Книга пророка Даниила, Глава 7, стих 7. Толкования стиха

THE CHILDREN OF SHEM, THE CHILDREN OF ESAU. APHRAHAT: Now the fourth beast has swallowed up the third. And this third consists of the children of Japhet, and the fourth consists of the children of Shem, for they are the children of Esau. When Daniel saw the vision of the four beasts, he saw first the children of Ham, the seed of Nimrod, which the Babylonians are; and second, the Persians and Medes, who are the children of Japhet; and third, the Greeks, the brothers of the Medes; and fourth, the children of Shem, which the children of Esau are. For a confederacy was formed between the children of Japhet and the children of Shem. Then the government was taken away from the children of Japhet, the younger, and was given to Shem, the elder; and to this day it continues and will continue for ever. But when the time of the consummation of the dominion of the children of Shem shall have come, the ruler, who came forth from the children of Judah, shall receive the kingdom, when he shall come in his second advent. DEMONSTRATIONS 5.10.

ALEXANDER. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: 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.

THE FOURTH EMPIRE. JEROME: The fourth empire is the Roman Empire, which now occupies the entire world. . . . The Hebrews believe that the beast that is here not named is the one spoken of in the Psalms: “A boar from the forest laid her waste, and a strange wild animal consumed her.” Instead of this the Hebrews read, “All the beasts of the field have torn her.” While they are all included in the one empire of the Romans, we recognize at the same time those kingdoms that were previously separate. And as for the next statement . . . “devouring and crushing and pounding all the rest to pieces under his feet,” this signifies that all nations have either been slain by the Romans or else have been subjected to tribute and servitude. COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7.7.

ANTICHRIST SHALL APPEAR SUDDENLY IN THE TEN HORNS. HIPPOLYTUS: As the prophet said already of the leopard, that the beast had four heads and that was fulfilled, and Alexander’s kingdom was divided into four principalities, so also now we ought to look for the ten horns that are to spring from it, when the time of the beast shall be fulfilled, and the little horn, which is antichrist, shall appear suddenly in their midst, and righteousness shall be banished from the earth, and the whole world shall reach its consummation. So we ought not to anticipate the counsel of God but exercise patience and prayer that we do not fall on such times. We should not, however, refuse to believe that these things will come to pass. For if the things that the prophets predicted in former times have not been realized, then we need not look for these things. But if those former things did happen in their proper seasons, as was foretold, these things also shall certainly be fulfilled. SCHOLIA ON DANIEL 7.7.

TEN SUCCEEDING KINGS. JEROME: Porphyry assigned the last two beasts, that of the Macedonians and that of the Romans, to the one realm of the Macedonians and divided them up as follows. He claimed that the leopard was Alexander himself and that the beast that was dissimilar to the others represented the four successors of Alexander, and then he enumerates ten kings up to the time of Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, and who were very cruel. And he did not assign the kings themselves to separate kingdoms, for example, Macedon, Syria, Asia or Egypt, but rather he made out the various kingdoms a single realm consisting of a series. This he did of course in order that the words which were written: “a mouth uttering overweening boasts” might be considered as spoken about Antiochus instead of about antichrist. COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7.7.

IRON TEETH. CHRYSOSTOM: Then he tells that the fourth beast would arrive in all sorts of different ways and nothing could be compared with it, it was so different. But at last it conquered all the other kingdoms. The other empires all got their strength from the speed by which they conquered, but this beast would have its strength in its teeth, made of iron. “And he trampled the rest with his feet.” He understands many wars. COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7.

THE METAPHORS. CHRYSOSTOM: When scripture wishes to expound on the kingdoms, it uses the metaphor of beasts. A kingdom is an incorporeal object; therefore, some type of body has to be ascribed to it. And was it not fitting to describe kingdoms as beasts? Most certainly. For since the qualities of those kingdoms exist chiefly in those beasts, so he found them useful. He wished to show fierce arrogance and luxury, and he made use of a lioness. He wished to show slowness, and he made use of a bear. He wished to show speed and briskness and such as would overthrow all empires by its wars; thus he introduced a leopard. Look how earlier he had seen a beautiful sea, which represented the whole earth. For the world is filled with so many tumults and is stirred up in the same way that the sea is stirred up, although the sea is filled with fish, not humans. Christ even declares this to be the case, namely, that the present life is the sea, when he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet thrown into the sea, which brings together fish of every kind.” “And behold,” Daniel says, “the four winds of the heavens rushed on the great sea.” He declares that those beasts then went forth from there, and so he shows the swiftness of divine providence. For when we talk about speed, we introduce the figure of the winds. Daniel says that the winds rushed on the sea and the beasts emerged from the sea, for our leaders partake of our nature. So he often calls a king “a lion,” wishing to show its royal dignity and yet its feral nature. Or he does so because that wind is an easterly one, this wind is a northerly one, and yet another is a southerly one. It is as if someone had said, “He overturns the sea; the winds from the sky have stirred it up.” COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7.7.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE. HIPPOLYTUS: That there has arisen no other kingdom after that of the Greeks except that which stands sovereign at present is manifest to all. This one has iron teeth, because it subdues and reduces all by its strength, just as iron does. And the rest it did tread with its feet, for there is no other kingdom remaining after this one, but from it will spring ten horns. SCHOLIA ON DANIEL 7.7.

THE FOURTH BEAST. THEODORET OF CYR: He calls the Roman Empire “the fourth beast,” but he does not give it a name because the Roman state was forged together from very many nations and so acquired mastery over the whole world. First it was governed by kings, then by the people, then by the aristocracy, and at last it returned to the first mode of government, monarchy. He states that this beast is “fearsome and very awe-inspiring,” because this was the mightiest kingdom of all the other kingdoms. And in the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw, he put down the fourth metal as iron. Just as iron crushes and breaks everything, so this empire would crush and break everything. COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7.7.