Ephrem the Syrian — Commentary on Scripture

Daniel 2:33

The iron is Alexander, the conqueror of all nations. Indeed, as iron submits all bodies, so he broke the forces of all princes and kings, and subjected their authorities. And the toes … these are the ten Hellenistic kings which originated from Alexander’s empire: some of them were strong and powerful like iron; others were weak and humble. And even though they tried to settle peace and friendship among them with mutual marriages, they were never able to reach an agreement nor to stay firm in their decisions.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 2:40

Daniel 4:19

Daniel did not speak these words (“may the dream be for those who hate you”) … because he feared the majesty of the king or in order to flatter him and his fortune but either to show respect for the king and the worship of the vessels in the temple or for that general edict through which he [the king] repressed those who wanted to scorn the divine name in their actions or words.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:19

Daniel 4:30

Then the king became even more insolent, even as God was patient and had shown magnanimity by endeavoring to lead him to repentance. And as he walked on the terrace of the royal house and looked around over his fortune, he said, “Where became of all those sad omens by which the saint had meant to frighten me? I certainly rule Babylon, which I made magnificent.”

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:30

Daniel 4:34

“My reason returned to me,” that is, I was made again master of my own mind, and certainly returned to my senses. “I blessed the Most High, who does what he wills,” that is, who with his divinity and will rules and administrates not only the affairs of human beings, whom he fashioned from clay, but also those of the spiritual powers, whom he placed in heaven.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:34

Daniel 4:37

Through that punishment, which he inflicted on me, [God] showed that he gives back to each one his properties with justice and impartiality and humiliates those who walk in arrogance; and as he mortified me, who was too full of myself and behaved arrogantly, so he will break the audacity of people similar to me with similar consideration.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:37

Daniel 5:2-3

“Under the influence of wine, he commanded that they bring the vessels” from the sanctuary and did not hesitate in showing them to his lords and concubines and other guests, as he intended to use them for a profane symposium. His father had taken those vessels from the temple of Jerusalem, when Nebuchadnezzar had conquered the city and had destroyed it; nonetheless he had set them in a decent place and had preserved them with holy devotion. [Belshazzar] went beyond any limit.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 5:1

Daniel 5:23

“You have exalted yourself against God.” … Certainly, he says, you were brought to such madness that you placed yourself above God and overcame your father in arrogance and luxury. Indeed, [Nebuchadnezzar] thought that nobody among humankind was equal to him, but you believed that the Lord of heaven was inferior to you.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 5:16

Daniel 5:29

The vain king did not do that in order to give honor to Daniel for those sad omens, which he had announced to him by interpreting the writing, but he tried to catch his benevolence, as if he had understood that Daniel was extremely pleasing to God, and therefore he hoped that he would have dispelled his ruin, which the hand sent from above had signed, and Daniel himself had announced, through his intercession. But Belshazzar’s efforts were pointless: on that very night Belshazzar was killed and Babylon was destroyed, and was affected by every misfortune from the Medes and the Persians, as the prophets had already foretold a long time before, and the kingdom of the Chaldeans passed to the Medes, after Darius, king of the Persians and the Medes, had assumed power.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 5:29

Daniel 6:8

Darius, as he loved quietness and inactivity and found work and business unpleasing, left the care of the empire to his prefects, and for this reason the Scripture adds, he set over the kingdom satraps, that is, 120 governors. And over them he placed three presidents, including Daniel. Then they asked him to set an interdict according to the law of the Medes and Persians. Indeed, among the Persians and the Medes, a law stated that when the king had set a certain rule, it was not permitted to rescind it. So the satraps asked the king for this kind of firm and immutable decree; and they were certain that the king would have not rescinded such a decree in order to save Daniel. It is likely that Daniel was not present in the hall of justice on that day, when the king argued from morning till evening with his satraps in order to save Daniel. If he had been present, he would have immediately confessed that he had prayed [to God], and after the confession of the crime the trial would have not been extended until evening.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 6:1-15

Daniel 6:17

Certainly it had been decided by Darius to save Daniel from the present danger with any possible means; therefore he sealed the entrance of the den with his own signet and invited the satraps to do the same. This had to be done for two reasons: first, in order that [the satraps] might not steal there without being seen and, after rolling off the lid, might kill him; second, in order that they might not spread among the people the rumor that some fraud had been used inside the den.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 6:17

Daniel 6:19

The same faith, which on the previous evening had led Darius to seal the entrance of the den, brought him again to that place, as if he would have seen Daniel still alive.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 6:19

Daniel 6:24

Since a simple punishment was not sufficient for those culprits, in order to balance the offense they had brought against a righteous man, after being condemned to the same punishment, they were thrown to the beasts together with their wives and children.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 6:24

Daniel 7:4

This beast obviously represents the kingdom of the Babylonians. The present vision of Daniel perfectly fits in with the already mentioned dream of Nebuchadnezzar, who saw a statue, and it forms a single and same prophecy with it. Indeed, as the Babylonian kingdom, in that dream, was compared with gold, which is the noblest among metals, here it is described as a lion, which is the strongest of all beasts, and an eagle, which is of the highest perniciousness among birds.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:4

Daniel 7:5

These are the symbols of the kingdom of Darius, king of the Medes. As in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar the Mede empire had been foreshadowed under the aspect of silver, which is a viler metal than gold, so in this dream it is indicated by the image of the bear, which is less agile than the lion. In addition he says that “the beast was raised up on one side,” because Darius received a kingdom that was confined within the limits of his power and was never extended to that greatness, which the previous kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar had reached by including all the surrounding regions.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:5

Daniel 7:6

These words concern the kingdom of the Persians. Indeed, what in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar had been indicated under the aspect of bronze, a very hard metal, here is seen under the image of the leopard, an extremely agile and harmful beast. [The beast] is also provided with four wings and four heads. This is because it brought its dominion to the four winds of heaven. “And dominion was given to it”: this is a reference to the multitude of peoples to be submitted. This passage must be compared with the prophecy of Isaiah: “He will strip kings of their robes, etc” In that same prophet we can read these words said about Cyrus to Cyrus by God.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:6

Daniel 7:7

This is Alexander, king of the Greeks, and the prophet says that he is similar to iron, which is the hardest among metals. He adds that the beast is armed with iron teeth, and with this symbol he indicates Alexander’s powerful armies, which nearly subdued all kings. Then he adds that it was seen while devouring or trampling all that came its way, while destroying everything. With these words he predicted that Alexander would have attacked the vastness of almost all provinces, would have robbed their inhabitants and would have abandoned their fields and estates to his soldiers for pillage and destruction, so that it seemed that he had squeezed the entire world and all its precious things under a press and had offered all this to his soldiers in order that they might trample it.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:7

Daniel 7:8

This is Antiochus, the persecutor of the Jews, who sprang up in the midst of the ten kings and grew up. And this last horn, he says, “after three of the earlier horns were plucked by the roots, spoke arrogantly.” Since there is here a hint of the fall of the previous three horns, it must be referred to the grandchildren and successors of the three past kings. Indeed the arrogant words, which this small horn spoke, are the insults and blasphemies thrown against God.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:8

Daniel 7:12

This refers to the kingdoms of the Medes, Persians and Chaldeans. “But their lives were prolonged for a season and a time,” that is, the kings of the nations mentioned above would have not been completely powerless.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:12

Daniel 7:17

The secret meaning of that vision had been disclosed to him by the angel, and the expression “four beasts” indicated the four empires: the Babylonian, which flourished at that time, the Mede, the Persian and the Greek. But the power, he says, would have been transferred, at a certain time, from these kingdoms to the holy ones of the Most High because of the mystery hidden in many righteous people of his people and in the holy ones of the Most High, and he predicts that they would have reigned forever.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:16

Daniel 7:19

“Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast and the other horn,” which was seen while attacking and harshly afflicting the holy ones with his arms. This is Antiochus, who, as the angel reveals, would have made war and submitted the holy ones and the priests and the righteous ones.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:19