Commentary on Daniel 1 part 3/11

For when the iron kingdom has been brought to a feeble condition, and has received the intermingling of the clay, then shall appear the stone that was cut without hands, and it shall break in pieces the clay, the iron and the bronze, the silver, the gold, and shall make them utterly vanish, and shall furnish to the worthy a kingdom that has no successor, is eternal, and is without end.

'For unto the ages,' he says, 'it shall not be destroyed, and it shall not be left to another people;'

'and it shall break in pieces and subdue all the kingdoms, and it itself shall stand unto the ages.' But if anyone contends and refuses to admit that these things are so, let him show what among human things is eternal, and what kingdom of men shall not receive an end.

For it is silly and exceedingly senseless to await the consummation of the present age, and yet to say that some kingdom will be endless in this present life.

But if it also seems good to them that by these words is signified the kingdom that shall be given by God to the worthy, then he did not name the Macedonian kingdom 'iron';

for while that kingdom held sway, the present life did not receive its end, but the Roman, having overthrown the Macedonian, holds the helm of the inhabited world.

And if they say that the former coming of the Lord is signified by these words, let them show that the sovereignty of the Romans was overthrown immediately after the manifestation of our Saviour.

For it is possible to find the very opposite: that it was strengthened, and not overthrown, at the very birth of the Saviour.

He who reigned as the second, and, so to speak, made all men subject,

and rendered all men subject, and enrolled the whole inhabited world according to the word of the Gospels, and enacted by law that tribute should be paid.

And under him the strengthened kingdom of the Romans has endured even until now.

Therefore, if the former birth of the Lord did not overthrow the sovereignty of the Romans, it remains, then, to understand this of his second manifestation.

For the stone that was already earlier cut without hands, and became a great mountain, and covered the inhabited world, this same stone at the second coming shall smite the image upon its earthen feet, that is, it shall appear at the very end of the iron kingdom, when it has already become feeble;

and it shall overthrow all the sovereignties, and consign them to a kind of oblivion, but shall furnish to the worthy his own eternal kingdom.

'The great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter.'

'And the dream is true, and its interpretation is sure.' It is worthy to marvel at the care of the God of all things for all men.

For he does not strip even those who live in impiety of his own providence, but deems even these worthy of all care; just as, for instance, he did not leave this barbarous, brutish, and impious man untended, but first, through the revelations, shows him the perishableness of the good fortune of the present life, and the swiftly-inclining instability of the kingdom itself, and that nothing of human prosperity is enduring, but like flowers or lilies it withers or is quenched.

to bring him low, and to persuade him to be minded as befits a man, and to await the end both of life and of kingship.

First, then, through these things he exercises his care for him; next, by the forgetting of the dream he refutes the falsehood of the magi and the Chaldeans;

and he shows the truthfulness of his own servants, and through the wisdom of these servants he intimates his divine power, and draws to worship of himself those who are ignorant of him—or rather, he compels him who demands worship from all to worship his own holy servants.

And this the history teaches us.

'But you are a man, and not God'—that he who made all men subject, should worship the captive Jew, who fulfilled the rank of a bondservant, and should through him consider that he was worshipping this man's God.

For on this account he commanded that a meal-offering and a sweet savour should be poured out to him, that is, that frankincense and incense should be offered to him.

And the history hints through these things that he charged those who seemed to be priests to do this.

For he who had done the worshipping would surely also have offered the sweet savour, if indeed he had been accustomed to perform priestly service.

But since this was altogether fitting for others, he himself did not undertake to do what was not proper for him, but bade those accustomed to do this to perform it.

'Of a truth your God is God of gods, and Lord of kings, and one who reveals mysteries, because you were able to reveal this mystery.' So great a benefit did the Governor of all things confer upon him, both from the dream and from the forgetting of the dream.

For first, he came to know his own worthlessness; next, he learned the weakness of the gods he worshipped; and in addition to these, he was taught the working of him who is truly God.

'Of a truth your God is God of gods, and Lord of kings, and one who reveals mysteries.' He calls him 'God of gods,' not according to the mind of the divine Scripture;

for the divine Scripture names 'gods' those who have been deemed worthy of the priesthood;

for it says, 'You shall not revile gods, nor speak evil of a ruler of your people.' But this man called the idols 'gods';

for he was not yet able to discern their utter weakness.

Nevertheless he learned the difference, wherefore he also names the God of all 'God of gods,' and 'Lord of kings.'

Having confessed these things thus, (48)

The piety of a ruler brings the greatest benefit to his subjects;

'He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold as a slave.' Then, after telling of the hardships that befell him, and making mention of the prison and the bonds, he added:

'The king sent and loosed him; the ruler of the people set him free, and released him, and made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions;'

'to instruct his rulers as himself, and to make his elders wise.' Thus in this case too the Governor of all things acted;

yet nonetheless the prophet did not suffer himself alone to enjoy this honour, but took as sharers in the honour those who had been his fellows in prayer.

he was in the court of the king. These things also agree with the teaching of the Apostle;

'For now,' he says, 'abide faith, hope, love;'

'these three, but the greatest of all is love.' For this divine prophet also loved God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, and with all his might;

and having loved fervently, he believed sincerely, and having believed sincerely, he hoped to obtain help from him;

and having obtained what he hoped for, he displayed love toward his neighbour, and made his kinsmen sharers in what he had received.

'And whatsoever things were written beforehand were written for our instruction, that through patience and through the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope,' in Christ Jesus, with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

But those who are sick with insensibility, and are enslaved to the incurable passion of arrogance, reap no benefit from the divine remedies, but resemble certain sick persons who turn away the treatment offered them by the medical art, and, indulging in intemperance and great disorder, daily increase the disease that lies upon them.

Such was this boastful king, who, when the God of the universe had dealt with him in his measureless love for mankind, and after his countless transgressions and impieties had offered him healing, and had shown him both the perishable and vain character of present prosperity and the loftiness and renown of virtue — which renders illustrious even those taken captive by the spear and compelled to bear the yoke of slavery — at first indeed marvelled at the wisdom of the prophet and confessed that this man's God is the God of the universe;

but when a little time had passed, he returned to himself, like a dog to its own vomit, as the divine Scripture says, and he fashioned a golden image, having a height of sixty cubits and a breadth of six cubits; and setting this up in a level place, so that it might equally overtop all and be alike visible to all, he commanded that it be worshipped by all his subjects.

Now this manner of arrogance was not simple, but directly opposed to God and hateful to God.

For since God had shown him in a dream a very great image made of four materials, and through these had signified to him the successions of the four kingdoms, he — waging war against God in his own conceit — likewise fashioned an image, giving it as great a magnitude as human art was able to provide.

Yet he no longer makes this one of gold and silver and bronze and iron, but fashions it out of a single material, that of gold — this wretched man supposing that he would thereby prove God's predictions false.

'He gathered together,' it says, 'all the satraps, the prefects and the generals, and the local governors, the leaders and the rulers, and those in authority, and all the chief officers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.' And each one of these details makes plain his utmost pride.

For it was not simply any chance persons among his subjects that he summoned to the festival of the image, but the local governors and the generals, those entrusted with the command of the satrapies, and whatever other kind of office was reckoned among them.

it was considered so, but afterward the tyranny exercised through the summons was exposed.

For when they had all assembled, 'The herald,' it says, 'cried aloud with strength' (that is, using a very great voice):

'To you it is commanded, O nations, peoples, tribes, and tongues:'

(vv. 5, 6.) 'At whatever hour you hear the sound of the trumpet, and of the pipe and lyre, of the sackbut and psaltery, and of harmony, and of every kind of music, you shall fall down and worship the golden image which King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.'

'And whoever does not fall down and worship shall in that very hour be cast into the burning fiery furnace.' Thus the wretched man seized, as he supposed, the honour that belongs to God; and it did not suffice him to be worshipped by his subjects, but he even enacted by law that this worship should be offered to the image; and he astounds all men by the material and the artistry and the magnitude of the image;

and he charms and beguiles them with the manifold sound of the musical instruments;

and those who were neither astounded by the magnitude of the image nor beguiled by the song and pleasure of the instruments, he terrifies with the threat of the furnace.

And in the case of all the rest he did not fail of his aim;

for he saw all men doing what was commanded, and accustomed to serve fear and pleasure alike;

but only those thrice-blessed youths — Ananias, and Azarias, and Misael — keeping their ancestral nobility unstained even in slavery, refused the worship; yet they did not escape the notice of the Chaldeans who lived in impiety, who wished to have all men as partakers of their ungodliness.

Straightway, therefore, they come to the king, and remind him of the law that had been laid down, expressly enjoining all his subjects to worship the image, and threatening the furnace to those who declined to do this;

and they denounce those holy men, saying that:

'There are certain Jewish men, whom you have appointed over the works of the province of Babylon — Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago;'

'those men have not obeyed your decree, O king.' And through these words they make plain their own envy, and they kindle the king's wrath, hinting through them and all but saying:

'See whom you have honoured above us, to whom of the Babylonians you have entrusted rule;'

'they were not even willing to take into their mind the greatness of the honour, and to be grateful toward the one who had honoured them, but they made the greatness of the honour an occasion for dishonour, directly contradicting your laws, and not enduring to fulfil your decrees.'

It is possible to behold the tyrannical and thankless character not only from this;

but it is possible to learn also from another quarter that they were doing nothing befitting subjects;

'for those whom you consider gods, they do not consider gods, and they do not offer the fitting service to the gods worshipped by you;'

'and the worship of the image, which all those under rule have offered, they have openly refused.'

And he inquires whether in truth they are unwilling to share with him in the service of the gods, and whether they shun the worship of the image.

Then he exhorts and counsels them to do this, terrifying them with the threat of the fire.

'For if you do not worship, in that very hour you shall be cast into the burning fiery furnace.' Then he dares that unspeakable and brutish blasphemy:

'And who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands?' So swiftly did he blaspheme the one he had confessed;

and him whom he had called the God of gods, he supposed to be weaker than a man;

him whom he had addressed as Lord of kings, the wretched man presumed insolently to conquer.

But such daring deeds were ancestral to him;

for that Sennacherib too, employing a very great campaign against Jerusalem, wrote to Hezekiah and uttered such things as these:

'Let not your God, in whom you have trusted, deceive you, saying that Jerusalem shall be delivered out of my hands.'

'Where is the god of Emath, and where is the god of Arphath, and where is the god of the city of Sepharim? Were they able to deliver Samaria out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?' But at once and forthwith he received the wages of his blasphemy, and those many myriads were slain by a single angel;

and he himself, having fled and reached his native land, found as slayers those whom he had begotten.

For since he had moved his tongue against the Maker, he receives slaughter at the hands of men whom he had begotten.

But not even the example of this man bridled Nebuchadnezzar's tongue, nor did that dream which had shown the successions of the kings teach him to be sober-minded, but he remained raging against his Maker;

yet God wages war against him — not with an angel (which he had done in the case of that Sennacherib), but with three captive lads, compelled to dwell in a foreign land, dragging the yoke of slavery, of tender age, in the very springtime of their years;

for these, on immediately hearing that rage and frenzied blasphemy, became full of ardour and zeal, and answered and said to the king:

'We have no need to answer you concerning this matter.' Superfluous, they say, is the question you put to us;

'for what we held before, we hold now also, and we shall accept no change from your threats.'

'For our God is in the heavens, whom we serve, and He is able to deliver us out of the burning fiery furnace, and out of your hands, O king, He will rescue us.' Who would not fittingly be astonished at the courage of these blessed youths, their wisdom, their piety, their justice with respect to the laws, their temperance in all things? For to be undismayed before that so great tyrant — arrayed, one might say, with all men against them — and before that vast pyre, threatened not by words alone but also visibly seen, testifies to a courage in them firmer than adamant.

And their preferring the divine laws to the present life — what surpassing excellence of justice does it leave behind? Their temperance is proclaimed by their neither using bold words against the king, nor again by cowardice shaming their race;

and their prudence and wisdom is shown by the piety which they set in opposition to the impious and blasphemous words.

'Who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands?' But they cried aloud:

'Our God is in the heavens, whom we serve, and He is able to deliver us out of the burning fiery furnace, and out of your hands, O king, He will rescue us. For do not suppose that our God is like your gods.'

'For those you rightly despise, since they have received their being from material and art;'

'for the One who is above these it is not easy for those uninitiated in divine things to behold;'

'this One we reverence, and we await the help that comes from Him.'

'For He is able both to deliver us from your hands and from the fiery furnace which you have prepared.'

And the things spoken after this leave behind no surpassing measure of courage and love for God.

'Our God is in the heavens, whom we serve, and He is able to deliver us out of the burning fiery furnace, and out of your hands, O king, He will rescue us' — they immediately added:

'and not knowing what is about to be for our benefit, we yield to the Pilot to steer as He wills.'

'For that He has the power to deliver us from the evils threatened, we clearly know;'

'but whether He also wills to do this, we do not know;'

'...and we accept the verdict, believing that this is to our advantage.'

'Whether, then, He rescues or not, we shun the worship of your image and of your gods.'

'Against such souls is your battle-array;'

'contend in whatever manner you will, you will neither charm us with honours nor terrify us with threats;'

'for of all things God is to us both most beloved and most to be feared.'

What is loftier than these words? To them it is fitting to apply that apostolic saying:

'For what we should pray for as we ought, we know not.' But the brutish and utterly frenzied tyrant, becoming full of wrath, so that he made plain even by his countenance the tumult of his soul, gave orders that the furnace be kindled to the utmost;

and he commanded that the holy men be bound, and, so that there might be no delay of the punishment, with their clothing and their sandals being stripped off — he ordered them to be handed over to the pyre together with these very things;

that is, together with their trousers, and their turbans, and their leggings.

Now 'saravara' are kinds of Persian garments;

and 'tiarai' are the coverings of the head;

and by 'periknemides' he means what are called 'anaxyrides' (breeches), or the outer leather coverings, or the leather footwear.

Thus fettered, the holy men were delivered over to the fire;

and the king, for the sake of speed and dispatch, gave orders that they be burned up in this manner;

but the divine grace was thereby arranging another mystery.

For the iron bonds that had been cast upon them the nature of fire dissolved, as is its wont;

yet their garments, though highly combustible, it preserved untouched;

and while the accusers of the holy men, and the ministers of that impious decree, who stood without, the flame consumed;

so great was the freedom from fear and the refreshment which the heralds of piety enjoyed within, that treading as it were upon coals like roses,

'they walked,' it says, 'in the midst of the flame, praising God and blessing the Lord.' And these words too bear the mark of their supreme love of wisdom;

for they did not ask, it says, for deliverance from their dread plight, but hymned him who had thus ordained the things concerning them, and had deemed them worthy of this noble confession.

One may see the ancient things resembling the new;

for the blessed apostles Peter and John also, being scourged by the band of the Pharisees, went out rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus;

and the most divine Paul with Silas too, after those scourgings inflicted upon them at Philippi by the magistrates, while dwelling in the prison and fastened in the stocks, at midnight, it says, 'praying, they sang hymns to God.' So too these blessed children, dancing in the furnace, continued weaving the divine hymn.

And first Azariah, becoming as it were a common mouth for them all, encompassed by the waves of the flame, 'opening,' it says, 'his mouth in the midst of the fire, said:'

(v. 26) 'Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is thy name unto the ages.' Who could sufficiently marvel at the wisdom of this opening? For not while in prosperity and good fortune, nor while his life flowed on its course, but in so great a furnace he was hymning the God of all, and calling upon him as the God of the fathers, both showing the moderation of his mind and proclaiming aloud the virtue of the fathers.

'For thou saidst to thy servant Moses:'

'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'; this name of thine is praised and glorified, not at some particular season or fixed time, but unto all the ages.

'For thou art just in all that thou hast done to us.' We hymn thee, he says, knowing the justice of thy judgement;

'and all thy works,' he says, 'are true, and thy ways are right.'

(v. 28) 'And all thy judgements are true, and true judgements hast thou executed, according to all that thou hast brought upon us, and upon the holy city of our fathers, Jerusalem; for in truth and judgement hast thou brought all these things upon us because of our sins.' All that is said bears the same meaning;

but he has expressed it in various ways, hymning the just judgement of God, and giving no place to ingratitude.

'All these things,' he says, 'thou hast brought upon us because of our sins.'

'We have sinned, therefore, in departing from thee;'

'and we have transgressed in all things.' For not this or that did we violate, but all thy commandments.

'And to the commandments of thy law we did not hearken, neither kept we them, nor did we as thou didst charge us, that it might be well with us.' Here again he showed the exceeding measure of his piety and wisdom.

For the keeping of the laws and the commandments, he says, brought thee, the lawgiver, no gain, but procured for us an abundance of good things;

for this reason, then, thou hadst laid down those laws, furnishing us with occasions of salvation.

Since therefore, he says, we transgressed, (v. 31)

'All that thou hast brought upon us, and all that thou hast done to us, thou hast done in true judgement.' For the punishment was worthy of the sin.

Then, showing this, he adds:

'And thou hast delivered us into the hands of lawless enemies, most hateful apostates, and to an unjust and most wicked king, the worst in all the earth hast thou delivered us.' For since we did not serve thee our king, but despised thy goodness, thou didst fittingly compel us to be enslaved to a most savage and harsh king, one who in no way knows justice, having subjects too who conform to the royal wickedness.

'But nevertheless, being in such great evils, we have been deprived of all boldness of speech, and are hindered by shame from offering thee our supplication;'

for this is what he signifies when he says:

'And now we cannot open our mouth; we have become shame and reproach to thy servants and to them that worship thee.' The multitude of our lawlessness, he says, stops up our mouth;

but nevertheless, we who are called thy servants, having become reproached and derided and greatly gloated over by our enemies, beseech thee, for the sake of the name of thy lordship laid upon us, to show thine enemies thy strength, and not to alienate us utterly from thy providence.

'For do not deliver us up utterly, he says, for thy name's sake, and do not annul thy covenant, and do not scatter thy mercy from us.' We dare, he says, to say these things, having many pledges of thy goodness;

next, the immeasurable mercy which thou usest in directing all things;

besides these, the covenants made with our fathers;

for thou didst promise them that thou wouldst make their race conspicuous and glorious,

and thou madest them renowned and celebrated in song, so that their race should be compared in number to the sand, and, like the stars, be bright and lofty and illustrious.

Then, side by side with the promises, he sets the actual events.

For this he hinted at, saying:

'We are diminished.' For he did not say, 'We are small and few beyond all the nations,' but, 'We are diminished,' that is: We had indeed become greater than could be numbered, according to thy promise, but by transgressing thy commandments we have become few instead of many.

Then he sets before God the calamity that holds them, not teaching him as one ignorant, but by the recital of his sorrows summoning him to lovingkindness.

'And there is not,' he says, 'at this time prince, or prophet, or leader.' For we have been deprived, he says, of kingship, of prophecy, of priesthood, of thy divine and great gifts, by which we were continually governed.

'Neither burnt offering, nor sacrifice, nor oblation, nor incense.' And, showing the cause for which it was impossible to sacrifice, he consequently added:

'Nor place to make an offering before thee, and to find mercy.' For thy law confined the ministry of sacrifices to one place, and it is a manifest transgression of the law to offer thee sacrifice in another place.

These things the Jews are unwilling to hear, but shutting their eyes and stopping their ears, they dare to perform all things unlawfully.

But these holy children, knowing the aim of the law, said that there was no place to make an offering before him, and to find mercy;

'For with a contrite soul and a spirit of humility offering thee our supplication, we entreat that it may be received.'

'As with burnt offerings of rams and bulls, and as with tens of thousands of fat lambs, so let our sacrifice be before thee this day, and let it be accomplished after thee;'

'for there is no shame for those who trust in thee.' For since, he says, thy law does not permit the appointed sacrifices to be offered thee in every place, in place of rams and bulls and lambs surpassing number, we offer thee a contrite and humbled heart, and beseech that these things may become to thee sweeter than any sacrifice, since thou art wont to free from all shame those who trust in thee.

'Burnt offerings thou wilt not be pleased with;'

'the sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; a contrite and humbled heart God will not despise.' And again, in the person of God:

'Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of thy affliction, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.' And a little after:

'The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me, and there is the way in which I will show him my salvation.' Having been taught these things, this divine man entreated that a contrite heart might be received in place of every sacrifice.

'And now we follow thee with our whole heart, and we fear thee, and we seek thy face; put us not to shame.' For the multitude of calamities has made us other men in place of what we were, and though we were transgressors of thy commandments, has prepared us to fear thee and to seek thee with our whole heart.

the services performed there, through which they imagined that they beheld God, who is bodiless and invisible.

Since therefore thou hast wrought in us so great a change through the punishment, (vv. 42, 43)

'Put us not to shame, but deal with us according to thy clemency, and according to the multitude of thy mercy;'