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you have seen, you are, O king, that you have become great and strong, and your great1.186 ness has reached to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth," and he called the greatness of the mind pride and the arrogance of the spirit; "That you saw a holy Ir coming down from heaven," that is, a divine angel; for Ir, when translated into Greek, means the watchful one, by which the incorporeal is implied; for he who is clothed in a body is enslaved to sleep, but he who is not enslaved to this has an incorporeal nature, "Therefore, that you saw that watchful one," he says, "crying out that the tree be cut down, but that the stump of its roots be left, and the rest, expect to fall from the kingdom and be driven out from the society of men, and to dwell with wild beasts and eat grass, but not to be entirely deprived of the kingdom, but that it be restored to you again;" for of this, the leaving of the stump of the roots of the tree was a sign. Such an explanation of the vision did Daniel make to Nebuchadnezzar. And all things happened according to the divine oracle, and that king, suffering from madness on account of his boastfulness and pride, and having spent seven years in the desert, with no one having seized his kingdom, receives it again after propitiating God. And having reigned for forty-three years, he died. Josephus says that many of the ancient historians also mention him, both Berossus and Megasthenes and Diocles and Philostratus. And when he died, Evil-Merodach his eldest son succeeded to the rule. Who immediately loosed from his bonds King Jehoiakim, who 1.187 was also called Jeconiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had imprisoned, and deemed him worthy of honor, and also gave gifts to him and had him at his table for all time. And when he passed away, the kingdom went to his brother, who was called Belshazzar, against whom Cyrus marched with the Persians and Medes. This man, then, having made a feast for his nobles, and reclining with his concubines and getting drunk, ordered the sacred vessels to be brought which Nebuchadnezzar had plundered from Jerusalem and dedicated to his own gods; and when those were brought, which his father had not used, he himself used them, and while drinking he blasphemed against God. He sees then the knuckles of a human hand coming forth from the wall and writing on the plaster of the wall; and he was astonished, and his countenance was changed. And having called the Chaldeans and the magi, he demanded the meaning of the letters, and proclaimed he would give great rewards to the one who clarified their meaning; but the things written were unknown to all. And seeing the king despondent and troubled, his grandmother said, "If Belshazzar the Jew is summoned, who also revealed many things to Nebuchadnezzar which no one else could express, he will reveal to you the secret of these syllables; for the holy spirit of God is in him." Immediately, therefore, the ruler, having called Belshazzar (that is, Daniel), requested him to declare concerning the letters, and not to shrink back, even if what was signified by them was grim; and he promised to give him as a prize to be clothed in purple and a golden necklace, and the third part of the rule. But Daniel refused the gifts, but said he would reveal 1.188 that the writing signified the ruin of his life, because he was not made wise even by the things for which his father was punished for impiety, but used the vessels of God for service with his concubines. So he read the letters thus, "Mene, Tekel, Phares," and interpreting their meaning he said, "God has numbered the time of your life and of your rule, and has brought it to a very short compass." For the word, when translated into Greek, would be "number." Thus, then, he interpreted mene, but tekel, he said, means "a weighing." "God, therefore, having set the limit of your kingdom, shows that it is brought down and broken;" for tekel also means "a fragment" in Greek

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ἑώρακας, σὺ ει, ω βασιλεῦ, οτι ἐμεγαλύνθης καὶ ισχυσας, καὶ ἡ μεγαλω1.186 σύνη σου εφθασεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ ἡ κυρεία σου εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς," μεγαλωσύνην δὲ τὴν τοῦ νοὸς ἐκάλεσεν επαρσιν καὶ τοῦ φρονήματος τὸ ὑπέρογκον· "οτι δὲ Ιρ ειδες αγιον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνοντα," τουτέστιν αγγελον θεῖον· τὸ γὰρ Ιρ ἐξελληνιζόμενον τὸν ἐγρηγορότα δηλοῖ, δι' ου τὸ ἀσώματον ὑπαινίττεται· ὁ γὰρ σῶμα περικείμενος υπνῳ δουλοῦται, ὁ τούτῳ δὲ μὴ δουλεύων ἀσώματον εχει φύσιν, "οτι τοίνυν τὸν ἐγρηγορότα" φησίν "ἐκεῖνον ειδες φωνήσαντα ἐκκοπῆναι τὸ δένδρον, ἐαθῆναι δὲ τὴν φυὴν τῶν ῥιζῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ λοιπά, ελπιζε τῆς βασιλείας μὲν ἐκπεσεῖν καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἀνθρώπους κοινωνίας ἐκδιωχθῆναι, θηρίοις δὲ συναυλίζεσθαι καὶ χόρτον ἐσθίειν, μὴ μέντοι πάντῃ τῆς βασιλείας στερηθῆναι, ἐπανασωθῆναι δέ σοι αυθις αὐτήν·" τούτου γὰρ ειναι σημαντικὸν τὸ τὴν φυὴν τῶν ῥιζῶν ἐαθῆναι τοῦ δένδρου. τοιαύτην τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ τὴν ἐξήγησιν τοῦ ὁράματος ἐποιήσατο. καὶ γέγονε πάντα κατὰ τὸν θεῖον χρηματισμόν, καὶ μανίαν νοσήσας ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκεῖνος διὰ τὸ ἀλαζονικόν τε καὶ ὑπερήφανον καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρήμου διατρίψας ἑπταετίαν, οὐδενὸς ἐπιθεμένου τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἀπολαμβάνει αὐτὴν ἱλεωσάμενος τὸν θεόν. ετη δὲ τρία βασιλεύσας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα τελευτᾷ. μεμνῆσθαι δὲ αὐτοῦ ὁ ̓Ιώσηπος λέγει καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν ἀρχαίων ἱστορικῶν, τόν τε Βηρωσὸν καὶ τὸν Μεγασθένη καὶ τὸν ∆ιοκλέα καὶ τὸν Φιλόστρατον. Τούτου δὲ τελευτήσαντος Εὐιλὰδ Μαροδὰχ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ πρεσβύτερος τὴν ἀρχὴν διαδέχεται. ος αὐτίκα λύει μὲν τῶν δεσμῶν τὸν βασιλέα ̓Ιωακεὶμ τὸν 1.187 καὶ ̓Ιεχονίαν καλούμενον, ον καθειργμένον ειχεν ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, καὶ τιμῆς ἀξιοῖ, δίδωσι δὲ καὶ δωρεὰς αὐτῷ καὶ ὁμοδίαιτον ειχε διὰ παντός. Καὶ τούτου δὲ παρελθόντος εἰς τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ μετῆλθεν ἡ βασιλεία Βαλτάσαρ καλούμενον, καθ' ου Κῦρος μετὰ Περσῶν τε καὶ Μήδων ἐστράτευσεν. ουτος γοῦν πότον ποιήσας τοῖς μεγιστᾶσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τῶν παλλακῶν κατακείμενός τε καὶ μεθυσκόμενος, ἐκέλευσεν ἐνεχθῆναι τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἱερὰ α ἐξ ̔Ιεροσολύμων ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἐσύλησεν καὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις θεοῖς ἀνατέθεικε· κομισθέντων δ' ἐκείνων, οις ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐχρήσατο, αὐτὸς ἐκέχρητο τούτοις, καὶ μεταξὺ πίνων ἐβλασφήμει κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. ὁρᾷ τοίνυν ἀστράγαλον ἐκ τοῦ τοίχου προϊόντα χειρὸς ἀνθρωπίνης καὶ γράφοντα ἐπὶ τὸ κονίαμα τοῦ τοίχου· καὶ ἐξέστη, καὶ ἡ μορφὴ αὐτοῦ ἠλλοιώθη. καὶ τοὺς Χαλδαίους καὶ τοὺς μάγους καλέσας τὴν τῶν γραμμάτων ἀπῄτει δήλωσιν, καὶ ἀμοιβὰς μεγάλας δώσειν ἐκήρυξε τῷ σαφηνίσοντι τὴν σημασίαν αὐτῶν· ἀλλ' ησαν αγνωστα πᾶσι τὰ γεγραμμένα. ἀθυμοῦντα δὲ τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τεταραγμένον ἰδοῦσα ἡ μάμμη αὐτοῦ εφη ὡς "εἰ μεταπεμφθῇ Βαλτάσαρ ὁ ̓Ιουδαῖος, ος καὶ τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ πολλὰ ἐσήμανεν α ετερος οὐδεὶς ἐκφράσαι ἠδύνατο, ἐκεῖνός σοι τὸ ἀπόρρητον τούτων τῶν συλλαβῶν σημανεῖ· εστι γὰρ πνεῦμα αγιον θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ." αὐτίκα τοίνυν καλέσας Βαλτάσαρ τὸν ∆ανιὴλ ὁ κρατῶν ἠξίου δηλοῦν αὐτῷ περὶ τῶν γραμμάτων, καὶ μὴ ὑποσταλῆναι, καν ειη σκυθρωπὸν τὸ ὑπ' αὐτῶν σημαινόμενον· καὶ γέρας δώσειν αὐτῷ ἐπηγγέλλετο πορφύραν ἐνδεδύσθαι καὶ περιαυχένιον χρύσεον, καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῆς ἀρχῆς μέρος. ∆ανιὴλ δὲ τὰς μὲν δωρεὰς παρῃτεῖτο, μηνύειν δ' 1.188 ελεγε τὰ γεγραμμένα αὐτῷ τοῦ βίου καταστροφήν, οτι μηδ' οις ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ δι' ἀσέβειαν ἐκολάσθη ἐσωφρονίσθη αὐτός, ἀλλὰ τοῖς σκεύεσι τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ τῶν παλλακῶν εἰς διακονίαν ἐχρήσατο. τὰ μὲν ουν γράμματα ἀνεγίνωσκεν ουτως "μανὴ θεκὲλ φαρές," τὴν δὲ τούτων σημασίαν ἑρμηνεύων ελεγεν "ἠρίθμησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς σου καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς σου, καὶ εἰς αγαν βραχὺ περιέστη." ἐξελληνιζομένη γὰρ ἡ λέξις λέγοιτ' αν ἀριθμός. ουτω μὲν ουν ἡρμήνευσε τὸ μανή, τὸ δέ γε θεκὲλ σημαίνειν εφη σταθμόν. "στήσας ουν τὸν ορον τῆς βασιλείας σου ὁ θεός, καταφέρεσθαι ταύτην δηλοῖ καὶ κεκλάσθαι·" καὶ κλάσμα γὰρ τὸ θεκὲλ σημαίνει καθ' ̔Ελλάδα