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hearing the vision itself, which the prophet reported to us through a parable, calling the king of the Persians, Darius, a ram, and the king of the Greeks, I mean Alexander the Macedonian, a goat, four horns those who rose up after him later, calling Antiochus himself the last horn. Or rather, it is better to hear the vision itself. For I saw, he says, in a vision, and I was at the Ulai; calling a certain place thus in the Persian tongue; and I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a ram standing before the Ulai, and it had high horns, and the one was higher than the other, and the high one came up last. And I saw the ram butting toward the sea and the north and the south, and all the beasts shall not stand before him, and there was no one who could deliver out of his hand; and he did according to his will, and was magnified; and I was understanding. He means the Persian power, and the dominion, which overran the whole earth. Then speaking about Alexan48.894 der of Macedon, he says: And behold a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and was not touching the earth; and that goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes. Then, speaking of the clash of Alexander that took place with Darius, he also speaks of the decisive victory. And the goat came, he says, to the ram that had the horns, and was enraged, and struck the ram—for it is necessary to abbreviate—and broke both its horns, and there was no one to deliver the ram from its hand. And after these things, speaking of the death of Alexander and the succession of the four kings, And when it had grown strong, he says, its great horn was broken, and four other horns came up under it toward the four winds of heaven. From here, then, coming to the kingdom of Antiochus, and showing that he is from one of those four, he says something like this: And out of one of them came forth a strong horn, and it was magnified exceedingly toward the south and toward the east. And making clear that it cast down the Jewish commonwealth, he says: And through him sacrifice was troubled by a transgression. And it came to pass, and it prospered for him. And the holy place will be made desolate, and sin was given over to the sacrifice. For with the altar being cast down, and the holy things being trampled underfoot, he set up an idol within, and performed lawless sacrifices to demons, and righteousness was cast to the ground. And he acted, and prospered. Then again for a second time speaking of this very kingdom, that of Antiochus Epiphanes, and the captivity, and the capture, and the desolation of the temple, he also adds the time. For beginning from the kingdom of Alexander, and again toward the end of the book, having recounted all the things in between, as many things as the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, clashing with one another, did, and what their generals accomplished, the treacheries, the victories, the campaigns, the sea battles, the land battles; proceeding to Antiochus, he ends again, and says: Arms shall stand up on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, and they shall take away the continual sacrifice; calling the continual daily sacrifices 'continual sacrifice'; and they shall place in it an abomination, and those who act wickedly against the covenant, that is, the transgressors among the Jews, they shall lead away in slippery places, and they will have them with themselves, and they will turn them away, and the people that know their God shall prevail; he is speaking of the events under the Maccabees, under Judas and Simon and John; and the wise of the people shall instruct many, and they shall fall by the sword and by flame; again recounting the burning of the city; and by captivity, and by spoil for days; and when they fall, they shall be helped with a little help; indicating that in the midst of those evils they will be able to take a breath and recover from the terrible things that had befallen them; and many shall join themselves to them in slippery places, and some of the intelligent shall fall. And he said these things showing that many of those who were standing would fall. Then he also states the reason for which he permitted

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ἀκούσαντες αὐτῆς τῆς ὁράσεως, ἣν διὰ παραβολῆς ἡμῖν ὁ προφήτης ἀπήγγειλε, κριὸν μὲν καλῶν τὸν τῶν Περσῶν βασιλέα, τὸν ∆αρεῖον, τράγον δὲ τὸν τῶν Ἑλλήνων βασιλέα, Ἀλέξανδρον λέγω τὸν Μακεδόνα, τέσσαρα κέρατα τοὺς μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἀναστάντας ὕστερον, κέρας ὕστατον αὐτὸν τὸν Ἀντίοχον καλῶν. Μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτῆς βέλτιον ἀκοῦσαι τῆς ὁράσεως. Εἶδον γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν ὁράματι, καὶ ἤμην ἐπὶ τοῦ Οὐβάλ· τόπον τινὰ Περσικῇ φωνῇ καλῶν οὕτως· καὶ ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ, κριὸς εἷς ἑστηκὼς πρὸ τοῦ Οὐβὰλ, καὶ αὐτῷ κέρατα ὑψηλὰ, καὶ τὸ ἓν ὑψηλότερον τοῦ ἑτέρου, καὶ τὸ ὑψηλὸν ἀνέβαινεν ἐπ' ἐσχάτων. Καὶ εἶδον τὸν κριὸν κερατίζοντα κατὰ θάλασσαν καὶ βοῤῥᾶν καὶ νότον, καὶ πάντα τὰ θηρία οὐ στήσονται ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐξαιρούμενος ἐκ χειρὸς αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐποίησε κατὰ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐμεγαλύνθη· καὶ ἐγὼ ἤμην συνιών. Τὴν δύναμιν λέγει τὴν Περσικὴν, καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἣ πᾶσαν ἐπέδραμε τὴν γῆν. Εἶτα περὶ τοῦ Μακεδόνος Ἀλεξάν48.894 δρου διαλεγόμενος, φησί· Καὶ ἰδοὺ τράγος αἰγῶν ἤρχετο ἀπὸ λιβὸς ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς πάσης, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἁπτόμενος τῆς γῆς· καὶ τῷ τράγῳ ἐκείνῳ κέρας θεωρητὸν ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ. Εἶτα λέγων τὴν συμβολὴν τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὴν πρὸς τὸν ∆αρεῖον γενομένην, λέγει καὶ τὴν νίκην τὴν κατὰ κράτος. Καὶ ἦλθε, φησὶν, ὁ τράγος ἕως τοῦ κριοῦ τοῦ τὰ κέρατα ἔχοντος, καὶ ἠγριώθη, καὶ ἔπαισε τὸν κριὸν δεῖ γὰρ ἐπιτεμεῖν, καὶ συνέτριψεν ἀμφότερα τὰ κέρατα αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐξαιρούμενος τὸν κριὸν ἐκ χειρὸς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα λέγων τὴν τελευτὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου, καὶ τὴν τῶν τεσσάρων βασιλέων διαδοχὴν, Καὶ ἐν τῷ ἰσχῦσαι αὐτὸν, φησὶ, συνετρίβη τὸ κέρας αὐτοῦ τὸ μέγα, καὶ ἀνέβη ἕτερα τέσσαρα κέρατα ὑποκάτωθεν αὐτοῦ κατὰ τοὺς τέσσαρας ἀνέμους τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. Ἐντεῦθεν λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀντιόχου βασιλείαν ἐλθὼν, καὶ δεικνὺς ὅτι ἐξ ἑνὸς ἐκείνων τῶν τεσσάρων ἐστὶν, οὕτω πώς φησι· Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς αὐτῶν ἐξῆλθε κέρας ἓν ἰσχυρὸν, καὶ ἐμεγαλύνθη περισσῶς πρὸς τὸν νότον καὶ πρὸς ἀνατολήν. Καὶ δηλῶν ὅτι τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν καθεῖλε πολιτείαν, φησί· Καὶ δι' αὐτὸν θυσία ἐταράχθη παραπτώματι. Καὶ ἐγενήθη, καὶ κατευωδώθη αὐτῷ. Καὶ τὸ ἅγιον ἐρημωθήσεται, καὶ ἐδόθη ἐπὶ τὴν θυσίαν ἁμαρτία. Τοῦ γὰρ βωμοῦ καθαιρεθέντος, καὶ τῶν ἁγίων καταπατηθέντων, εἴδωλον ἔστησεν ἔνδον, καὶ θυσίας ἐπετέλει τοῖς δαίμοσι παρανόμους, καὶ ἐῤῥίφη χαμαὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη. Καὶ ἐποίησε, καὶ εὐωδώθη. Εἶτα ἐκ δευτέρου πάλιν αὐτὴν ταύτην τὴν βασιλείαν λέγων, τὴν Ἀντιόχου τοῦ Ἐπιφανοῦς, καὶ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν, καὶ τὴν ἅλωσιν, καὶ τὴν ἐρήμωσιν τοῦ ἱεροῦ, καὶ τὸν χρόνον προστίθησιν. Ἀρξάμενος γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου βασιλείας, πάλιν τε πρὸς τῷ τέλει τοῦ βιβλίου καὶ τὰ μεταξὺ πάντα διηγησάμενος, ὅσα οἱ Πτολεμαῖοι καὶ οἱ Σέλευκοι συῤῥαγέντες ἀλλήλοις ἐποίησαν, καὶ οἱ στρατηγοὶ τούτων εἰργάσαντο, τοὺς δόλους, τὰς νίκας, τὰς στρατείας, τὰς ναυμαχίας, τὰς πεζομαχίας· προϊὼν εἰς Ἀντίοχον, τελευτᾷ πάλιν, καί φησι· Βραχίονες ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἀναστήσονται, καὶ βεβηλώσουσι τὸ ἁγίασμα, καὶ μεταστήσουσι τὸν ἐνδελεχισμόν· ἐνδελεχισμὸν λέγων τὰς συνεχεῖς θυσίας τὰς καθημερινάς· καὶ δώσουσιν εἰς αὐτὸν βδέλυγμα, καὶ τοὺς ἀνομοῦντας διαθήκην, τουτέστι τοὺς παραβαίνοντας τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἀπάξουσιν ἐν ὀλισθήμασι, καὶ μεθ' ἑαυτῶν ἕξουσι, καὶ μεταστήσουσι, καὶ ὁ λαὸς ὁ γινώσκων τὸν Θεὸν αὐτοῦ κατισχύσουσι· τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν Μακκαβαίων λέγει, τὰ ἐπὶ Ἰούδα καὶ Σίμωνος καὶ Ἰωάννου· καὶ οἱ συνετοὶ λαοῦ συνήσουσιν εἰς πολλὰ, καὶ ἀσθενήσουσιν ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν φλογί· τὸν ἐμπρησμὸν τῆς πόλεως πάλιν διηγούμενος· καὶ ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ, καὶ ἐν διαρπαγῇ ἡμερῶν· καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀσθενῆσαι αὐτοὺς βοηθήσονται βοήθειαν μικράν· ἐμφαίνων ὅτι μεταξὺ τῶν κακῶν ἐκείνων δυνήσονται ἀναπνεῦσαι καὶ ἀνενεγκεῖν ἐκ τῶν κατειληφότων αὐτοὺς δεινῶν· καὶ προστεθήσονται πρὸς αὐτοὺς πολλοὶ ἐν ὀλισθήμασι, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν συνιόντων ἀσθενήσουσι. Ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγε δεικνὺς, ὅτι πολλοὶ καὶ τῶν ἑστώτων πεσοῦνται. Εἶτα φησὶ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν, δι' ἣν συνεχώρησεν