1 Anno tertio regni Baltassar regis, visio apparuit mihi. Ego Daniel, post id quod videram in principio,
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 And so the prophet, after ceasing from what lies before, teaches us the certainty of what will be with all precision, he passes again to the kingdom of the Persians and Greeks, describing another vision to us which happened and was fulfilled in his own times, in order that in this he may furnish us faithful and that he may be able to inspire us to be more faithful to God for wh…
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 1. "In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me. I, Daniel, after what I had seen at the first..." This vision came two years after the previous revelation, for the latter was beheld in the first year of Belshazzar, whereas this was beheld in the third year. And so he informs us: "...after that which I had seen at the first."
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Now, it is not without purpose that he indicates the time: it is to inform us that long before these things happened, he received foreknowledge of them from the God of all.
2 vidi in visione mea, cum essem in Susis castro, quod est in Ælam regione: vidi autem in visione esse me super portam Ulai.
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 2. "I saw in my vision while I was in the castle of Susa, which is in the region of Elam" (Vulgate: "city of Elam"). Or else we may render, as Symmachus has translated it, "...in the city of Elam," from which of course the region took its name, just as the Babylonians were named from Babylon.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 "I saw in a vision" means I was not awake, nor did I see it during the day: the God of all showed it to me in a dream.
Ishodad of Merv · AD 850 That is, before the vestibule and the gate where the river Ulai passed, that is, the gate that opens on the river Ulai.
3 Et levavi oculus meos, et vidi: et ecce aries unus stabat ante paludem, habens cornua excelsa, et unum excelsius altero atque succrescens. Postea
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 He signifies Darius the Persian by saying "it had two horns," as Darius ruled the Medes and the Persians. "Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other": this is referred to the Persians, whose power was superior to that of the Medes and rose to a higher level.
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 3. "And I lifted up my eyes and saw." Yet of course one only sees in dreams things which appear as shadowy representations, naturally, and as mere likenesses, rather than our being able to behold the reality of the objects themselves.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 He perceived two horns on the ram because Cyrus was the first to reign over it and transmitted the empire only to his sons; when his son Cambyses died, soothsayers held power for a few months, but shortly afterwards Darius son of Hystaspes, who passed the empire on to his offspring and theirs up to the last Darius, whose empire Alexander the Macedonian took over after slaying h…
4 vidi arietem cornibus ventilantem contra occidentem, et contra aquilonem, et contra meridiem, et omnes bestiæ non poterant resistere ei, neque liberari de manu ejus: fecitque secundum voluntatem suam, et magnificatus est.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 And so as much as he described in the first vision he again recounts in detail these things a second time for the building up of the faithful. For "the ram butting to the sea and to the north and to the south," [Daniel 8:4] he says is Darius the king of the Persians, who prevailed over all nations. For he says, "all the beasts did not stand before him." [Daniel 8:4]
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 4. "After this I saw the ram pushing with its horns westward and northward and southward..." Not that he saw the ram itself, that is, the ram of Cyrus or Darius, but rather the ram of the same kingdom as theirs, that is, the second Darius, who was the last king of the Persian power, and who was overcome by the king of the Macedonians, Alexander the son of Philip.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 By "beasts" he refers again to the other kingdoms individually, Syria, Cilicia, Arabia, Egypt, calling them "beasts" on account of their being fearsome to those they ruled. So no kingdom, he is saying, could resist that empire charging to the north, south and west, nor could any human being liberate anyone from that power. Yet for all its appearance it met its end.
5 Et ego intelligebam: ecce autem hircus caprarum veniebat ab occidente super faciem totius terræ, et non tangebat terram: porro hircus habebat cornu insigne inter oculos suos.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 But the male goat who comes from the south, he says is Alexander the Macedonian king of the Greeks.
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 5. "And I myself understood..." On the basis of the previous visions which had symbolized the second kingdom by the ram and the he-goat, Daniel now also understood that he was looking at the empire of the Medes and Persians.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 The dream's riddle here suggested the Macedonian Empire, calling it a "goat" because of its speed and fleetness of foot, a goat being faster than a ram.
6 Et venit usque ad arietem illum cornutum, quem videram stantem ante portam, et cucurrit ad eum in impetu fortitudinis suæ.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 But the male goat who comes from the south, he says is Alexander the Macedonian king of the Greeks. And so when the goat comes to the ram and savages him and beats him on his face and shatters and hurls him to the earth and tramples him, it signals this, which also happened.
7 Cumque appropinquasset prope arietem, efferatus est in eum, et percussit arietem: et comminuit duo cornua ejus, et non poterat aries resistere ei: cumque eum misisset in terram, conculcavit, et nemo quibat liberare arietem de manu ejus.
Aphrahat the Persian Sage · AD 345 Again the ram was lifted up and exalted, and it pushed with its horns toward the west, and toward the north and toward the south, and it humbled many beasts. And they could not stand before him, until the he-goat came from the west and struck the ram and broke his horns and humbled the ram completely.
Ishodad of Merv · AD 850 The words "breaking its two horns," that is, the two powers, which Darius possessed, as the kingdom was subjected to two races, since the Medes and Persians were indicated together. In the same manner Cyrus, who was the first to rule, was a Mede on his mother's side and a Persian on his father's side.
8 Hircus autem caprarum magnus factus est nimis: cumque crevisset, fractum est cornu magnum, et orta sunt quatuor cornua subter illud per quatuor ventos cæli.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 Next after the male goat was exalted, "his great horn was shattered, and four horns arose under him to the four winds of heaven." [Daniel 8:8] For after Alexander ruled all the land of Persia and subjected them, later he died, dividing his kingdom to his four Chiefs as is shown above, that is to Seleucus, to Demetrius, to Ptolemy, and to Philip, from whom one horn was exalted a…
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 After the defeat of Darius, Alexander extended the empire of the Greeks in every direction and made it firm with strong garrisons.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 By "four horns" he hints at the four kings who succeeded Alexander at the one time: Ptolemy son of Lagus took control of Egypt; Seleucus Nicanor got possession of Babylon and the other parts bordering on Syria; Antigonus was in charge of Asia; Antipater, Macedonia—or, as some historians think, Philip, who is also called Arrhideus, brother of Alexander.
9 De uno autem ex eis egressum est cornu unum modicum: et factum est grande contra meridiem, et contra orientem, et contra fortitudinem.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 For after Alexander ruled all the land of Persia and subjected them, later he died, dividing his kingdom to his four Chiefs as is shown above, that is to Seleucus, to Demetrius, to Ptolemy, and to Philip, from whom one horn was exalted and grew great unto the power of heaven. For Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, being from the race of Alexander, was king.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 As Josephus told the story, Daniel saw a smaller horn rise up from these, and it grew strong. God, who showed Daniel the vision, was telling him that war would come on his nation, that Jerusalem would be taken by storm, the temple would be pillaged, the sacrifices would be hindered and cut short, and this would last for 1, days.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 The first and second books of the Maccabees inform us of this more clearly, and the historian Josephus made a precise record of it, and we shall outline concisely the facts about him.
10 Et magnificatum est usque ad fortitudinem cæli: et dejecit de fortitudine, et de stellis, et conculcavit eas.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 He signifies here the priestly order, which he compares with the host of heaven. "It threw down to the earth some of the host and some of the stars and trampled on them." Here he prophesies about the sons of Semona and the allies killed by Antiochus.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Most of the people by transgressing God's law quickly fell away from heavenly things, and they were trampled down by this tyrant to their own destruction. He referred to them as stars on account of the fame and splendor of their piety, hinting also at the promise to Abraham, "I shall make your offspring like the stars of heaven."
Ishodad of Merv · AD 850 "The host of heaven" and "the stars and princes of the host": he recalls in this way Onias and Eleazar and those of the house of the Maccabees. He calls them "stars" because of the brightness and beauty of the fear of God, by alluding to the words "I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven."
11 Et usque ad principem fortitudinis magnificatum est: et ab eo tulit juge sacrificium, et dejecit locum sanctificationis ejus.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 He says, "And on account of him the sacrifice was disturbed," [Daniel 8:11] and "righteousness was hurled to the ground." [Daniel 8:12] For Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, being from the race of Alexander, was king.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Then he foretells with greater clarity the audacity that would be committed by Antiochus. "On account of him sacrifice was disrupted by transgression": he did not permit the sacrifices prescribed by law to be made, requiring instead that they be performed in the Greek manner.
Ishodad of Merv · AD 850 "The host was given over," so that "the regular burnt offering" that is, the sacrifices and offerings, were abolished and removed from their place.
12 Robur autem datum est ei contra juge sacrificium propter peccata: et prosternetur veritas in terra, et faciet, et prosperabitur.
Ishodad of Merv · AD 850 "The sanctuary was cast to the ground." Indeed, when Antiochus gets into Jerusalem and kills forty thousand [inhabitants] and rapes the women, he then enters the temple, destroys the candlestick, breaks the table of the breads of the presence and all the vessels of the sanctuary, builds an altar to Zeus inside the temple, which he calls "temple of Zeus," and offers a pig to him…
13 Et audivi unum de sanctis loquentem: et dixit unus sanctus alteri nescio cui loquenti: Usquequo visio, et juge sacrificium, et peccatum desolationis quæ facta est: et sanctuarium, et fortitudo conculcabitur?
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 He says, "And on account of him the sacrifice was disturbed," [Daniel 8:11] and "righteousness was hurled to the ground." [Daniel 8:12] For Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, being from the race of Alexander, was king.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 The word phelmouni means "a person" in Greek; Syriac, which is close to Hebrew, also confirms this. So blessed Daniel is saying, I heard one holy one asking another holy one.
Ishodad of Merv · AD 850 Plūmni: interior. This name is given to the angel on the basis of his actions and the place that he occupies; it indicates the one who is in the inside and close to the Judge and who knows the secrets and the events that are about to happen. It is a Hebrew term.
14 Et dixit ei: Usque ad vesperam et mane, dies duo millia trecenti: et mundabitur sanctuarium.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 The intention of the angel who asked the question was to learn for how long the holy things would be given into the hands of immoral people. To him the angel who interprets the vision says, "For two thousand three hundred days," to which "the times, time and half time" mentioned above correspond.
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 14. And he answered him, "'Until the evening and the morning, until two thousand three hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.'" If we read the Books of Maccabees and the history of Josephus, we shall find it there recorded that in the one hundred and forty-third year after the Seleucus who first reigned in Syria after the decease of Alexander, Antiochus e…
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 By "evening" he referred to the beginning of the calamities and by "morning" to the end of the calamities, since night and darkness are figures of distress. From the present time, the beginning of the troubles, to the end, he is saying, the period is of that length [twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings].
15 Factum est autem cum viderem ego Daniel visionem, et quærerem intelligentiam: ecce stetit in conspectu meo quasi species viri.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 That these things are true, just as has been said, Daniel himself testifies. For he spoke in this way, "And it happened when I saw the vision and I sought to understand, and behold, there stood before me an appearance of a man, and I heard the voice of a man above the midst of the Ubal, and he called and he said, 'Gabriel cause him to understand that vision.' And he came and st…
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 15. "And it came to pass that when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it." He beheld the vision by way of a picture or likeness, and he failed to understand it.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 "Now it came to pass, when I, Daniel, saw the vision and sought understanding: behold, there stood before me as it were the appearance of a man; and he cried out and said: Gabriel, make this one understand the vision." This illumination is aided through the Angels.
16 Et audivi vocem viri inter Ulai: et clamavit, et ait: Gabriel, fac intelligere istam visionem.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 The guardian angel of Daniel, who never parted from him, asked the angel Gabriel, who was now by him, now by all the other saints in everything concerning visions, to explain to Daniel his dream.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 I heard someone else as well using a human voice and bidding the one standing near me, whom he called Gabriel, to interpret the riddle of the revelation to me. It is possible from what was said to come to the conclusion that the one giving the orders was the Lord.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 "Now it came to pass, when I, Daniel, saw the vision and sought understanding: behold, there stood before me as it were the appearance of a man; and he cried out and said: Gabriel, make this one understand the vision." This illumination is aided through the Angels.
17 Et venit, et stetit juxta ubi ego stabam: cumque venisset, pavens corrui in faciem meam: et ait ad me: Intellige, fili hominis, quoniam in tempore finis complebitur visio.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 The first definite person we find named in Scripture "son of man" is, speaking at the moment from memory, Daniel. And after him, Ezekiel.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Do not think that these things come to fulfillment in the present age; they will happen after a great number of years. When the set time has run its course, then each of them will reach its fulfillment.
John Damascene · AD 749 Joshua, the son of Nun, and Daniel bowed in veneration before an angel of God, but they did not adore him. For adoration is one thing, and that which is offered in order to honor something of great excellence is another.
18 Cumque loqueretur ad me, collapsus sum pronus in terram: et tetigit me, et statuit me in gradu meo,
Jerome · AD 420 Verses 18, 19. "And he touched me and stood me upon my feet, and said to me..." Overcome with terror, the prophet was lying on the ground face downward upon his hands and knees, but at the angel's touch he was raised up to a standing position in order that he might without perturbation attend to and understand what was spoken.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Perceiving me prostrate with fear, he first set me upright, then consoled me by making known why he had come, to inform me in my anxiety of the future and what in turn would overtake my people as a result of God's wrath.
19 dixitque mihi: Ego ostendam tibi quæ futura sunt in novissimo maledictionis: quoniam habet tempus finem suum.
20 Aries, quem vidisti habere cornua, rex Medorum est atque Persarum.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 "As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, this is the king of the Medes and the Persians." [Gabriel] alludes to Darius. "The two horns" signify the two kingdoms, the Persian and the Mede. "The male goat is the king of Greece": Alexander. "And the great horn between his eyes" signifies his highest power and his exceedingly extended empire all over the world.
21 Porro hircus caprarum, rex Græcorum est; et cornu grande, quod erat inter oculos ejus, ipse est rex primus.
22 Quod autem fracto illo surrexerunt quatuor pro eo: quatuor reges de gente ejus consurgent, sed non in fortitudine ejus.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 After [Alexander's] death his empire will be divided into four kingdoms, but though those reigning over them are four, they will not succeed in achieving what he achieved but will be seen to be much inferior to his strength.
23 Et post regnum eorum, cum creverint iniquitates, consurget rex impudens facie, et intelligens propositiones;
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 When the Jews begin to abandon the law and faith of God and to estrange themselves, the grandchildren of Seleucus Nicator will invade the last part of their kingdom. "A king of bold countenance shall arise": this is Antiochus, who is able to understand riddles, is cunning and is ready to weave intrigues and to prepare his domination by means of his intelligence.
24 et roborabitur fortitudo ejus, sed non in viribus suis: et supra quam credi potest, universa vastabit, et prosperabitur, et faciet. Et interficiet robustos, et populum sanctorum
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Nothing will be an obstacle to him; instead, he will do what he wishes. Of such people blessed David says in exhortation, "Do not vie with the one who prospers in his way, with the one who commits lawlessness": it often happens that people living a godless and lawless life prosper considerably in their lawless pursuits.
25 secundum voluntatem suam, et dirigetur dolus in manu ejus: et cor suum magnificabit, et in copia rerum omnium occidet plurimos: et contra principem principum consurget, et sine manu conteretur.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 [Gabriel] says this because [Antiochus] got into the city through fraudulence, polluted the precious vessels of the temple and committed pillages and demolished the walls. "Without warning he shall destroy many": he killed forty thousand Jews and captured just as many.
26 Et visio vespere et mane, quæ dicta est, vera est: tu ergo visionem signa, quia post multos dies erit.
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 26. "Thou therefore seal up the vision, because it shall come to pass after many days." Having explained the vision which we have examined above to the best of our ability, the angel Gabriel adds at the end: "Thou therefore seal up the vision, because it shall come to pass after many days." By the mention of a seal, he showed that the things spoken were of a hidden charac…
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 "Seal up the vision because it will be in many days time," that is, leave it obscure for many people; I have made it clear to you in your longing before the event.
Andreas of Caesarea · AD 614 "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and after these things write." This shows that what is now undisclosed is to be explained through experience and the course of the events themselves.
27 Et ego Daniel langui, et ægrotavi per dies: cumque surrexissem, faciebam opera regis, et stupebam ad visionem, et non erat qui interpretaretur.
Jerome · AD 420 Verse 27. "And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days. And when I rose from my bed, I performed the king's tasks." This is the same thing as we read in Genesis about Abraham, for after he had heard the Lord speaking to him, he averred that he was but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27).
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 On learning the troubles that would overtake the people in due course, I became so unwell as to fall a victim to illness. Yet despite being thus indisposed, I managed the work entrusted to me by the king, with no one aware of the cause of the sickness. He was in the habit of saying along with blessed Paul, "Who is weak, and I am not weak?