Daniel’s confession and prayer: Gabriel informs him concerning the seventy weeks to the coming of Christ.
Daniel confessing that they are iustly afflicted for their sinnes, 15. prayeth for speedie mercie. 20. An Angel signifieth to him, that within seuentie wekes of yeares, Christ wil come; 26. and be slayne; his people the Iewes denying him, whom he wil therfore reiect.
1In the first year of Darius, the son of Assuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans:L'anno primo di Dario figliuolo di Assuero della stirpe de' Medi, il quale governò il regno de' Caldei.IN the first yeare of Darius the sonne of Assuerus of the seede of the Medes, who reigned ouer the kingdom of the Chaldees:In anno primo Darii filii Assueri de semine Medorum, qui imperavit super regnum Chaldæorum, 2The first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, concerning which the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, the prophet, that seventy years should be accomplished of the desolation of Jerusalem.Il primo anno del regno di lui, io Daniele considerai ne' libri il numero degli anni, di cui parlò il Signore a Geremia profeta, che dovean essere settanta anni completi della desolazione di Gerusalemme,the first yeare of his kingdom, I Daniel vnderstood in bookes the number of the yeares, wherof the word of our Lord was made to Ieremie the prophete, that seuentie yeares should be accomplished of the desolation of Ierusalem.anno uno regni ejus, ego Daniel intellexi in libris numerum annorum, de quo factus est sermo Domini ad Jeremiam prophetam, ut complerentur desolationis Jerusalem septuaginta anni. 3And I set my face to the Lord, my God, to pray and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.E rivolsi la mia faccia al Signore Dio mio per pregarlo, e supplicarlo ne' digiuni, nel cilizio, e nella cenere;And I sette my face to our Lord my God to pray and besech in fastinges, sackcloth, and ashes.Et posui faciem meam ad Dominum Deum meum rogare et deprecari in jejuniis, sacco, et cinere. 4And I prayed to the Lord, my God, and I made my confession, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord God, great and terrible, who keepest the covenant, and mercy to them that love thee, and keep thy commandments.E feci orazione al Signore Dio mio, e a lui diedi laude, e dissi: Invoco te, Signore, Dio grande, e terribile, che mantieni il patto, e la misericordia con que', che ti amano, e osservano i tuoi comandamenti:And I prayed our Lord my God, and I confessed, and said: I besech thee ô Lord God great and terrible, which keepest couenant, & mercie to them that loue thee, and keepe thy commandements.Et oravi Dominum Deum meum, et confessus sum, et dixi: Obsecro, Domine Deus magne et terribilis, custodiens pactum, et misericordiam diligentibus te, et custodientibus mandata tua:
5We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and have revolted: and we have gone aside from thy commandments, and thy judgments.Noi abbiam peccato, abbiam commessa l'iniquità, abbiamo operato empiamente, e ci siamo tirati indietro, e siamo usciti della strada de' tuoi comandamenti, e de' tuoi giudizj:We haue sinned, we haue done iniquitie, we haue dealt impiously, and haue reuolted. & we haue declined from thy commandments, and iudgements.peccavimus, iniquitatem fecimus, impie egimus, et recessimus: et declinavimus a mandatis tuis ac judiciis. 6We have not hearkened to thy servants, the prophets, that have spoken in thy name to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, and to all the people of the land.Non abbiamo ubbidito a' tuoi servi, i profeti, i quali in nome tuo parlarono a nostri regi, e a' nostri principi, e a' padri nostri, e a tutto il popolo della terra.We haue not obeyed thy seruants the prophets, that haue spoken in thy name to our kinges, to our princes, to our fathers, and to al the people of the land.Non obedivimus servis tuis prophetis, qui locuti sunt in nomine tuo regibus nostris, principibus nostris, patribus nostris, omnique populo terræ. 7To thee, O Lord, justice: but to us confusion of face, as at this day to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, to them that are near, and to them that are far off, in all the countries whither thou hast driven them, for their iniquities, by which they have sinned against thee.A te, o Signore, la giustizia, ma a noi il rossore del volto, come avvien ora agli uomini di Giuda, e agli abitatori di Gerusalemme, ed a tutto Israele, a que' che sono dappresso, e a que' che sono lontani in tutti i luoghi, dove tu gli hai dispersi pelle loro colpe, colle quali han peccato contro di te:To thee ô Lord, iustice: but to vs confusion of face, as is to day to the man of Iuda, and to the inhabiters of Ierusalem, and to al Israel, to them that are nere, and to them that are farre of in al the landes, to which thou hast cast them out, for their iniquities in which they haue sinned against thee.Tibi, Domine, justitia: nobis autem confusio faciei, sicut est hodie viro Juda, et habitatoribus Jerusalem, et omni Israël, his qui prope sunt, et his qui procul in universis terris, ad quas ejecisti eos propter iniquitates eorum, in quibus peccaverunt in te. 8O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our princes, and to our fathers, that have sinned.A noi, Signore, il rossore del volto a nostri regi, a' nostri principi, e a padri nostri, i quali peccarono;O Lord, to vs confusion of face, to our princes, & to our fathers that haue sinned.Domine, nobis confusio faciei, regibus nostris, principibus nostris, et patribus nostris, qui peccaverunt.
9But to thee, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness, for we have departed from thee:Ma a te, Signore Dio nostro, misericordia, e propiziazione; perchè noi ci ritirammo da te,But to thee Lord our God mercie and propiciation, because we haue reuolted from the:Tibi autem Domino Deo nostro misericordia et propitiatio, quia recessimus a te, 10And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, our God, to walk in his law, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets.E non abbiamo ascoltata la voce del Signore Dio nostro, per camminare nella sua legge data a noi da' servi di lui, i Profeti.and haue not heard the voice of the Lord our God, to walke in his law, which he gaue vs by his seruants the prophetes.et non audivimus vocem Domini Dei nostri ut ambularemus in lege ejus, quam posuit nobis per servos suos prophetas. 11And all Israel have transgressed thy law, and have turned away from hearing thy voice, and the malediction, and the curse, which is written in the book of Moses, the servant of God, is fallen upon us, because we have sinned against him.E tutto quanto Israele è stato prevaricatore della tua legge, e si è sviato per non udir la tua voce, ed è piovuta sopra di noi la maledizione, e l'anatema, che sta scritto nel libro di Mosè servo di Dio, perchè noi abbiam peccato contro di lui.And al Israel haue transgressed thy law, and haue declined from hearing thy voice, and the malediction hath distilled vpon vs, & the detestation, which is written in the booke of Moyses the seruant of God, because we haue sinned to him.Et omnis Israël prævaricati sunt legem tuam, et declinaverunt ne audirent vocem tuam: et stillavit super nos maledictio et detestatio quæ scripta est in libro Moysi servi Dei, quia peccavimus ei. 12And he hath confirmed his words which he spoke against us, and against our princes that judged us, that he would bring in upon us a great evil, such as never was under all the heaven, according to that which hath been done in Jerusalem.Ed egli ha adempiuta la parola pronunziata da lui sopra di noi, e sopra i principi nostri, che ci reggevano, mandando sopra di noi un male grande, qual mai non fu sotto il cielo, e quale è avvenuto a Gerusalemme;And he hath established his wordes, which he spake vpon vs, and vpon our princes, that iudged vs, that he would bring in vpon vs a great euil, such as neuer was vnder al the heauen, according to that which hath bene done in Iersalem.Et statuit sermones suos, quos locutus est super nos et super principes nostros, qui judicaverunt nos, ut superinduceret in nos magnum malum, quale numquam fuit sub omni cælo, secundum quod factum est in Jerusalem.
13As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: and we entreated not thy face, O Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and think on thy truth.Secondo che era scritto nella legge di Mosè, tutto questo male è venuto sopra di noi: e noi non siamo ricorsi a te, o Signore Dio nostro, per ritrarci dalle nostre iniquità, e meditare la tua verità.As it is written in the law of Moyses, al this euil is come vpon vs: and we besought not thy face ô Lord our God, that we might returne from our iniquities, & might thinke on thy truth.Sicut scriptum est in lege Moysi, omne malum hoc venit super nos: et non rogavimus faciem tuam, Domine Deus noster, ut reverteremur ab iniquitatibus nostris, et cogitaremus veritatem tuam. 14And the Lord hath watched upon the evil, and hath brought it upon us: the Lord, our God, is just in all his works which he hath done: for we have not hearkened to his voice.E il Signore fu vigilante al gastigo, e lo fe' cadere sopra di noi: giusto il Signore Dio nostro in tutte le opere, ch'egli ha fatte: perocché noi non ascoltammo la sua voce.And our Lord hath watched vpon the malice, and hath brought it vpon vs: iust is the Lord our God in al his workes, which he hath done: for we haue not heard his voice.Et vigilavit Dominus super malitiam, et adduxit eam super nos. Justus Dominus Deus noster in omnibus operibus suis, quæ fecit: non enim audivimus vocem ejus. 15And now, O Lord, our God, who hast brought forth thy people out of the land of Egypt, with a strong hand, and hast made thee a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity,E ora, Signore Dio nostro, che traesti il tuo popolo dall'Egitto con mano forte, e facesti a te un nome, qual tu l'hai adesso, noi abbiam peccato, abbiam commessa l'iniquità.And now ô Lord our God, which broughtest forth thy people out of the Land of Aegypt in a strong hand, & madst thee a name according to this day: we haue sinned, we haue done iniquitie.Et nunc Domine Deus noster, qui eduxisti populum tuum de terra Ægypti in manu forti, et fecisti tibi nomen secundum diem hanc: peccavimus, iniquitatem fecimus. 16O Lord, against all thy justice: let thy wrath and thy indignation be turned away, I beseech thee, from thy city, Jerusalem, and from thy holy mountain. For by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and thy people, are a reproach to all that are round about us.Signore, per tutta la tua giustizia io ti prego, rimuovi l'ira, e il furor tuo dalla tua città, Gerusalemme, e dal tuo monte santo; imperocché per ragion de' nostri peccati, e pelle iniquità de' padri nostri, Gerusalemme, e il popol tuo sono lo scherno di tutti quegli, che ci stanno all'intorno.O Lord according to al thy iustice, but let thy wrath be turned away I besech thee, and thy furie from thy citie Ierusalem, & from thy holie mount. For by reason of our sinnes, and the iniquities of our fathers, Ierusalem, and thy people are a reproch to al round about vs.Domine, in omnem justitiam tuam avertatur, obsecro, ira tua et furor tuus a civitate tua Jerusalem, et monte sancto tuo. Propter peccata enim nostra, et iniquitates patrum nostrorum, Jerusalem et populus tuus in opprobrium sunt omnibus per circuitum nostrum.
17Now, therefore, O our God, hear the supplication of thy servant, and his prayers: and shew thy face upon thy sanctuary, which is desolate, for thy own sake.Adesso adunque esaudisci, o Dio nostro, l'orazione del tuo servo, e le sue suppliche; e per te medesimo mostra ilare la tua faccia sopra il tuo santuario, che è deserto.Now therfore heare ô our God the petition of thy seruant, & his prayers: and shew thy face vpon thy sanctuarie, which is desert, for thyne owne sake.Nunc ergo exaudi, Deus noster, orationem servi tui, et preces ejus: et ostende faciem tuam super sanctuarium tuum, quod desertum est propter temetipsum. 18Incline, O my God, thy ear, and hear: open thy eyes, and see our desolation, and the city upon which thy name is called: for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before thy face, but for the multitude of thy tender mercies.Porgi, Dio mio, il tuo orecchio, ed ascolta, apri gli occhi tuoi, e mira la nostra desolazione, e la città, che ha avuto nome da te: imperocché sulla fidanza non della nostra giustizia, ma delle molte tue misericordie queste preci umiliamo davanti alla tua faccia,Incline my God thine eare, & heare: open thine eyes, and see our desolation, & the citie vpon which thy name is inuocated: for neither in our iustifications doe we prostrate prayers before thy face, but in thy manie commiserations.Inclina, Deus meus, aurem tuam, et audi: aperi oculos tuos, et vide desolationem nostram, et civitatem super quam invocatum est nomen tuum: neque enim in justificationibus nostris prosternimus preces ante faciem tuam, sed in miserationibus tuis multis. 19O Lord, hear: O Lord, be appeased: hearken, and do: delay not, for thy own sake, O my God: because thy name is invocated upon thy city, and upon thy people.Esaudisci, o Signore, placati, o Signore: mira, ed opera; per amor di te stesso, non esser lento, Dio mio, perchè la città, e il popol tuo hanno nome da te.Heare ô Lord, be pacified ô Lord: attend & doe, delay not for thine owne sake my God: because thy name is inuocated vpon thy citie, & vpon thy people.Exaudi, Domine; placare Domine: attende et fac: ne moreris propter temetipsum, Deus meus, quia nomen tuum invocatum est super civitatem et super populum tuum. 20Now while I was yet speaking, and praying, and confessing my sins, and the sins of my people of Israel, and presenting my supplications in the sight of my God, for the holy mountain of my God:E mentr'io tuttor parlava, e ora va, e confessava i peccati miei, e i peccati del mio popolo d'Israele, e umiliava le mie preghiere al cospetto del mio Dio a favore del monte santo del mio Dio,And when I yet spake, & prayed, and confessed my sinnes, and the sinnes of my people of Israel, and did prostrate my prayers in the sight of my God, for the holie mount of my God:Cumque adhuc loquerer, et orarem, et confiterer peccata mea, et peccata populi mei Israël, et prosternerem preces meas in conspectu Dei mei, pro monte sancto Dei mei:
21As I was yet speaking in prayer, behold the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice.Mentr'io tuttora orando parlava, ecco che l'uomo, ch'io a principio avea veduto nella visione, Gabriele, subitamente volando mi toccò nel tempo del sacrifizio della sera,as I was yet speaking in prayer, loe the man Gabriel, whom I had sene in the vision from the beginning, quickly flying touched me in the time of the euening sacrifice.adhuc me loquente in oratione, ecce vir Gabriel, quem videram in visione a principio, cito volans tetigit me in tempore sacrificii vespertini. 22And he instructed me, and spoke to me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to teach thee, and that thou mightest understand.E m'istruì, e parlommi, e disse Daniele, io son venuto adesso per istruirti, e perchè tu abbi intelligenza.And he taught me, and spake to me, & sayd: Daniel now am I come forth to teach thee, and that thou mighst vnderstand.Et docuit me, et locutus est mihi, dixitque: Daniel, nunc egressus sum ut docerem te, et intelligeres. 23From the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: therefore, do thou mark the word, and understand the vision.L'ordine fu dato (a me) fin dal cominciamento di tua orazione, ed io sono venuto a dare a te cognizione; perocché tu se' uomo di desideri. Tu adunque bada alle (mie) parole, e com prendi la visione:From the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: and doe thou marke the word, and vnderstand the vision.Ab exordio precum tuarum egressus est sermo: ego autem veni ut indicarem tibi, quia vir desideriorum es: tu ergo animadverte sermonem, et intellige visionem. 24Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the saint of saints may be anointed.Sono state fissate settanta settimane pel popol tuo, e per la tua città santa, affinchè la prevaricazione sia tolta, ed abbia fine il peccato, e sia cancellata l'iniquità, e venga la giustizia sempiterna, ed abbia adempimento la visione, e la profezia, e riceva l'unzione il Santo de' santi.Seuentie weekes are abbridged vpon thy people, & vpon thy holie citie, that preuarication may be consummate, and sinne take an end, & iniquitie be abolished; and euerlasting iustice be brought; & vision be accomplished, and prophecie; & the Holie one of holies be anointed.Septuaginta hebdomades abbreviatæ sunt super populum tuum et super urbem sanctam tuam, ut consummetur prævaricatio, et finem accipiat peccatum, et deleatur iniquitas, et adducatur justitia sempiterna, et impleatur visio et prophetia, et ungatur Sanctus sanctorum.
25Know thou, therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ, the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls, in straitness of times.Sappi adunque, e nota attentamente: Da quando uscirà l'editto per la riedificazione di Gerusalemme fino al Cristo principe vi saranno sette settimane, e sessantadue settimane: e saran di nuovo edificate le piazze, e le muraglie in tempo di angustia.Know therfore, & marke: From the going forth of the word, that Ierusalem be built againe, vnto Christ the prince, there shal be seuen weekes, & sixtie two weekes, & the streete shal be built againe, & the walles in straitnes of the times.Scito ergo, et animadverte: ab exitu sermonis, ut iterum ædificetur Jerusalem, usque ad christum ducem, hebdomades septem, et hebdomades sexaginta duæ erunt: et rursum ædificabitur platea, et muri in angustia temporum. 26And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people, with their leader, that shall come, shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation.E dopo sessantadue settimane il Cristo sarà ucciso, e non sarà più suo il popolo, che lo rinnegherà. E la città, e il santuario sarà distrutto da un popolo con un condottiere, che verrà, e la sua fine sarà la devastazione, e dopo che la guerra avrà fine, sarà la desolazione stabilita.And after sixty two weekes Christ shal be slaine: and it shal not be his people, that shal denie him. And the city, & the sanctuary shal the people dissipate with the prince to come: & the end therof waste, & after the end of the battel the appoynted desolation.Et post hebdomades sexaginta duas occidetur christus: et non erit ejus populus qui eum negaturus est. Et civitatem et sanctuarium dissipabit populus cum duce venturo: et finis ejus vastitas, et post finem belli statuta desolatio. 27And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end.Ei confermerà il testamento con molti in una settimana, e alla metà della settimana verran meno le ostie, e sagrifizj, e sarà nel tempio l'abbominazione della desolazione, e la desolazione durerà sino alla consumazione, e sino al fine.And he wil confirme the couenant to manie, one weeke: and in the halfe of the weeke shal the hoste & the sacrifice fayle: and there shal be in the temple the abomination of desolation: & euen to the consummation, and to the end shal the desolation endure.Confirmabit autem pactum multis hebdomada una: et in dimidio hebdomadis deficiet hostia et sacrificium: et erit in templo abominatio desolationis: et usque ad consummationem et finem perseverabit desolatio.
9:1
Year of the World 3467, Year before Christ 537.
Haydock
Darius, the Mede, Daniel 5:31. If his reign had commenced at the same time with that of Cyrus, at Babylon, as it is commonly supposed, Daniel would have been under no anxiety respecting the people's liberation, as it took place that year, (Calmet) though perhaps not at the commencement. (Haydock)
Calmet
Cyrus had now ruled over the Persians above two years, so that the first of Darius at Babylon agrees with the third of his reign over his countrymen, Daniel 10. (Calmet)
Worthington
Assuerus, or Achasuerus, is not a proper name, but means "a great prince." (Worthington)
9:2
Calmet
Jerusalem. He read attentively the sacred volumes, particularly the prophecy of Jeremias 25:11.; Jeremias 29:10. Knowing that many predictions were conditional, he was afraid lest this might be so; notwithstanding a part of it seemed to be verified by the death of Baltassar. (Calmet)
Worthington
Darius had reigned in Persia before. He only ruled part of a year, at Babylon, the 70th of the captivity, 2 Paralipomenon 36:22. Daniel perceiving that the time of the Jews' deliverance was at hand, prayed with great zeal and confidence. (Worthington)
9:4
Calmet
Covenant. God never breaks it first. (Calmet)
Council of Trent
Deus sua gratia semel justificatos non deserit, nisi ab eis prius diseratur. (Council of Trent, Session 6:11.)
9:9
Mercy. Thou art just, (ver. 7.) and sovereignly merciful. He speaks in the name of all. Some had continued faithful; but the number was comparatively inconsiderable, ver. 11.)
9:11
Fallen, by drops, (stillavit. Deuteronomy 27:13. etc.; Haydock) like an inundation.
9:13
Truth, in executing thy promises and menaces.
9:16
Against. Hebrew, "according to."
Calmet
Justice. Septuagint, "mercy." Let not the enemy boast that he has ruined thy temple, etc., ver. 17. (Calmet)
9:21
The man Gabriel. The angel Gabriel in the shape of a man. (Challoner) (Chap. 8:16.)
9:23
Worthington
Desires. His zeal and mortification merit this title. (Worthington)
Calmet
He was an object of God's love. (St. Jerome) (Chap. 10:11. and 11:8.) (Calmet)
9:24
Challoner
Seventy weeks (viz. of years, or seventy times seven, that is, 490 years) are shortened; that is, fixed and determined, so that the time shall be no longer. (Challoner)
Calmet
This is not a conditional prophecy. Daniel was solicitous to know when the seventy years of Jeremias would terminate. But something of far greater consequence is revealed to him, (Worthington) even the coming and death of the Messias, four hundred and ninety years after the order for rebuilding the walls should be given, (Calmet) at which period Christ would redeem the world, (Worthington) and abolish the sacrifices of the law. (Calmet)
Finished, or arrive at its height by the crucifixion of the Son of God; (Theod.) or rather sin shall be forgiven. Hebrew, "to finish crimes to seal (cover or remit) sins, and to expiate iniquity."
Worthington
Anointed. Christ is the great anointed of God, the source of justice, and the end of the law and of the prophets, (Acts 10:38.; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 10:4.; Calmet) as well as the pardoner of crimes. These four characters belong only to Christ. (Worthington)
9:25
Challoner
Word, etc. That is, from the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, when, by his commandment, Nehemias rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, 2 Esdras 2:From which time, according to the best chronology, there were just sixty-nine weeks of years, that is 483 years, to the baptism of Christ, when he first began to preach and execute the office of Messias. (Challoner)
Theod
The prophecy is divided into three periods: the first of forty-nine years, during which the walls were completed; (they had been raised in fifty-two days, (2 Esdras 6:15.) but many other fortifications were still requisite) the second of four hundred and thirty-four years, at the end of which Christ was baptized, in the fifteenth of Tiberius, the third of three years and a half, during which Christ preached. In the middle of this last week, the ancient sacrifices became useless, (Calmet) as the true Lamb of God had been immolated. (Theod.)
Ven. Bede
A week of years denotes seven years, as Leviticus xxv. and thus seventy of these weeks would make four hundred and ninety years. (Ven. Bede, Rat. temp. 6 etc.; Worthington)
Calmet
Origen would understand 4900 years, and dates from the fall of Adam to the ruin of the temple. Marsham begins twenty-one years after the captivity commenced, when Darius took Susa, and ends in the second of Judas, when the temple was purified. This system would destroy the prediction of Christ's coming, and is very uncertain. Hardouin modifies it, and acknowledges that Christ was the end of the prophecy, though it was fulfilled in figure by the death of Onias 3:See 1 Machabees 1:19; Senens. Bib. viii. haer. 12; and Estius. From Daniel 7. to xii., the changes in the East, till the time of Epiphanes, are variously described. After the angel had here addressed Daniel, the latter was still perplexed; (Chap. 10:1.) and in order to remove his doubts, the angel informs him of the persecution of Epiphanes, as if he had been speaking of the same event. We may, therefore, count forty-nine years from the taking of Jerusalem (when Jeremias spoke, Daniel 5:19.) to Cyrus, the anointed, (Isaias 45:1.) who was appointed to free God's people. They should still be under the Persians, etc., for other four hundred and thirty-four years, and then Onias should be slain. Many would join the Machabees; the sacrifices should cease in the middle of the seventieth week, and the desolation shall continue to the end of it. Yet, though this system may seem plausible, it is better to stick to the common one, which naturally leads us to the death of Christ, dating from the tenth year of Artaxerxes. (Calmet)
Petau
He had reigned ten years already with his father. (Petau.)
Calmet
All the East was persuaded that a great king should arise about the time; when our Saviour actually appeared, and fulfilled all that had been spoken of the Messias. (Calmet, Diss.)
Watson
Ferguson says, "We have an astronomical demonstration of the truth of this ancient prophecy, seeing that the prophetic year of the Messias being cut off was the very same with the astronomical." In a dispute between a Jew and a Christian, at Venice, the Rabbi who presided....put an end to the business by saying, "Let us shut up our Bibles; for if we proceed in the examination of this prophecy, it will make us all become Christians." (Watson, let. 6.)
Calmet
Hence probably the Jews denounce a curse on those who calculate the times, (Haydock) and they have purposely curtailed their chronology. (Calmet)
Challoner
Times, etc. (angustia temporum) which may allude both to the difficulties and opposition they met with in building, and to the shortness of the time in which they finished the wall, viz. fifty-two days. (Challoner)
9:26
Calmet
Weeks, or four hundred and thirty-eight years, which elapsed from the twentieth of Artaxerxes to the death of Christ, according to the most exact chronologists. (Calmet)
Haydock
Slain. Protestants, "cut off, but not for himself, and the people of the prince that," etc. (Haydock)
Calmet
St. Jerome and some manuscripts read, Christus, et non erit ejus. The sense is thus suspended. The Jews lose their prerogative of being God's people. (Calmet)
St. Jerome
Christ will not receive them again. (St. Jerome)
Theod
Greek: "the unction shall be destroyed, and there shall not be judgment in him." The priesthood and royal dignity is taken from the Jews. (Theod.)
Calmet
The order of succession among the high priests was quite deranged, while the country was ruled by the Romans, and by Herod, a foreigner. (Calmet)
Challoner
Leader. The Romans under Titus. (Challoner; Calmet)
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Calmet
Many. Christ seems to allude to this passage, Matthew 26:28. He died for all; but several of the Jews particularly, would not receive the proffered grace. (Calmet)
Challoner
Of the week, or in the middle of the week, etc. Because Christ preached three years and a half: and then, by his sacrifice upon the cross, abolished all the sacrifices of the law. (Challoner)
Calmet
Temple. Hebrew, "the wing," (Calmet) or pinnacle, (Haydock) the highest part of the temple. (Calmet)
Challoner
Desolation. Some understand this of the profanation of the temple by the crimes of the Jews, and by the bloody faction of the zealots. Others, of the bringing in thither the ensigns and standard of the pagan Romans. Others, in fine, distinguish three different times of desolation: viz. that under Antiochus; that when the temple was destroyed by the Romans; and the last near the end of the world, under antichrist. To all which, as they suppose, this prophecy may have a relation. (Challoner)
Haydock
Protestants, "For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation; and that determined, shall be poured upon the desolate." (Haydock)
Calmet
The ruin shall be entire. (Calmet)
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The man Gabriel.... The angel Gabriel in the shape of a man.
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Man of desires.... that is, ardently praying for the Jews then in captivity.
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Seventy weeks.... Viz., of years, (or seventy times seven, that is, 490 years,) are shortened; that is, fixed and determined, so that the time shall be no longer.
9:25
From the going forth of the word, etc.... That is, from the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, when by his commandment Nehemias rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, 2 Esd. 2. From which time, according to the best chronology, there were just sixty-nine weeks of years, that is, 483 years to the baptism of Christ, when he first began to preach and execute the office of Messias.—Ibid. In straitness of times ... angustia temporum: which may allude both to the difficulties and opposition they met with in building: and to the shortness of the time in which they finished the wall, viz., fifty-two days.
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A people with their leader.... The Romans under Titus.
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In the half of the week.... or, in the middle of the week, etc. Because Christ preached three years and a half: and then by his sacrifice upon the cross abolished all the sacrifices of the law.—Ibid. The abomination of desolation.... Some understand this of the profanation of the temple by the crimes of the Jews, and by the bloody faction of the zealots. Others of the bringing in thither the ensigns and standard of the pagan Romans. Others, in fine, distinguish three different times of desolation: viz., that under Antiochus; that when the temple was destroyed by the Romans; and the last near the end of the world under Antichrist. To all which, as they suppose, this prophecy may have a relation.
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Assuerus, or achasuerus, not a proper name signifieth a great prince, or head of people.
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Darius had reigned in Persia before this time, but this vvas the first yeare of his reigne ouer the Chaldees, & also the last, neither did he reigne a ful yeare: for Cyrus reigned some part of the seuentith yeare of the Ievves captiuitie in Babylon: in vvhich also Baltassar vvas slaine Ier. 25. v. 12. & Ier. 29. v. 10. 2 Par. 36. v. 22.
Daniel seing the seuentith yeare of captiuitie vvas comen, in vvhich God promised to deliuer his people. Ier. 29. v. 10 prayed vvith great zele, & confidence for their release.
Concordance Iere. 29. v. 10.
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Concordance Deut 17. v. 14.
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This singular deuotion with austere works of penance & zele of his countrie merited this commendable title to be called the man of desires.
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And vvheras the prayed particularly for the release of the Ievves from captiuitie of Babylon a farre greater thing is promised and reueled to him, that within seuentie vvekes of yeares (that is. ••. yeares) the Messias Christ vvil come and redeme mankinde from captiuitie of finne and the diuel.
These foure thinges (v. 24) Forgeuenes of sinnes; Infusion of iustice; Fulfilling of prophecies; & Annoiated Holie of holies agree only to Christ.
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Hebd•mas or Septenarius signifying seuen, vnderstood of dayes importeth a weeke: of yeares (as Leui. 25) seuen yeares so seuentie vveekes 490. yeares. S Bed. li. de rat. temp. c. 6. 7. 8.
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truble some 〈◊〉
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••at. 24.
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Fasting 10
… But withal Daniel, in the first year of King Darius, when, fasting in sackcloth and ashes, he was doing exomologesis to God, said: “And while I was still speaking in prayer, behold, the man whom I had seen in dreams at the beginning, swiftly flying, approached me, as it were, at the hour of the evening sacrifice.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 12.19
… Now three score and nine weeks of years contain four hundred and eighty-three years. He said, therefore, that after the building of Jerusalem, four hundred and eighty-three years having passed, and the rulers having failed, then cometh a certain king of another race, in whose time the Christ is to be born. Now Darius the Mede
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 111.4
… for we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do: defer not, for Thine own sake, O my God; for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name. And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people…”
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lapsed 31
… we have transgressed, and departed from Thy precepts, and from Thy judgments; neither have we hearkened to the words of Thy servants the prophets, which they spake in Thy name to our kings, and to all the nations, and to all the earth. O Lord, righteousness belongs unto Thee, but unto us confusion.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.19
149. Lastly, it followeth, “Thou art nigh at hand, O Lord, and all Thy ways are truth” ( ver. 151 ). Even in their troubles, it hath been a wonted confession of the saints, to ascribe truth unto God, because they suffer them not undeservedly. So did Queen Esther, so did holy Daniel,
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 16.12
… This is what I feel I must say as to my fears, thus have I been pained by this blow, and this, I will further tell you, is my prayer. We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly,
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
Dan. ix. 5 . “We have sinned and dealt perversely,” which is shown by
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 92.4
… No. But when it is well, praise His mercy: when ill, praise His truth: because He scourgeth sins, He is not unjust.…During the night Daniel confessed the truth of God: he said in his prayer, “We have sinned, and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee: but unto us confusion of face.”
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.2
14. Therefore we ought to believe that God is good, eternal, perfect, almighty, and true, such as we find Him in the Law and the Prophets, and the rest of the holy Scriptures, for otherwise there is no God. For He Who is God cannot but be good, seeing that fulness of goodness is of the nature of God:
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 30
… as, e.g., God giveth not the Spirit by measure, for as a matter of fact He does not give the Spirit to the Son, nor does He measure It, for God is not measured by God; or again, Not my transgression nor my sin. The words are not used because He has these things, but because He has them not. And again, Not for our righteousness which we have done,
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 2
Eran. —But he shall be told again how the divine Scripture, when speaking of God, mentions even parts of the body as “Incline thine ear and hear”
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
20 . “While I was yet praying,” etc., to be a personal, not only a national confession.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.106
… A man, therefore, of the highest righteousness, one of three conspicuous for righteousness, prays, and says, "While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.13
Daniel, indeed, after the prayer which he poured out before God, actually says respecting himself, “Whilst I was praying and confessing my sins, and the sins of my people, before the Lord my God.”
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St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Daniel 3
Chap. ix. 21 “And, behold, the man Gabriel…flying.” You see how the prophet likens the speed of the angels to a winged bird, on account of the light and rapid motion with which these spirits fly so quickly in discharge of orders.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 9.4
12. When shall I call to mind all that took place in those holidays? Yet neither have I forgotten, nor will I be silent about the severity of Thy scourge, and the amazing quickness of Thy mercy.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 3.11
… What then? Do they not see how hard pressed they are about these three men who appeared to Abraham, when it had been said before, “The Lord appeared to him?” Were they not angels because they are called men? Let them read Daniel, saying, “Behold the man Gabriel.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 56.4
… “All day long warring he hath troubled me,” every one that hath been put afar off from the saints. But why should not here be understood even the devil himself? Is it because mention is made of “man”? doth therefore the Gospel err, because it hath said, “A man that is an enemy hath done this”? But by a kind of figure may he also be called a man,
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Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 8
… and he shall destroy the pinnacle unto ruin.” Whence, therefore, do we show that the Christ came within the lxii and an half hebdomads? We shall count, moreover, from the first year of Darius, as at this particular time is shown to Daniel this particular vision; for he says, “And understand and conjecture that at the completion of thy word
Tertullian † AD 220 On Fasting 7
… For the angel, withal, sent to him, immediately professed this to be the cause of the Divine approbation: “I am come,” he said, “to demonstrate to thee, since thou art pitiable”
St Methodius † AD 311 From the Discourse on the Resurrection, Part III 2
XII. The transformation, he says, is the restoration into an impassible and glorious state. For now the body is a body of desire and of humiliation, and therefore Daniel was called “a man of desires.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.1
1. O man of God, and faithful servant, and steward of the mysteries of God, and man of desires
St Jerome † AD 420 Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus 2.25
I have received letters so long and eagerly desired from my dear Desiderius who, as if the future had been foreseen, shares his name with Daniel,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.9
… “Set bread and water,” he said, “before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” And Daniel, who might have had rich food from the king’s table, preferred the mower’s breakfast, brought to him by Habakkuk, which must have been but country fare. He was called “a man of desires,”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 47.2
2. I offer my congratulations to you and to your holy and revered sister, Serenilla, who, true to her name, has trodden down the troubled waves of the world, and has passed to Christ’s calm haven: a happiness which—if we may trust the augury of your name—is in store for you also. For we read that the holy Daniel was called “a man of desires,”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… Daniel and the three youths gained a good report by fasting, and although they were fed on pulse, they were fairer and wiser than they who ate the flesh from the king’s table. Then it is written that Daniel fasted for three weeks; he ate no pleasant bread; flesh and wine entered not his mouth; he was not anointed with oil; and the angel came to him saying,
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St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 4
… and let us hate the error of the present time, that we may set our love on the world to come: let us not give loose reins to our soul, that it should have power to run with sinners and the wicked, lest we become like them. The final stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch
St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 16
… Let us inquire, then, if there still is a temple of God. There is—where He himself declared He would make and finish it. For it is written, “And it shall come to pass, when the week is completed, the temple of God shall be built in glory in the name of the Lord.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Daniel 2.7
7. Since, then, the Persians held the mastery for 330 years,
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 On the Incarnation of the Word 24-2
… For this it is on which they are for ever harping, not blushing to brazen it out in the face of plain facts. 2. But on this one point, above all, they shall be all the more refuted, not at our hands, but at those of the most wise Daniel, who marks both the actual date, and the divine sojourn of the Saviour, saying: “Seventy
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
24 . The prophecy of the seventy weeks shows that the prophet looked to God alone for the establishment of righteousness.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 12.44
… Their holy place is thrown down, the sacrifice has ceased, and the priest, and the ancient anointing; which was all clearly foretold by Daniel when he prophesied of the anointing of the Most Holy.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.85
… He is the desire of nations." Not only the kingdom, but all government, of the Jews had ceased, and also, as prophesied by Daniel, the sacred anointing from which the name Christ or Anointed is derived. Then came He for whom it was reserved, the desire of nations; and the holy of holies was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows.
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Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1.5
… Even the place of His birth was predicted in the prophecies of Micah, who said, “And thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, art by no means small among the leaders of Judah: for out of thee shall come forth a Leader, who shall rule My people Israel.” The weeks of years, also, which the prophet Daniel had predicted, extending to the leadership of Christ,
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1-2.5
… The place also of His birth has been foretold in (the prophecies of) Micah: “For thou, Bethlehem,” he says, “land of Judah, art by no means the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Ruler, who shall rule My people Israel.” And according to Daniel, seventy weeks were fulfilled until (the coming of) Christ the Ruler.
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 12.19
… The Angel, therefore, who converses with Daniel says, and do thou now mark the words, And thou shalt know and understand: From the going forth of the word for making answer , and for the building of Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and three score and two weeks
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Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 8
Accordingly the times must be inquired into of the predicted and future nativity of the Christ, and of His passion, and of the extermination of the city of Jerusalem, that is, its devastation. For Daniel says, that “both the holy city and the holy place are exterminated together with the coming Leader, and that the pinnacle is destroyed unto ruin.”
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 13
… For, after His advent, we read, according to Daniel, that the city itself had to be exterminated; and we recognise that so it has befallen. For the Scripture says thus, that “the city and the holy place are simultaneously exterminated together with the leader ,”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 1.6.11
11. These things have been recorded by us in order to show that another prophecy has been fulfilled in the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ. For the Scripture, in the book of Daniel,
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 6.16.1
… He investigated also the works of other translators of the Sacred Scriptures besides the Seventy. And in addition to the well-known translations of Aquila, Symmachus,
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 17.10
… And when as yet He had not come, I beforehand have believed on Him; and through Him I worship the God of Israel. When He comes, will He then blame me because before His coming I beforehand believed on Him? But, thou fool, the prophets suffer thee not to say that Christ has not yet come; for Daniel confutes thee,
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.25.4
… “And in the midst of the week,” he says, “the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation [shall be brought] into the temple: even unto the consummation of the time shall the desolation be complete.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 Treatise on Christ and Antichrist 43
… Now Daniel will set forth this subject to us. For he says, “And one week will make a covenant with many, and it shall be that in the midst (half) of the week my sacrifice and oblation shall cease.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 A discourse by the most blessed Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, on the end of the world, and on Antichrist, and on the second coming of our lord Jesus Christ 21
… For he says, “I shall make a covenant of one week, and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and libation will be removed.” For by one week he indicates the showing forth of the seven years which shall be in the last times.
St Hippolytus † AD 235 A discourse by the most blessed Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, on the end of the world, and on Antichrist, and on the second coming of our lord Jesus Christ 25
… not knowing, miserable wretch, that his kingdom is to be quickly brought to nought, and that he will quickly have to meet the fire which is prepared for him, along with all who trust him and serve him. For when Daniel said, “I shall make my covenant for one week,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 6.46
… “And on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations, and at the end of the time an end shall be put to the desolation.”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 3.5.4
… sufferings endured by those that fled to Jerusalem itself, as to a city of perfect safety, and finally the general course of the whole war, as well as its particular occurrences in detail, and how at last the abomination of desolation, proclaimed by the prophets,
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 21.3
… And Sodom and her daughters, who were justified rather than Jerusalem, shall be built up as of old. And Jerusalem, that surpassed Sodom in her sins, shall continue in her sins, and shall remain in desolation until the accomplishment of the things determined for ever.
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 21.4
… And Jerusalem has been inhabited, after the Babylonians laid it waste, during those seventy weeks about which Daniel testified. Then it was laid waste in its last destruction by the Romans, and it shall not be inhabited again for ever, for it abideth in desolation until the accomplishment of the things determined .
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Persecution in Egypt 1
Terrible indeed, and worse than terrible are such proceedings; yet conduct suitable to him who assumes the character of Antichrist. Who that beheld him taking the lead of his pretended Bishops, and presiding in Ecclesiastical causes, would not justly exclaim that this was ‘the abomination of desolation
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 8.4
… where Elias came in the person of John, and is again to be the precursor of the Lord’s Advent: and in the matter of the “Abomination of desolation” which “stood in the holy place,” by means of that idol of Jupiter which, as we read, was placed in the temple in Jerusalem, and which is again to stand in the Church through the coming of Antichrist,
Pseudo-Clement The Recognitions of Clement 1.64
“‘For we,’ said I, ‘have ascertained beyond doubt that God is much rather displeased with the sacrifices which you offer, the time of sacrifices having now passed away; and because ye will not acknowledge that the time for offering victims is now past, therefore the temple shall be destroyed, and the abomination of desolation
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1. In the first year of Darius, — namely when, Babylon having been conquered, Darius began to reign as monarch, which was the year 70 and the last of the Babylonian captivity, and the same was the year of the world 3420; but before the birth of Christ it was the year 529. In this year therefore Daniel learned that these 70 weeks remained until Christ the leader, that is until the baptism of Christ. This Darius was a Mede, the son of Ahasuerus. Note: Ahasuerus, or, as it is in Chaldean, אחשורוש achasueros, is composed of אחש achas, that is great, and ורוש veros, that is head, that is to say, Great captain, great prince. Thus the Turks call their emperor the Great Lord, and the Tartars the Great Khan. And so Ahasuerus was not so much a proper name as a common title, which was appropriated to certain illustrious kings of the Medes and Persians. Hence first, the husband of Esther is called Ahasuerus. Second, Cambyses the son of Cyrus is called Ahasuerus, I Esdras IV, 6. Third, this Ahasuerus the father of Darius the Mede was Astyages, the grandfather of Cyrus, as I said in chapter v, 31.
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2. In the first year,—in the first year: for a cardinal number is used in the Hebrew manner for an ordinal. Note: Darius the Mede in the seventieth and final year of the Babylonian captivity, together with Cyrus, who was his nephew through his sister, or rather through Cyrus, conquered Babylon, and reigned in it for a single year: for, as that year was ending, Cyrus alone succeeded him, and in that same year he released the captivity of the Jews, as is evident from I Esdras I, 1. Therefore in this same year, a little before Cyrus would free the Jews, Daniel, seeing that the seventy years of captivity predicted by Jeremiah were now being fulfilled, and seeing that the end and release of the same were at hand, prays that God would complete His promises, and in this very seventieth year would free the Jews from captivity. God heard the prayers of the holy Prophet, and the man of desires, and not only grants what was requested, but moreover imparts to him a new consolation and revelation surpassing all hope, namely concerning Christ the leader and liberator who would come after seventy weeks. Thus God, who is magnificent in mercy, surpasses the pious prayers of His own, while His grace and beneficence exceed the merits and desires of those who beseech Him. Morally, learn here that the Church and the faithful often suffer persecutions from unbelievers on account of their sins: namely because, while existing in peace, they have declined into luxury, ambition, avarice, which God punishes and avenges through tyrants. Thus under the two Christian emperors Philip, the virtue and vigor of the faithful in peace grew weak: hence God sent Decius and Valerian, who by their persecution would stir it up and sharpen it. St. Cyprian teaches that this was the cause of that persecution, in his sermon On the Lapsed: "Because," he says, "the long peace had corrupted the discipline divinely handed down to us, and heavenly censure raised up faith lying down and almost sleeping. There was no devoted religion in the priests, no integrity of faith in the ministers, no mercy in works, no discipline in morals." Indeed he learned this very thing by divine revelation, as he himself relates in book IV, epistle 4: "It was shown," he says, "that the father of the household sat with a young man sitting at his right hand: and this young man, anxious and with a certain sorrowful indignation, sat holding his cheek in his hand with a sad face: but another standing on the left side carried a net, which he threatened to cast so as to capture the people standing around. And when he marveled what this was, it was said to him who saw: the young man who sat thus at the right hand was grieving and sorrowing because his precepts were not being observed: but that one on the left was exulting because he was given the opportunity to take power from the father of the household to rage. And we see it fulfilled I understood in the books,—I understood from reading Jeremiah, chapter xxv, 11, and chapter xxix, 10; for so great a Prophet did not disdain to read another. It is credible that the Jews, especially Daniel, diligently read Jeremiah in captivity, and longing for liberation, were accustomed to count and reckon each year, indeed each day and hour until the seventieth year when captivity was to be released. When therefore Daniel saw that the seventieth year was now at hand, and yet the Jews were not yet freed, he feared lest God on account of new sins of the Jews might postpone the time of liberation, and therefore he confesses his sins and those of his people, and from the depths of his heart he beseeches and implores God's mercy, that he might obtain pardon and freedom for his own. Seventy years.—Concerning these years, where they should begin and where end, I have spoken in Jeremiah xxix, 10.
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3. And I set my face toward the Lord,—I turned my face toward Jerusalem, and toward the temple, in which the Lord is accustomed to dwell. To pray and beseech,—that I might pray and beseech. In fastings, in sackcloth and ashes.—Daniel here for a grave cause offers prayers armed with fastings and hairclothes to God. "This force is pleasing to God," says Tertullian.
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4. I confessed,—both my sins and those of the people, and God's mercy, and I implored it. Thus the poor confess their misery and the mercy of the rich, and celebrate it, that they might obtain alms: for this is the art of praying and begging. The covenant and mercy,—that is the covenant mercifully made; or the mercy covenanted, that is promised by covenant: this is a hendiadys.
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5. We have sinned.—Note here the affection of penitence and humility, by which the holy prophet joins himself as it were to the sinning people, and confesses his own sins and those of his own from the deepest sense of his soul. Hence the Council of Milevis, canon VII, defines that even the Saints have and confess their own sins, not only those of the people: "The holy and just Daniel," it says, "did not wish to say our sins; but he said those of his people, and his own: because he foresaw these future ones (the Pelagians) who understand so badly, as a Prophet." Again St. Augustine appropriately in the Sentences, number 161: "Better," he says, "is the equanimity of the soul than the health of the body, and it is more fitting that the just man grieves in punishment than that he rejoiced in sin."
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7. To Thee, O Lord, justice (namely it belongs, Thou art just, and most justly dost Thou punish us for our sins); but to us (belongs and is owed) confusion of face, — we are suffused with shame, and our whole face blushes, while we behold our crimes as much as our scourges. The Septuagint translates: In Thee is our justice, but to us confusion of face. As it is today, — as today the thing itself demonstrates, that we pay the penalty of our crimes in this captivity. See Can. XXX. that had been shown. And this to us through a vision, dearest brethren, know that it is cast in our teeth, that we sleep in prayers, and do not pray watchfully." And below: "Say to him, let him be secure, because peace is coming. But also concerning scanty food and sober drink we are admonished by divine condescensions, namely lest the vigor of the heavenly gift, now sublime in the breast, be weakened by worldly allurement, or lest the mind, weighed down by more abundant feasts, awake less readily to prayers." In like manner Eusebius, lib. VIII Histor. I, assigns the cause of the persecution of Diocletian to the corrupted morals of the Ecclesiastics and laity, from long peace and liberty: "While, he says, we envy one another, while princes with princes, peoples with peoples stir up seditions and contentions, while simulation is on the face, deceit in the heart, falsehood is uttered in words, etc., the Lord hath darkened in His wrath the daughter of Sion, and hath cast down from heaven the glory of Israel."
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9. But to Thee, O Lord our God, mercy and propitiation, — to Thee namely it belongs, it befits Thee to have mercy upon us; because Thou art full of compassions, and we are most miserable, lacking all mercy: wherefore the abyss of our misery calls upon the abyss of Thy mercy. Come! pour forth the abyss of Thy mercy into the abyss of our misery, that that abyss of Thine may be celebrated by all. Because we have departed from Thee. — In Hebrew, because we have rebelled against Thee. He refers this to the foregoing verse 5; for he gives the reason why to them belongs confusion of face. Truly St. Augustine, sentence 187: "Well, he says, he runs to the remission of sins, who is displeased with himself: for before a just judge and merciful, he who accuses himself excuses himself."
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10. We did not hearken, — we did not obey the voice of the Lord. They turned away (their ears) that they might not hear Thy voice, — as if to say, Thy law they would not hear, nor listen to it.
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11. And there hath dripped (in Hebrew תתך tittach, that is, hath been poured forth) upon us a curse (which Thou didst threaten to us, Levit. xxvi, 16) and abomination, — that is, execration, which Moses imprecated upon those violating the law, Deuter. xxvii, 14. Our translator renders it, "hath dripped," because God, tempering His wrath with mercy, poured it forth drop by drop, according to Can. XLVIII.
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12. And He established His words. — "Established," that is, confirmed, by fulfilling and sending the plagues which He had threatened.
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13. And that we might consider Thy truth, — that we might study justice, that is, Thy law: for this is practical truth; or truth, that is, justice, of life.
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14. And the Lord watched over the evil, — over the affliction, that He might afflict and chastise us. Note a beautiful antithesis: the Jews had slumbered in their sins; but God watches, that He might hasten the penalties which He had threatened. Thus Jerem. cap. i, 11, he saw a rod watching; and Thren. i, 14, it is said: "The yoke of my iniquities hath watched," that is, captivity came quickly; which I deserved by my sins.
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15. And now, O Lord. — This is the second part of the prayer by which he implores the mercy of God through His former beneficence toward the Jews. According to this day, — as today we see Thee to have and retain such a name, that Thou didst gloriously deliver our fathers from Egypt.
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16. O Lord, against all Thy justice. — Supply, we have sinned, because we have violated all Thy justices, that is, Thy just laws. Secondly, "against," that is, according to, "all Thy justice," supply, we are punished, and we suffer justly these evils of captivity, so that these may be referred to the foregoing. But, because a new verse begins here, these are rather to be referred to what follows, as if to say, According to Thy mercy and faithfulness to us repenting, remit both guilt and penalty. Justice therefore here is the same as mercy. Thus Psalm. CXLII, 1, it is said: "Hear me in Thy justice," that is, mercy. Whence the Septuagint here translates: In Thy mercy let Thy wrath be turned away. Again justice is the same as faithfulness, by which God promised pardon to the penitent not on account of merits, but on account of His own clemency. Fourthly, Vatablus thus expounds: As Thou art just, so be also clement, and turn away Thy wrath from us. But the third sense is the genuine one.
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17. Show Thy face. — In Hebrew it is: Illuminate Thy face, that is, make it bright, serene, benign and friendly, look upon Thy temple, that Thou mayest restore it. For Thine own sake, — for Thy immense goodness and clemency, not for our merits, because Thou art most good and most clement, not because we deserve this grace.
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18. And the city upon which thy name is called. — Look kindly upon Jerusalem, which was and was called thy city, in which namely thou hadst a temple, as it were thy house and palace, in which thou wast worshipped and invoked.
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21. While I was yet speaking. — Note here the power of prayer: "Through the prayers of Daniel visions are revealed, flames are quenched, beasts become dull, enemies and foes are conquered," says St. Chrysostom, Sermon on Moses, vol. I. Furthermore, in order that thy prayer may be efficacious, and that God may do thy will, do thou first with Daniel fear God, and fulfill the will of God: for He himself will do the will of those who fear Him. Moses prayed to the Lord many times to remove the plagues from the Egyptians, and was heard, although they were wicked, Exodus vii, viii, ix and x. Why? because Moses did the will of God. After the adoration of the calf, the Lord seemed to wish to destroy the people; but Moses by the urgency of prayer obtained pardon for them, Exodus xxxii. When the children of Israel against the Philistines said to Samuel: "Cease not to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us out of the hand of the Philistines." And he cried to the Lord, and was heard, I Kings viii. When crowds rising up against Moses and Aaron perished by a fire divinely kindled, at the admonition of Moses Aaron offered incense, went forth into the midst, and when he had prayed, the flame stopped, the slaughter ceased, Numbers xvi. St. Wilfrid, Bishop of York, as Bede testifies, lib. V Hist. cap. xx, in the year of the Lord 703, was freed from death by the prayers of his people. For when he was laboring under a final illness, St. Michael stood by him, saying: "For this reason I am sent, that I may recall thee from death. For the Lord hath given thee life through the prayers and tears of thy disciples and brethren, and through the intercession of His blessed Mother, ever virgin Mary. Wherefore I say to thee: That now indeed thou shalt be saved from this infirmity: but be prepared, for after four years, returning, I shall visit thee. And coming into thy country, thou shalt receive a great portion of thy possessions, which have been taken from thee, and thou shalt end thy life in tranquil peace." A certain Dean of Gaul, journeying to Rome, saw Blessed Dominic preaching at Modena. He approached him after the sermon, confers with him concerning the salvation of his soul: among other things he sorrowfully recalls as it were an inevitable shipwreck, that he cannot restrain the lust of the flesh: which thing compels him, as one in despair, to abstain from other good works. The man of God, taking pity on him, confirms him with the faith with which he was full, saying: "Go, henceforth act manfully, despairing nothing of God's immense mercy. I will obtain for thee continence of the flesh." He spoke, and so it was done. For he who before had been unclean and dissolute became chaste and modest. Behold how much the prayer of the just can accomplish. Thus it is related in his Life, lib. IV, cap. vi. St. Catherine of Siena by her prayers brought it about that two blasphemous and obstinate robbers repented. The same woman obtained by her prayers before God pardon and salvation for Palmerin, her calumniatrix, and saw her soul adorned with wondrous beauty, and Christ saying: "Who would not rightly bear every labor, that he might gain a creature of such beauty? If I myself was so captivated by love of souls, that I shed my blood for them, how much more ought you to care, lest such fair creatures perish?" Thus her Life relates. A man (having the appearance of a man) Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning. — Namely in the first vision in which I saw four beasts, which he explained to me, cap. vii, vers. 15 and 16; for although he did not name him there, yet here he names him. Note first: The same Gabriel is he who was sent to Daniel, and who was sent to the Blessed Virgin, Luke I, 26; for this embassy of his concerning the seventy weeks, as also the others of the same, was ordained unto the mystery of the coming and incarnation of Christ, of whom he was the messenger, Luke I; St. Jerome, in Daniel. viii; Irenaeus, lib. V, cap. xxv; St. Ambrose, serm. 63; Andrew of Jerusalem, serm. On the Annunciation; Suarez, III part., Quest. LXXXII, art. 1, disp. 9, sect. 1. Secondly, Proclus of Cyzicus in the homily which is found in the Council of Ephesus, interprets Gabriel as God-man; Theophylactus in Luke I, man of God, or man of God, גבר geber namely signifies man, אל el God. St. Jerome however, Bernard and commonly others, interpret Gabriel as the strength or strong one of God: because he announced the mighty deeds and works of God, especially the incarnation of God, whose name is Strong, Isaiah IX, 6, and who most mightily freed us from the hand of the devil, sin and hell. Thirdly, although St. Gregory, homily 34 in the Gospel; St. Bernard, book V On Consideration; Abulensis in Matthew xviii, Question LX; St. Thomas, Cajetan and from these Suarez in the place cited; Barradius and Toletus in Luke I, 26, and Vasquez, I part., disputation ccxliv, chapter II, number 11, hold that Gabriel is not a Seraph, but of the lowest hierarchy, and is the head and prince of the second order in it, which is called the Archangels: whose reasoning is this, that from St. Dionysius, chapter ix and xiii of the Celestial Hierarchy, they think the angels standing before God, such as are of the first hierarchy, are never sent, but always assist God; but those ministering, such as are of the lowest hierarchy, are sent: yet others hold that Gabriel is a Seraph. For all angels "are ministering spirits sent forth for service," as the Apostle says, Hebrews I. If Seraphs are sometimes sent, surely Gabriel is a Seraph, both because the supreme embassy concerning the incarnation of the Word was entrusted to him, and because he was sent to instruct the Virgin, who in dignity and grace was superior to all the orders of angels. Whence St. Gregory, homily 34: "For this," he says, "supreme ministry it was fitting that the highest angel should come, who announced the highest of all." Wherefore Hesychius, homily 2 On the Blessed Virgin, calls Gabriel the prince of angels, and Andrew of Jerusalem, an angel one of the first. But expressly that he was a Seraph is taught by the Master of the Sentences in II, distinction x; Scotus ibid., unique Question; Durandus, Question I; Molina, I part., Question CXII; Gregory of Valencia, I part. On the Effect of Divine Providence, disputation viii, Question VI, point 2; Salmeron, tome III, chapter III, where he asserts that Gabriel is the first after Michael, and the second among the highest Seraphs sent by God, since the Son of God himself was sent to men, indeed assuming their flesh, and dwelling with them for 34 years. And he adds that Gabriel signifies, first, the strength of God, because he announces to Daniel the mighty battles and victories of the Persians, Medes and Greeks; and because he was about to announce to Zacharias the birth from barren Elizabeth, and to the Blessed Virgin the conception from the Holy Spirit. Second, Gabriel is the same as my man God, so that by the name itself he might declare what he comes to announce, namely the birth of her who would give birth as a virgin, and for a husband God, that is the Holy Spirit, who would work this conception, she would have. There is added Francis Lucas in Luke I, who asserts that Gabriel is among the first angels, most familiar to God, and standing nearest to him, and signifies the same as gabri, that is man, lord prince of mine; אל el, that is God, or my mighty God. Thus also Maldonatus asserts that he is among the first angels: indeed even Damascene, sermon On the Dormition of the Mother of God, says that he is the first among angels, and Cedrenus in the Compendium, that he is the prince of angels, that is to be one of the first. This therefore seems truer than what St. Bonaventure and some others say, that Gabriel is from the middle hierarchy, namely from the order of Principalities, who preside over kingdoms, because he announced the mediator Christ. Furthermore, although some, as Toletus in Luke chapter I, hold that Gabriel is from the penultimate order, which is that of Archangels, because he is called Archangel: yet it seems truer that he is from the first order, which is Seraphim, and therefore is one of the first princes of the heavenly court: indeed there are not lacking those who hold that he is the very first among Seraphs. Thus holds Marcus Viguerius the Cardinal in the Decachord of Christ, chord I, chapter II; and he proves this by eight reasons, or rather congruities. For it was fitting, he says, that he be the first and highest, who announced to the Blessed Virgin and to Daniel the highest mystery of the incarnation of Christ. First, so that, as the first angel once, now the first But this reasoning does not altogether convince. For kings often, when sending an ambassador to treat of supreme matters with the Pontiff or Emperor, send not absolutely the highest, but someone among the greater and first princes of their court. Add that Gabriel was sent not only to the supreme matter with the Blessed Virgin, but also to lesser matters; concerning the nativity of St. John with Zacharias, Luke I, and to the wars of the Maccabees with Daniel, chapter x, to be treated. Finally, the common opinion is that not Gabriel, but Michael is the first of all angels, concerning whom more in chapter xii. You will say: Gabriel is called Archangel by St. Athanasius in the Gospel of St. Deipara; by Irenaeus, lib. V, cap. xxi; by Ambrose, lib. I On the Holy Spirit, cap. vii; by Leo, serm. 2 On the Nativity; by Augustine, serm. 18 On the Temporal; by Gregory, homil. 34 in the Gospels: therefore he is of the order of Archangels. I answer: He is called Archangel, that is, a primary Angel and prince, because he is one of the first and highest angels. Whence Gabriel is called the prince Angel by Hesychius, homil. 2, and by Cedrenus cited above. Thus Gabriel Vasquez, I part., tom. II, disp. ccxliv, num. 10, where also in num. 3 he probably holds that the angel who strengthened Christ in the agony of the Passion was Gabriel; for Gabriel, as his name is derived from strength, so also he has the office of strengthening. And he adds that he strengthened Christ not by reinforcing his weakness, but by his supreme because thou art much desirable and lovable, thou art wholly the object of desire and love: God and the Saints desire thee uniquely, love thee and long for thee. Thus Christ is called the desire of the eternal hills, Gen. xlix, 26. Whence Symmachus translated it, ἀνὴρ ἐπιπόθητος, a lovable man.
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24. Seventy weeks are shortened. — Note first: A week, that is a septenary, is sometimes of days, sometimes of years, as were the seven weeks, that is 49 years before the jubilee, Leviticus chapter xxv, verse 8. Thus also it is taken here, as all the Hebrews, Greeks and Latins agree. Seventy weeks therefore are 490 years: for multiply 70 by 7, you will find 490. Origen therefore errs in treatise 29 on Matthew, when he says a week is not seven, but ten years. More gravely do certain Rabbis err, who by a week understand a jubilee, that is 49 years. For these, they say, make seven small jubilees of 7 years: for seven times seven make 49. Therefore 70 weeks these, since they are jubilees, make 3430 years, which being completed the Messiah will come. For first, nowhere in Scripture is a week taken for a jubilee, or for 49 years, but at most for a septenary of years. Second, because Daniel says these weeks are shortened, that is brief and of short duration, as also the other Prophets, and especially Haggai, chapter ii, 7, says that after a short time the Messiah will come. But 3430 is not a short, but a very long time. Third, because Daniel in verse 26 says, at the end of these 70 weeks the temple with the city is to be destroyed. But this has already been done by Titus: therefore the 70 weeks have already been completed long ago. Again therefore these weeks are of seven years, and make in total 490 years. For shortly after these were completed, the temple with the city was overthrown by Titus, and remains and will remain desolate. Whence also the Rabbis constantly teach that this second temple stood for only 420 years. Fourth, because 70 weeks make 490 years only, as the Talmud teaches, to which all Jews give credence, in the treatise Sanhedrin, chapter chelec, from R. Saadia and other Rabbis. Finally, Daniel says in verse 27, that in the middle of the week the sacrifice and oblation will cease, and there will be in the temple an abomination of desolation, which will last to the end of the world. Symbolically Alcazar notes in Apocalypse XI, verse 2, note 4, that the number 490 was celebrated among the Hebrews and as it were sacred, because it is the tenth of the jubilee, or the tenth jubilee. For the jubilee was begun and proclaimed every 49th year (for this is the seventh seventh): multiply 49 by ten, you will have 490. It was signified therefore by this number that Christ in this year would bring the full and perfect jubilee. For ten is a symbol of perfection. Note second: These 70 weeks are said to be shortened, and, as the Septuagint has it, cut short, that is determined and defined (for this is what the Hebrew חתך nectach signifies), not because they were curtailed at the prayers of Daniel and the Prophets, and made shorter than they had been decreed by God beforehand, as some wish: nor yet because these weeks are of lunar years, not solar (for a lunar year is shorter than a solar year by 11 days), as Theodoret, Bede and Pererius wish: but because they are brief, that is few, determined until Christ, when God could have appointed far more, and this on account of the prayers and sighs of Daniel, and of Isaiah, chapter xlv, verse 8, and of others foreseen by God. Thus in Matthew xxiv, 22, days are said to be shortened, that is brief, that is few, decreed by God, of the persecution of Antichrist. Hence very many Doctors, even scholastic ones, teach that Daniel, Isaiah and other Prophets and Patriarchs merited in a congruous manner, not indeed the incarnation itself in substance, but its acceleration, and other circumstances, for example that Christ would be born from David and his descendants. Thus hold Bonaventure in III, distinction IV, article 2, Question I; Gabriel, article 4, doubt 3; Richard, article 3, Question 1; Almainus, Question I, doubt 3; Marsilius, Question V, article 1, conclusion 3; Alexander of Hales, III part, Question VIII, member III, article 2. To this also St. Thomas inclines; Scotus, and from these Francis Suarez, III part, Question II, article 10, disputation 10, section vi, and they gather this from this place. For Gabriel says: "At the beginning of thy prayers the word went forth. And I am come to shew thee, because thou art a man of desires, etc. Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, that sin may be finished, and everlasting justice may be brought in." For Daniel had prayed, verse 2, 4 and following, in fastings, sackcloth and ashes, not only for the return of the Jews from Babylon, but also for the sins of the people to be abolished: but these could not be abolished except through Christ. Thus Rupert in Daniel, chapter xvi. Others say these weeks were shortened, because the last was cut short, not full: for in the middle of it Christ was slain: for in Christ's death all things seem to be finished. That transgression may be finished. — The sense is, first, as if to say, Until impiety grows to its height; so that it can no longer increase, until namely our Christ is slain, which was the greatest sin. Whence Tertullian, in the book Against the Jews, reads: "Until the offense grew old." Thus Theodoret, Eusebius, book VIII of the Demonstration, and St. Chrysostom, oration 2 Against the Jews. Thus a physician awaits the crisis of the disease, so that it may fully manifest itself and grow to its height; then he begins the cure, when the disease, being fully known, begins to decrease. Secondly, a simpler and truer sense, as if to say, That Christ may come, who as a lamb upon the altar of the cross may consume all the sins of men, and utterly blot them out. Whence follows by way of explanation: "And sin shall have an end." For "shall be finished" in Hebrew is לכלא lehatem, that is, that it may be ended. Some, as Pagninus, reading ה for ח, read לחתם lachatom for lehatem, that is, that it may be sealed or sealed up, that is, they say, that it may be hidden, and as it were concluded with a seal, so that it may no longer appear, which itself is for sin to have an end. Thus Pineda in Job xxxvii, 7. But in genuine Hebrew the reading has lehatem, not lachatom. Note: Although after Christ many sins are committed, yet here they are said to have had an end, first, because Christ satisfied for all, and thus as it were imposed an end upon all our debts, and abolished them as far as concerns his part. Secondly, because Christ opened heaven to us, removed idolatry, overcame the devil, and conferred upon us such efficacious grace and sacraments, that, if we will, we can most easily overcome all sin, as holy men and all true Christians do overcome it. For Christianity is "the death of crimes, the life of virtues," as Cyprian says, book III, epistle 2 to Donatus. And everlasting justice shall be brought in. — In Hebrew it is צדק עולמים tsedec olamim, justice of the ages, that is Christ, who as the sun of his justice has poured forth his rays upon the men of all ages, both before and after him, and has instituted the Church as it were an eternal kingdom of justice, that is of those living justly and piously. Thus the Interpreters, indeed also the Talmudists and Rabbis everywhere, understand the Messiah by this justice. See them in Pinus, book V of the Scourge, chapter v. Secondly, justice of the ages, that is eternal, is our justification and justice accepted through Christ: for Christ "was made unto us justice," I Cor. i, 30. For this justice in general directly opposes the iniquity which he blotted out. This justice is called eternal, because it is begun here through grace, and will be perfected in heaven by Christ through eternal glory. Hence thirdly, Pintus: Eternal justice, he says, is the Gospel, which teaches all justice; whence Isaiah says, chapter xlv, 23: "From my mouth shall go forth the word of justice." This sense is not direct, but derived from the first and second. And the vision shall be fulfilled. — For Christ, being born and dying, fulfilled this vision of Daniel and of all other Prophets, that is, their prophecies. In Hebrew it is לחתם lachtom, that is, to seal the vision. Thus the Septuagint, Vatable and others. But to seal signifies to fulfill. Thus St. Chrysostom, oration 2 Against the Jews: "It was necessary," he says, "that the prophecies should cease after Christ: for this is to seal, that is, to stop the vision. Whence Christ said: The law and the prophets until John." Thus also Tertullian, in the book Against the Jews, who also adds the reason, saying: "For he (Christ) himself was the seal of all the Prophets, fulfilling all things which the Prophets had announced concerning him beforehand. For after the coming of Christ and his passion, there is now neither vision nor Prophet who announces that Christ is to come, etc. Whence most truly he says his coming confirms the vision and prophecy." For to seal here is the same as to seal up: for when a thing is completed and perfected, it is wont to be sealed: for a seal is a sign of the completion and perfection of a thing. Thus diplomas, letters, wills, cloths and other things are sealed when they are perfect, lest anything be added to them or taken from them by anyone. Hence by catachresis to seal, or to seal up, is the same as to fulfill, to complete, to perfect. Wherefore Aquila translates, καὶ τοῦ τελέσαι δραματισμὸν καὶ προφήτην, to consummate the vision and the prophet. And the Holy of Holies shall be anointed, — namely that Christ may be consecrated by the Holy Ghost as the most holy priest, king, prophet, teacher, lawgiver and redeemer of the world. The Hebrews, as I shall presently say, translate: And the holiness of holinesses shall be anointed, or the Holy of Holies; or the sanctuary of sanctuaries, which is none other than the Messias himself sanctified of the sons of David, saith R. Barnahaman in Finum, lib. V of the Scourge, cap. v, and R. Moses of Gerona: "The Messias," saith he, "is called the Sanctuary of sanctuaries, because it was to come to pass that in Him according to His humanity, all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God should rest; and He Himself was to be anointed above every creature with the oil of grace and the good pleasure of God. Whence deservedly He is called in Hebrew Messias; in Greek Χριστός, in Latin the anointed. Thus he himself in Galatinus, lib. IV, cap. xviii. Wherefore Aquila translated, to anoint the Sanctified of the sanctified: the Syriac: Seventy weeks shall rest upon thy people, and to perfect the vision and the Prophets, and to the Christ the Holy of Holies. Where the word holy is not an adjective, but a substantive, as if to say, Who is holy, or the holiness of holinesses. Whence both the Arabic versions translate: To Christ, who is the purity of purities, or the holiness of holinesses. Hence the Roman Pontiff is called His Holiness, or His Sanctity, both because he represents Christ, who is the Holy of Holies; and because by this title he is admonished what manner of person he ought to be who is the pastor and Bishop of so many millions of souls, that he may lead them all to the sanctity and salvation obtained from Christ. Note: The nature of sanctity consists in the adequation and conformity of the will and works with the eternal law, which is in the mind of God: for he is holy, that is just and perfect, who conforms his conduct to this law. Hence sanctity is purity from every stain, saith St. Dionysius, cap. xii On the Divine Names. Likewise it is love and union with God; for the more anyone turns his mind away from earthly and impure things and lifts it up to God, the more holy he becomes. Now Christ, as God, is Himself the uncreated, immense and essential sanctity: but as man, He is most holy not only through the grace infused into His soul, by which He far surpasses and transcends all angels and holy men, but also through the grace of the hypostatic union, by which in the humanity of Christ there dwells the fullness, both of divinity and of sanctity corporeally: which is an admirable and incomprehensible sanctification, inasmuch as He is constituted by God the source of expiation and sanctification for the human race. From His fullness we have all received, and what remains over is still sufficient for washing away the sins of a thousand worlds and for sanctifying infinite souls. Hence from eternity we are predestined in Christ, that we should be holy and immaculate in the sight of God, Ephesians I. The sanctity of Christ therefore is the efficient, meritorious, exemplary and final cause of all the sanctity of men. For all our sanctity ought to be conformed to the sanctity of Christ as to its exemplar, and ought to be directed to His glory as to its end, namely that He Himself may be honored, praised and glorified forever in all those redeemed and sanctified by Him. Moreover, anointed with this grace of union, that is sanctified and consecrated, He was in the Incarnation, but He was anointed with the same grace publicly, that is declared and promulgated to the whole world in His baptism. Hence we all owe to Christ the highest reverence, gratitude, love, obedience, following and service.
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25. From the going forth of the word, that Jerusalem may be built again,—from that time when a word and edict shall go forth from Artaxerxes by which he will permit and grant to Nehemiah and the Jews leave to rebuild Jerusalem. Behold, here the angel tacitly indicates that the prayer of Daniel has been heard: for when he says that Jerusalem is to be rebuilt, he insinuates that the Jews will return from captivity to Jerusalem; and moreover from this year until Christ (who was the desire of desires of Daniel and all the Prophets) he predicts there will be seventy weeks. Whence in Hebrew word for word it is: From the going forth of the word to cause to return (or, to bring back) and to build, that is to cause to return to building, that is, to cause Jerusalem to return to building; which Our translator clearly renders, "that Jerusalem may be built again." Concerning which phrase more below. For Nehemiah, having obtained the diploma of Artaxerxes, caused the Jews to return with him freely and securely from Persia into Judea for the rebuilding and restoration of Jerusalem. Seven weeks, sixty-two weeks shall be,—that is, sixty-nine weeks: add one, of which in the following he treats, you will have seventy. This is a famous passage concerning the coming of the Messiah, whose birth, baptism, passion and death are here precisely recorded in detail. Wherefore from this passage the Jews are manifestly confuted, and it is clearly demonstrated that the Messiah came long ago, and is Jesus Christ, because in him these 70 weeks are fulfilled. The Talmudists, R. Solomon and the Hebrews in general, in order to escape this weapon so sharp and certain, bring forward an interpretation altogether forced and violent, nay, involving contradiction, and slaying both itself and the Jews. For they think that here the discourse is not about Christ, but about the temple: for in Hebrew, instead of Holy of Holies, it is Holiness of holinesses, that is, the temple. They say therefore that these weeks are to be divided into two parts, and by them are signified the state and duration of the twofold temple of Jerusalem: namely the former part of them is the first ten weeks which make up 70 years, which they say begin from the destruction of the temple of Solomon, which Nebuchadnezzar accomplished, and end in the rebuilding of the second temple, which was completed by Zerubbabel, with permission of Darius Hystaspes, in the sixth year of his reign, as is said in I Esdras vi, 15; for from that destruction of the first temple until the rebuilding of the second temple under Darius, they say there elapsed the first ten weeks, that is 70 years. The latter part of them, they say, are the remaining 60 weeks, which make up 420 years, which they assert the second temple lasted, namely under the reign of the Persians 43 years: thence under the reign of the Greeks 180 years; thence under the Maccabees 103; thence under Herod and his successors 103 years, which all joined together make 420 years, that is 60 weeks, already mentioned. Thus they themselves begin these 70 weeks in the destruction of the first temple, and end them in the destruction of the second temple. Thus in the very words of the Talmudists and R. Solomon do Finus in book V of the Flagellum, cap. v, and Peter Galatinus, lib. IV De Arcanis fidei, cap. xiv and seq., report it. But that this is frivolous, false and contradictory is evident first, because these weeks are introduced by the angel to measure, not the duration of the temple, but the time of the coming of the Messiah; namely that after 70 weeks, that is after 490 years, Christ will be born, will die, and will be offered for the salvation of the world; for this his words clearly signify, when he says: "Seventy weeks are shortened, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, etc., and the Holy of Holies may be anointed." And again: "Know therefore and mark well, from the going forth of the word that Jerusalem may be built again until Christ the leader, seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks shall be." There occurs also the response of Rabbi Solomon: "let the Holy of Holies be anointed," in Hebrew to be "let קדש קדשים kodes kadascim be anointed," that is, "let the Holiness of holinesses be anointed," that is, the most holy temple. Therefore here the matter concerns the temple, not Christ. I respond that this cannot be said, first, because the temple at the end of the 70 weeks was not anointed, that is, consecrated, but was profaned and burned by the Romans, as Rabbi Solomon himself admits: therefore these things cannot be understood of the temple, but of Christ, who is the Holiness of holinesses, that is, the Holy of Holies, that is, the most holy, and the supreme holiness, as Leo the Hebrew translates it. Thus we call the Pontiff, His Holiness, that is, His Most Holy Lordship. Thus we say to a prince, His Highness; to a king, His Majesty. That this is so is evident, because thus Daniel explains it, when he adds: "Unto Christ the leader, seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks." Second, it is better read in Hebrew with other pointing קדש קדשים kedos kedoscim, that is, Holy of Holies, as Our translation reads it, which befits Christ alone, not the temple. In like manner if you read, Holiness of holinesses, it is certain that Christ is understood, not the temple. For Christ brought in everlasting justice, abolished sin, and expiated it as it were by a victim. Whence for "let iniquity be blotted out," in Hebrew it is lecapper avon, that is, to make propitiation for sin, and, as Aquila translates it, to expiate sin, in the manner of a victim for sin, which is the expiatrix of sin, such as Christ was; for this is called כפר copher. Third, neither the temple, nor Cyrus, nor Nehemiah, nor Zerubbabel, nor Agrippa, nor anyone else at that time was anointed, because that oil was lacking in the second temple according to the Rabbis. Whence in the book Sanhedrim of Jerusalem, chapter Elluben huggolim, that is, "These are captives," Rabbi Samuel says: "Five things were lacking in the second temple which were in the first, namely fire, the ark, Urim and Thummim (that is, the Breastplate of judgment with the ephod), the oil of anointing, and the Holy Spirit." The same is found in the Midrash Shir Hassirim, that is, in the Exposition of the Song of Songs. You will say: In Hebrew קדש kodes signifies temple in verse 26, where it is said: "And the city and the sanctuary (in Hebrew kodes) shall be destroyed with the leader that shall come;" therefore also here it signifies the temple, not Christ. I respond, I deny the consequence; for here it is joined with the city, and is said to be destroyed with it by Titus, which ought to be understood of the temple; especially because before the destruction of the city and temple the angel had already predicted that Christ must be slain: whence it is clear that he speaks of the temple, not of Christ. It is otherwise here, where he predicts that the Holiness of holinesses is to be anointed, which brings in everlasting justice, and abolishes sin, and fulfills the visions of the Prophets: for Christ did these things, not the temple. Finally, Rabbi Moses of Gerona, Rabbi Uzziah in Seder Olam, Rabbi Joshua there, Rabbi Barnahaman, Rabbi Barachias, Rabbi Moses Tyronensis, Rabbi Hioces, Rabbi David, Rabbi Abraham, Rabbi Chaldias, who were authors of the Talmud, whom Finus and Galatinus cite above: even if they think that by these 70 weeks is denoted the time of the duration of the temple; yet all with one voice assert that at the end of these 70 weeks the Messiah is to come, and they understand him by the everlasting justice. Second, because the angel here consoles Daniel afflicted and beseeching for the liberation of the people, saying that after 70 weeks the people are to be liberated from all captivity through Christ: therefore he does not define here the time of the duration of either temple, namely that the desolation of the former will last 70 years; the latter truly will last 420 years, and then will be destroyed forever; for these things are sad, not joyful and consolatory. But it is evident that this angel consoles Daniel, and brings him joyful tidings, that his prayers have been heard. Third, these 70 weeks are to be reckoned from the going forth of the word that Jerusalem be built again, already overthrown by the Chaldeans, as the angel says: therefore wrongly, nay, contrary to the words of the angel, the Jews reckon them from the destruction of the temple, already long since made by the Chaldeans. For the angel does not say: From the going forth of destruction, but that they are to be reckoned from the building of Jerusalem. Fourth, the overthrow of the temple, which is here predicted to be future, as the Jews wish, at the end of the 70 weeks, was not the taking away of sin, the bringing in of everlasting justice, the anointing of the Holy of Holies, which nevertheless the angel here asserts of these same things, but rather it was the overthrow of all these things, and of the whole religion and nation of the Jews. Fifth, the Rabbis err in the calculation of years. For the Talmudists in Megilla, cap. I, teach that from the destruction of the first temple until the building of the second temple there elapsed 78 years. But the second temple stood not only for 420 years, but at minimum for 583 years; for so many years there are from the sixth year of Darius Hystaspes, in which this temple was completed, as is said in I Esdras vi, 16, until the year 72 after the death of Christ, in which it was destroyed by Titus. Again, according to the opinion of the Jews, the 70 weeks, that is 490 years, begin from the destruction of the former temple, which happened in the last year of Sedecias, which was the 18th year of Nabuchodonosor, and end in the destruction of the second temple, which Titus and the Romans completed 38 years after the death of Christ, slain by the Jews. Yet from Josephus and from all other historians it is established that the contrary is true, namely that not merely 490, but far more years intervened, namely 668. Indeed Josephus counts more. For in book VII of the Jewish War, cap. xviii, he says: "From King David until Titus (by whom Jerusalem was destroyed) there were one thousand one hundred seventy-nine years. But from the time Jerusalem was founded until its destruction there were two thousand one hundred seventy-seven years." Now from David until the last year of Sedecias, in which Jerusalem was destroyed by Nabuchodonosor along with the temple, there are 470 years, as is evident from the years of David, Solomon, and their successors, which are recorded in the books of Kings: there remain therefore 709 years to complete the number of 1179 years, which Josephus says elapsed from David to the destruction of Jerusalem. Therefore according to Josephus's opinion, from Sedecias to Titus there elapsed not 490 years, as the Jews wish, but 709 years. And lest you say there is an error in Josephus's numbers, the same Josephus collects and calculates the same number by parts in book XX of the Antiquities, cap. viii. Sixth, the Jews agree that these weeks end in the destruction of the second temple, made by Titus and the Romans: yet according to the angel's opinion these weeks end in Christ and his death; for the words clearly signify this: "Until Christ the leader there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and after the sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain." Therefore from the Jews' opinion it follows that the Messias, namely Christ, has already come and lived at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and therefore was Jesus Christ. For no other can be imagined, unless someone should say that Titus, in whom these weeks end, is the Messias. But the Jews themselves will not receive him, inasmuch as they curse him as it were the destroyer of their temple and nation. R. Solomon responds that by Christ here is understood Cyrus, who freed the Babylonian captivity. For Isaiah in cap. xlv calls him Christ, saying: "Thus saith the Lord to my Christ Cyrus." But this involves a contradiction: first, because it does not befit Cyrus what Daniel here says of Christ; namely that he shall be the Holy of Holies, shall consummate transgression, shall put an end to sin, and shall bring in everlasting justice, and therefore shall be nagid, that is the leader of the faithful and Christian people; for nagid is called by the Hebrews he who presides over the people in matters either political or ecclesiastical, namely a chief, a bishop, a leader, a prince; or he who goes before and leads the army, as a captain and commander of forces. For nagid is said from neged, that is before; whence nagid is the same as predecessor, leader, conductor: and this is what the Greek ἡγούμενος signifies, as the Septuagint translates it here. Such a one in the faithful people was Christ, not Cyrus, inasmuch as he was an infidel. Thus in Jeremiah cap. xx, 1, Phassur is called nagid, that is a prince in the house of the Lord. And in Nehemiah cap. xi, 11, Saraia the high priest is called nagid, that is a prince of the house of God, that is the high priest, as Marinus of Brescia translates it in the Lexicon. And Solomon the king, III Kings I, 13, is called nagid, that is leader over Israel. And Saul, I Kings ix, 15, is commanded by Samuel to be anointed as nagid, that is as king and leader, so that he might save the people from the hand of the Philistines. Second, these weeks begin many years after Cyrus, namely from Artaxerxes: for he, not Cyrus, gave the Jews power to rebuild the city, as is evident from Nehemiah II, 5. From there the angel teaches that they are to be reckoned, saying: "From the going forth of the word that Jerusalem should be built again, weeks," etc. Add to this: Cyrus was already reigning when Daniel received this vision, and in that same year he sent the Jews forth from Babylon. It is therefore false that the 70 weeks, that is 490 years, are to be reckoned up to Cyrus, which the angel here asserts are to be reckoned up to Christ. Wherefore Aben-Ezra confesses that by Christ here is not understood Cyrus, but Nehemiah. Others take Zerubbabel, others Herod Agrippa the younger, who was a patron and protector of the Jews. But these are refuted by the same arguments. Add to this, none of these was slain, which Daniel here says of Christ. Other Rabbis answer that Christ is spoken of here, but that by these 70 weeks the time of his coming is not defined, as if he himself were to come in the seventieth and last week, but that in them the Jews would merit that he himself should come in his own time. But to pass over the fact that they then rather merited the destruction which the Romans brought upon them, the very words of the angel exclude this; for he says: "From the going forth of the word unto Christ the leader, weeks seven, and weeks sixty-two, and after weeks sixty-two Christ shall be slain." Therefore the weeks define the time of the coming of Christ. Whence R. Solomon confesses that the Jews did not merit this coming of the Messiah in the time of the 70 weeks; but when these are finished, in the time of this long and endless captivity, they may merit him. But this too is said more absurdly: for in 1500 years the fruit of this merit has not appeared, so that either the Messiah, or some Prophet announcing the Messiah, should show himself. Add that the Jews, addicted to usuries, frauds, and sorceries now, are as much or more wicked than they were formerly, so that they seem to merit not the coming of the Messiah, but his hatred, reprobation, and utter desolation. Therefore R. Solomon wrongly expounds the words of the angel thus, "that transgression may be finished," that is, that the Jews may cease from their transgressions, and by this may merit with God, that their iniquity may be blotted out by modern captivity. Similarly, "that justice may be brought in," that is, he says, that the Messiah may come, by whom the Jews may be justified forever, and then finally the vision and prophecy may be fulfilled, so that by the merits of the Jews the promises made by the prophets concerning Christ may be fulfilled. Wrongly, I say; for the Hebrew has word for word: It is decreed, determined and defined (that it shall be, namely) upon thy people, and upon the city of thy sanctuary seventy weeks to finish transgression, and to end sin, and to blot out iniquity, and to bring in everlasting justice, and to fulfill vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. Thus the Septuagint, Leo Hebraeus, Galatinus and others translate; by which words it is clearly signified that 70 weeks are decreed by God precisely unto the finishing of sin, and the bringing in of justice, so that when these are finished, sin shall immediately be finished, and justice shall be brought in, and the Holy One shall be anointed. For by all these things the angel constitutes the time of the 70 weeks: therefore all these things must necessarily be fulfilled within the 70 weeks: for this reason (namely that all these things may be done) these weeks are decreed and defined, as the Hebrew words have it. Whence the angel, explaining the same thing, adds: "Know therefore and mark well, from the going forth of the word that Jerusalem should be built again, unto Christ the leader weeks seven, weeks sixty-two," etc. Second, in the middle of the 70th week, the angel says that the victim and sacrifice, which were wont to be offered for sin, shall fail; therefore much more does he suppose that the private merits and satisfactions of the Jews shall fail: for these depend upon the public worship of God, sacrifices and sacraments. Now since it is established that the victim and sacrifice failed in the destruction by Titus, it follows that then also the 70 weeks were completed, and all the merit of the Jews and all their good. For what do the Jews now merit with God, who, forgotten by him, cast off, and exposed to the servitude of all nations now for sixteen centuries of years? Third, the angel says here that seventy weeks are precisely decreed and defined by God; I ask for what purpose, or to what matter are they defined? Certainly so that when they are completed, "the Holy of Holies may be anointed," as the angel says, namely the Messiah; and at the same time, so that through him transgression may be finished, and iniquity may be blotted out, and justice may be brought in, and vision may be fulfilled. For these things in Hebrew are set down and joined together in equal tenor and syntax, by the conjunction and, without any article (as is evident from the Hebrew words already cited), so that they cannot be torn asunder from one another. There is established here therefore a time and a term, namely seventy weeks, which being completed Christ may come, who shall accomplish these three things; namely first, propitiation, expiation and the abolition of sin; second, the bringing in of eternal justice; third, the fulfillment of all visions and prophecies, as the Talmudic and other Rabbis already cited acknowledge. Whence the angel says: "Upon thy people, and upon thy holy city;" because the Messiah was promised by God to the Jews properly, not to the Gentiles, as through the Prophets, and was also sent at the end of the weeks. R. Solomon objects that the weeks of sixty-two are divided by Daniel from the weeks of seven; for he says: "Until Christ the leader, weeks seven, and weeks sixty-two," that is to say, the seven weeks first, in which the Jews under Nehemiah built Jerusalem with great labor, poverty and fear of enemies; hence it follows that these weeks, seven and sixty-two, are not to be torn asunder, nor divided, but joined together. Nor is there reason for anyone to suspect that the Hebrew has it otherwise. For thus it has word for word: Until Christ the leader, weeks seven, and weeks sixty-two. It shall be restored, and shall be built (not shall stand, not shall endure, as R. Solomon wrongly expounds) the street, and the ditch, or the moat and the wall, and that in the straitness of times. Thus the Septuagint, Leo Hebraeus, Galatinus and others translate throughout, and it is evident to one examining the text. Moreover, why the angel numbers the weeks of seven and sixty-two separately, I shall say below. Therefore from the Hebrew text it is clear that the weeks of seven are not to be torn asunder from sixty-two, but are to be joined to them; for they are joined to them by the conjunction ve, that is and, and both lack the article, by which the Hebrews are accustomed to signify a change of case. For if that which R. Solomon wishes were to be said, the article lamed, or the preposition beth, would have had to be added, in this manner לששים lescissim, or bescissim, that is, in the sixty-two weeks it shall be restored, that is, the street shall be built again, and for "shall be built," it would have had to be said, "shall stand," or "shall endure." They object secondly, that the beginning of this verse ought to be translated otherwise from the Hebrew; namely, for "from the going forth of the word," they themselves translate, "concerning the going forth of the word," as if here is not denoted the term from which the seventy weeks are to be begun, but only is denoted the matter about which the angel was speaking. For he had said above: "From the beginning of thy prayers the word went forth," so that the sense would be: You Daniel, know and observe concerning the going forth of the word, so that Jerusalem may be built again, that is, observe and understand how the word gone forth from the Lord concerning the building of Jerusalem is to be understood: because, namely until Christ the leader, that is until Cyrus, there shall be weeks of seven. But this is clearly shown to be false. First, because the angel here designates, not the matter, but the beginning and the end of the seventy weeks, so that we may know where we ought to begin them, where to end them. Otherwise indeed he would say something ridiculous and nugatory, namely, that there shall be seventy weeks, if he did not indicate when they were to be, when namely they were to be begun, when to be ended. Wherefore nugatory and ridiculous are R. Solomon and the Jews, who in order to escape this weapon concerning the advent of Christ, truncate these seventy weeks at head and tail, at beginning and end, so that they thrust them into that darkness, nor is it known where we ought to begin them, where to end them. Secondly, when the angel says: "Until Christ the leader, seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks," he clearly designates the end of the weeks, namely that they are to be completed in Christ the leader. Therefore the earlier part should be translated, "from the going forth of the word," not "from the going forth," so as to indicate their beginning and origin: otherwise indeed it would be in vain that the angel would reveal to Daniel that Christ was to come at the end of the 70 weeks. For Daniel would say: O angel! you reveal nothing to me concerning the time of Christ, it is equally obscure to me now as before; for what do I know whether these seventy weeks are to be in the future after some thousands of years, since you do not indicate to me their beginning. Again, if you translate, "from the going forth," the words do not cohere; but they do cohere if you translate, "from the going forth." For what sense is there in, from the going forth of the word until Christ the leader? For the angel joins these words together, although the Jews by their perverse interpretation separate them, but wrongly. If you translate: "From the going forth of the word that Jerusalem may be built again, until Christ the leader, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks;" the words cohere most excellently, and are most clear: for they indicate where Daniel ought to begin the 70 weeks, namely from the going forth of the word that Jerusalem may be built again; and where these same are to be completed, namely in Christ the leader, so that anyone from their beginning, numbering them through individual years up to 70 and the last, may have and know precisely the time when the Messiah, so desired by all, will come: which was unknown and hidden before this prophecy. For the angel here reveals this to Daniel, and through him to all, and makes it known. Thirdly, thus the Septuagint translates: "from the going forth of the word to answer, and to build Jerusalem until Christ the leader, seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks." Thus also Leo the Hebrew, Galatinus, Pagninus, and other Hebrews commonly. Indeed even the Talmudic scholars themselves, and the more recent Rabbis, forced by truth, finally confess that it should be translated, "from the going forth of the word," not "from the going forth," and that here is indicated the beginning of the weeks; which they themselves say is the year of Zedekiah or the last, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans with the temple, and from there they count seven weeks, which the angel names separately, that is 49 years, until Cyrus, or the fourth year in which Jeremiah, chapter 29, prophesied, and from the mouth of God the word went forth, that after 70 years of Babylonian captivity Jerusalem would be built again, and from there until the building of the second temple under Darius, they count their earlier weeks as ten, that is 70 years, although they themselves confess there were 78. Thus while they count 49 years until Belshazzar, who preceded Cyrus, they themselves confess there were more, namely 52. Therefore the Jews here, reduced to straits so as to escape this argument of the Christians, twist themselves in every direction, but do not escape; and in many ways contradict themselves, and cut their own throats, as liars are wont to do. Wherefore truly Lyra here at the end of the chapter: "There remains," he says, "no excuse for the Jews from the diversity of computations, since the time of the seventy weeks, of which here we treat, however it be computed, has passed into the past by a thousand (indeed 1600 years) and more. Therefore only malicious obstinacy holds them in faithless expectation of the Messiah." It is therefore a fiction and a paradox that R. Solomon here invents two Christs, namely the first, of whom it is said: "Until Christ the leader," and that this is Cyrus; the second, of whom it is said: "And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain," and that this is Herod Agrippa, who is called Messiah because he was a patron and protector of the Jews. For that Herod was not slain, as R. Solomon feigns, but was confederated with the Romans, and was exalted by them, Josephus teaches, book III of the Jewish War, chapter III, verse 5 and following. And Cornelius Tacitus, book V, says that Agrippa in the Jewish war followed the side, not of the Jews, but of the Romans, and therefore was in great honor and favor among the Romans. Add to this, the connection itself of the weeks and the words, and the same number plainly argue that one and the same thing, one and the same Christ, is here being treated of. Therefore since it is certain and clear that what follows: "And the street and the walls shall be built again in the straitness of times," cannot be joined with that which immediately preceded, namely: "And sixty-two weeks shall be:" but should rather be referred a little earlier to "seven weeks" will extend until Cyrus, who will be favorable to the Jews, and as it were a Christ: then 62 weeks will follow, during which Jerusalem will be built and will stand; but in distress, because it will be harassed by Persians, Greeks and Romans: hence at the end of them another Christ of the Jews will be slain by the Romans, namely Herod Agrippa. But this cannot be said: for it is false that from the going forth of the word, that is from the edict of rebuilding Jerusalem, until Christ the leader there were only seven weeks; for immediately the angel counts 70. Moreover R. Solomon himself, dividing these weeks into two parts, gives not seven, but ten weeks to the first part: for he says that many years flowed from the destruction of the first temple until the building of the second temple, namely until the sixth year of Darius Hystaspes, as I said at the beginning. Again elsewhere he himself, and other Rabbis commonly say that there flowed not 70, but 78 years until this year of Darius: therefore they contradict themselves here, as also in many other things. Secondly, it is false that in 62 weeks the street and walls of Jerusalem were built in the distress of times. For these walls were restored in a few days, namely 52, by Nehemiah, as is said in Nehemiah vi, 15. For this distress of times lasted a few days, namely until the death of Sanballat, who hindered this building of the walls, as is said there. Thirdly, that these 62 weeks do not pertain to the building of the temple, but to Christ, is evident from the fact that immediately he adds: "And after the weeks of sixty-two Christ shall be slain." Where clearly Christ is understood, of whom he said a little before: "Until Christ the leader seven weeks, and weeks of sixty-two." As is evident both from the name of Christ, and from the same number of sixty-two weeks. Finally, that the Jews will be adversaries of Christ, indeed his slayers, Daniel predicts here, when he says: "And his people who shall deny him" (which words how they are drawn from the Hebrew, I shall show below), and therefore "in the half of the week (the 70th and last, in which they will slay Christ) the victim and sacrifice shall fail, and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation, and even to the consummation and end desolation shall persevere," as the Septuagint, our Vulgate, Galatinus, Leo Hebraeus and others translate. What is clearer? In vain therefore do the Jews expect the restoration of the temple and their own nation through their Messiah: and therefore we see them suffering a heavier captivity now for 1600 years, than ever either their parents, or other nations have suffered. For they continually lack a city, a commonwealth, a temple, sacrifices, Prophets; and they seem plainly to be given over by God to oblivion, neglected, cast out and reprobated, until they acknowledge Christ our Lord and theirs. Hector Pintus relates in Ezekiel xvi, 27, that he disputed at Rome with Jews, and when he clearly convinced them, they passed by so obstinate as if they had been senseless and bereft of mind: nay, they were so stubborn that one of them said to him: Even if you show me in the clearest noonday light that Christ is the Messiah, nevertheless I will not believe. Now it is a difficult question among Interpreters, how these 70 weeks are to be computed precisely. I knew a noble man, a Catholic and learned, who spent many years investigating this question, and when he could not extricate himself, and became more entangled day by day, unhappily fell into madness and a wretched Judaism. The chief difficulty is concerning the beginning of these weeks, namely in what year precisely we ought to begin them. The opinions of various men here are very various, which I shall reduce to a few heads. First, some begin them from the year 13 of Josiah, when Jeremiah, cap. I, II, began to prophesy concerning the destruction and calamities of Jerusalem. Secondly, Lyra, Burgensis, Vatable and Galatinus, lib. IV, cap. xvi, following the Hebrews, think they ought to be begun before the Babylonian captivity, namely from the year 4 of Zedekiah, when the word and promise of the Lord went forth through the mouth of Jeremiah, cap. xxix, concerning the restoration of Jerusalem. Thirdly, others following other Hebrews, begin them from the eleventh year of Zedekiah, when Jerusalem was overthrown by the Chaldeans. Fourthly, St. Hippolytus, as testified by St. Jerome here, begins them from the year 20 of the Babylonian captivity, namely fifty years before Cyrus, who in the seventieth year of the same released it. Fifthly, Origen, as testified by St. Jerome here, and Tertullian lib. Against the Jews, begin them from the first year of Darius the Mede, one year before Cyrus. Sixthly, Clement of Alexandria, lib. I Stromata, and Eusebius, lib. VIII Demonstratio, begin them from the first year of Cyrus. Seventhly, Cyril of Jerusalem, catech. 12, begins them from Darius Hystaspes, under whom the temple was rebuilt. Eighthly, Severus Sulpitius, lib. II of History, whom Scaliger follows, lib. VI De Emendatione temporum, begins them from Darius Nothus, whom because, although the Hebrews used lunar years, yet every third year from the days which had accumulated, they added a month, and thus through intercalation they equated lunar years with solar years, both so that they might accommodate themselves to the chronicles and chronology of other nations and their own, and on account of Passover and Pentecost, so that they might always celebrate those feasts at the proper time according to the law established, namely after the vernal equinox on the 14th day of the first month: otherwise indeed, since the lunar year is shorter than the solar year, they would often have had to celebrate Passover either before the vernal equinox, or in a month other than the first. Whence Lyra, who was of Hebrew origin and most versed in the affairs of the Hebrews, says: "They are deceived who think that the Hebrews ever used such (lunar) years; otherwise the whole series of the Old Testament would be unstable." The same thing is asserted by Galatinus, book IV, chapter XIV, who in chapter XV attempts to compute these years by solar years, beginning from the year 20 of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and continuing them through the years of individual kings down to Christ; hence I say secondly: It is more probable that these 490 years are common, or solar years, and when computing backwards from Christ according to these years, the first of them falls in the year 7 of Artaxerxes Longimanus; I say it appears certain a posteriori that these 70 weeks are to be reckoned from this year 7 of Artaxerxes; for if you begin from elsewhere, you will not complete the number of 490 common or solar years, as all agree. Therefore, since this year 7 of Artaxerxes coincides with the year 4 of the 80th Olympiad, and with the year 297 of the City's founding; but the baptism of Christ fell in the year 15 of Tiberius, which year coincides with the year 4 of the 201st Olympiad, and with the year 781 of the City's founding; hence it follows that from this year of Artaxerxes down to the leader Christ, that is down to the time of Christ's baptism, when Christ was constituted and declared the leader of the people of God, or the guide and teacher of the Church (God the Father saying: "This is my beloved Son, hear him"), there elapsed 69 weeks, that is 483 years. Then in the middle, as the angel says, of the seventieth and last week, that is in the year 487, which was the 18th of Tiberius Caesar, Christ was slain, and three years after Christ's death the 70 weeks were completed, that is 490 years. For this is truer than what Africanus, Rupertus and Bede think, namely that the 70 weeks are precisely completed in the very year of Christ's passion. For thus Gabriel should have said: At the end (not in the middle) of the week, Christ being slain, the victim and sacrifice shall fail. I compute by Olympiads, because this computation is most certain, precise and expeditious; whereas by kings it is often interrupted and uncertain, as well as various and lengthy. You will say: In the year 7 of Artaxerxes no word went forth concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem; but the angel asserts that these weeks are to be reckoned from this word: therefore they are not to be reckoned from this seventh year. Some distinguished chronologists respond ingeniously and aptly that that year 20 of Artaxerxes, But omitting these manifold opinions, as being either manifestly false or improbable, from those things which I have already disputed and demonstrated against the Jews, I suppose with the common opinion of all Interpreters, Fathers and orthodox Doctors, that from these 70 weeks the Jews are sufficiently certainly convicted that the Messiah, or Christ, has long since come, and was Jesus, whom Christians worship: because by the opinion of all these weeks are ended and have been ended at that time when Christ lived, although on account of the obscurity and variety of so ancient a chronology, it is difficult to assign precisely the first and last year of them, and Interpreters vary in this: for 70 weeks make 490 years, which have long since been completed at the time when Jesus lived. Again, the consecration, leadership, preaching and slaying of Christ, distributed and assigned here by Daniel through years, apply to no one other than Jesus Christ. Finally, the desolation of Jerusalem after the slaying of Christ, the overthrow of the temple, the perpetual destruction of the Jews, and other things which Daniel here predicts as future in the last week, were fulfilled at the time of the passion of Jesus Christ; as is most well known from both sacred and profane histories. See Francis Suarez, III part., disp. 1, sect. II. Now I say first: It is probable that these 70 weeks are to be reckoned from the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus. It is proved: for in this year alone do we read that a command went forth from him, and power was given to Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem, as appears in Nehemiah II, 5 and 6. You will say: This year 20 of Artaxerxes was the 4th Olympiad 83; but Christ suffered in the 4th Olympiad 202. Therefore from this year 20 until the passion of Christ there elapsed only 477 years, or excluding on both sides the incomplete final years, 475, for you will find as many if you multiply the intermediate Olympiads by four; for each Olympiad contains four years: but 70 weeks produce not 475 years, but 490. Therefore these 13 weeks must begin earlier, namely not from year 20, but from year 7 of Artaxerxes. I answer that the Jews used lunar years, each of which contains 12 lunations, or lunar months: but a lunar month consists of 29 and a half days: for so many days there are from one new moon to another. Whence it follows that a lunar year is less than a solar year by 11 days: for it has 354 days, whereas a solar year has 365 days; wherefore 475 solar years make 490 lunar years, and Daniel speaks of these; hence he also says these weeks are abbreviated. Thus Julius Africanus, book V of the Annals, Chrysostom, Rupert, Pererius, Torniellus, Gordonus and many others. But, because Scripture everywhere uses not lunar, but common and solar years; and he himself calls Ochus; for he deems that he restored the temple, not Darius Hystaspes. See St. Jerome and Pererius, who refute all these things at length throughout book XI. whereby he gave Nehemiah the faculty of rebuilding Jerusalem, Neh. II, 1, is not year 20, from the time when he alone reigned after his father; but from the time when he himself, while his father Xerxes lived, began to reign together with him, namely when Xerxes set out to war against the Greeks, which appears to have been in the fifth year of Xerxes: for then the war against the Greeks seems to have broken out. This opinion is gathered from Josephus: for he asserts that in the 25th year of Xerxes, that is in the 25th year from the time when Xerxes began to reign, Nehemiah was sent, and he completed the walls of Jerusalem in the 28th year of Xerxes, that is in the 23rd year of Artaxerxes, from which namely he began to reign with his father Xerxes, which year was the seventh year in which Artaxerxes reigned alone after his father: for his father Xerxes reigned only 20 years. And so although in the 20th year of Artaxerxes, as Nehemiah says, the word went forth, that is the command concerning the building of Jerusalem, yet in his 23rd year (which Josephus calls the 28th of Xerxes, that is the 28th from the beginning of the reign of Xerxes), from which namely he began to reign with his father Xerxes, which was the seventh year of Artaxerxes reigning alone, this word and command had its going forth, that is its effect; because then according to his prescription the walls of Jerusalem were restored and completed by Nehemiah. Whence it is clear that this going forth, that is the effect, fell upon be built," or, as it is in Hebrew, to build Jerusalem. For thus the Prophets everywhere say, "the word went forth," or "the word from the Lord," that is the Lord began to speak and command. Thus the edict went forth from Caesar Augustus, that the world should be described, namely when he ordered it to be described. Thirdly, because Scripture appears to number the years of Artaxerxes alone reigning, and by his seventh, twentieth and thirty-second year to mark the chronology in Ezra and Nehemiah: therefore this year 20 of Artaxerxes is his not with his father, but of him alone reigning, and thus Eusebius and others mark his years in this way. Fourthly, because it is very uncertain whether Artaxerxes so quickly began to reign with his father, namely in the fifth year of Xerxes: for then Artaxerxes appears to have been a boy, and unfit for ruling; indeed after the death of his father he scarcely and with difficulty obtained his father's kingdom. For Artabanus the prefect after the death of Xerxes seized the kingdom, and held it for seven months. Add that Artaxerxes was the youngest born of the sons of Xerxes; Darius was older, whom therefore Xerxes would have left as administrator of the kingdom rather than Artaxerxes when going to war. Whence also Artabanus first killed Darius, then plotted against Artaxerxes, so that by removing him he might seize the kingdom, as Justin relates, book III. Finally, since Scripture wishes the 70 weeks to begin from this going forth of the word of Artaxerxes, it must certainly have marked this year of the going forth somewhere. For how otherwise would we know the beginning of these weeks? It wished therefore that this going forth be sought not from a profane man, and of doubtful credibility, namely Josephus, but from itself. Wherefore the argument can be answered more expeditiously and easily; and year 7 of Artaxerxes, from which I asserted in the conclusion that the 70 weeks must begin. This opinion was subtly discovered, and St. Chrysostom favors it, but it is not without difficulty; for first, it rests entirely on Josephus: but Josephus here, as also elsewhere, manifestly errs, when he attributes 28 years to the reign of Xerxes, and when at the end of the chapter he asserts that all these things were done during the reign of Xerxes. If during the reign, then also during the life of Xerxes: for Eusebius, Orosius, Diodorus Siculus, Severus Sulpitius, Beda and others attribute to Xerxes only 20 or 21 years. Again, Esdras, chapter VII, and Nehemias, chapter I, assert that not Xerxes, as Josephus wishes, but Artaxerxes sent both Esdras and Nehemias to Jerusalem. The cause of Josephus's error seems to be that historians sometimes confuse these names, Xerxes and Artaxerxes, as if they were one and the same. Whence Thucydides and Charon in Plutarch's Life of Themistocles, Cicero, book XX, letter to Atticus, Philostratus, book I On the Life of Apollonius, and Probus in the Life of Themistocles, relate that Themistocles, condemned to death by the Greeks, fled to Artaxerxes; whereas Ephorus, Dinon, Clitarchus, Heraclides in Plutarch above, assert that he fled to Xerxes. For Xerxes in Persian signifies a warrior. Wherefore the same name is in Hebrew Achasueros, in Latin Assuerus; in Persian Ochos, Carces, Axurxes, Artaxerxes, in Greek Ὀξυάρης, that is, keen Mars, as I said in chapter XIX in the Pentateuch. Secondly, because this opinion seems somewhat to twist the phrase from the sense of the passage. For this Hebrew phrase signifies not the end, nor the execution, but the beginning of speaking, namely the very command and mandate of the speaker, especially because it follows: "That Pererius at the end of these seven weeks says that Queen Esther and Mordecai shone forth, who freed the Jews destined for destruction by Haman, which happened in the 12th year of Artaxerxes Mnemon, whom Pererius thinks was the husband of Esther, although others think it was Artaxerxes, others Xerxes, others Darius Hystaspes: which is to be decided in the book of Esther. Scaliger adds, book VI On the Emendation of Times, that the 62 weeks begin from the 5th year of Artaxerxes Mnemon: for from him Esdras and Nehemias were sent to Jerusalem. But he errs, for the common opinion is that they were sent by Artaxerxes Longimanus, so named because he had one hand longer than the other. Furthermore, within the 62 weeks four illustrious things occurred. First, that Alexander came to Jerusalem, sacrificed there to the true God, and adored the high priest Jaddo. Second, the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, and the wars and victories of the Maccabees against him. Third, the transfer of the scepter and kingdom of Judea to Herod, a foreigner. Fourth, the nativity of Christ. Now by Christ the leader all commonly understand Jesus Christ, who in the 30th year of his age, when he was baptized, was constituted by God the leader of the faithful people. Wherefore it is strange that one Eusebius, book VIII of the Demonstration, whom Theodoret favors, here understands by this leader John Hyrcanus, who was the last legitimate high priest of the Jews: for those things which Gabriel here says of Christ do not befit Hyrcanus, namely that through him sin shall receive an end, and everlasting justice shall be brought in. Again, Christ was constituted leader in the 69th week, which fell in the 201st olympiad. But Hyrcanus was constituted high priest by Pompey in the 179th olympiad; therefore he is not the one whom Daniel here designates. The Jews err more foolishly, who understand by this Christ Cyrus, or Herod Agrippa the younger. For these things which are here said of Christ befit these far less than Hyrcanus, as I showed above. From what has been said it follows that Christ was born in the 65th week, as the Roman Martyrology has it (therefore Onuphrius wrongly places his nativity in the 68th week), namely in the 5th year of the same ending, hence compute the two remaining years of the same week and 4 following weeks up to the 69th, at the end of which Christ was baptized, and constituted leader and teacher of the faithful, you will have 30 years, which Christ was living when he was baptized: for four weeks make 28 years. To these add the two remaining from the 65th week, you will have 30 years of the leader Christ. Wherefore it is strange that certain ancient Martyrologies assign December 25 to the nativity of Christ in the 63rd week. For thus Christ would have been baptized, and made leader in the 67th week, and killed in the 68th, which is false. Jerusalem," and its streets and walls: even if they are now completely destroyed and desolate. For "to" is indeed causal, and has the same force as "because." For Daniel prophesies two things here: first, the time when the Messiah will come; second, the restoration of Jerusalem, which was of his time, and which Daniel had sought so earnestly. For thus the Prophets, elevated in God, fly from one time to another, according to cap. IV. The Hebrew text has word for word: "It shall return, and the street shall be built, and the ditch; namely around the wall, that is the wall; it shall return, that is, its citizens shall return from Babylon, namely those of Jerusalem, that is the Jerusalemites and Jews. But it would have said more correctly thus: They shall return. Better therefore: It shall return and be built, that is it shall be built again. It is a frequent Hebraism in Scripture, by which a verb is put for an adverb: it shall return for again, anew. Thus the Septuagint, Leo Hebraeus and others. See our Ribera on Hosea V, no. 7. The angel repeats and confirms this, both because Daniel himself had eagerly desired and besought this very thing; and also to indicate the reason why he named seven weeks separately before 62, namely to indicate that the city was to be rebuilt in them. Moreover "street," that is the streets of Jerusalem, although Galatinus thinks Jerusalem itself is called a street on account of its breadth. In the distress of times. — Thus both the Complutensian and Roman Septuagints translate, but the Roman reads: And times shall be emptied; Tertullian: Times shall be renewed. And this first, because the Jews rebuilding Jerusalem were so pressed by enemies with such distresses, that they were forced to carry a sword in one hand to defend themselves, and a trowel in the other to build, Neh. IV, 17. The same thing appears to have happened under Ezra, from the fact that the building of the city was hindered until Nehemiah; and from the fact that Nehemiah says he found the wall scattered, and the gates burned. Second, because on account of enemies constantly harassing the Jews, Nehemiah and the Jews in the most narrow and shortest time, namely 52 days, hastily completed the walls. After seventy-two weeks. — Repeat by Hebraism, after weeks 7, and weeks 62, that is after 69 weeks Christ shall be slain; otherwise indeed this verse would conflict with the preceding one. Therefore Driedo is mistaken, who in lib. III De S. Scriptur. cap. V, teaches that Christ was slain in the 62nd week. For Daniel speaks of weeks 62, which he had shortly before joined with the other seven, as if to say: After weeks 62 already mentioned, which are joined with seven others. Christ shall be slain. — A certain Rabbi foolishly translated by Finus, shall be cut off, that is shall be rejected by the Synagogue, shall be separated, and as it were excommunicated Christ; and R. Levi, shall be cut off, that is the Messiah shall be truncated, because an end shall be given to the priest and priesthood by Titus. For the Hebrew כרת carat means to cut off, to cut down, to kill, and thus Leo Hebraeus and the other Rabbis translate it here. Whence R. Hosea with Galatinus, lib. IV, cap. XV, weeping said: "Woe to them, woe to them, woe to them wicked and impious murderers of Israel, for love of whom, that God may forgive them their sin, He will send His holy Son, and will put on human flesh! woe to them, because on account of their wicked rebellious deeds they will rebel against this Messiah! nor will they heed the words by which He will command them, that they be cleansed with the water of purification to expiate their sins; nor will they walk in ways pleasing to God, nor will they do His will; but driven by great wrath they will slay Him." Wherefore it is remarkable that the Septuagint translates, the unction shall be destroyed, that is the pontifical dignity in the high priest Hyrcanus, who shall be slain, says Theodoret. For in Hebrew it is Masiach, that is Christ in the concrete, not mesech, that is unction in the abstract; and thus the Talmudists and Rabbis themselves read it. Perhaps the Septuagint did not understand the mystery of Christ's slaying, or rather preferred to conceal it among the Jews who would not believe it.
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26. AND HE SHALL NOT HAVE HIS PEOPLE, WHO SHALL DENY HIM. — In Hebrew ואין לו veen lo, that is, not to him, which R. Solomon expounds, as if to say, Christ, that is, King Agrippa, shall be killed, and there shall not be himself, or another king (of the Jews), until the Messiah comes. But it should have been said thus: And not himself; now however it says: And not to him. Add that it is false that Agrippa was killed by the Romans, since he was increased by them in tetrarchies and riches, as I showed above from Josephus and Tacitus. The Septuagint translates: And there shall not be to him judgment, as if to say, Without judgment, unjustly and tumultuously by the Scribes and Jews Christ shall be killed; or rather, as if to say, With unction, that is, with the pontificate, the principate shall perish (for it is the office of this to judge) and the commonwealth. Vatablus: And there shall not be, namely, one who brings aid to him, so as to free him from death and the hands of the Jews. Whence the Arabic: And there is not to him a defender; the Syriac: There is not to him, namely, in such great evils a remedy, or an escape. Galatinus, book IV, chapter XVIII: And there shall not be to him, namely, that which the Jews think, to wit, that affixed to the cross he shall perish, and utterly pass away, but he shall rise from the dead. Our translator renders it: And there shall not be his, namely, that Jewish people who shall deny him and kill him. For this is what concerning the same he clearly says in Hosea, chapter I: "Call his name, Not my people, for you are not my people, and I am not your God." Hence they themselves before Pilate, willing to free Christ, denied him, and cried out against him: "We have no king but Caesar, crucify, crucify." Hence Finus, book V of the Scourge, chapter V, suspects that these have fallen out of the Hebrew text here, or have been expunged by the Jews. For it is not, he says, probable that our Interpreter added these of himself. The ancient Hebrews, as St. Jerome testifies, translated and explained it, as if to say, There shall not be his empire which he thought he would redeem, that is, Christ shall abandon the kingdom of the Jews, and utterly reject it, to which however he came chiefly to repair and restore spiritually: which in the matter is the same as what Our translator renders: "And there shall not be his people, who shall deny him." AND THE CITY, AND THE SANCTUARY SHALL BE DESTROYED BY THE PEOPLE WITH THE LEADER THAT SHALL COME. — "People," that is, the Roman army, under the leader Titus and Vespasian, in vengeance for the death of Christ, shall destroy the city Jerusalem, and the holy temple that was in it, and utterly overturn it; so that it shall never be rebuilt, but remain desolate forever; for this is the full "desolation and the determined desolation," of which follows. Note: The angel attributed the overthrow of the temple to the Roman people and army, because the leader himself, namely Titus, wished to preserve it, as Josephus testifies. Thus Vatablus. AND THE END OF IT DESOLATION. — In Hebrew, they shall be cut down, namely the Jews, as in the flood; Tertullian, as in the cataclysm, so that few, like Noah, survive such a disaster. Thus the Septuagint. Vatablus translates: The end of it shall be by a flood, or with an inundation, as if to say, The Romans shall rush upon Jerusalem with all force and multitude. He compares the force and impetuosity of war to a flood. Thus Theodoret. AND AFTER THE END OF WAR. — R. Solomon translates: Until the end of war, as if to say, Although all the adversaries of the Jews are finally to be destroyed and laid waste by the Messiah to come, nevertheless there is decreed and determined by God the desolation and devastation of his city, namely Jerusalem, by Titus until the end of the war of Gog and Magog, of which Ezekiel XXXVIII, who shall be overcome by the Messiah, and Jerusalem shall be restored to them (that is, to the Jews), namely the city, temple and kingdom; certainly at the end of the world: for then Gog and Magog shall come with the Antichrist, whom the Jews shall receive for Christ. But this is not here about the war of Gog and Magog, but of the leader to come shortly after the 70 weeks, that is, Titus. The Septuagint obscurely translate: And until the end of war cut off shall ordain (the Romans read in order: for the Greek τάξα can, first, be taken as a noun, and then signifies in order; second, as a future of the verb τάττω, and then signifies shall ordain) desolations. Perhaps there is an error, and for συνεστμημέναι τάξει ἀφανισμοῖς, it should be read, συντετμημέναι τάξεις ἀφανισμῶν, that is, decreed are the orders, or series of desolations. Pagninus translates: And until the end of war determined are desolations, as if to say, Jerusalem besieged by continuous slaughters and killings shall be gradually exhausted and laid waste until the end of war, by which it shall be utterly destroyed and desolated: which desolation shall last to the end of the world, as follows. Vatablus translates: Until the end of war the desolation is completed, or it shall be destroyed by desolations, or by seditions and killings, as if to say, Yet during the whole time of the siege its strength shall be weakened on account of civil wars, and internal seditions. For John and Simon, leaders of sedition, killed many in the city. The Hebrews have at this word: At the end of the war decreed desolations are, at the end, that is at the end, in the end: whence Our translator most clearly and excellently renders it, after the end, both because not in war, but after the end of war this desolation and solitude of Jerusalem followed, with the Jews slain or carried away from it: and because it follows: "And even unto consummation and end desolation shall persevere," which Jerusalem still suffers: this therefore happens after the end of war, and still endures, and shall endure unto the end of the world. For desolation in Hebrew is שממות scomemot, that is desolations, blastings, blightings: for when a thing is blasted by lightning, or by fire, or by the breath of a serpent, it is said scomem, that is to be blasted, blighted, desolated; for the root scamam alludes to נשם nascam, that is to breathe, to blow, to blast. It is signified therefore here that Jerusalem on account of her abominations is as it were blasted by God, and from heaven as it were blighted by lightning, so that like Sodom she might be reduced to ashes and cinders by the Romans and vanish away. Thus Josephus, describing the destruction of Jerusalem, ascribes it not to Titus, but to God, as shall appear below from his words. Note: This desolation of Jerusalem is not contained within the space of 70 weeks; for those end in the third year after the death of Christ, but this desolation happened in the year 38 after the death of Christ: not long therefore after the 70 weeks did this desolation happen. For that Origen, Eusebius and Hippolytus do not continue this 70 weeks with the others, but make them 60 or 70 years later, is contrary to their connexion and context in Daniel. Daniel therefore makes mention of the desolation of Jerusalem, so as to show how grave a vengeance God inflicted upon the Jews for the death of Christ, inasmuch as on account of it He utterly destroyed Jerusalem, and the whole Jewish race and commonwealth. Note secondly, that this desolation of the Jews is most grave, first, because they lack the temple for 1600 years; secondly, they lack Prophets; thirdly, they lack learned men; fourthly, they are wanderers throughout the whole world; fifthly, this desolation of theirs shall be perpetual, as Gabriel here predicts, and Isaiah and other Prophets, and experience itself teaches this.
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27. He shall confirm (thus read with the Romans, not "he confirmed," as some read) THE COVENANT (the Septuagint, διαθήκην, that is, testament, namely the new) WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK. — Gabriel returns to Christ, of whom he treated in verses 25 and 26. Therefore R. Solomon expounds it wrongly, as if to say, Titus, the leader of the people to come against Jerusalem, will make a truce with the Jews, which the Jews will not keep; hence by him they will be cut off and desolated. For this fiction of his is clearly refuted. For neither Josephus, nor Josippus son of Gorion, nor Hegesippus, nor anyone else narrating the destruction of Jerusalem, makes mention of these truces; but rather on the contrary all unanimously assert that the Jews most obstinately rejected all the conditions of peace offered by the Romans, even to the final destruction of the city. Add to this: Titus besieged Jerusalem not for a whole year, but for only half a year: for he began the siege in April, namely at Passover; and he took the city in the following October: therefore he did not "confirm the covenant with many for one week," which comprises several years. It is therefore certain from the common opinion of interpreters that these things are said of Christ the Saviour. For Christ in the last week, namely the seventieth, preached for three and a half years of it, as the ancient tradition holds, as Eusebius testifies, VIII Demonstr. (concerning which matter it is to be treated in the Gospels. Meanwhile see Baronius, in the year of Christ 34, Pererius here Quest. VII, and Suarez, III part., Quest. L, art. 6, dist. 40, sect. I.), and then he established the covenant and testament between God and men especially in the last supper, and sanctified it by his death; and he gave its symbol and perpetual pledge, the sacrifice and sacrament of the Eucharist. Furthermore, Christ confirmed this testament with many, that is, with very many men, with whom he entered into this covenant. Whence Vatablus translates, toward many, לרבים larabbim, namely many in the dative. But you would better take "with many" in the ablative, by many, namely by reasons and arguments (for the article lamed, which is in larabbim, often serves the ablative, as those skilled in Hebrew know), namely first, by miracles, especially those which the Prophets predicted he would perform to confirm this. Whence Christ, asked by John in the name of his disciples: "Art thou he that art to come (the Messiah), or do we look for another?" answered: "Go and report to John what you have heard and seen; the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them." For Christ was to perform these miracles, which Isaiah had predicted individually, cap. XXXV, 5, and cap. LXI, 1. And so the Jews were convicted by these, that they should believe, or ought to believe, that he was the Messiah. Whence also they said in John VII: "When the Christ comes, will he do more signs than what this man does?" For Christ did these signs in order that by them he might prove and demonstrate to the Jews that he was the Messiah promised by the Prophets. Secondly, by prophecies: for Moses and all the Prophets predicted this covenant of Christ, and whatever was predicted by them, Christ fulfilled and accomplished, as St. Peter and Paul frequently show in the Acts of the Apostles. Thirdly, by the testimonies of angels, who announced him at his birth to the shepherds, and the same to the Magi through a star, as it were the language of the heavens, as St. Augustine says, serm. 2 De Epiphania, indicated; who also testified that he rose from the dead, Matt. XXVIII, 2 and following. Indeed, even the demons cast out by Christ from the bodies of men cried out that he was Christ and the Son of God. Fourthly, by the testimony of St. John the Baptist, whom the Jews revered as a prophet and a man of God: for John preached nothing other than that this was the Messiah, and pointing to him with his finger: "Behold," he said, "the Lamb of God, behold he who takes away the sins of the world." Fifthly, by the testimony of Moses and Elijah, who in the transfiguration before Peter, James and John testified that he was the Messiah. Sixthly, by a life equally and most holy and most perfect in doctrine. For Christ lived a life angelic, indeed divine, so that no prudent person could doubt that he was truthful and preached true things: for he preached by word and example to despise earthly things, to love heavenly things, that the poor in spirit are blessed, the meek, the chaste, the peacemakers, the patient, etc. Seventh, by his passion, death and redemption: for by these Christ fulfilled the prophecies of David, Psalm XXI, of Isaiah chapter LIII, of Jeremiah chapter XI, of Daniel in this place, when he says: "And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain," and of other prophets, who five hundred and six hundred years before had predicted that Christ would suffer, be crucified, and by his death redeem mankind. Eighth, by the prodigies which occurred at his death. For the sun was darkened, the earth trembled, the veil of the temple was torn, the dead rose again; so that all the elements seemed as it were to feel the death of their Creator, to be troubled and to mourn; whence the Centurion seeing these things said: "Truly this was the Son of God." Ninth, from the predictions of Christ himself, which we see all truly fulfilled. For first, he predicted his own death and cross, and then his resurrection and ascension; second, the destruction of Jerusalem; third, the preaching of his Gospel throughout the whole world, the conversion of the gentiles, the unbelief of the Jews; fourth, the miracles which the Apostles were to perform by his power, likewise the persecutions which they were to suffer; fifth, his Church, although assailed on all sides by the weapons and machines of tyrants and heretics, would nevertheless endure and last until the end of the world, and many other things, all of which we see fulfilled to the letter. Tenth, by his glorious resurrection from death after three days, and on the fortieth day his public ascension into heaven, and on the fiftieth day the sending of the Holy Spirit upon his disciples; finally God himself, all creatures, and the whole world proclaimed him to be the Messiah, the redeemer of the world, and the founder of the new testament. For at his baptism the eternal Father said to him: "This is my beloved Son, hear him," and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. Angels and demons testified to the same, as I have already shown, and heaven, when it gave him his star as a sign to the Magi; and the air, when he ascended gloriously into heaven through it; and the sea, when it offered itself as it were to be trodden by its lord, and subjected itself to his feet; and the earth, when it was shaken at his death; and death, when it gave back the dead, whom Christ recalled to life; and hell, when it restored the souls of the Fathers; and the sun and moon, when they grew dark and mourned at his death; and water, when at the wedding feast it was changed by him into wine; and bread, when it was multiplied by him, likewise when it was changed by him into his body, as he proved by many miracles; and light, when in his transfiguration it clothed him, so that his face shone as the sun, and his garments as snow; and rocks, when they were split at his death; and fire, when he sent tongues of fire upon the Apostles at Pentecost; and winds, when he calmed them on the sea so that they said of him: "Who is this, that the winds and the sea obey him?" Moreover all sexes, all ages, all conditions testified to the same. For both the old man Simeon, and Anna the widow, and Nicodemus the Pharisee, and many gentiles, and even children and infants proclaimed the same. The infants who were slain at Bethlehem by Herod (for these, being slain on account of Christ, so that Christ might be slain among them), what else did they profess by their slaughter and martyrdom than that Christ was already born, from whose kingdom Herod feared to be despoiled? The children, who when the Messiah entered Jerusalem in pomp on Palm Sunday, with one voice at God's prompting cried out: "Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord!" You will say: Christ preached only through the middle of the seventieth week, namely through the first three and a half years of it, after which he was slain by the Jews; how then does the angel say here: "And he shall confirm the covenant with many in one week," when he confirmed it not by one whole week, but only by half of it in preaching? Theodoret answers that Christ by himself preaching confirmed the covenant through half of the seventieth week, and committed the remaining half of the same week to be completed by the Apostles. The Apostles therefore remained in Jerusalem for three years for this reason, preaching to the Jews the faith of Christ, so that they might complete the half of the seventieth week begun by Christ, which being done, this prophecy of Daniel concerning the confirmation of the covenant, namely of the new Testament, among the Jews being now fulfilled, by the command of Christ they transferred themselves to the gentiles, so that they might preach and confirm the same testament to them, to which things agreeing St. Jerome writes here, and Eusebius, book VIII of the Preparation for the Gospel. AND IN THE MIDST OF THE WEEK THE VICTIM AND THE SACRIFICE SHALL FAIL. — As a sign of this matter, Christ then suffering and offering himself to God for the salvation of men, and thus fulfilling the types of all the old victims and sacrifices, the veil of the temple was torn, and the Holy of Holies hitherto closed was opened, as the Apostle teaches in Hebrews IX; and all the wonderful things which were in the temple came to an end. Apollinarius of Laodicea, Hilarius, Canon XXV in Matthew, and Hippolytus wrongly refer these things to the Antichrist in the literal sense (for that he is figured here allegorically and typically is not doubtful, and all confess it); for he himself will take away the sacrifice of the Eucharist, and will place in the temple the abomination of desolation, namely himself and his idol, so that he may be adored as God: for Apollinarius, as St. Jerome testifies here, held that there are two sets of seventy weeks, and that the former are completed in the first coming of Christ; the latter in the second, namely at the end of the world and in the time of the Antichrist. But this error has been refuted here: for Daniel assigns only one set of seventy weeks, and asserts that they are terminated in the death of Christ, whence he rashly invents second weeks which are to be terminated in the Antichrist. In the death of Christ, therefore, all the sacrifices and victims of the old law, and all ceremonial observances in their entirety were abrogated and made obsolete and failed and became dead, although not immediately deadly; for as St. Leo says, homily 8 On the Passion: "Now one oblation of the body and blood of Christ fulfills all the differences of victims." Thus therefore Christ by his death caused to cease (for this is what the Hebrew ישבית iasbit signifies) and abolished, as Vatablus translates, all legal victims and rites. Thus St. Jerome and everywhere the Hebrews, Greeks and Latins. Wherefore a recent chronologist thinks less correctly that Christ preached in the end of the seventieth week; yet so that by his resurrection, ascension into heaven, and the preaching of the Apostles, he confirmed his law and covenant in the seventy-first week; for thus there would be not seventy, but seventy-one weeks, and not in the midst, as is said here, but at the end of the seventieth week would the victim have failed. AND THERE SHALL BE IN THE TEMPLE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. — For desolation in Hebrew is משמם mescomem, making desolate, desolating, or even causing stupefaction, as if to say a stupendous abomination. Refer these things to the end of verse 26; for Gabriel here mingles the death of Christ with the destruction and devastation of Jerusalem, because that was the cause of this. The Arabic of Antioch translates: And upon the wings of abomination destruction (desolation). The Arabic of Alexandria: The victims and oblations shall cease, and corruption and profanation shall come upon it; the Syriac: And upon the wings of uncleanness (defilement, abomination) corruption (subversion, confusion). Note first: For in the temple in Hebrew is על כנף al kenaph, that is at the wing. For wing denotes the temple, as both the Septuagint and Christ translate it, Matthew XXIV: "Standing," he says, "in the holy place." Then because the temple had wings as it were feathers; whence Tertullian, book Against the Jews, reads: And he will destroy the pinnacle unto destruction. For some translated it in Greek as πτερύγιον, which means wing, and from this the pinnacle in Luke IV, 9, is signified, then because the temple had on both sides broad and long porticoes, as it were expanded wings, so that it seemed to be winged, or a bird spreading its wings; then finally, because the wicked and abominable Zealots first occupied one side and one portico as it were one wing of the temple, and there made the abomination of desolation, of which Daniel speaks here, and raged against their own citizens, as I shall soon say. Whence you may expound it word for word thus, at the wing, namely of the sanctuary and city, of which he said a little before: "And the city and the sanctuary he shall destroy with the people that shall come with the leader." For it is to this that he looks, and to this these things pertain. Others translate it differently, namely: And upon the wing of abominations he shall cause stupefaction; and Vatablus: On account of the wing of abominations it shall be destroyed, that is, he says, Jerusalem shall be destroyed on account of the great abominations which the Jews will commit by crucifying Christ: for he calls the wing, or extension of abominations, a long series of abominations, or manifold abominations. Note second: The Hebrew texts word for word have, and at the wing (that is at the temple, in the temple) abominations desolating, or desolation, that is of those desolating, namely of the Jews and Romans; or of that which desolates, that is of desolation; for the participle or participial noun mescomem, i.e. of that which desolates, is put for the abstract scomem, i.e. desolation, as learned Hebraists note. Whence both the Septuagint and Christ, Matthew XXIV, and others translate, abomination of desolation, or of blast and amazement, as I explained a little before. Note thirdly: There is here a double Hebraism. For first, abomination is put for a foul, base, execrable and abominable thing. Secondly, of desolation, that is desolating, and bringing extreme ruin to the temple, city and Jews; or by hypallage, the abomination of desolation is the abominable desolation, as Vatablus says. This is a grave question, what this abomination of desolation may be? First, Irenaeus, book V, chapter XXV, Hilary and the Author of the Imperfect Work in Chrysostom, on Matthew XXIV, 13, think it to be the Antichrist, who will be adored in the temple as God; for it appears that the discourse concerns his time from what follows: "And unto the consummation and end desolation shall persevere:" for this agrees with the Antichrist. And from the fact that St. Mark writes, chapter XIII; for when in verse 14 he had said: "When you shall see the abomination of desolation," etc., he adds in verse 25: "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall be falling down, and the powers that are in heaven shall be moved. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds." For all these things pertain to the times of the Antichrist and the end of the world. Yet Daniel treats here of the destruction not of the world, but of the city and temple of Jerusalem; which will happen soon after the end of the seventy weeks, and after the death of Christ slain by the Jews, as is evident from his own words, and other Interpreters agree: and therefore Christ also treats of the same thing, Matthew XXIV; for there he alludes to, indeed cites this passage of Daniel, saying: "When you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place." Therefore Calvin wrongly denies this. Thus it is not treated here of the Antichrist literally; yet allegorically this abomination which was in the time of Titus was a type and prelude of the abomination which the Antichrist will commit. Whence Christ, Matthew XXIV and Mark XIII, combines both, when from the destruction of the city of Jerusalem he suddenly passes to the destruction of the world, and so mingles this with that, that they seem to be one and the same thing, just as the type is the same with the antitype, not physically, but typically and representatively. Secondly, others here understand the abomination of the temple which Antiochus Epiphanes made, by placing an idol in it, and giving it the name of Jupiter Olympius, as Josephus testifies, XII Antiquities. But they err; for this Antiochus preceded Christ by two centuries: therefore his abomination was already made and past. But Christ speaks of this abomination as if still future, saying: "When you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then let them that are in Judaea flee to the mountains," etc. Thirdly, St. Jerome and Thomasetus in Matthew chapter XXIV, by abomination understand an idol placed in the temple in the time of Christ: for an idol in Scripture is called שקוצים scikkutsim, that is abominations, that is things most abominable; "and it is added of desolation, because an idol was placed in the desolate and destroyed temple," says St. Jerome, who with Theodoret thinks this idol was the image of Caesar, which Pilate secretly brought into the temple by night. Yet this happened forty years before the destruction, and was already done when Christ said these things, Matthew XXIV. Add: Pilate, the Jews resisting, soon removed this statue from the temple. Read Josephus, XVIII Antiquities, chapter IV and following. For this reason St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus and Euthymius think this idol was the statue of Titus. Yet concerning it, namely that it was placed in the temple, Josephus has nothing, nor the ancient historians: and if it was, it was after the destruction, not before. Hence again St. Jerome understands the statue of the Emperor Hadrian which was placed in Bethlehem, and of Adonis which was placed on Mount Calvary. Yet these were not on Mount Sion and the temple, and happened long after the destruction of the city and temple made by Titus: but this abomination happened before the destruction. For, when it was seen, Christ warns that they flee to the mountains, that they may escape the impending destruction. Fourthly, Maldonatus in Matthew XXIV, thinks this abomination to be the destruction of Jerusalem, as if Christ said: When you shall see Jerusalem laid waste, know and understand that Daniel's prophecy concerning it is fulfilled. Yet it is objected that Christ gives this abomination as a sign of the future destruction, so that, when it is seen, the faithful may flee and escape it; it will therefore be prior to the destruction. Fifth, others understand by abomination the sins of priests, especially those committed in the temple. But these were ancient and committed in all ages: unless someone should say that in the time of the pontificate of Christ offices were sold; and thus impious priests buying the pontificate with money, and thrust in by Roman governors, were this abomination, and therefore it is said of it: "Standing in the holy place;" for in that place was the station of the high priest. But abomination of desolation signifies more: yet this can be understood as a part of that abomination. Sixth, the Historia Scholastica here, cap. X, understands by abomination the sacrifices of Aaron, which Christ abolished, and therefore were soon to be abominable, desolated and abolished, and consequently, as the Carthusian says, in the temple there was to be, "not true worship of God, but a game of the devil." For this is what he predicted: "In the midst of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail." But these could be a sign of impending destruction neither to the Jews, as not believing in Christ, nor to Christians, both because this destruction was to come after 38 years; and because Jews converted to Christ still kept the legal observances and sacrifices of Aaron until sufficient promulgation of the Gospel. And this was for burying the Synagogue with honor, and for avoiding offense to the Jews; for those things were dead in the death of Christ, but not immediately deadly, except after full divulgation of the Gospel. Seventh, St. Augustine, epistle 80 to Hesychius, and Origen, homily 29 on Matthew, Cajetan and Salmeron on Matthew XXIV, Pererius here, and Suarez, III, part. Question LIX, art. 6, disp. 54, sect. V, hold that the abomination of desolation is the Roman army besieging Jerusalem, which was soon to occupy and desolate the city. This is called an abomination, both because it was gentile: for the Jews abhorred Gentiles; and because it worshipped and honored abominable idols, and carried them before in standards. This opinion is proved from the fact that for the abomination of desolation which St. Matthew sets down, cap. XXIV, 5; Luke, cap. XXI, 20, narrating the same discourse of Christ, says: "When you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army;" therefore this army is the abomination of which St. Matthew speaks. It can be answered with Euthymius, that Christ assigned two signs of impending destruction: the first the abomination of desolation, and this St. Matthew narrates; the second the army of the Romans, and this St. Luke narrates: for these two things happened at the same time. Again, to this opinion it could be objected, that this army was not "in the temple," but around the city: but Daniel says this abomination was to be in the temple. Yet if this opinion be conveniently expounded, and this army be understood as a partial abomination predicted here by Daniel, it is probable and to be admitted, as I shall presently declare. Eighth, therefore, very probably Sebastian Barradius, Abulensis, Jansenius and Hesselius on Matthew cap. XXIV, and Baronius, in the year of Christ 68, tom. I Angel., hold that this abomination is the profanation of the temple, made by seditious, murderous and wicked Jews, who from impious zeal for their country and law, called themselves Zealots: or that the abomination is the Zealots themselves, who occupied and profaned the temple, while they fortified it in the manner of a camp, and from there making sorties against their fellow citizens, raged with plunder and slaughter. Seditious men, I say, and Zealots, both at the time of Titus, and rather others somewhat earlier under Cestius, governor of Judaea, who, when the Jews began to rebel, first besieged Jerusalem in the year of Christ 68, the 12th of Nero. For this was the sign and cause of destruction: for when Cestius was routed and put to flight by the Jews, Nero, in order to subdue and punish the Jews, immediately sent Vespasian in his place, who soon laid waste and subdued all Galilee and Judaea, and finally besieged Jerusalem through Titus his son, and took and laid it waste, and burned the temple in the year of Christ 72, which was the first year of Vespasian's reign. This opinion is proved, first, because this abomination was properly in temple, as Daniel says here; and in the holy place, as Christ says, Matt. XXIV, and Daniel properly treats here of the profanation and desolation of the temple, and the cessation of sacrifices; therefore this is the abomination of desolation. Secondly, unless we refer these words of Christ to this time: "When you shall see the abomination," etc., they do not cohere with what follows: "Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains." For when Titus besieged Jerusalem, no one could flee from Jerusalem; for the siege was most strict, so that Titus in the space of three days surrounded the entire city with a wall, which was like a miracle: nor from Judea, because that, together with Galilee, had already been laid waste and subdued by Vespasian. Thirdly, because Josephus, lib. V of the Wars, cap. II, says: "There was an old saying then that the city would be taken when sedition had arisen in it, and the temple of God had been violated by the hands of the Jews themselves," and therefore he adds that soon after the defeat of Cestius and the Romans, many of the Jews who conjectured the impending calamity fled from the city and migrated to other regions. That these were Christians is testified by St. Epiphanius, haeres. 29 and 30, and Eusebius, lib. III Hist. cap. V, who says they were divinely warned and withdrew to the city of Pella. And this is evident from St. Simeon, Bishop of Jerusalem: for he succeeded St. James, the brother of the Lord, who was killed by the Jews in the year of Christ 63, the seventh year of Nero, as Baronius rightly proves from Josephus, and remained until the times of Trajan, under whom he suffered martyrdom; indeed Eusebius, lib. VII Histor. XIV, teaches that his chair (and doubtless also the other furnishings of the Church) was placed in safety by Christians, where he teaches it was preserved until his own times. All these things respond most excellently to the warnings of Christ, that they should flee, having seen the abomination, which was a sign, indeed a cause, of the impending desolation and calamity. Ninthly, the explanation will be full and perfect if you join together both senses, namely the seventh and eighth. For the abomination of desolation signifies the profanation of the temple, on account of which, and through which it was desolated and overthrown, namely the abominable crimes of the Jews, which they themselves perpetrated in the temple: by which they themselves provoked the abominable slaughter and devastation of the Romans upon themselves, the city and the temple. For an attacking army cannot be conceived (as that of the Romans is), unless there is also conceived a defending army (as that of the Jews is), just as when the agent is named, the patient is also understood; and conversely, when the patient is named, the agent is understood: for these are correlatives. What therefore Christ says: "When you shall see the abomination," etc., the sense is, as if to say, When, or as soon as you shall see the city and temple besieged and attacked from without by this abominable army; and no less occupied and defended from within by this abominable army, one on account of idols, the other on account of crimes openly abominable; both threatening nothing but desolation; that one by its proud animosity, this one by its crimes, seditions and slaughters: "Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains." Hence in Hebrew it is called the abomination of desolations, that is of those desolating, both Jews and Romans; for both they and these equally laid waste and desolated the city and the temple. Hence also Daniel, vers. 26, calls it scommemot, that is desolations in the plural, and Luke ὑπὸ στρατοπέδων, that is by armies, in the plural. You will say: The army of the Romans was not in the temple, in which Daniel places this abomination. I answer first: It was in the holy place, as Christ says, that is around Jerusalem the holy city and the temple. Secondly, it was properly in the temple, or at the temple; for the Romans, attacking the Jews, undermined the temple, into which, as into a citadel, the Zealots had withdrawn themselves, as Josephus teaches. Christ preferred to say, "in the holy place," so that he might comprehend with the temple also the city; for what Daniel says here in Hebrew: Upon the wing, can be understood both of the wing or extremity of the city and of the temple. But the holy place is opposed to the abomination, because if from any place, certainly from the holy place the abomination ought to be far absent. Thus Francis Lucas, Matt. XXIV. Moreover, this abomination of desolation, namely the profanation of the temple, began under Cestius, grew under Titus, and was perfected by the Romans, with the city and temple destroyed. For then they themselves slaughtered Jews in the temple, and there placed their standards marked with images of Jupiter, Mars, and their other gods and idols, which in Scripture are called abominations, as Josephus teaches in book VII of the Wars, chapter XIII. For this was the ultimate desolation of the temple and city, namely such as both the guilt of the Jews (that is, the sacrileges committed against Christ and the temple), and the wrath of the Romans demanded. Daniel encompasses all these things through the abomination of desolation: but Christ regards only the first, that is, its beginning: for he warns that, when it is seen, they should flee, as a sign of the impending calamity and destruction of the city and temple. For what prudent man would not take it as an omen that a place rejected by God, and its desolation at hand, which had been held as most holy up to that time, when he saw it already polluted by the slaughters and crimes of abominable men? For although that place was no longer held as holy by God after the death of Christ, yet because it had been held as such for many centuries, and was still held as such by the Jews, and even by Christians: for they (as is evident from St. Peter and John, Acts III, 1), went up to the temple to pray, and there God worked miracles through them; hence it was still called Holy, so that these crimes are considered to profane it, and to portend its desolation and ruin, and this is foretold by Christ. For the Jews, by their weapons and slaughters, even those perpetrated by the Romans there, provoked the Romans to the destruction of the city and temple. Christ therefore, as Baronius and Francis Lucas note, seems to speak especially of the beginning of the rebellion of the Jews, when Cestius, the governor of Syria, hearing that the Jews had killed Roman soldiers of the garrison, gathered an army, defeated the Jews, took Joppa and other cities, and besieged Jerusalem: and when the seditious Jews had taken refuge in the inner part of the temple, Cestius attacked it with soldiers undermining the walls and attempting to set fire to the temple gates. But when Cestius rashly recalled his soldier and departed in shameful flight, the prudent Jews, especially the Christians, took counsel for their flight from Christ's warning. Whence Josephus, in book VIII of the Wars, chapter XXV, says: "After the adverse fortunes of Cestius, many of the nobles of the Jews, as from a ship about to sink, swam out of the city." And this was deliberate. For soon Emperor Nero, understanding Cestius's flight, after six months sent Vespasian, who first laid waste and took Galilee, then Samaria, and all Judea, except the city of Jerusalem: and, Nero being killed, created Roman Emperor, he went away, leaving his son Titus, who unexpectedly besieged Jerusalem at Passover, and after six months took it, the temple being stormed first of all, and set on fire by the soldiers against Titus's will, as Josephus teaches in books VI and VII of the Wars. Whence then it was not permitted to flee from Jerusalem and carry away one's possessions, especially because Galilee was occupied by Vespasian, and the Zealots so tightly guarded Jerusalem with sentries that no one had the ability to escape unless he redeemed it by giving money to the guards. Add to this, a new leader of conspiracy and sedition of the Jews arose, Simon of Gerasa, who besieged Jerusalem, and though admitted by the citizens in hope of receiving aid against the Zealots, he acted no less destructively than the Zealots, and afflicted the citizens, until Titus besieged the city. Thus Josephus, in book V, chapters VI and following. Wherefore Christ warned that, when this abomination is seen, they should immediately flee; for this is what those phrases signify: "He that is on the roof, let him not come down to take anything out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not return to take his coat." For these phrases are proverbs, signifying nothing other than that one must flee with the greatest speed, lest the way of escape be cut off, as indeed happened here. Moreover, how impious, murderous and wicked these Zealots were, profaners of the temple, fighting among themselves and slaughtering one another as much as citizens and enemies, Josephus narrates at length both in book VI, 1 and seq., and in book VII, IV: "The city, he says, was filled not only with corpses, but the entire temple as well," etc. Whence he narrates in the same place that Titus besieging the city and temple, on account of that violated temple, accused the Zealots and said: "Why do you trample even the dead in the temple, O most guilty ones! Or why do you pollute the temple with the confusion of foreign and gentile blood? I call the ancestral gods to witness, it is not I who compel you to violate these things. But I will preserve the temple for you as well, if you change the position of your battle line." For the Zealots were casting missiles from the temple as from a citadel against the Romans. The same author, in book VI of the Wars, chapter I: "Missiles, he says, driven by the force of machines reaching even to the altar and temple, fell upon priests celebrating the sacred rites, and many who had come to the temple from the uttermost ends of the earth fell before the very sacrifices themselves, and stained the altar with blood. But with the natives dead, foreigners and profane persons were mingled; and through the divine courts the blood of various corpses had made a pool. What so great have you suffered from the Romans, O most wretched city! who entered to purge your internal crimes with flames! For now you were no longer the place of God, nor could you remain, having become a sepulcher from the funerals of your own people, and having made a tomb of what had been a temple through civil war." The same author, in book VI, XVI: "I think, he says, that if the Romans had delayed coming against such harmful men of our nation, either the city would have been devoured by a chasm of the earth, or would have perished by a flood, or would have suffered fires like Sodom by thunderbolts. For it bore a far more impious generation than that which had endured those punishments." Behold, this is the abomination of desolation. Morally, the abomination of desolation is heresy, especially iconoclasm, and sacrileges. For heresy is an abominable idol to God, on account of which it brings desolation to kingdoms and nations, and the yoke of the Turk, as we already see brought upon Africa, Greece, Syria, Asia, etc. See Baronius, vol. III, book IX, chapter VIII, in the Moral section. For when heretics, especially iconoclasts, violate sacred things and temples, break the images of the Saints, and profane sacred places, then certain ruin and desolation impends over the commonwealth. To omit Scotland, England, Germany, France, etc., let our Belgium be an example, which, after the iconoclasm of the year 1566, for more than sixty years has been so devastated by continuous wars that more than twenty times a hundred thousand, or more than two million men have been slain in them, and Belgium itself, which once was a paradise and the delight of the world, now appears to be nothing but a valley of troubles and tears. Thus God avenges sacrileges and the violated majesty of the Godhead, worship and religion. AND UNTO THE CONSUMMATION AND THE END DESOLATION SHALL PERSEVERE. — The Septuagint: And unto the consummation of time consummation shall be given upon desolation. They appear to have read תתן titten, that is, shall be given, for תתך tittach, of which presently; for nun and final coph are written in nearly the same character. The Hebrew literally has, and unto the consummation and the end shall persevere, or shall be melted, or shall be liquefied (for this is what the Hebrew tittach signifies) itself (Jerusalem, or the desolation and wrath of God) upon the desolation of Jerusalem. Thus Galatinus above, as if to say, Just as in Aetna, and the Vulcanian pot, fire, sulphur, rocks, ashes, and other things burned by the breath of Aetna are perpetually melted and boil: so in the wrath of God Jerusalem shall be melted, so that it may as it were continually boil and display the ashes of its desolation, by which it was afflicted by God through the Romans, and shall continue to be afflicted unto the end of the world, as happens in Sodom and the Pentapolis. Therefore Rabbi Solomon translated and expounded wrongly, as if to say, Titus shall place desolation, that is, his idol, in the temple, and unto the consummation and establishment of that desolating one to be made by the hands of the Messiah, desolation shall persevere, as if to say, Until the Messiah at the end of the world consumes and destroys the enemies of the Jews, who desolated Judea, this desolation of the Jews shall last. For Titus did not live unto the end of the world, nor is he then to be destroyed by Christ. Vatablus translated and explained it, as if to say, Titus shall destroy Jerusalem, until consummation, and indeed a certain one, shall descend upon the astonished or stupefied people, on account of the desolation of the city and temple. How true this prophecy is, experience teaches through 1600 years, during which the Jews have often attempted to raise themselves and the temple, but in vain and to no avail; so that from this it is permitted to conjecture with certainty that this desolation of theirs will be perpetual until the end of the world, as Daniel prophesies here. To omit other examples, Julian the Apostate, wishing to restore the sacrifices of idols, urged the Jews to perform similar sacrifices of the temple, after the manner of their ancestors: they answered him that it was not permitted them by the law to sacrifice outside Jerusalem and its temple. Therefore Julian ordered the temple to be rebuilt for them, and gave for this purpose expenses and labor from his own treasury, with great joy of the Jews and mourning and fear of the Christians. But St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Bishop, encouraged them, showing from this oracle of Daniel and from the words of Christ, Matt. XXIV, that God would not permit this temple to be restored. He was a true prophet, indeed a teacher. For God deterred them from the building by three portents. First, when they laid the foundations, He stirred up a great earthquake, which disturbed the foundations. Second, by fire sent from heaven, He consumed all the instruments of the builders, all the wood and stones, and all the material of the building: this fire lasted for an entire day. Third, in the following night He impressed the figure of a cross, marked with the light of rays, upon their garments, which when the Jews saw as day broke, wishing to wash and erase it, they were in no way able to do so. Thus Socrates reports in lib. III, XVII, and Rufinus, lib. I, cap. LVII, and Chrysostom, oration 2 Against the Jews: "Of this matter," he says, "we are all witnesses; for in our age this happened twenty years ago; consider therefore the remarkable victory of truth." Therefore Daniel here predicts the perpetual desolation, both of the temple and of the city, to be made by Titus; so that the city of Jerusalem is no longer the kingdom of David and his descendants and of the Jews; but a servant and as it were a slave of the Gentiles, namely of the Romans, and then of the Christians, and afterwards of the Turks, as it already is and will be until the end of the world, when the Antichrist, king of the Jews, shall establish the seat of his kingdom in Jerusalem, as is evident from Apoc. XI, 8. For which reason the Emperor Hadrian, 64 years after the destruction by Titus, namely in the year of Christ 104, led a colony of Gentiles into Jerusalem, and called it Aelia Capitolina, and caused a temple to Jupiter to be built in it: and when the Jews, bearing this ill, took up arms, they were so slain by him that, as Dio's Epitome says in the account of Hadrian, "few escaped, and fifty of their most fortified strongholds, and the most celebrated and noble towns and villages were utterly destroyed. Five hundred and eighty thousand men were slain in skirmishes and battles; but of those who perished by famine, disease and fire, the multitude was infinite, so that almost all Judaea was laid waste." He adds the portents which presignified this: "For the monument of Solomon, which they held in the highest reverence, had of its own accord split and collapsed; moreover many wolves and hyenas had entered their cities, roaring and howling." The temple of the Jews, therefore, will not be repaired except at the end of the world by the Antichrist, who will sit in it and be adored, as I said II Thessalon. II, 4. Hence also at that time there will remain in the temple the abomination and desolation, namely the idol of the Antichrist: for although the Antichrist at first perhaps will pretend among the Jews that he wishes to repair this temple to their God, yet in truth he will build it not for God, but for himself: for he will intend to make this temple his seat, in which as a deity he may sit and be worshipped. Thus Francis Suarez, and commonly the others cited above.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
9:1
… The A. mentioned in Dan. 9:1, as the father of Darius the Mede, whose identification is problematic, is perhaps an arbitrary gloss. …
9:2
… (Jer. 36). Another proof of the inspiration of the Old Testament is furnished by the titles with which the books are designated, namely "holy," "sacred" (II Macc. 12, 9; II Macc. 8, 23), "book of the Lord" (Is. 34, 16), or simply "book" or "Scripture" (Dan. 9, 2; Ex. 17, 14 etc.).
9:4
BOOK OF BARUCH. - First part: after a historical proem (1:1-15a), a moving prayer (similar to that of Dan. 9:4-20) in which are acknowledged the sins of the fathers and of their children, now exiles by the deserved chastisement of God, whose mercy that pardons and power that saves are invoked, …
9:7
… Justice and mercy (cf. Ps. 36:11; Is. 56:1; Jer. 23:6; Dan. 9:7; Cor. 1:3; Eph. 2:4) belong to God in a proper, formal, and eminent sense, identifying the apparent antinomy of their concepts in the higher unity of the Godhead. …
9:11
… (Josh. 8:31; 23:6; 2 Kings 14:6); "Book of Moses" (2 Kings 2:3; 2 Chron. 35:12; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 13:1); practically equivalent to it are those of "Book of the Law of the Lord given through Moses" (2 Chron. 34:14), "Law of Moses" (2 Chron. 23:18; Bar. 2:2; Dan. 9:11, 13); a particular prescription of the Pentateuch (Lev. 26:14; Deut. 28:15) is recalled as "the law that God commanded to be written by Moses" (Bar. 2:28 ff.).
9:17
Epistles I-II to the Thessalonians
… Iud., V. 1, 3, 13). It is the sign par excellence, the last, given by Jesus for the beginning of the tribulation (the siege) and the destruction of Jerusalem (Mt. 24:15; Mk. 13:14: "when you see the abominable desolation [Dan. 9:17; 12:11] standing in the holy place"). …
9:20
Vision (Mystical Intellectual Phenomenon)
… Intellectual visions are those formed in the intellect, without the cooperation of the imagination, by means of intelligible species infused or coordinated by God (Dan. 9:20-27; more rarely by angelic or demonic influence), as in the prophecy of the 70 weeks. …
9:21
They appear to men in human form (cf. Dan. 9:21). Only the cherubim (v.) and the seraphim (v.) present themselves as winged. …
d) Thus, concise but rich in theological content ("arcana mysteria reserans": St. Bernard, De diversis, Serm. 52, 2: PL 183, 675), the salutatio (Lk. 1:29) of the archangel Gabriel, already messenger of the messianic era in the Old Testament (Dan. 9:21-27), announces, dawn of redemption, that Mary is the Immaculate ("full of grace"): cf. Pius IX, bull "Ineffabilis," Dec. 8, 1854), because chosen by God as co-redemptrix of the human …
… Two of them, Michael (Dan. 10:13, 20-21; 11:1; 12:1) and Gabriel (Dan. 8:16; 9:21), provide for the interests of the Persians and the Greeks. …
9:24
… persecutor and the beginning of the worship restored by Judas Maccabeus (Dan. 9, 25 ff.; cf. 2, 7-12). The restoration will be complete only with the advent of the kingdom of the M., when "every sin will be blotted out and everlasting justice will reign" (ibid. 9, 24). This connection remains intact even in the exegesis that extends the 70 weeks to the death of Christ.
9:25
… It is translated by the Septuagint as χριστός (only Lev. 4:3 κεχρισμένος), but by Aquila as Ἀλεμμένος (cf. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat., XV, 11; PG 33, 885). It is used in the Hebrew Bible 5 times as an adjective (Dan. 9:25 "the anointed Prince"; Lev. 4:3, 5:16 and 6:22 "the anointed priest"
Holiness of Christ and of Mary
… He is the Christ, that is, the Anointed, the consecrated one (Dan. 9:25-26; Ps. 2:2), the righteous one (Is. 53:11), filled with the Holy Spirit (Is. 11:2; 42:1; 61:1-2). The New Testament explicitly ratifies these essential data (Mt. 1:20; Lk. 1:35: the …
… the third sees the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes with the profanation of the sanctuary (abominatio desolationis), for three and a half years, and ends with the death of the persecutor and the beginning of the worship restored by Judas Maccabeus (Dan. 9, 25 ff.; cf. 2, 7-12). The restoration will be complete only with the advent of the kingdom of the M., when "every sin will be blotted out and everlasting justice will reign" (ibid. 9, 24). …
9:26
… The substantivized māfiah always means the "king" or "sovereign" elected and constituted by God (cf. I Sam. 16:6-7), and is always (except Dan. 9:26 and Eccl. Gr. 46:19) followed by the genitive of Yahweh (or of an equivalent pronoun): "the anointed of Yahweh" (ὁ χριστὸς Κυρίου); 15 times in I-II Sam.; Ps. (Heb.) 2:2; 18:51; …
9:27
… With the sacrifice of Christ there ceased juridically, as foretold by the prophets (cf. Dan. 9:27; Mal. 1:11), the ancient sacrifices and the whole ritual economy, imperfect and transitory, of the Old Testament (cf. Heb. 9:11-10:14).
9:35
… Haer., V, 25, 4; 28, 2) and Hippolytus already understood, of the A. ("Significari Antichristum nullus ambigit": St. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, 20, 19), whom the Apostle describes with the features of Antiochus IV expressed by Dan. 9:35-45; 11:21-12:1 (J. B. Orchard). …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.