Theodoret of Cyrus — Commentary on Scripture

Daniel 5:11

There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

Now, by “alertness” she referred to vigilance of soul, and by “understanding” to a grasp of hidden things and an insight into what escaped many. “Your father King Nebuchadnezzar,” she went on, “made him chief of magicians, soothsayers, astrologers, and fortune tellers,” adding the reason, “because an extraordinary spirit was in him,” that is, he has the surpassing grace of the Spirit.

Daniel 5:12

Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.

Daniel, having become a receptacle of the divine Spirit, gives wise advice on everything, makes intelligent utterances on everything, clarifies riddles in dreams, removes the obscurity from what is hidden in some obscurity and by setting free what is held in bondage in secret recesses, as it were.

Daniel 5:18

O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:

Do not think it was by relying on his own strength that your father subjected the whole world and brought under one kingdom the countless races of the nations speaking various tongues. It was, in fact, the Lord of all, maker of everything, wise governor of all things, who gave him the kingdom, and it was as a result of the divine decree that fear of your father possessed his subjects.

Daniel 5:20

But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

“He was deposed from the throne of his kingdom: just as he elevated those he wanted and humbled those he wanted,” doing so not altogether by a right decision, so the King and Lord of all gave your father the kingdom as he wanted, but on perceiving him giving vent to an overweening sense of his own importance, running the kingdom in an arrogant and conceited manner, a victim of haughtiness, he deprived him of the royal throne and stripped him of the honor paid him by everyone. Instead of divesting him only of the kingdom, however, he drove him also from normal association, gave him over to insanity and derangement and caused him to live with wild asses and savage beasts, taking on the life of the animals whose ferocity he had imitated.

Daniel 5:23 · 2 passages

But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

He did well to instruct those present to worship not visible things but their Creator and Lord. At the same time he also convicts the king of conceit and teaches him that the highest heaven has for its creator the unseen God. You, he is saying, made your heart more elevated not than heaven but than the God of heaven, the Lord of all creation; if you were not guilty of such awful conceit, you would not have ordered the vessels of his house to be brought in.

Now, [Daniel] did well and showed much wisdom in putting in parallel the idols and the God of all with a view to the benefit felt by the hearers; after emphasizing that the former neither see nor hear, instead of proceeding to say in regard to the God of all that he sees and hears and knows, he cited the more powerful fact of all, your life and your ways are in his hand, since providing life to others and in turn removing it at will is more important than having life. He brought out, then, that while the idols are deprived of life and all sensation, the Lord God of all is the source of all life and both gives it and takes it, governing as he wills. Nevertheless, [Daniel] is saying, despite his being of this stature, so great, with power of life and death, appointing kings and removing them, you not only did not sing his praises but rather even persisted in your drunken behavior, making fun of vessels dedicated to him.

Daniel 5:26

This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

By “interpretation,” he refers to the meaning. “Mane: God has measured your kingdom and brought it to an end,” that is, he has seen you are unworthy of kingship, and he decided to leave you bereft of it. “Thekel: he was weighed in the balance and found wanting.” In this the prophet taught not only him but also us the lesson that nothing goes unweighed by God; instead, mercy and longsuffering are shown to people according to a certain measure and weight. Since, then, [Daniel] is saying, you exceeded the limit of lovingkindness, receive the divine sentence. “Phares: your kingdom has been divided and has been given to the Medes and Persians.”

Daniel 5:30

In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

Now, it is necessary to inquire why on earth the God of all corrected Nebuchadnezzar and in turn restored him to his kingdom but forthwith deprived this man of both kingdom and life. On consideration, then, we find, first, that Nebuchadnezzar had not observed another person paying the penalty for impiety, and hence God’s just sentence granted him pardon, whereas this other man, though observing his father’s heavy penalty, gained nothing from it. The just judge was therefore within his rights in confining punishment of the former to a specified time, whereas he granted the latter no pardon. In particular, God foresees all future events and thus knows them clearly as if already in the past; so he knew ahead of time the repentance of the former and arranged for his fate accordingly, whereas he knew ahead of time the latter’s incorrigible impiety and put a stop to the increase in impiety with death.

Daniel 6:2

And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.

Normally, in fact, those entrusted with kingship or any other rule confide least in the people closest to their predecessors; but Daniel enjoyed the same trust from all, receiving equal privileges and being entrusted with the same governance—hence, of course, his becoming one of the three supervisors under Darius. Now, by “supervisors” I think there is reference to what are now called viceroys, and by “satraps” to the governors of the nations, Daniel being one of the supervisors.

Daniel 6:3

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

[Daniel] had received from God a greater and more abundant grace. Now, from this we learn that to those also who are entrusted with conduct of earthly affairs, even if unsympathetic to religion, a grace of wisdom is given from God for their management of those they rule. Blessed Daniel implied as much in saying, “Because there was an extraordinary spirit in him,” that is, he had received the grace in keeping with his religious sentiments.

Daniel 6:7

All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

Nothing is more repugnant than envy: it pressured them into committing impiety and caused an impious decree to be published forbidding those intent on offering prayers to God; they prevented not only themselves from doing it but also all others subject to royal control.… In surrendering their mind’s eye to envy, they did not understand that the king could not supply everything to petitioners, like health, life, fathering children, abundance of rain and anything else that we receive when we ask it of God. Losing their senses, however, they ascribed to the king what belongs to God and persuaded the foolish king to reach the same verdict and ratify their request.

Daniel 6:10 · 3 passages

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

He did this not only to provoke his accusers but also to fulfill an ancient law: when Solomon built that famous temple and celebrated the festival of consecration, he prayed a prayer of supplication for divine grace and implored that the temple be filled with it, adding this in addition to other things, “If you surrender your people to their foes, and they take them as captives to a land distant or near, and they have a change of heart in the land where they are transported and pray to you in their exile in the words, We sinned, we did wrong, we broke the law, and they turn back to you with their whole heart and with their whole soul in the land of their foes where you transferred them, and they pray to you toward their land which you gave their ancestors, and the city that you chose and the house that I built to your name, may you hearken from heaven, forthwith from your dwelling place, and forgive their sins by which they have sinned against you and all the transgressions they have committed against you, and show them pity before their captors.” Instructed in this, Daniel faced Jer…

He did this not only to provoke his accusers but also to fulfill an ancient law: when Solomon built that famous temple and celebrated the festival of consecration, he prayed a prayer of supplication for divine grace and implored that the temple be filled with it, adding this in addition to other things, “If you surrender your people to their foes, and they take them as captives to a land distant or near, and they have a change of heart in the land where they are transported and pray to you in their exile in the words, We sinned, we did wrong, we broke the law, and they turn back to you with their whole heart and with their whole soul in the land of their foes where you transferred them, and they pray to you toward their land which you gave their ancestors, and the city that you chose and the house that I built to your name, may you hearken from heaven, forthwith from your dwelling place, and forgive their sins by which they have sinned against you and all the transgressions they have committed against you, and show them pity before their captors.” Instructed in this, Daniel faced Jerusalem in praying.

When blessed Daniel in Babylon prayed, he opened the windows facing Jerusalem, not under the impression that God was confined there but from his knowledge that the divine manifestation occurred there.

Note how much this verse implied in a few words in mentioning the piety and courage of blessed Daniel. First, when Daniel learned that the decision has been reached, “he went into his house”—that is, when he got news of the passing of the law, he had great scorn for it and continued openly doing the opposite. It next mentions a further detail that reveals his courage: the windows were open, it says—in other words, he said his prayers not in secret but openly, with everyone watching, not for vainglory but in scorn for the impiety of the law.

Daniel 6:15

Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

You do not have the authority to overturn what you have prescribed, the laws of Medes and Persians ordering that the laws passed by the previous king be fulfilled. Under pressure both from the compelling logic of the words and from the number of the accusers, the king surrendered blessed Daniel to the lions.

Daniel 6:18

Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.

Each of these details testifies both to his humanity and to his cowardice: a mark of his humanity was his refusing to partake of food or let his eyes rest in sleep, instead staying awake in grief for the unjust punishment of Daniel; it was a mark of cowardice that he was not so affected as to counter the accusers and invoke his royal authority and power to save the wronged.

Daniel 6:19

Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

“King Darius rose early at daybreak,” that is, while it was still dark, around dawn, so that there was even need of lamps (the meaning of “at daybreak”).

Daniel 6:20

And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

Each of these phrases shows the religious spirit of the king, who complimented Daniel on his piety: first, he calls him not his own servant but God’s; next, he calls Daniel’s God “living;” then, in praise of his piety, “whom you serve with constancy,” that is, you were not prevented from worship under pressure of the law. The question “Was he able to rescue you from the lions’ mouth?” means, “Was it his will to render you impervious against the lions?” After all, he would not have referred to God as powerless after calling him “living.”

Daniel 7:1

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

Up to these words the blessed Daniel has written his prophecy more in the style of a historian. First, remember at the beginning he related what happened to those captured in war, and he adds how God, the author of all, was greatly concerned about these matters. Then he tells how Nebuchadnezzar paid the penalty for his cruelty and arrogance and then how Belshazzar suffered for his disrespectful use of the sacred vessels. Once the latter had been killed by a divine blow and his empire handed over to the Medes, Daniel went on to write those things that happened to himself and to Darius and explained how it was that Darius favored him, what sorts of plots Daniel had to endure at the hands of the generals and satraps, and how he was delivered from their hands by divine aid. Having expounded these things in a historian’s fashion, now Daniel begins to expound those predictions that he had learned through revelations. First he sets forth the revelation of the four beasts, quite similar to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. However, Daniel sees the fourfold content manifested in only one image, wh…

Up to these words the blessed Daniel has written his prophecy more in the style of a historian. First, remember at the beginning he related what happened to those captured in war, and he adds how God, the author of all, was greatly concerned about these matters. Then he tells how Nebuchadnezzar paid the penalty for his cruelty and arrogance and then how Belshazzar suffered for his disrespectful use of the sacred vessels. Once the latter had been killed by a divine blow and his empire handed over to the Medes, Daniel went on to write those things that happened to himself and to Darius and explained how it was that Darius favored him, what sorts of plots Daniel had to endure at the hands of the generals and satraps, and how he was delivered from their hands by divine aid. Having expounded these things in a historian’s fashion, now Daniel begins to expound those predictions that he had learned through revelations. First he sets forth the revelation of the four beasts, quite similar to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. However, Daniel sees the fourfold content manifested in only one image, while Nebuchadnezzar saw four beasts ascending from the one sea. But lest anyone think that we are forced to say the same things again, let us turn to interpret the individual elements of the prophecy, where this truth will be openly demonstrated.

Daniel 7:2

Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.

For his part, Nebuchadnezzar sees the image, drawing a lesson in the futility of things of this life and the fact that they are appearances, as the divine apostle asserts, and not realities, there is nothing lasting or stable in them, everything fluid and failing and fading. Daniel, [by contrast], is gazing at a sea, gaining a lesson in the haze of the present life. After all, when a prisoner of war is compelled to see a foreign land, he fittingly learns to recognize the storms and tempests of life. And since the king too was haughty because of his silver, bronze and iron, he is given the mysteries concerning the kingdoms through a statue composed of the very same materials. In this way he perceives the successions of kings and is admonished lest he be removed because of a kingdom liable to swift and sudden change.…He calls life “the sea” since it has those countless and great storms; he calls the changes of regimes “winds,” since they act against the very onslaught. For just as the streams rush to the north whenever the south wind blows and the wind is driven southward again when th…

For his part, Nebuchadnezzar sees the image, drawing a lesson in the futility of things of this life and the fact that they are appearances, as the divine apostle asserts, and not realities, there is nothing lasting or stable in them, everything fluid and failing and fading. Daniel, [by contrast], is gazing at a sea, gaining a lesson in the haze of the present life. After all, when a prisoner of war is compelled to see a foreign land, he fittingly learns to recognize the storms and tempests of life. And since the king too was haughty because of his silver, bronze and iron, he is given the mysteries concerning the kingdoms through a statue composed of the very same materials. In this way he perceives the successions of kings and is admonished lest he be removed because of a kingdom liable to swift and sudden change.…He calls life “the sea” since it has those countless and great storms; he calls the changes of regimes “winds,” since they act against the very onslaught. For just as the streams rush to the north whenever the south wind blows and the wind is driven southward again when the north wind stirs up the sea, so when the Assyrians obtained dominion over the whole world, they drew all their conquered people to their land; but when the kingdom was handed over to the Persians, there was also a confluence of their subjects to the Persians. And when the Macedonians in turn obtained the scepter, all brought to them twice the usual tribute, except for those to whom they had been previously obedient. And when the Romans acquired command over all nations, everyone rushed to the west and thought nothing of the Macedonians. And the Macedonians themselves were counted now as one of the conquered nations. Quite appropriately then he compares the changes of the wind with the changes of regimes, since the winds drive sailors now this way, now that way. Therefore, he mentioned the four winds, since there were four successions of kingdoms. But he teaches us in what manner the beasts differ among themselves.