Theodoret of Cyrus — Commentary on Scripture

Daniel 7:16

Just as in human courts some of the subjects assist in carrying the dreadful judgment before themselves, while others come and go, bearing the responses of the tribunal, so in that most dreadful judgment Daniel sees ten thousand assistants and a thousand thousands to whom the task of service was given. When he had drawn near, he asked what was the interpretation of this revelation, and he was told the truth by one of those who stood by to assist.

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Daniel 7:18

These kingdoms will be wiped out and the true, eternal kingdom will be handed over to the saints of the Almighty. Thus, while waiting for that eternal kingdom, count the kingdoms of this present age to be as nothing, which will soon enough come to their end.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:17-18

Daniel 7:19

Take note of the iron teeth and the bronze claws that are mentioned. The kingdom of the Romans took tribute from all nations; thus he says that it had iron teeth. And since many of those who had started out in the Macedonian kingdom were enlisted into its soldiery, and since claws serve the same function for a beast that soldiers do for an empire, he rightly speaks of Rome’s bronze claws, just as he called the third kingdom a bronze kingdom.

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Daniel 7:20

It is not surprising that he said previously that the horn was little, but here he says that its appearance “was greater than the rest.” But one does need to pay close attention to the things that are being said. For when he saw the horn being born, he called it “little,” since it arose from a little nation, that is, the nation of the Jews, and obtained meanwhile a small kingdom. However, after it had uprooted and pulled up three greater horns, he quite deservedly calls its appearance “greater than the rest.”

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Daniel 7:23-24

These things were once taught people through riddles, but we ourselves have learned these very things by experience. We see the fulfillment of the prophecy; we behold daily that tributes are exacted, poverty oppresses many people, and other such things happen.

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Daniel 7:25

And he will think that he will be able to overturn completely their godliness, which will be flourishing at that time. Daniel alludes to this when he says, “He will change the times and the law,” that is, the way of life prevailing at the time. Then he adds, “And it will be given over to his hand.” That is, divine providence will permit these things. And he goes on to show the time of the deformity caused by those evils: “The poor will certainly not be handed over to oblivion forever, and the patience of the poor will not perish forever.”

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Daniel 7:26

The blessed Paul also teaches more clearly to … the Thessalonians, and through them he teaches all lovers of godliness. He says that we should not think that the enemy of truth will appear now, for first the error of the idols, which now holds people in check, must be wiped out and the preaching of the gospel disseminated, then, and only then, will the lawless person be revealed … and overthrown.

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Daniel 7:27

In other words, this is the end of the end of all affairs of this life, all the empires of earth coming to a close and the eternal kingdom being given to the holy ones of the Most High, with those in charge obeying and devotedly serving him, since his kingdom is eternal and does not come to an end.… This cannot be applied to the Maccabees; instead of being entrusted with kingship, they led troops and conquered and met a rapid end.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:27-28

Daniel 8:1

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.

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Daniel 8:2

“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.

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Daniel 8:3

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 him. So by the two horns he means two races of kings, seeing both to be tall, but the second taller than the first.

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Daniel 8:3

He sees the Persian Empire in the form of a ram since it was flush with wealth and had a great abundance of resources.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 8:3

Daniel 8:4

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.

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Daniel 8:5

By the “one horn visible,” in the sense of famous and illustrious, he refers to Alexander; he says the horn was growing between its eyes on account of the shrewdness, intelligence and sagacity of Alexander’s thinking.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 8:5

Daniel 8:5

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. He said it came from the southwest: since it had previously subjugated Egypt, it thus advanced into the land of the Persians, conquering Darius in Cilicia, and from there traversing Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine, taking some of the cities by surrender, securing others by force. It then also gained possession of that empire, occupied the Persians and destroyed the greater part of their power.

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Daniel 8:8

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.

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Daniel 8:8

Despite that great conquest, Alexander met the common fate of humankind.

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Daniel 8:9

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. When the Jews of the high-priestly family rebelled against the high priest of the time, those anxious for the position went to Antiochus and persuaded him to change the Jewish way of life to the Greek and to build a gymnasium in the city. When this happened, devout people were in mourning at seeing the blatant violation of the laws, while the remaining throng had no qualms about trampling on the divine law and treating with contempt the commandment about circumcision. When the uprising became more serious, Antiochus arrived and put to death most of the devout, and he had the audacity even to enter the precincts of the temple; after entering he sacked the whole temple, appropriating to himself the treasures, all the offerings, cups and bowls and vessels, the golden table, the golden censer, the lampstands made of gold, and in short all the instruments of divine worship. In addition to this he built in Go…

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. When the Jews of the high-priestly family rebelled against the high priest of the time, those anxious for the position went to Antiochus and persuaded him to change the Jewish way of life to the Greek and to build a gymnasium in the city. When this happened, devout people were in mourning at seeing the blatant violation of the laws, while the remaining throng had no qualms about trampling on the divine law and treating with contempt the commandment about circumcision. When the uprising became more serious, Antiochus arrived and put to death most of the devout, and he had the audacity even to enter the precincts of the temple; after entering he sacked the whole temple, appropriating to himself the treasures, all the offerings, cups and bowls and vessels, the golden table, the golden censer, the lampstands made of gold, and in short all the instruments of divine worship. In addition to this he built in God’s temple an altar to Zeus, filled the whole city with idols and obliged everyone to sacrifice, while he himself sacrificed a pig on the divine altar and named the temple after Zeus of Olympus.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 8:10

Daniel 8:10

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.”

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Daniel 8:11

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.

COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 8:11