The Expositor's Bible: The Book of DanielFarrar, F. W. (Frederic William)
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Daniel
Farrar, F. W. (Frederic William)
Bible. Daniel -- Commentaries
[555] We find no names in Gen. xxxii. 30; Judg. xiii. 18. For the
presence of angels at the vision comp. Zech. i. 9, 13, etc. Gabriel
means "man of God." In Tobit iii. 17 Raphael is mentioned; in 2
Esdras v. 20, Uriel. This is the first mention of any angel's name.
Michael is the highest archangel (Weber, _System._, 162 ff.), and in
Jewish angelology Gabriel is identified with the Holy Spirit (_Ruach
Haqqodesh_). As such he appears in the Qurân, ii. 91 (Behrmann).
[556] Ben-Adam (Ezek. ii. 1).
[557] Comp. Isa. xiv. 9: "All the great goats of the earth." A ram is
a natural symbol for a chieftain.--Hom., _Il._, xiii. 491-493; Cic.,
_De Div._, i. 22; Plut., _Sulla_, c. 27; Jer. l. 8; Ezek. xxxiv. 17;
Zech. x. 3, etc. See Vaux, _Persia_, p. 72.
[558] "Strength of face" (LXX., ἀναιδὴς προσώπῳ; Deut. xxviii. 50,
etc.). "Understanding dark sentences" (Judg. xiv. 12; Ezek. xvii. 2:
comp. v. 12).
[559] The meaning is uncertain. It may mean (1) that he is only
strong by God's permission; or (2) only by cunning, not by strength.
[560] Comp. 2 Macc. iv. 9-15: "The priests had no courage to serve
any more at the altar, but despising the Temple, and neglecting the
sacrifices, hastened to be partakers of the unlawful allowance in the
place of exercise ... not setting by the honours of their fathers,
but liking the glory of the Grecians best of all."
[561] Not merely the angelic prince of the host (Josh. v. 14), but
God--"Lord of lords."
[562] Comp. Esther i. 2. Though the vision took place under Babylon,
the seer is strangely unconcerned with the present, or with the fate
of the Babylonian Empire.
[563] It is said to be the national emblem of Macedonia.
[564] He is called "the King of Javan"--_i.e._, of the Ionians.
[565] Isa. v. 26-29. Comp. 1 Macc. i. 3.
[566] The _fury_ of the he-goat represents the vengeance cherished by
the Greeks against Persia since the old days of Marathon, Thermopylæ,
Salamis, Platæa, and Mycale. Persia had invaded Greece under
Mardonius (B.C. 492), under Datis and Artaphernes (B.C. 490), and
under Xerxes (B.C. 480).
[567] 1 Macc. vi. 1-16; 2 Macc. ix. 9; Job vii. 6; Prov. xxvi. 20.
[568] So Diodorus Siculus (Exc. Vales., p. 293); Justin, xxxii. 2;
Jer. _in Dan._, xi.; Strabo, xvi. 744.
[569] Aurel. Vict., _De Virr. Illustr._, c. liv.
[570] He conquered Egypt B.C. 170 (1 Macc. i. 17-20).
[571] See 1 Macc. iii. 29-37.
[572] Comp. Ezek. xx. 6, "which is the glory of all lands"; Psalm l.
2; Lam. ii. 15.
[573] 1 Macc. i. 24-30. Dr. Pusey endeavours, without even the
smallest success, to show that many things said of Antiochus in
this book do not apply to him. The argument is based on the fact
that the characteristics of Antiochus--who was a man of versatile
impulses--are somewhat differently described by different authors;
but here we have the aspect he presented to a few who regarded him as
the deadliest of tyrants and persecutors.
[574] See Hamburger, ii. 334 (_s.v._ "Haftara").
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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