Aphrahat: Selected Demonstrations

destroyed the Prince of Tyre, because he rejoiced over the children of Israel, for that they were carried away captive from their land, and because his heart was exalted. This Tyre also lay waste seventy years like Jerusalem which sat in desolation seventy years. For Isaiah said concerning it:—Tyre shall wander seventy years, as the days of one king, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms that are upon the face of the earth.^{Edition note 2}

10. O thou that art exalted and lifted up, let not the vaunting of thine heart mislead thee, nor say thou, I will go up against the rich land and against the powerful beast. For that beast will not be slain by the ram seeing that its horns are broken. For the he-goat broke the horns of the ram.^{Edition note 3} Now the he-goat has become the mighty beast. For when the children of Japhet held the kingdom, then they slew Darius, the king of Persia. Now the fourth beast has swallowed up the third. And this third consists of the children of Japhet, and the fourth consists of the children of Shem, for they are the children of Esau.

Because, when Daniel saw the vision of the four beasts, he saw first the children of Ham, the seed of Nimrod, which the Babylonians are; and secondly, the Persians and Medes, who are the children of Japhet; and thirdly, the Greeks, the brethren of the Medes; and fourthly, the children of Shem, which the children of Esau are. For a confederacy was formed between the children of Japhet and the children of Shem. Then the government was taken away from the children of Japhet, the younger, and was given to Shem, the elder; and to this day it continues, and will continue for ever. But when the time of the consummation of the dominion of the children of Shem shall have come, the Ruler, who came forth from the children of Judah, shall receive the kingdom, when He shall come in His second Advent.

11. For in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, when he saw it, which Daniel made known and showed to Nebuchadnezzar, when he saw the image which stood over against him, the head of the image was of gold, and its breast and arms of silver, and its belly and thighs of brass, and its legs and feet of iron and potter’s clay.^{Edition note 4} And Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar:—Thou art the head of gold.^{Edition note 5} And why was he called the head of gold? Was it not because the word of Jeremiah was fulfilled in him? For Jeremiah said:—Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that makes all the earth to drink of its wine.^{Edition note 6} And also Babylon was called the head of all the kingdoms, as it is written:—Babylon was the head of the of Nimrod.^{Edition note 7}

12. And he said that the breast and the arms of the image were of silver. This signified concerning a kingdom which was inferior to it; namely, Darius the Mede. For (God) put the kingdom into the balance. For the kingdom of the house of Nimrod was weighed and was found wanting. And since it was wanting, Darius received it. Because of this he said that his kingdom was inferior.^{Edition note 8} And because it was inferior, the children of Media did not rule in all the earth. Now the belly and thighs of the image were of brass, and he said:—The third kingdom shall rule in all the earth.^{Edition note 9} It is the kingdom of the children of Javan, who are children of Japhet.

For the children of Javan came in against the kingdom of their brethren. For Madai and Javan are sons of Japhet.^{Edition note 10} But Madai was foolish and incapable of governing the kingdom, until Javan, his brother came, who was wise and cunning, to destroy the kingdom. For Alexander, son of Philip, ruled in all the earth.

13. And the legs and feet of the image were of iron. This is the kingdom of the children of Shem, who are the children of Esau, which is strong as iron. And he said:—As iron breaks and subdueth everything, so also the fourth kingdom shall break and bruise everything.^{Edition note 11} And he explained with reference to the feet and toes, that part of them was of iron and part of them of potter’s clay. For he said:—Thus they shall be mingled with the seed of man, and they shall not cleave one to another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.^{Edition note 12} This referred to the fourth kingdom.

Because in the kingdom of the children of Esau^{Edition note 13} there was not a king, the son of a king, established to govern the kingdom; but when the children of Esau were gathered together into a powerful city, then they made a senate. And from thence they used to set up as chief of the city a wise man to govern the kingdom, lest when the Governor of their kingdom should weigh them, they might be found wanting, and the kingdom might be taken away from them as the kingdom of the children of arrogant Nimrod was taken away and given to the children of foolish Madai.

And this king who was set up, the seed of that former king was destroying him; and they did not cleave one to another. But as to the seed of man which is compared with the clay, the meaning is this; that when the king was chosen for the kingdom, he mingled himself with the root of the kingdom of iron.

14. And he showed that in the days of those kings, who shall arise in the kingdom, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed and shall not pass away for ever.^{Edition note 14} This is the Kingdom of King Messiah, which is that which shall cause the fourth kingdom to pass away. And above he said:—Thou sawest a stone which was cut out, but not by hands; and it smote the image upon its feet of iron and potter’s clay and broke them to pieces.^{Edition note 15} Now he did not say that it smote upon the head of the image, nor on its breast and arms, nor yet on its belly and thighs, but on its feet; because that, of the whole image, that stone when it comes will find the feet alone.

And in the next verse he said:—The iron and the brass and the silver and the gold were broken to pieces together.^{Edition note 16} For after them, when King Messiah shall reign, then He will humble the fourth kingdom, and will break the whole image; for by the whole image the world is meant. Its head is Nebuchadnezzar; its breast and arms the King of Media and Persia; its belly and thighs the King of the Greeks; its legs and feet the kingdom of the children of Esau; the stone, which smote the image and brake it, and with which the whole earth was filled, is the kingdom of King Messiah, Who will bring to nought the kingdom of this world, and He will rule for ever and ever.

15. Again hear concerning the vision of the four beasts which Daniel saw coming up out of the sea and diverse one from another. This is the appearance of them:—The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. And I saw that its wings were plucked away, and it stood up like a man upon its feet, and the heart of a man was given to it.^{Edition note 17} And the second beast was like a bear, and it raised itself up upon one side and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And the third beast was like a leopard, and it had four wings and four heads.

And the fourth beast was exceedingly terrible and strong and powerful, and it had great teeth. It devoured and brake to pieces, and whatsoever remained, it stamped with its feet. Now the great sea that Daniel saw^{Edition note 18} is the world: and these four beasts are the four kingdoms signified above.

16. Now as to the first beast, he said concerning it, that it was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. For the first beast was the kingdom of Babylon, which was like a lion. For thus Jeremiah wrote saying:—Israel is a wandering sheep. The lions caused them to wander. First the king of Assyria devoured him. And this last was stronger than he, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.^{Edition note 19} So Jeremiah called him a lion. And he said:—He has the wings of an eagle. For thus it is written that, when Nebuchadnezzar went out to the wilderness with the beasts, he grew hair like (the plumage) of an eagle.

And he said:—I saw that its wings were plucked away and it stood upright upon its feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.^{Edition note 20} For first, in the vision of the image, he was compared to gold which is more precious than anything which is used in the world. So in the vision of the beasts he is compared to a lion which excels in its might all the beasts. And again he was compared to an eagle which surpasses every bird. Whatsoever was written about him was fulfilled in him. For the Lord said concerning him:—I have placed a yoke of iron upon the neck of all the nations, and they shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

And also the beasts of the desert and the birds of heaven have I given to him to serve him.^{Edition note 21} For since the king was like the head of gold, men served him as a king. And when he went out to the wilderness, the beasts served him as a lion. And when his hair was like (the plumage) of an eagle, the birds of heaven served him as an eagle. But when his heart was lifted up, and he knew not that the power was given to him from heaven, the yoke of iron was broken from the neck of men, and he went forth with the beasts, and instead of the heart of a king there was given him the heart of a lion.

And when he was lifted up over the beasts, the heart of a lion was taken away from him, and there was given him the heart of a bird. And when wings grew upon him like those of an eagle, he exalted himself over the birds. And then his wings also were plucked away and there was given to him a humble heart. And when he knew that the Most High has authority in the kingdom of man, to give it to whomsoever He will, then as a man he praised Him.

17. And as for the second beast, he said concerning him that it was like a bear and raised itself up upon one side. Because when the kingdom of Media and Persia arose, it arose in the east. And three ribs were in its mouth. Because the ram was pushing towards the West and towards the North and towards the South, towards three winds of heaven. These three winds it held, and pushed against, like the three ribs that were in the mouth of the bear; until the he-goat came forth from the west, and smote the ram and took out the ribs that were in his mouth.

18. And concerning the third beast he said that it was like a leopard, and it had four birds’ wings on its back and that beast had four heads. Now this third beast was Alexander the Macedonian. For he was strong as a leopard. And as for the four wings and the four heads that the beast had, that was because he gave the kingdom to his four friends to govern after him, when he had come and slain Darius and reigned in his stead.

19. And of the fourth beast he said that it was exceedingly terrible and strong and mighty, devouring and crushing and trampling with its feet anything that remained. It is the kingdom of the children of Esau.^{Edition note 22} Because after that Alexander the Macedonian became king, the kingdom of the Greeks was founded, since Alexander also was one of them, even of the Greeks. But the vision of the third beast was fulfilled in him, since the third and the fourth were one. Now Alexander reigned for twelve years.

And the kings of the Greeks arose after Alexander, being seventeen kings, and their years were two hundred and sixty-nine years from Seleucus Nicanor to Ptolemy. And the Cæsars were from Augustus to Philip Cæsar, seventeen kings. And their years are two hundred and ninety-three years;^{Edition note 23} and eighteen years of Severus.

20. For Daniel said:—I was considering the ten horns that were upon the head of the beast. For the ten horns were ten kings^{Edition note 24} who arose at that time until Antiochus. And he said:—A little horn arose from between those ten and three fell before it.^{Edition note 25} For when Antiochus arose in the kingdom, he humbled three kings, and he exalted himself against the saints of the Most High and against Jerusalem. And he defiled the sanctuary.^{Edition note 26} And he caused the sacrifice and the offerings to cease for a week and half a week, namely, for ten and a-half years.

And he brought in fornicators into the house of the Lord, and he caused the observances of the Law to cease.^{Edition note 27} And he slew righteous men and gave them to the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the earth. For in his days was fulfilled the word that David spoke:^{Edition note 28}—O God, the Gentiles have come into thine inheritance, and have defiled Thy holy temple. They have made Jerusalem desolate. They have given the dead bodies of Thy servants as food to the birds of heaven, and the flesh of Thy righteous ones to the beasts of the earth.

They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem, and there is none to bury them. For this was accomplished at that time, when the venerable and aged Eleazar was slain, and the sons of the blessed Samuna, seven in number,^{Edition note 29} and when Judas (Maccabeus) and his brethren were struggling on behalf of their people, when they were dwelling in hiding-places.^{Edition note 30} At that time the horn made war with the saints,^{Edition note 31} and their power prevailed. And the wicked Antiochus spake words against the Most High, and changed the times and the seasons.^{Edition note 32} And he made to cease the covenant of Abraham, and abolished the Sabbath of rest.^{Edition note 33} For he commanded the Jews that they should not circumcise.

Therefore, (the Prophet) said concerning him;—He shall think to change the times and the seasons and the laws, and they were given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.^{Edition note 34} Now the time and half a time is the week and a half, which is ten years and a half. Again he said:—The judgment was set and they took away his authority from him, to injure and destroy him until the end of the kingdom.^{Edition note 35} For the judgment came upon Antiochus, a judgment from heaven;^{Edition note 36} and he became sick with a grievous and evil sickness, and on account of the smell of him as he rotted, no man could approach him, for worms were crawling and falling from him and eating his flesh because he oppressed the worm Jacob.^{Edition note 37} And his flesh rotted in his lifetime, because he caused the dead bodies of the sons of Jerusalem to rot and