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The Iron. But even if those things seemed to them altogether more obscure, from the end at least they should have understood the whole prophecy; for immediately after showing the weak and earthenware end of the iron kingdom, he added: 44. “And in the days of those kings.” That is, of those having the mixture of earthenware and iron, and having embraced kinship with one another, but not having had concord even from that kinship. “The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall not be destroyed for ever, and His kingdom shall not be left to another people. It shall break in pieces and winnow all the kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (45.) In the same way you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain without hands, and it broke in pieces the earthenware, and the iron, the bronze, the silver, the gold.” These things clearly show the end of present affairs on the one hand, and the endlessness of the kingdom of heaven on the other. For when the iron kingdom has been weakly disposed, and has received the mixture of earthenware, “the stone cut without hands” will appear, “and will break in pieces the earthenware, the iron and the bronze, the silver, the gold,” and will utterly destroy them, and will provide to the worthy a kingdom without successor, eternal, and boundless. “For to the ages,” he says, “it will not be destroyed, and it will not be left to another people; and it will break in pieces, and will subdue all the kingdoms, and it will stand for ever.” But if anyone argues, and does not wish these things to be so, let him show what of human affairs is eternal, and which kingdom of men will not come to an end. For it is foolish and very senseless to await the consummation of the present age, but to say that some kingdom in the present life will be endless. But if it also seems good to them that through these words the kingdom to be given by God to the worthy is signified, then he did not call the Macedonian kingdom iron; for neither while that was ruling did the present life receive its end, but the Roman, having overthrown the Macedonian, holds the rudders of the inhabited world. But if they say that the first coming of the Lord is signified by these words, let them show that the Roman empire was overthrown immediately after the appearance of our Savior. For one can find the very opposite, that it was strengthened, not overthrown, at the same time as the Savior's birth. For when Augustus was reigning the Lord's birth occurred. Who, though he ruled second, 81.1309 made all men, so to speak, his subjects, and enrolled all the inhabited world according to the voice of the Gospels, and legislated that tribute be paid. And the kingdom of the Romans, strengthened by him, has lasted until now. Therefore, if the first birth of the Lord did not overthrow the Roman empire, it remains then to understand his second appearance. For the stone previously cut without hands, and which became a great mountain, and covered the inhabited world, this one at his second coming will strike the image on its earthenware feet, that is, he will appear at the very end of the iron kingdom, when it has already become weak; and he will overthrow all the empires, and will give them over to a certain oblivion, but he will provide his own eternal kingdom to the worthy. Having thus interpreted these things, Daniel necessarily added: “The great God has made known to the king what must come to pass after this. And the dream is true, and its interpretation is faithful.” And it is worthy to marvel at the care of the God of all for all men. For he does not strip even those living with impiety of his own providence, but deems these also worthy of all care, just as indeed he did not leave this barbarian, and beastly, and impious man uncared for, but first through revelations of the good fortune of the present life he shows him its fleeting nature, and the swift current of the kingdom itself, and that nothing of human prosperity is lasting, but like flowers or lilies it withers or is extinguished. And these things were sufficient his arrogant and puffed-up brow

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ὁ σίδηρος Εἰ δὲ καὶ ὅλως ἀσαφέστερα αὐ τοῖς ἔδοξεν εἶναι ἐκεῖνα, ἀπὸ γοῦν τοῦ τέλους ἔδει πᾶσαν διαγνῶναι τὴν πρόῤῥησιν· εὐθὺς γὰρ μετὰ τὸ δεῖξαι τῆς σιδηρᾶς βασιλείας τὸ ἀσθενὲς καὶ ὀστράκινον τέλος, ἐπήγαγε· μδʹ. "Καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῶν βασιλέων ἐκεί νων." Τουτέστι, τοῦ ὀστρακίνου καὶ τοῦ σιδηροῦ τὴν ἐπιμιξίαν ἐχόντων, καὶ τὴν μετ' ἀλλήλων συγ γένειαν ἀσπασαμένων, ὁμόνοιαν δὲ μηδὲ ἐκ τῆς συγ γενείας ἐσχηκότων. "Ἀναστήσει ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ βασιλείαν, ἥτις εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας οὐ διαφθαρήσεται, καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ λαῷ ἑτέρῳ οὐχ ὑπολειφθήσεται. Λεπτυνεῖ καὶ λικμήσει πάσας τὰς βασιλείας, καὶ αὐτὴ στήσεται εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. (μεʹ.) Ὃν τρόπον εἶδες, ὅτι ἐτμή θη ἀπὸ ὄρους λίθος ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ ἐλέπτυνε τὸ ὄστρακον, καὶ τὸν σίδηρον, τὸν χαλκὸν, τὸν ἄργυρον, τὸν χρυσόν." Ταῦτα δὲ ἀντικρὺς δείκνυσι τῶν μὲν παρόντων πραγμάτων τὸ τέλος, τῆς δὲ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας τὸ ἀτελεύτητον. Τῆς γὰρ σιδηρᾶς βασιλείας ἀσθενῶς διατεθείσης, καὶ τοῦ ὀστράκου τὴν ἐπιμι ξίαν λαβούσης, φανήσεται μὲν "ὁ λίθος ὁ τμηθεὶς ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ λεπτυνεῖ τὸ ὄστρακον, τὸν σίδηρον καὶ τὸν χαλκὸν, τὸν ἄργυρον, τὸν χρυσὸν," καὶ φροῦδα ποιήσει παντελῶς, καὶ ἀδιάδοχον, καὶ αἰώ νιον, καὶ ἀπέραντον βασιλείαν τοῖς ἀξίοις παρέξει. "Εἰς γὰρ τοὺς αἰῶνας, φησὶν, οὐ διαφθαρήσεται, καὶ λαῷ ἑτέρῳ οὐχ ὑπολειφθήσεται· καὶ λεπτυνεῖ, καὶ δαμάσει πάσας τὰς βασιλείας, καὶ αὐτὴ στήσεται εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας." Εἰ δέ τις ζυγομαχεῖ, καὶ ταῦθ' οὕτως ἔχειν οὐ βούλεται, δειξάτω τί τῶν ἀνθρω πίνων αἰώνιον, ποία δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βασιλεία τέλος οὐ λήψεται. Εὔηθες γὰρ καὶ λίαν ἀνόητον, συντέλειαν μὲν ἀναμένειν τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος, βασιλείαν δέ τινα λέγειν κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον ἀτελεύτητον ἔσεσθαι. Εἰ δὲ καὶ αὐτοῖς συνδοκεῖ διὰ τούτων τῶν λόγων τὴν δοθησομένην ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείαν τοῖς ἀξίοις σημαίνεσθαι, οὐκ ἄρα τὴν Μα κεδονικὴν βασιλείαν ὠνόμασε σίδηρον· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεί νης κρατούσης ὁ παρὼν βίος ἐδέξατο τέλος, ἀλλ' ἡ Ῥωμαϊκὴ τὴν Μακεδονικὴν καταλύσασα κατέχει τῆς οἰκουμένης τοὺς οἴακας. Εἰ δέ φασι τὴν προτέραν τοῦ Κυρίου παρουσίαν διὰ τούτων τῶν λόγων σημαί νεσθαι, δειξάτωσαν καταλυθεῖσαν τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπι φάνειαν. Πᾶν γὰρ τοὐναντίον ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, κρα τυνθεῖσαν αὐτὴν, ἀλλ' οὐ καταλυθεῖσαν ἅμα τῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος γεννήσει. Αὐγούστου γὰρ βασιλεύοντος ὁ ∆εσποτικὸς ἐγένετο τόκος. Ὃς δεύτερος μὲν ἐβα 81.1309 σίλευσε, πάντας δὲ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν. ἀνθρώπους ὑπηκόους ἐποιήσατο, ἀπεγράψατό τε πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην κατὰ τὴν τῶν Εὐαγγελίων φωνὴν, καὶ δασμὸν φέρειν ἐνομοθέτησεν. Ὑπ' ἐκείνου δὲ ἡ Ῥωμαίων κρατυνθεῖσα βασιλεία μέχρι καὶ νῦν διήρκε σεν. Οὐκοῦν εἰ ἡ προτέρα γέννησις τοῦ Κυρίου τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν οὐ κατέλυσε, λείπεται τοίνυν αὐτοῦ τὴν δευτέραν νοεῖν ἐπιφάνειαν. Ὁ γὰρ ἤδη πρότερον τμηθεὶς λίθος ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ γενόμενος εἰς ὄρος μέγα, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην καλύ ψας, οὗτος ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ παρουσίᾳ πατάξει τὴν εἰκόνα ἐπὶ τοὺς πόδας τοὺς ὀστρακίνους, τουτέστιν, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ τέλει τῆς σιδηρᾶς φανήσεται βασιλείας, ἀσθενοῦς ἤδη γεγενημένης· καὶ πάσας μὲν καταλύσει τὰς ἡγεμονίας, καὶ λήθῃ τινὶ παραδώσει, τὴν δὲ αἰώνιον αὑτοῦ βασιλείαν τοῖς ἀξίοις παρέξει. Ταῦθ' οὕτως ἑρμηνεύσας ὁ ∆ανιὴλ ἀναγκαίως ἐπήγαγεν· "Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ μέγας ἐγνώρισε τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἃ δεῖ γενέ σθαι μετὰ ταῦτα. Καὶ ἀληθινὸν τὸ ἐνύπνιον, καὶ πι στὴ ἡ σύγκρισις αὐτοῦ." Ἄξιον δὲ θαυμάσαι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων περὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους κηδε μονίαν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τοὺς δυσσεβείᾳ συζῶντας τῆς οἰ κείας προμηθείας γυμνοῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτους πάσης ἐπιμελείας ἀξιοῖ, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει τοῦτον τὸν βάρβα ρον, καὶ θηριώδη, καὶ δυσσεβῆ οὐ καταλέλοιπεν ἀτημέλητον, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων τῆς εὐκληρίας τοῦ παρόντος βίου δείκνυσιν αὐτῷ τὸ ἐπίκηρον, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτῆς τὸ ὀξύῤῥοπον, καὶ ὅτι οὐδὲν μόνιμον τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης εὐημερίας, ἀλλὰ δίκην ἀνθῶν ἢ κρίνων μαραίνεται ἣ σβέν νυται. Καὶ ἱκανὰ ταῦτα ἦν τὴν ἀλαζονικὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τετυφωμένην ὀφρὺν