel, one of the captive sons of Judah whom my father the king brought from Judea? I heard about you that the spirit of God is in you, and light, and reason, and high wisdom are found in you. Behold, wise men and charmers were brought to me to read this writing and explain to me its meaning; but they couldn't explain it to me. And I heard about you that you can explain meaning and resolve knots; So, if you can read this writing and explain to me its meaning, then you will be clothed in purple, and a golden chain will be around your neck, and you will be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Daniel modestly answered the king: “Let your gifts remain with you, and give honor to another; And I will read what is written to the king, and I will explain the meaning to him.” Then, looking at the mysterious inscription, he immediately understood its terrible meaning, and, turning again to the king, prepared him to read the inscription with a review of previous history. He told him how Belshazzar's great-grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, became the greatest ruler of the world, fully enjoying the kingdom, greatness, honor and glory, so that all nations trembled before him. But for his pride, he was subjected to extraordinary humiliation and, like a beast, he lived with wild donkeys until “he knew that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of men, and puts over it whomever he wants.” All this should have been known to Belshazzar, and he should have been guided by the lesson of the past. “But you too, his son Belshazzar,” continued Daniel; - I did not humble your heart, although I knew all this; but you ascended against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of His House were brought to you, and you, your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them, and you glorified the gods of silver and gold, copper, iron, wood and stone, who neither see, nor hear, nor understand; but you have not glorified God, in whose hand is your breath, and in whom are all your ways. For this reason the hand was sent from Him, and this scripture was written.” Turning then to the wall with the inscription, Daniel solemnly read the words written on it, which read: “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.” The meaning of these words was the following: “me - God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it; tekel - you are weighed on the scales and found very light; upharsin - your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” This interpretation was even more terrible than the inscription itself. She apparently plunged Belshazzar into such despair that he completely gave up and left everything to the will of the gods. In any case, despite the fact that the interpretation was completely not in favor of the king, he did not expose the interpreter to any disfavor, as was the custom among eastern despots, but, on the contrary, rewarded the prophet for his straightforwardness and wisdom, in accordance with his promise. “By the command of Belshazzar, they clothed Daniel in scarlet and placed a golden chain around his neck, and declared him the third ruler of the kingdom.” But the fate of the kingdom was decided. That same night the prophecy of the mysterious hand was fulfilled. Cyrus, not hoping to take the city by storm, used cunning (in which, as one might think, the Jews assisted him): he diverted the water of the Euphrates into a special canal, along the channel freed from water, he freely entered the city, the inhabitants of which were carelessly sleeping or having fun, and took possession of Babylon. Belshazzar died during the night's turmoil, and the Babylonian monarchy fell. Chapter 53. Daniel and Darius the Mede Having captured Babylon, Cyrus became the supreme ruler of all Asia from India to the Dardanelles; in various conquered regions he appointed governors for himself, remaining himself the supreme manager of the entire world that belonged to him. He made one Mede, Darius, the son of Agaspherus or Cyaxares, governor of Babylon, a childless and weak-willed man who was 62 years old. The nominal reign of this Darius lasted only two years, from 638 to 636, and it was not marked by anything other than a new miraculous event in the fate of the prophet Daniel. The new monarchy was divided into 120 provinces, each governed by its own special satrap, with three sarekin or chairmen at their head. Darius the Mede, wishing to reward the extraordinary wisdom of Daniel, who so miraculously predicted the transition of Babylon to the power of Cyrus, appointed him one of the three main princes of the kingdom, in which position he enjoyed the high respect of the ruler. But the rise of the Jew, who did not attach any importance to the local gods, naturally aroused the envy of the native aristocracy and led to a conspiracy aimed at the destruction of the prophet, who at that time was already at least 80 years old, since he was taken to Babylon as a youth. Daniel at this time lived in Babylon, from where, in order to fulfill his duties, he traveled to various parts of the Babylonian monarchy, and from his books it is clear that he visited Susa, the capital city in the region of Elam, and the banks of the Tigris were not unknown to him (Dan. 8:2; 10:4). In Babylon itself he had his own house, very similar, of course, to those houses that are described by travelers: it was probably a vast building with many rooms assigned to various government officials who were under his leadership, as well as with one large airy room on the top, just under the flat roof, where eastern dignitaries usually enjoy the cool of the evening or morning in their private hours. In such a house, or palace, Daniel was engaged in “royal affairs” (Dan. 8:27) and reviewed the reports of various satraps, making sure that nothing was done in the country to the detriment of the monarch. His state activities soon drew special attention to him, and Darius the Mede, seeing how he surpassed other princes and satraps in his honesty and administrative ability, even wanted to put him over the entire kingdom (Dan. 6:3), that is, to make him his co-ruler over the monarchy entrusted to him. But this, of course, inflamed the envy of the bypassed nobles even more, and they decided to destroy Daniel at all costs with their evil cunning. “The princes and satraps began to look for a pretext to accuse Daniel of ruling the kingdom, but they could not find any pretext or fault, because he was faithful, and no fault or guilt was found in him” (Dan. 6:4). Then, finally, anger suggested to them one way that could lead to the certain death of the hated ruler. One day, the princes and satraps, approaching the king with all kinds of signs of respect and loyalty, said to him: “King Darius! live forever! All the princes of the kingdom, governors, satraps, advisers and military leaders agreed among themselves that a royal decree should be made and a command issued that whoever within thirty days asks any god or person other than you, king, will be thrown into the lions’ den. So, king, approve this decree and sign the decree, so that it will be unchanged, like the law of the Medes and Persians, and so that it will not be violated” (Dan. 6:6-8). This request seems strange, and the consent given by Darius to sign such a decree may seem incredible, but in reality all this is quite consistent with the views of antiquity. The Babylonian kings, and, consequently, their successors, have long been considered a kind of gods, to whom divine worship was given from time to time. This is how it was in Egypt, where the inhabitants worshiped and honored their kings as if they were gods. And in subsequent times, the same idea was renewed by the Romans: the Roman emperors, as is known, are called gods in the enthusiastic poems of Latin poets, because of their non-worship so many Christians were not only tortured, but were also put to death. This custom of idolizing kings was widespread in the east. The Persians not only idolized their kings as gods, but also considered the king a special deity who patronized the monarchy. In view of this, it is not surprising that the Persians looked upon their kings as representatives of Ormuzd, and gave them divine honors, or called their king a descendant of the gods, or even directly a god. The same thing, of course, happened in Babylon. But Darius also had special political reasons for willingly agreeing to the proposal of the loyal satraps. Being a Mede, he, as a protege of the Persian king, of necessity had to give in every possible way open evidence of his readiness to fulfill all the religious customs characteristic of both Persia and Babylonia. As a result, he accepted the satraps’ proposal without any embarrassment and immediately approved the decree. This decree could not at all have been strange for the inhabitants of Babylon, since they themselves were not alien to the idolization of kings; at least, it is known that the Assyrians (who imitated the Babylonians in everything) had a custom not far from idolizing the reigning sovereign. For violation of the decree, according to custom, a severe punishment was imposed, and exactly the same as was customary in Babylon. In the neighborhood of Babylon, as happens in many modern cities, there was apparently a menagerie where wild animals were kept. The kings of Assyria used to keep lions for their hunting purposes, and in the British Museum there is a picture of a man releasing a lion from a large cage in which he was imprisoned. Many images on ancient Assyrian and Babylonian monuments show that the kings of these states were passionate lovers of lion hunting. Darius, as a Mede, was naturally also a lover of such hunting (Dan. 6:17). He had a large vaulted room or ditch in which the lions were kept for him, from where they were released in case of his hunting. The entrance to this room was blocked by a huge stone 379 so that exit from it was impossible, although there were other openings closed with an iron grating through which one could see from the outside. It is difficult to say to what extent punishment through being devoured to wild animals was customary in the east, but in any case it is certain that it was in use among the Assyrians. From the message of St. Paul, we know that in Ephesus he had to fight wild beasts, and he was the first of a long line of Christians over whom the fatal cry of the mob was heard: “to the lions of Christians, to the lions”! When the satraps were planning this base treachery, Daniel was not in Babylon, from which he had left to fulfill his state duties, so he knew absolutely nothing about the decree that had taken place. But finally, according to the usual course of affairs, this decree came to his attention. He could immediately understand the true purpose of this decree, as being directed against him personally, but, not at all embarrassed by such a discovery, he went to his home. The windows in his upper room or upper room were arranged in such a way that they opened directly towards Jerusalem, and three times a day he usually knelt and prayed to his God and praised Him. As he did before, so he did the same now, despite the decree that had just been issued. And that was all the evil satraps needed. Having spied on Daniel and made sure that he was clearly violating the royal decree, they immediately reported this to the king and, in their hypocritical zeal for observing the royal decrees, said to him: “Have you not signed a decree so that every person who within thirty days asks any god or man other than you, king, will be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king replied that “this word is firm, like the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not allow change.” Then the informers told the king that Daniel, one of the captive Jews, did not pay attention either to the king or to the decree signed by him, but prayed three times a day with his special prayers. The informers intended to make the king angry and furious with this statement, but they were mistaken. Hearing about this, the king was greatly saddened and even thought about whether it was possible to somehow weaken the power of his decree. He was not averse to even canceling the decree itself; but, taking advantage of his weak character and dependent character, the satraps, no longer without insolence, again approached him, and, with a hint of denunciation to the supreme king, told him: “Know, O king, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians, no definition or decree approved by the king can be changed” (Dan. 6:14, 15). Then the king, out of necessity and with extreme grief, had to issue an order to carry out the decree. The aged prophet was taken and thrown into the lions' den. With extreme grief, the elderly king accompanied his beloved dignitary to this execution, and saying goodbye to him, said to him: “Your God, whom you always serve, He will save you!” When Daniel was thrown into the ditch, to ensure execution, “a stone was brought and placed on the opening of the ditch, and the king sealed it with his ring and the ring of his nobles, so that nothing would change in the order about Daniel.” At the same time, one involuntarily draws attention to the fact that the hole in the ditch was sealed with a double seal. Most likely this is explained by the fact that there was a great dispute between the king and his dignitaries regarding the case of Daniel, and, finally, a general agreement was reached that both parties should make some provision for the accuracy of the execution. Since the seals were applied on both sides, neither the satraps could voluntarily open the ditch and kill the prophet if the lions had not killed him, nor could the king himself, for his part, in his kindness, deliver Daniel from the ditch without the consent of his arrogant nobles. Having completed this task, the king and his nobles withdrew, leaving the lions to do their terrible work on the aged prophet of God. The king went to his palace extremely sad and in a gloomy mood. He tried to console himself with the thought that he had only fulfilled his duty, and that he had made every effort to deliver Daniel; but nevertheless felt unhappy. He went to bed without supper and did not even order food to be brought to him; but sleep also fled from him, not giving him any peace. All the time he thought about his faithful dignitary, who, according to his assumption, was already torn into pieces, although at the same time he was not alien to some secret hope, incomprehensible to him, that Daniel would somehow be saved. Meanwhile, Daniel, being in the lion's den, prayed with the same calmness as he did in his upper room. As soon as the day dawned, the king, exhausted by insomnia, rushed hastily to the lion’s den, and, wavering between hope and despair, shouted through the iron bars: “Daniel, servant of the living God! Could your God, whom you always serve, save you from the lions? Imagine his joy when the answering voice of Daniel was heard to this question, who said: “King, live forever!” My God sent His angel and stopped the mouths of the lions, and they did not harm me, because I was pure before Him, and before you, king, I did not commit a crime.” Extremely delighted, the king immediately ordered the prophet to be taken out of the ditch. Daniel was lifted up, and “no injury was found on him, because he believed in his God.” Daniel's innocence, so miraculously proven, demanded that justice be applied to the evil slanderers themselves. During the dispute between the king and the satraps, an agreement was apparently made between them, according to which, if Daniel was unharmed in the ditch, his accusers themselves should suffer this fate. And now they had to suffer a deserved fate. “And the king commanded, and those men who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den, both they and their children and their wives; and they had not reached the bottom of the ditch before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones” (Dan. 6:24). Josephus testifies that these ill-fated advisers, even after saving Daniel, wanted to accuse him of treachery, declaring to the king that, by his order, the lions, before throwing him into the ditch, were well fed, as a result of which they did not devour him. Therefore, even now, being condemned to be thrown into the lion’s den, they demanded the same in relation to themselves. The king with gloomy readiness agreed to this, immediately ordered the lions to be well fed, and then sent satraps to them to make sure that the lions, in a well-fed state, would not touch the people thrown to them. But their entire explanation turned out to be false: they were torn to pieces by lions. “And after this it became clear to Darius that it was God who preserved Daniel, because the lions did not spare any of them, but tore them to pieces, as if they were hungry and needed food” 380. Meanwhile, Daniel received several more visions that mysteriously foreshadowed the future destinies of the Jewish people and humanity, and at the same time he was honored with a great revelation, in which the very time remaining until the redemption of the world by its Divine Savior was calculated in weeks. Not even a year had passed since the fall of Babylon, and Daniel already clearly felt that a great change was about to occur in the fate of his people. He was already an old man, and lived in Babylon for at least 70 years. During the years of his life, he had already crossed the limit that was generally considered the limit of human life. He had sacred books, by reading which he consoled himself in difficult moments of life, and delving into their meaning, he reflected on the destinies that awaited the people according to the predictions of the former prophets. He was especially struck by the prophecy of Isaiah. Daniel, of course, could not have known the prophet Isaiah himself personally, since he died at least 90 years before the fourth year of Joachim’s reign. Nevertheless, his miraculous prophecy concerning Cyrus as the liberator of Israel was to be the chief source of comfort which sustained the prophet during his seventy years' captivity. He was undoubtedly very much interested in the question of who this Cyrus could be. Was this in fact the name of a person who would appear on the stage of historical life, or can it be considered simply a symbolic name, like Shiloh, so that the prophecy itself can only be understood in the sense that this great deliverer will be like the “sun” (for this was precisely the meaning assigned to the word Koresh or Cyrus), which will warm the earth after a long winter, and peace and prosperity will once again be established on earth. But the prophecy was so clear and distinct that all such considerations turned out to be unfounded, and this was soon proven by reality, since the name of Cyrus actually turned out to belong to the famous conqueror, whose governor Darius, the Mede, now ruled Babylon. But is this exactly the Cyrus that was predicted in the prophecy, or should we have expected something else? Similar difficulties could be encountered in the prophecy of Jeremiah. There were two places in which reference was made to the seventieth anniversary of captivity. In one place Daniel read: “And all this land shall be desolation and terror; and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer. 25:11–13); and in another place in the book of this prophet the following highly encouraging words were contained: “Thus says the Lord: When you are fulfilled in Babylon seventy years, then I will visit you, and fulfill My good word about you, to bring you back to this place” (Jer. 19:10). But which of these two prophecies determined the end of the captivity? Was it necessary to count the seventieth year from the point indicated in the first or second of these prophecies? From the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, or from the time of Jehoiachin's captivity? In addition to these two places, the prophet Daniel could also pay attention to a third important place. Was the destruction of Jerusalem an era in the history of Israel that was of equal importance with the taking of the people of Jerusalem into captivity? If so, could there not have been another point from which the seventieth birthday could be counted? It must be borne in mind that 70 years after each of these three eras, events took place that had a very large impact on the condition of the captives. Counting from the fourth year of the reign of Joachim, that is, from 606 BC, the seventieth anniversary brings us to 536. Since Cyrus took Babylon in 538, we can look at 70 years as a round number to determine what actually happened in only one or two years. Then, from the taking of Jehoiachin into captivity in 598 to the prosperous period, which, according to Ezra, began in 528, exactly 70 years passed, and from the destruction of the church in 588 to the issuance of the decree of Darius in 518, 70 years also passed. It is quite possible that similar thoughts occupied the mind of Daniel when he indulged in reading the prophetic books. Not knowing how to resolve the difficulty he encountered, Daniel turned to God in prayer, and during one of these prayers he was rewarded with a vision that revealed to him not only the immediate fate of the people, but also their distant fate, when the aspirations of not only the sons of Israel, but also all mankind, were to be fulfilled. His prayer was fiery, and in it he sincerely confessed the sins of an entire people, who, throughout their entire previous life, had deserved the grave punishment they had suffered. But since God’s mercy is limitless, Daniel now asked for mercy to the people. "God! According to all Your righteousness, may Your anger and Your indignation be turned away from Your city, Jerusalem, from Your Holy Mountain; For because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. And now hear, O our God, the prayer of Thy servant and his supplication, and look with Thy bright face upon Thy desolate sanctuary, for Thy sake, O Lord. Incline Thy ear, O my God, and hear; open Thy eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city upon which Thy name is called; for we present our supplications before You, trusting not in our righteousness, but in Your great mercy. God! hear! God! sorry! God! listen and do it, do not hesitate for Your own sake, my God; for Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (Dan.9:4-19). And Daniel's prayer was answered. He prayed at the very hour at which the evening sacrifice had once been offered in the Temple of Jerusalem, and while he was still praying, suddenly “the man Gabriel” (whom Daniel had already seen in one of his visions), flew in, touched the prophet, and said to him: “Daniel! Now I have come forth to teach you understanding. At the beginning of your prayer a word came out, and I came to tell you it; for you are a man of desires; therefore, take heed to the word, and understand the vision.” Then the archangel made him a great revelation about the weeks, which was as follows: “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, that the transgression may be covered, the sins may be sealed, and the iniquities may be blotted out, and eternal righteousness may be brought in, and the vision and the prophet may be sealed, and the Holy of Holies may be anointed. So, know and understand: from the time the commandment goes out to restore Jerusalem until Christ the Master there are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and the people will return and the streets and walls will be built, but in difficult times. And at the end of sixty-two weeks Christ will be put to death, and will not be; and the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed by the people of the leader who comes, and its end will be like a flood, and until the end of the war there will be devastation. And the covenant shall be established for many for one week, and in the half of the week sacrifice and offering shall cease, and the abomination of desolation shall be on the pinnacle of the sanctuary, and the final predestined destruction shall befall the desolator” (Dan. 9:24–27). This was the great revelation. As for its interpretation, it has challenged the minds of many interpreters, and this is not surprising, since it presents many significant difficulties. The first difficulty is presented by the word “sedmina”. It is known that the Jews counted weeks in three different ways. First of all, they had a week, consisting of days, in which case it corresponded to a week. Secondly, they had a “week” of years, which made up a circle of seven years, known as the Sabbath year. Finally, they had a “week” of sabbatical years, i.e. a circle of forty-nine years, ending with the year of jubilee. Now we need to consider which of these weeks is most consistent with the revelation made to Daniel. If we understand by them the week in the first sense, i.e. in the sense of a week, and we will consider each week to consist of seven solar days, then the entire prophecy in this case should have been fulfilled within one year and four months after its utterance. But in sacred history there is no indication that any anointed king appeared between the first and third years of the reign of Cyrus, nor does anything prove that Jerusalem was restored at this time. Any such interpretation must be shown to be untenable when we remember that Daniel, in all probability, lived through the period of seventy weeks, and if the prophecy had been fulfilled during this period, he would certainly have called the attention of the reader to this fulfillment, as he does elsewhere (Dan. 4:33); if it had not been fulfilled, he would have completely eliminated it from his book. If we equally understand the week in the sense of the circle of the jubilee year, i.e. in the third of these senses, then again we come to absurdity. The fulfillment of the prophecy in this case would lie in the distant future, with no possibility of its fulfillment even after a thousand years. As a result of this, we are actually forced to accept the second meaning of the word week, when by it we mean a period consisting of seven ordinary years. Before entering into a detailed study of the seventy weeks, let us note how this revelation corresponded to Daniel's prayer. Daniel was told that from the time when he was eager to know concerning the end of the seventy years of captivity, there remained a period of seventy weeks which would be of great importance to his people. During this time, not only will Jerusalem be restored, but mercy and righteousness will be made available to all people through the anointed Holy of Holies. Then it was explained to Daniel that all these events were to take place within a period of time exactly predicted by God, although the free will of man would not be constrained at all, so that the very outcome of events would depend on the further direction of Israel’s life. Finally, after the expiration of sixty-nine weeks, the One who constitutes the hope of all Israel, Christ the Master, must appear, in relation to whom all the so-called anointed ones and rulers were only simple types and shadows. In view of the mystery of the prediction itself, it is not surprising that among the newest interpreters there are different views on the weeks. But in order to understand the real meaning of this revelation, you need to pay attention to the historical features that appear in it. Thus, the first condition for the fulfillment of revelation is the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Here the decree of Cyrus could hardly have been meant, since they were only given permission for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and build the church again. Another decree, very similar in content, was issued by Artaxerxes in the 7th year of his reign, in 458. Although this decree relates mainly to the restoration and decoration of the church, however, there is also an occasional remark in it, showing that they were allowed to restore the city, because otherwise it would be unclear what significance could it have given to Ezra the right to appoint judges and rulers, if the Jews were not allowed to live in their homes (2 Ezra 8: 8-28)? A very specific decree was issued by Artaxerxes also in the 2nd year of his reign. In this last case (in 445), the decree not only allowed Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, but actually went so far in favor of the Jews as to allow materials for the construction of the citadel and walls to be taken from the king's forests (Neh. 2:7–9). But since this last decree was only a confirmation of the one given in the 7th year of the reign of Artaxerxes, it is more reasonable to consider the time of publication of this last decree as the starting point of the period of seventy weeks. Thus, counting the seven annual weeks from the 7th year of the reign of Artaxerxes, we come to 409 BC. This was the 15th year of the reign of Darius Notus, but what happened at this time is not known exactly. If, however, we have the right to assume that during these particular seven weeks “the streets and walls of Jerusalem were built, but in difficult times,” then we can assume that these difficult times represented the period when the restoration of Jerusalem encountered obstacles from various enemies. Taking the year 408 as the term from which we must further carry out our calculation, we, in the same way considering sixty-two weeks as components of 434 years, will come to the year 26 A.D., which (according to the generally accepted assumption that the birth of Christ took place 4 years before the beginning of the Christian era) will be the time of the beginning of the public ministry of the Savior. This ministry, carried out both by Himself and by His apostles, so far as it concerned Israel itself at all, continued for seven years; halfway through this seven-year period, Christ the Lord was put to death, i.e. rejected by His people and cut off from the land of the living, so that nothing remained, not even His people themselves. But God's long-suffering continued towards Israel for another three and a half years, and only in the 33rd year A.D. The entire period of seventy weeks had already ended, and it was then that both the vision and the prophecy were finally confirmed by the events that took place then. But exactly what final sin ended the last week of grace is unknown. Some think that the final sin that overflowed the cup of God's wrath against Israel was the martyrdom of Archdeacon Stephen. In any case, it is known that “in those days there took place a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem” (Acts. 8:1), and the scattered apostles began to preach the gospel in Samaria, from which we can conclude that the apostles considered their mission to the Jews as a people completed. This understanding of the “weeks” of Daniel, of course, cannot lay claim to any unconditional reliability, since alongside it there are other interpretations that have found supporters both in ancient and modern times. But it shows that this revelation is in exact accordance with actual historical events, and the light of historical knowledge will have to further clarify its details. Chapter 54. Release from captivity But now the end of captivity for the Jews was approaching. Cyrus, having completed his conquest, took Babylon under his personal control and began to completely transform his vast state. As a wise, magnanimous king, he decided to organize his state on more just principles than how it existed under previous rulers, and therefore, first of all, he took care to show special mercy to the peoples who showed the greatest sympathy towards him and provided special assistance to him in taking over Babylon. Many signs show that his main accomplices in the conquest of Babylon were precisely the Jews, and since it was from the Jews that such wise rulers emerged as Daniel and his comrades, who attracted the special attention of Darius the Mede, Cyrus turned his main attention to these people. Undoubtedly, under the influence of Daniel, acting through his high patron, Darius the Mede, Cyrus had the opportunity to become more familiar with the fate of the Jewish people, and here, by the way, he learned about all the extraordinary signs and wonders performed by the God of this people. At the same time, it was brought to his attention that the glorious prophets of this people had long predicted in their divinely inspired speeches that he was destined to be the liberator of the Jewish people from Babylonian captivity. This struck him so much that he decided to really fulfill this destiny, especially since its fulfillment coincided with his purely political considerations. Since Cyrus, having completed the conquest of the east, intended to take up the internal structure of his monarchy for a while, and therefore he needed to find security against possible hostile actions on the part of Egypt, it was necessary for him that some friendly people live on the border separating his monarchy from Egypt, who could serve as a support for him against Egypt. And it was precisely this goal that the Jewish people could most contribute to, who, having been favored by the king of the Persian monarchy and returning to their old ashes, with its eternal shrine, of course, not only out of gratitude to their liberator, but also out of attachment to their land, could serve as a reliable support for the Persian kings. And so, under the influence of all these external and internal impulses, Cyrus, in the first year of his reign in Babylon, issued the famous decree on the liberation of the Jews from captivity and on the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. This famous decree read as follows: “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the Lord, the God of heaven; and He commanded me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Whoever is of you, of all His people, let his God be with him, and let him go to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, that God who is in Jerusalem. And everyone who remains, in all the places where anyone lives, let the inhabitants of that place help him with silver, and gold, and other property, and livestock, with a willing gift for the house of God that is in Jerusalem” (1 Ezra 1:1-4). In its style and language, this decree is surprisingly similar to the decrees of other Persian monarchs. So, for example in the decree of Darius Hystaspes, contained in the inscription in Elwend, one has only to put Jehovah in place of Ormuzd for it to become almost identical with the words of Cyrus. “The great god Ormuzd,” it says: “the greatest of the gods, who created the earth and the sky and people, and gave power to people, and made Darius king” 381. Almost the same expressions are found in the inscription of the same monarch in Persepolis 382. Therefore, it was quite natural that Cyrus also introduced the name of God into his decree, although about Jehovah he had only such a concept as a polytheist could have, who, however, wanted to give due honor to the national god of each of the peoples subordinate to him. Neither he nor Darius Hystaspes were actually strict monotheists, although they were always considered to be such. In their religious views they were primarily guided by political considerations, which required them to be completely tolerant of all religions of their monarchy. “Ormuzd, the god of the Aryans,” says Darius at the end of his life, “was my patron, as were the other gods, for I was not wicked. I was neither a liar nor a criminal, neither I nor my family. I have not committed any violence against the righteous or the good. To the man who was faithful to my house I cordially patronized him; the one who sinned, I killed. I have never done violence to a brave warrior" 383. In the same spirit, Cyrus restored the sanctuary of the Babylonian god Merodoch, calling him his master, and returned to their places the gods that belonged to various nations and were captured in Babylon during the conquest of the Babylonian kings. Such a person could also render special honor to the God of the people who gave him the greatest assistance in his political enterprises. Although he was guided primarily by the above-mentioned political considerations, at the same time he fulfilled the determination of Providence, and in any case opened the gates of Babylon for the captives, giving them freedom to return to their own land and restore the destroyed theocracy. The decree of Cyrus was issued in 536, which ended the seventieth year of Babylonian captivity. The great prophet Daniel, who was taken into captivity in his blooming youth, and who did so much for the glory of God and the glory of his people during this captivity, lived to see this happy event, which undoubtedly took place partly according to his wise advice given to Cyrus. At this time he himself was already in very advanced years and, occupying a high position in the Persian monarchy, could participate in the joy of his liberated people only spiritually, since both in years and in position, it was more convenient for him to lay down his bones in the country of his captivity and in the place of his glory. From here he followed with deep attention the immigrants from Babylon, as well as how they settled in their native land. At the same time, in Babylon, he continued to perform his religious duties, despite the fact that, due to his official duties, he often had to be outside Babylon. And at this time he received several more visions in which the curtain was lifted from the future not only of his people, but of the entire ancient world. He had one wonderful vision during his stay on the banks of the Tigris. This area was probably no more than 90 or 100 versts from his usual place of residence, and the canal connecting the Euphrates with the Tigris made such a journey even for the decrepit old man relatively easy. On the banks of this river, Daniel probably had some kind of estate, to which he usually retired in his old age to rest from official life. Here he could arrange for himself a simple dwelling, like those in which the ancient holy prophets lived, equipped only with “a bed, a table, a seat and a lamp” (2 Kings 4:10), and here, perhaps, some of the disciples who accompanied him to the banks of the Tigris lived with him - disciples whom Jewish tradition identifies with the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. This area was especially convenient for higher revelations. In ancient times, rivers were considered symbols of the peoples through whose lands they flowed. Hence, what the Euphrates was for Babylon, the Tigris was for Persia. Just as the battles of Carchemish on the Euphrates led to the decision of the fate of Babylon, so the victories of Cyrus on the Tigris had the same significance, and subsequently the victory of Alexander the Great at Arbela, near which the same river flows, decided the fate of Persia. This was a time that coincided with the first years of the arrival of the liberated Jews in their native land, where they had to contend with many obstacles. The unfavorable news of the difficult condition of the Jews in Palestine must have greatly influenced the heart of the great prophet, and he was in a distressed state. Under the influence of this state, he indulged in strict fasting. “I didn’t eat any tasty bread,” he says: “I didn’t eat it; meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with ointments until the completion of three weeks of days.” And it was at this time that he received a vision. “And I lifted up my eyes, and saw: behold, a man clothed in linen, and his loins were girded with gold from Uphaz. His body is like topaz, his face is like the appearance of lightning; his eyes are like burning lamps, his hands and feet are like shining brass, and the voice of his speech is like the voice of many people. And only I, Daniel, saw this vision, and the people who were with me did not see this vision; but great fear came upon them, and they fled to hide themselves” (Dan. 10:1–7). This vision is extraordinary, but we can immediately guess the identity of the person who appeared. In exactly the same way, in the revelation of St. John appeared to someone “like the Son of man, clothed in a robe 384 and girded around the chest with a golden belt. His head and hair were white as white wool, like snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like hot water in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters” (Rev. 1:13–15). It is clear that this is one and the same person, namely the Son of God, the second person of St. Trinity. He appeared before - to Adam, Abraham, Moses and others under various images, and now He vouchsafed His appearance to the elderly prophet. He appeared in human form before he became a man. Even Jewish tradition admitted that the Word, namely the original, firstborn Son, took care of the chosen people of God in the desert, and He also appeared to Adam and other Old Testament patriarchs 385. He also appeared to Daniel now. And the elderly prophet understood this vision exactly like that. It made an overwhelming impression on him. In the previous vision, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him, he “lay his face unconscious on the ground” (Dan. 8:18), and now, when he had this great vision, “there was no strength left in him, the appearance of his face changed extremely, there was no vigor in him, in a daze he fell on his face, and lay face to the ground” (Dan. 10:8, 9). And the strength of this impression on the prophet is not surprising. The reverent fear with which Daniel was struck was felt in a similar way by many other holiest of the sons of men who ever came face to face with the Creator. The more a person realizes his own sinfulness, the more he is amazed by the contemplation of that brilliant holiness that belongs to God alone. And on the other hand, the more such saints as Daniel, the apostles Paul or John cognize the holiness of God, the more they realize their own sinfulness. This is exactly how the ap felt. John on Patmos: when he saw the Son of man, “he fell at His feet as if dead” (Rev. 1:17); the same thing happened with the prophet Ezekiel when he saw a radiance, like a rainbow on the clouds during rain; Seeing this radiance of the glory of the Lord, he also “fell on his face” (Ezek. 2:1). When Daniel was lying on the ground in a daze, someone touched him with his hand, brought him to his knees, and in great excitement he heard the words: “Daniel, man of desires! take heed of the words that I will say to you, and stand upright on your feet; for I have been sent to you today." When Daniel stood up with trepidation, the voice continued: “Do not be afraid, Daniel; from the first day that you set your heart to attain understanding and humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I would come according to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood against me twenty-one days; but behold, Michael, one of the first princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. But now I have come to tell you what will happen to your people in the last times, since the vision refers to the distant days” (Dan. 10:11–14). Hearing this speech, Daniel fell with his face to the ground and became speechless, and only when someone who looked like the sons of men touched his lips did he again get the opportunity to speak and said with trepidation: “My lord! from this vision my insides turned in me, and there was no strength in me. And how can a servant of such a master of mine speak to such a master of mine? for I have no strength, and my breath has died within me.” Then the divine interlocutor strengthened the prophet and again encouraged him: “Do not be afraid, man of desires! peace be with you; take heart, take heart!” And then, a revelation was made to Daniel about the purpose of the phenomenon itself: “Do you know, asked the Son of Man, why I came to you? Now I will return to fight the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. However, I will tell you what is written in the true Scripture; and there is no one who would support me in this except Michael your prince” (Dan. 10:18–21). This great vision revealed both to the divinely inspired prophet himself, and to all those who intelligently read his words, the great truth that the destinies of not only individuals, but also nations depend on one or another action of heavenly forces. Each nation, like each person, has its own special Guardian Angel, who, with his army, intercedes before God for the welfare of the people entrusted to his care, and in cases of great upheaval, enters into battle with the opposing angels of other hostile countries and peoples. This idea was already recognized early in the Old Testament, and Moses, in his farewell song, declared: “When the Most High gave inheritance to the nations, and scattered the sons of men: then he set the borders of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel,” or, according to the Greek translation, “according to the number of the Angels of God” (Deut. 32:8), and this truth now found clear expression in the vision that was Daniel. The vision showed that if the Guardian Angel of the Jewish people interceded for the complete deliverance of his people from Babylonian captivity, then in this regard he encountered many obstacles from the prince of Persia, with whom he had to fight. The result of this opposition was precisely that only a small part of the Jewish people returned to Palestine, and the majority of them were kept within the Persian monarchy. Daniel then received several more revelations that foreshadowed to him the future fate of both his own people and those around the state, and it was revealed how the new great Greek monarchy would replace the Persian monarchy, and how the Jewish people would have to suffer persecution from some of the Greek rulers, as it turned out later. But then the death of the great prophet approached, and he peacefully departed to his fathers, in full consciousness of the fulfillment of the service assigned to him. On his deathbed, he admonished himself with the words: “go to your end, and you will rest, and you will arise to receive your lot at the end of days” (Dan. 12:13). Meanwhile, the predicted judgment of God began to be carried out over Babylon. The very capture of Babylon was such a great event in the east that it shook the hearts of all nations. It was such a great revolution that echoed like thunder to the edges of the then civilized world. What the prophet Jeremiah predicted was fulfilled over him. “Even if Babylon were exalted to the heavens, and even if she established her stronghold on high; but from Me the desolators will come to it,” said the Lord through the prophet. “There will be a loud cry from Babylon and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans. For the Lord will lay waste Babylon and put an end to the proud voice in her. Their waves will rustle like great waters, their voice will be heard loudly. For the desolator will come upon her, upon Babylon, and her warriors will be taken, and their bows will be broken, for the Lord, the God of recompense, will repay recompense. The thick walls of Babylon will be destroyed to the ground and its high gates will be burned with fire; So the peoples labored in vain and the nations tormented themselves for the fire” (Jer. 51:53–58). The same thing was predicted by the prophet Isaiah, who concluded his prediction with an enthusiastic exclamation: “Babylon is fallen, fallen, and all the idols of her gods lie broken on the earth” (Is. 21:9). The news of the actual fulfillment of all these prophecies now spread from mouth to mouth, from one people to another. The impression of this great fall of the proud capital remained for centuries and after, so that when in subsequent times the new western Babylon, the capital of the great Roman Empire, approached its fate, the prophecy about its fall was fully reflected in those very prophecies that were once uttered about ancient Babylon, and the prophet of Patmos exclaimed with the same pathos: “Babylon has fallen, fallen, the great harlot” (Rev. 18:2). Although, even after the decline of its political significance, Babylon continued for some time to maintain its significance in the sense of one of the great cities of the monarchy, however, abandoned by the kings, it began to gradually fall and become empty. As new centers of historical and political life were founded, the glory of Babylon faded more and more. A particularly dangerous rival for him was Seleucia, built by the Greeks on the banks of the Tigris. From this time on, the ancient Babylonian capital quickly began to lose its importance, and in the first century of the Christian era, Babylon was already a very insignificant settlement, in which the remainder of the Jewish captives continued to live. In the fourth century, the area surrounding it had already been turned into a park in which the Persian kings loved to hunt, and only ancient irrigation structures still supported some life in it. And then this life dried up in it, and Babylon turned into a heap of ruins and ashes, so that in the place of the once formidable and rich capital, a truly abomination of desolation was established. Babylon in the full sense became “a heap of ruins, a dwelling place for jackals, a terror and a mockery, without inhabitants,” as the prophet Jeremiah predicted (Jer. 51:37). Other ancient cities, such as Damascus, despite the various vicissitudes they experienced in their fate, have held out to this day and still retain within themselves the remains of an immemorial historical life. But no trace remained of Babylon except miserable mounds of rubbish. The devastation that befell him was incomparably more terrible than that to which he subjected Jerusalem: its very location was forgotten for a whole millennium, and only in the present century did excavations begin that show both the greatness of its former glory and the terrible judgment of God upon it. The seventieth year of captivity is counted from the time of the first capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of the reign of Joachim, when he took away the first batch of captives: this was in the very year of Nebuchadnezzar’s accession to Babylon, 19 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the church. Thus, the captivity lasted throughout his reign - 43 years, under his son Evil-Merodach - 2 years, under Neriglissar - 3 ½ years, under Laborosoarchod - 9 months, under Nabonidus - 17 years, under Belshazzar - 2 years, and during the reign of Darius the Mede - 2 years. The sum of these figures will be 70 years, from 605 to 536 BC. Herod, I, 178: "12O stages on each side." Diodorus Siculus, following Ctesias, accepts the testimony of Herodotus. Others say that the walls rose 255 or even only 75 feet high. But this last testimony obviously refers to the state in which the city was after the destruction. Negod., I, 178; Diod. Sic. II, 7, § 3: Plin. N. N. VI, 26; Strabon, XVI, 1, § 5. See Jer. 51:58. Ebers, however, thinks that the walls, even in their complete form, were only 75 feet high. According to Rawlinson's calculations, this wall required 18,765,000,000 of the largest bricks. Expositor, 1883, b. 349. Ebers says that these steppes were a greater miracle than even the pyramids. Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 507. Oppert thinks that the so-called Hill of Amran, now an irregular mass 271 fathoms in length on one side and 165 fathoms on the other, and 216 in width, is precisely what remains of these hanging gardens. The hill, known as Qasr or “palace,” stretches 2,400 feet in length and 1,800 feet in width along the banks of the Euphrates. This monstrous mass of artificially collected earth, according to Ebers, represented the location of the gardens, as well as the palace. On the northern side of this artificial hill, a lone tamarisk still looks out at the river, looking like a very old and thick, stocky tree. The Arabs say that this is the only tree that remains from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Diodorus says that the gardens rose like the steps of an amphitheater. Layard found a bas-relief depicting a garden supported on pillars. Nineveh and Babylon, b. 223. Recor is of the Past, v, 125. Rawlinson, Anc. Monarchies, III, 489. In both of these remarks of the young man to the criminal elders, an interesting play on Greek words is noticed. Mastic tree in Greek is σχινος, and therefore Daniel answers the elder: “An angel of God will cut (σχισει) you in half.” Green oak is πρινος, and therefore Daniel remarked: “An angel of God with a sword is waiting to cut you (πριοαι).” Based on such purely Greek play on words in this place, some critics have tried to suspect the authenticity of the story itself and consider it a later work of Judeo-Greek, and not Jewish literature. But this objection does not stand up to criticism, since such a play on words is also characteristic of the Hebrew language, and if we assume that the author of the Greek translation conveyed not the letter, but the meaning of this passage, then there will be no reason to doubt that the original of this story is Hebrew, although it is lost. See Vigouroux, in his book Melanges Bibliques, Paris 1882, article Susanne, caractère veridique de son histoire, pp. 33-361. Genazim. They also included the first chapters of Genesis and the Song of Songs. On this subject see Lenormant, Les Origines de l'Histoire, pp. 113–127; Dillmann, Cherub article in Bib. Lex. Fried. Delitzch, Wo lag das Paradies? pp. 150–155; Kurtz, entry Cbyrubim in the Duke's Dictionary. Records of the Past, I, 23: Smith, History of Assyria, p. 111. This tile is now in the British Museum. Lenormant, Lettres Assyriologiques, I, 56. His name was Nabu-Sezibaini. Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 205. Samples of many of them can be seen in the publication Records of the Past, III, V, IX. Excerpts from it were made in volume 1, in the chapter “on the creation of the world.” Records of the Past, III, 139. See Records of the Past, v, 169, 173. Khartumim (mysteries) (Dan. 1:20) Apparently there is a Hebrew word from Heretstil or ancient writing. In Syriac, this word was applied to those who charmed scorpions and snakes through special whispers. This word is both Hebrew and Chaldean. In Dan. 1:20 it is translated by the word “magi.” The gate of the church of Bel was called bob-assaput, “the gate of the oracle,” and in the church there was a special room known as *bitassaput—the house of the oracle.” Lenogmant, La Divination, pp. 133–4. Although Egypt may dispute this honor. The late Assyriologist Smith makes a curious remark in this connection: "It is interesting that the kings of Assyria and Babylonia were accustomed to count the years of their reigns no earlier than the beginning of the new year following their accession. During the rest of the year in which they came to the throne, the documents read: "in the year of the accession of such and such," and the first year of the reign began on the day of the next new year, on the first day of the month Nissan" (Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, p. 386, The value of this weight of gold was 150,000 rubles in gold (1889). Expedition en Mesop. I, 239, 240. The very expression “Son of God” was by no means unusual for the Babylonians. The clay tablets give us many clues as to the sense in which the Babylonians used the words “father” and “son” in connection with various deities. Thus, about the god Anu it is said that he “possesses the life of Assur, the father of the great gods.” The powerful king is said to be “Anu,” the firstborn of the gods. Mirodach was considered the son of the god Ea; so that in general "son of God or of God" was a very common title for certain deities in Babylon. Ps. 1:3; Jer. 17:8; Is. 64:6. Zach. 7:1,5, 19; Is. 61:3; 66:10; Ps. 68:11. 3Mac. 7:30; Joseph. Ant. XIV, 10, § 23; Acts 16:13. See the so-called “Cyrus Cylinder”. The prophet Isaiah mentions only Elam and Media, not mentioning Persia (21:1-10). "In Fetz, where Jewish state criminals were often thrown to the lions, the lions' den was a large rectangular hole in the ground, divided by a wall into two rooms. In this wall there was a door that could open and close from above. The servants of the lions threw food into one compartment, and thus called the lions from the other compartment, which they then locked and cleansed. The entire room is in the open air and surrounded by a wall, through which the people could look at the lions." Puseу, Daniel, b. 416. Records of the Past, IX, 78. Oppert, Le peuple et la langue des Mèdes, p. 151. Podir is a long robe worn by Jewish high priests and kings. You might be interested in: