16

the kingdom of the Assyrians, that is, the Babylonians. 39. "And after you another kingdom will arise, inferior to you." The Persian; he calls it inferior, not as weaker, but as second. "And a third kingdom, which is the bronze, which will rule over all the earth." He means the Macedonian; for Alexander, son of Philip, ruled over all the earth, subjugating all men in the twelve years of his reign. 40. "And the fourth kingdom will be strong as iron; for just as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things, so it will break in pieces and subdue all." He means the Roman kingdom, which became very strong, and which overcame, so to speak, all the nations, and collected tribute and tax from all. For he used "breaks in pieces" for this, and "subdues" for obedience and good order, and lawful government. 41. "And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of iron and partly of clay, it will be another divided kingdom, and it will have in it of the root of iron, just as you saw the iron mixed with the clay." He said "another" not in respect to its kind, but according to 81.1305 the quality of its power. For if he were speaking according to its kind, he would have called it another, a fifth one, just as he also spoke of a third and a fourth. But since he knows the end of the iron kingdom will be weaker, he has called it "another" because of its weakness, and quite rightly. For he showed it to be very strong above; for such were its beginnings. But yet he does not say that its latter parts will be completely weak. "For of the root," he says, "of the iron will be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. (42.) And the toes of the feet, partly of iron and partly of clay." This does not need our interpretation; for the Prophet himself, interpreting, says: "Part of the kingdom will be strong, and part of it will be broken." To this he adds: 43. "And as you saw the iron mixed with the clay, they will mix with the seed of men." This especially shows that this kingdom is not different from the iron, but the same, though weaker, with one part of it strong, and another weak; nevertheless, the law of kinship will join the weak part to the strong. For, "They will mix with the seed of men," signifies this. There will be, he says, some mingling and intermarriage of these and those, but yet discord will destroy the rights of kinship. For they will not, he says, cleave to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. We, then, have thus understood the interpretation of the divine Daniel; but it is fitting also to bring forward the opinions of some of those who interpreted before us; for thus the truth will be shown more clearly. Some writers, then, said that the fourth kingdom, that is, the iron, was Alexander the Macedonian; and the feet and the toes of the feet composed of iron and clay, were the Macedonians who reigned after him, the Ptolemies, and Seleucids, and Antiochi, and Demetrii, some of whom ruled weakly, and others very manfully, and who also made intermarriages and embraced kinship with one another. But they should have considered, first, that he said the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar himself, that is, the kingdom of the Babylonians, or Assyrians; and the kingdom of the Persians and Medes succeeded it at the same time; for Cyrus was descended from both nations, and ruling over both, having overthrown the kingdom of the Babylonians, he ruled the Persians; and Alexander the Macedonian overthrows the second, the Persian, and the blessed Daniel said that he ruled over all the earth. This kingdom he named the third; and no other succeeded it, but that of the Romans. Therefore 81.1308 they ought, first, from the number and from the events that have been shown, to understand and learn that the third is the kingdom of the Macedonians, that is, the bronze; and the fourth is that of the Romans, that is

16

Ἀσσυρίων, εἴτουν Βαβυλωνίων βασι λεία. λθʹ. "Καὶ ὀπίσω σου ἀναστήσεται βασιλεία ἑτέρα ἥττων σου." Ἡ Περσική· ἥττονα δὲ αὐτὴν καλεῖ, οὐχ ὡς ἀσθενεστέραν, ἀλλ' ὡς δευτέραν. "Καὶ βασι λεία τρίτη, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ χαλκὸς, ἣ κυριεύσει πάσης τῆς γῆς." Τὴν Μακεδονικὴν λέγει· ἐκυρίευσε δὲ πάσης τῆς γῆς Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Φιλίππου, ἐν δώδεκα ἔτεσι τῆς βασιλείας πάντας ὑποτάξας ἀνθρώ πους. μʹ. "Καὶ βασιλεία τετάρτη ἔσται ἰσχυρὰ, ὡς ὁ σίδηρος· ὃν τρόπον γὰρ ὁ σίδηρος λεπτύνει καὶ δαμάζει πάντα, οὕτως λεπτυνεῖ πάντα καὶ δαμάσει." Τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν λέγει βασιλείαν, ἰσχυροτάτην μὲν γενομένην, καὶ πάντων, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, τῶν ἐθνῶν περιγενομένην, δασμὸν δὲ καὶ φόρον παρὰ πάντων κομισαμένην. Τὸ γὰρ λεπτυνεῖ ἐπὶ τούτου τέθεικε, τὸ δὲ δαμάσει ἐπὶ τῆς ὑπακοῆς τε καὶ εὐταξίας, καὶ τῆς ἐννόμου πολιτείας. μαʹ. "Καὶ ὅτι εἶδες τοὺς πόδας, καὶ τοὺς δακτύ λους, μέρος μέν τι σιδήρου, μέρος δέ τι ὀστράκου, βασιλεία ἄλλη διῃρημένη ἔσται, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης τοῦ σιδήρου ἔσται ἐν αὐτῇ, ὃν τρόπον εἶδες τὸν σίδηρον ἀναμεμιγμένον τῷ ὀστράκῳ τῷ πηλί νῳ." Ἄλλην οὐ κατὰ τὸ γένος εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ 81.1305 τὴν ποιότητα τῆς δυνάμεως. Εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τὸ γένος ἔλεγεν, ἄλλην εἶπεν ἂν αὐτὴν πέμπτην, ὥσπερ αὖ εἴρηκε τρίτην τε καὶ τετάρτην. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀσθενέ στερα οἶδε τῆς σιδηρᾶς βασιλείας τὰ τέλη, ἄλλην τέθεικε διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν, καὶ μάλα εἰκότως. Σφό δρα γὰρ αὐτὴν ἰσχυροτάτην ἔδειξεν ἄνω· τοιαῦτα γὰρ αὐτῆς τὰ πρῶτα. Ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐδὲ τὰ τελευταῖα αὐτῆς παντελῶς ἀσθενῆ ἔσεσθαι λέγει. "Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς ῥίζης, φησὶ, τοῦ σιδήρου ἔσται ἐν αὐτῇ, ὃν τρόπον εἶδες τὸν σίδηρον ἀναμεμιγμένον τῷ ὀστράκῳ τῷ πηλίνῳ. (μβʹ.) Καὶ οἱ δάκτυλοι τῶν ποδῶν, μέρος μέν τι σιδήρου, μέρος δέ τι ὀστρά κου." Τοῦτο δὲ οὐδὲ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἑρμηνείας προσδεῖται· αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ Προφήτης ἑρμηνεύων, φησί· "Μέρος τι τῆς βασιλείας ἔσται ἰσχυρὸν, καὶ ἀπ' αὐ τῆς ἔσται συντριβόμενον." Τούτοις ἐπάγει· μγʹ. "Καὶ ὅτι εἶδες τὸν σίδηρον ἀναμεμιγμένον τῷ ὀστράκῳ τῷ πηλίνῳ, συμμιγεῖς ἔσονται ἐν σπέρ ματι ἀνθρώπων." Τοῦτο δὲ μάλιστα δείκνυσιν, ὡς οὐχ ἑτέρα ἐστὶν αὐτὴ ἡ βασιλεία παρὰ τὸν σίδηρον, ἀλλ' ἡ αὐτὴ ἀσθενέστερον διακειμένη, καὶ μέρος μέν τι αὐτῆς ἰσχυρὸν, μέρος δὲ ἀσθενές· συγγε νείας δὲ ὅμως θεσμὸς συνάψει τὴν ἀσθενῆ μοῖραν τῇ ἰσχυρᾷ. Τὸ γὰρ, "Συμμιγεῖς ἔσονται ἐν σπέρματι ἀνθρώπων," τοῦτο δηλοῖ. Ἐπιμιξία, φησὶ, τὶς ἔσται καὶ ἐπιγαμία τούτων κἀκείνων, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἡ διχόνοια τὰ τῆς συγγενείας δίκαια διαφθερεῖ. Οὐκ ἔσονται γὰρ, φησὶ, προσκολλώμενοι οὗτος μετὰ τού του, καθὼς ὁ σίδηρος οὐκ ἀναμίγνυται τῷ ὀστράκῳ. Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν οὕτω τὴν ἑρμηνείαν τοῦ θεσπε σίου ∆ανιὴλ νενοήκαμεν· προσήκει δὲ καὶ ἐνίων τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν ἡρμηνευκότων τὰς δόξας εἰς μέσον παρα γαγεῖν· οὕτω γὰρ ἐναργέστερον ἡ ἀλήθεια δειχθή σεται. Τινὲς τοίνυν τῶν συγγραφέων τὴν τετάρτην βασιλείαν, τουτέστι τὸν σίδηρον, Ἀλέξανδρον ἔφασαν εἶναι τὸν Μακεδόνα· τοὺς δὲ πόδας καὶ τοὺς δακτύ λους τῶν ποδῶν ἐκ σιδήρου καὶ ὀστράκου συγκειμέ νους, τοὺς μετ' αὐτὸν βασιλεύσαντας Μακεδόνας, Πτολεμαίους, καὶ Σελεύκους, καὶ Ἀντιόχους, καὶ ∆ημητρίους, τοὺς μὲν ἀσθενῶς, τοὺς δὲ λίαν ἀνδρι κῶς κρατήσαντας, καὶ ἐπιγαμίαν δὲ ποιησαμένους καὶ τὴν ἀλλήλων ἀσπασαμένους συγγένειαν. Ἔδει δὲ αὐτοὺς συνιδεῖν, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τὴν κεφαλὴν τὴν χρυσῆν αὐτὸν ἔφη εἶναι τὸν Ναβουχοδονόσορ, τουτ έστι, τὴν τῶν Βαβυλωνίων, εἴτουν Ἀσσυρίων, βασι λείαν· διεδέξατο δὲ αὐτὴν ἡ Περσῶν καὶ Μήδων βασιλεία κατὰ ταυτόν· ὁ γὰρ Κῦρος ἐξ ἑκατέρου ἔθνους ἦν ὁρμώμενος, καὶ τούτων κἀκείνων κρατῶν, τῶν Βαβυλωνίων καταλύσας τὴν βασιλείαν ἐκρά τησε τῶν Περσῶν· τὴν δὲ Περσῶν δευτέραν οὖσαν Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μακεδὼν καταλύει, καὶ αὐτὸν ἔφη ὁ μακάριος ∆ανιὴλ κυριεῦσαι πάσης τῆς γῆς. Ταύτην τὴν βασιλείαν τρίτην ὠνόμασεν· οὐδεμία δὲ αὐ τὴν ἑτέρα, ἀλλ' ἡ τῶν Ῥωμαίων διεδέξατο. Ἔδει 81.1308 τοιγαροῦν αὐτοὺς πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ, καὶ τῶν παραδηλωθέντων πραγμάτων συνιέναι, καὶ μα θεῖν, ὡς τρίτη ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν Μακεδόνων βασιλεία, τουτέστιν ὁ χαλκός· τετάρτη δὲ ἡ Ῥωμαίων, τουτ έστιν