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The phrase "he will speak words against the Most High" is indicative of his blasphemies against God. To this the prophet added: "I watched until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was a flame of fire, its wheels were burning fire. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened." Now, the things said to be done by the horn were shown to Daniel not to last for long, but until the Eternal One sat in judgment, that is, he established a time of judgment and unfolded the memory of each person's deeds. For he called the recollections "books," and the Eternal One "the Ancient of Days." The whiteness of his hair and of his garment shows that he is pure and blameless in every way. And to show that the things to come from the Antichrist will happen by God's permission, and not as if the divine nature were unable to stop them or even to permit their beginning, he introduced the thousand thousands of ministers and the ten thousand times ten thousand of those in attendance, and the fiery throne and its similar wheels and the flaming river. And he was watching until the beast was slain and its body was given to be burned with fire. For because of the madness of the Antichrist the whole kingdom will be taken away. And not the beast itself will be given to be burned, but its body. For since the beast signifies the kingdom, it is likely that in the kingdom there are many who both worship God and pursue virtue. Therefore 1.197 he says that not these are given to be burned, but the workers of evil who are always given over to the desires of the body and have not thought anything spiritual. And after the destruction of the beast, the prophet says he sees one like a son of man coming on the clouds and reaching the Ancient of Days, to whom, he says, was given dominion and honor and kingship, and all peoples and tongues and tribes will serve him, and his dominion will be everlasting and will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed. These things clearly prophesy the second coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. For he is called son of man on account of our nature, which he assumed, and he comes on the clouds according to his own promise when he said, "you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven." So Daniel was initiated into these things in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar, and in the third he saw another vision. "For being in Susa," he says, "I lifted up my eyes, and behold, a ram was standing by the Ulai, and it had high horns, and one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. And it was butting toward the sea and the north and the south, and all the beasts could not stand before it, and it did according to its will, and became great." Again here the prophet is taught about the kingdoms. And the rule of the Persians was likened to a ram because of the 1.198 wealth surrounding it, and the ram was standing by the Ulai, that is, by the gate of Susa; for this city was the metropolis of the Persians, and there were the palaces for the kings, and the prophet, living in this city, saw the vision. The two horns that guided this kingdom represented two lineages. For the lesser horn depicted Cyrus and his son Cambyses, for up to them the beginning of the kingdom stood, and the lineage of Cyrus did not advance further, but the greater horn alluded to the lineage of Darius, which advanced up to the last Darius, whom Alexander conquered. For when Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, died, the magi deceitfully usurped the kingdom; after they held power for a short time and it was known who they were, the seven houses of the Persians deposed them. From whom Darius, the son of Hystaspes, reigned, whose lineage

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κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ βλασφημίας ἐκείνου ἐμφαντικὸν τό "λόγους εἰς τὸ υψος λαλήσει." ̓Επὶ τούτοις ὁ προφήτης ἐπήγαγεν "ἐθεώρουν εως ου θρόνοι ἐτέθησαν καὶ παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν ἐκάθισε, καὶ τὸ ενδυμα αὐτοῦ λευκὸν ὡσεὶ χιών, καὶ ἡ θρὶξ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ εριον καθαρόν, ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ φλὸξ πυρός, οἱ τροχοὶ αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον, ποταμὸς πυρὸς ειλκεν ἐκπορευόμενος εμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, χίλιαι χιλιάδες ἐλειτούργουν αὐτῷ καὶ μύριαι μυριάδες παρειστήκεισαν αὐτῷ. κριτήριον ἐκάθισε καὶ βίβλοι ἀνεῴχθησαν." α μὲν ουν ειρηται ποιοῦν τὸ κέρας οὐκ ἐπὶ μακρὸν διαρκέσειν ἐδείχθη τῷ ∆ανιήλ, εως δὲ ὁ αἰώνιος κριτήριον ἐκάθισεν, ἀντὶ τοῦ κρίσεως καιρὸν εστησε καὶ τὴν μνήμην τῶν ἑκάστῳ πεπραγμένων ἀνέπτυξε. βίβλους γὰρ τὰς ἀναμνήσεις ἐκάλεσε καὶ παλαιὸν ἡμερῶν τὸν αἰώνιον. ἡ δὲ λευκότης τῶν τριχῶν καὶ τοῦ ἐνδύματος τὸ καθαρὸν αὐτοῦ πανταχόθεν καὶ αμωμον δείκνυσιν. ινα δὲ κατὰ συγχώρησιν θεοῦ δείξῃ γενήσεσθαι τὰ παρὰ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ἐσόμενα, καὶ οὐχ ὡς ἀδυνατούσης τῆς θείας φύσεως ταῦτα παῦσαι η μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν συγχωρῆσαι γενέσθαι, τὰς χιλίας χιλιάδας τῶν λειτουργῶν καὶ τὰς μυρίας μυριάδας τῶν παρισταμένων εἰσήγαγε, καὶ τὸν πύρινον θρόνον καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους τροχοὺς καὶ τὸν φλογόεντα ποταμόν. καὶ ἐθεώρει εως ου ἀνῃρέθη τὸ θηρίον καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ εἰς καῦσιν ἐδόθη πυρός. διὰ γὰρ τὴν μανίαν τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ἡ ολη βασιλεία περιαιρεθήσεται. καὶ οὐκ αὐτὸ τὸ θηρίον εἰς καῦσιν δοθήσεται, ἀλλὰ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ. τοῦ γὰρ θηρίου τὴν βασιλείαν αἰνιττομένου εἰκός ἐστιν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ πολλοὺς ειναι καὶ τὸν θεὸν σέβοντας καὶ ἀρετὴν μετιόντας. οὐ τούτους ουν 1.197 φησιν εἰς καῦσιν δοθῆναι, ἀλλὰ τοὺς κακίας ἐργάτας καὶ ταῖς τοῦ σώματος ἐπιθυμίαις ἐγκειμένους διὰ παντὸς καὶ μή τι φρονήσαντας πνευματικόν. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ θηρίου ἀπώλειαν ὁρᾶν ὁ προφήτης φησὶν ὡς υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐπὶ νεφελῶν καὶ εως τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν φθάσαντα, ῳ καὶ δοθῆναι λέγει τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ αὐτῷ δουλεῦσαι τοὺς λαοὺς πάντας καὶ τὰς γλώσσας καὶ τὰς φυλάς, καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτοῦ αἰώνιον εσεσθαι καὶ μὴ παρελεύσεσθαι, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ μὴ διαφθαρήσεσθαι. ταῦτα σαφῶς τὴν δευτέραν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ προθεσπίζουσιν. υἱὸς μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώπου καλεῖται διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν, ην προσελάβετο, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν νεφελῶν ἐρχόμενος κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν αὐτοῦ εἰπόντος "οψεσθε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ." Ταῦτα μὲν ουν ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ετει τῆς βασιλείας Βαλτάσαρ ἐμυήθη ὁ ∆ανιήλ, ἐν δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ ἑτέραν ὀπτασίαν ἑώρακεν. "ἐν Σούσοις γὰρ ων ηρα" λέγει "τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καὶ ἰδοὺ κριὸς ἑστηκὼς ἐπὶ τοῦ Οὐβάλ, καὶ αὐτῷ κέρατα ὑψηλά, καὶ τὸ εν ὑψηλότερον τοῦ ἑτέρου, καὶ τὸ ὑψηλότερον ἀνέβαινεν ἐπ' ἐσχάτου. καὶ ην κερατίζων κατὰ θάλασσαν καὶ βορρᾶν καὶ νότον, καὶ πάντα τὰ θηρία στῆναι ἐνώ πιον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἠδύναντο, καὶ ἐποίησε κατὰ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐμεγαλύνθη." πάλιν κἀνταῦθα τὰ περὶ τῶν βασιλειῶν ὁ προφήτης διδάσκεται. καὶ κριῷ μὲν ἀπεικάσθη ἡ ἀρχὴ τῶν Περσῶν διὰ τὸν περικεί1.198 μενον αὐτῇ πλοῦτον, ἑστὼς δ' ην ὁ κριὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ Οὐβὰλ ηγουν ἐπὶ τῆς πύλης τῶν Σούσων· αυτη γὰρ ην ἡ πόλις μητρόπολις τῶν Περσῶν, καὶ ἐκεῖ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ην τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει διάγων ειδε τὸ οραμα. τὰ δὲ δύο κέρατα τὰ τὴν βασιλείαν ταύτην ἰθύναντα δύο γένη ἐτύπουν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ηττον κέρας τὸν Κῦρον καὶ τὸν ἐκείνου υἱὸν τὸν Καμβύσην εἰκόνιζε, μέχρις αὐτῶν γὰρ ἡ τῆς βασιλείας εστη ἀρχή, καὶ οὐ προῆλθε περαιτέρω τὸ Κύρου γένος, τὸ δὲ μεῖζον κέρας τὸ ∆αρείου γένος ᾐνίττετο, ο μέχρι τοῦ τελευταίου ∆αρείου προέκοψεν, ον κατεπολέμησεν ὁ ̓Αλέξανδρος. Καμβύσου γὰρ τοῦ Κύρου παιδὸς θανόντος οἱ μάγοι μετὰ δόλου τὴν βασιλείαν ἐσφετερίσαντο· ους ἐπ' ὀλίγον κρατήσαντας, καὶ γνωσθέντας οιτινες ησαν, οἱ ἑπτὰ τῶν Περσῶν οικοι καθεῖλον. ἐξ ων ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ ̔Υστάσπου ∆αρεῖος, ου τὸ γένος