* of Arta + Or, to re strain. 24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and A.C. 538. upon thy holy city, † to finish the transgression, and to * They begin make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, from the 20th and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the xerxes. vision and § prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going for, to seat forth of the commandment || to restore and to build Jerusa-Heb. lem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and Or, to built phet. threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, tem: as 2 Sam. and the + wall, even ‡ in troublous times. * up. pro again Jerusa– xv. 25. builded. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be return and be cut off, but not for himself: || and the people of the prince § that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Or, breach, Heb. in Neh. vi. 15. or, ditch. strait of times, Or, and shall have no. thing, John Or, and [the Jews] they xiv. 30. shall be no more his peo 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, ‡ and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until ple, ch. xi. 17. the consummation, and that determined shall be poured prince's [Mesupon the desolate. PSALM CII 52. 1 The prophet in his prayer maketh a grievous complaint. 12 He taketh comfort in the eternity and mercy of God. 18 The mercies of God are to be recorded. 23 He sustaineth his weakness by the unchangeableness of God. or, and the siah's,ver. 25.] future people. * Or, it shall be cut off by desolations. + Or, a. Or, and upon ments shall be the battle the idols of the desolator. h Matt. xxiv. A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his com- 15. Mark xiii. plaint before the LORD. 14. Luke xxi. 20. Or, upon the 1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto desolator. thee. 2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. || Or, for. 3 For my days are consumed * like smoke, and my bones Or, (as some are burned as an hearth. 4 My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. 5 By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. 6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. 52 This Psalm seems, by the thirteenth verse, to have been composed about the time that God promised a restoration to his people from their captivity in Babylon; namely, after a period of seventy years. It may be appropriately placed therefore in the same section with the prayer of Daniel on the same occasion.— Mudge. read,) into smoke. + Or, flesh. A.C. 598. i Is. xl. 6. Jam. i. 10. * Heb. the children of death. + Heb. af flicted. j Heb. i. 10. ↑ Heb. stand. 7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop. 8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. 9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, 10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. 11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and 'I am withered like grass. 12 But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever, and thy remembrance unto all generations. 13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. 14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. 15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. 16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. 18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD. 19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; 20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; 21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; 22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD. 23 He + weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days. 24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. 25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26 They shall perish, but thou shalt ‡ endure : yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. 27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. 28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee. SECTION XIX. Daniel is cast into the Den of Lions. DANIEL VI 53. 1 Daniel is made chief of the presidents. 4 They conspiring against him obtain an idolatrous decree. 10 Daniel, accused of the breach thereof, is cast into the lions' den. 18 Daniel is saved. 24 His adversaries devoured, 25 and God magnified by a decree. 1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred A. C. 537. and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; 2 And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. 53 That the wonderful events recorded in the sixth chapter of Daniel took place about this time, and that the chapter itself ought therefore to be inserted in this part of the arrangement, appears certain, if we consider that Darius reigned only two years; and ver. 1, 2, seem to allude to the division of his empire immediately on his elevation. It is not improbable that Daniel, who in the first year of Darius, (Dan. ix. 2, 3.) had calculated the date of the captivity and the promised deliverance of his people, still continued to offer up his prayers to God for their speedy restoration. He perceived no prospect of their immediate return, and became more noticed among the satraps of the court of Persia, by his unusual dedication of himself to the service of the God of his fathers. They attempted his ruin by the means here related. The miraculous preservation of Daniel, and the consequent influence he thereby obtained over the mind of Darius, was, in all probability, one of the additional causes which led to the decree of Cyrus on the death of Darius. The captivity of Judah glorified God even from its commencement, by accomplishing the predictions of the prophets; and during its continuance, God, in his mercy, employed various means to convince the Gentiles of his universal providence, and his resistless power. He raised up Daniel by prophetic spirit; He rescued the three illustrious friends of Daniel; He punished the proud impiety of Nebuchadnezzar, by a seven years' insanity and degradation; and at the moment when his majesty was insulted, by the impious profanation of the vessels of his temple, a miraculous hand-writing on the wall condemned the idolatrous king, denounced his impending fate, and the downfall of his empire. And, last of all, these wonderful interpositions were crowned by the deliverance of Daniel from the lions' den. These were not obscure or doubtful transactions, but attested by the authentic decrees of the most distinguished monarchs, and proclaimed through their wide extended dominions: particularly in the instances of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv. 1. 37; iii. 29); and of Darius (Dan. vi. 25.) And the great Cyrus was so fully persuaded, by these important events, of the truth of the Divine Providence, whose spirit had so clearly pointed out even the particulars of his own successes, that he became the active assistant in the restoration of the Jews to their own country; and added another public testimony to the glory and power of the God of Israel.-Dr. Graves. A. C. 537. Or, came tumultuously. 3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. 4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daníel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. 6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. 7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm +Or, inter- + decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O'king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. dict. 8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, k Fsth. i. 19. that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes Chald, pass- and Persians, which altereth not. & viii. 8. eth not. 9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 10 ¶ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in 11 Kings viii. his chamber 'toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees m three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 49. m Ps. lv. 17. 11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. 14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said A. C. 537. unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians, is, That no decree or statute which the king establisheth may be changed. 16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. * 18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought Or, table. before him and his sleep went from him. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? 21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. 23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. 24 ¶ And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. 25 ¶ Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be "destroyed, and his dominion shall n ch. ii. 44 & be even unto the end. 27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. iv. 3, 34. & vii. 14, 27. Luke i. 33. + Heb. hand. |