“Then I turned
To Yahweh
To seek
An answer,
By prayer,
By supplications,
With fasting,
With sackcloth,
With ashes.”
Daniel, in the first-person singular, turned to Yahweh, and not the God of heaven or the Most High God, as earlier in this book. This was the traditional Hebrew name of Yahweh. Daniel assumed the traditional role of a penitent with prayers and supplications while fasting, and wearing sackcloth with ashes on him.
“As for the ten horns,
Out of this kingdom,
Ten kings shall arise.
Another shall arise after them.
This one shall
Be different
From the former ones.
He shall put down
Three kings.
He shall speak words
Against the Most High.
He shall wear out
The holy ones
Of the Most High.
He shall attempt
To change
The sacred seasons.
He shall attempt
To change the law.
They shall be given
Into his power
For a time,
Two times,
Half a time.
Then the court shall sit
In judgment.
His dominion shall be
Taken away,
To be consumed,
To be totally destroyed
To the end.”
Next, he explained that the 10 horns on the beast were the 10 Greek kings that succeeded Alexander the Great in his kingdom. However, there was a vehemence against the little horn king that overthrew the 3 kings. This was, of course, a reference to the Greek King Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BCE), who was different from the other Greek rulers. He spoke openly against the Most High God. He wore out God’s holy ones. He attempted to change the holy seasons and do away with the religious festivals. He also tried to change the Jewish law. He had power for a little while, before the final kingdom would come. Then his dominion would be taken away. He would be consumed and destroyed. 1 Maccabees, chapter 1, went into great detail about this king.
“When this period was over,
I,
King Nebuchadnezzar,
Lifted up my eyes
To heaven.
My reason returned
To me.
I blessed
The Most High.
I praised him.
I honored the one
Who lives forever.
His sovereignty is
An everlasting sovereignty.
His kingdom endures
From generation to generation.
All the inhabitants
Of the earth
Are accounted
As nothing.
He does
What he wills
With the host
Of heaven,
As well as among the inhabitants
Of the earth.
There is no one
Who can stay his hand.
No one can say to him.
‘What are you doing?’”
After all this humiliation and his unreasonable activity, King Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his eyes to heaven. He blessed and praised the Most High God. He honored the eternal God who ruled the whole world, whose dominion and power would last forever, because his kingdom would endure for all generations. All humans were as nothing in his eyes. He does whatever he wants to do with the heavenly beings as well as the human beings. There was no one on earth who could question what he was doing. The king has basically converted to the God of Israel in this first-person singular account.
“‘This is the interpretation!
O king!
It is a decree
Of the Most High,
That has come upon
My lord!
The king!
You shall be driven away
From human society!
Your dwelling
Shall be with
The wild animals!
You shall be made
To eat grass
Like oxen!
You shall be bathed
With the dew
Of heaven!
Seven times
It shall pass
Over you,
Until you have learned
That the Most High
Has sovereignty
Over the kingdoms
Of mortals!
He gives it
To whom he will.’”
Daniel then gave his shocking interpretation of the watcher’s cry to the king. He said that this was a decree that came from the Most High God. The king, Daniel’s lord, would be driven away from human society. He was going to live with the wild animals. He was going to eat grass like oxen do. He would be washed in heavenly dew for 7 years, until he would come to recognize that the Most High God ruled over all the mortal kingdoms. God was able to give his kingdoms to whomever he wanted.
“‘This sentence is
Rendered by decree
Of the watchers.
The decision
Is given
By order
Of the holy ones.
All who live
May know
That the Most High
Is sovereign
Over the kingdoms
Of mortals.
He gives it
To whom he will.
He sets over it
The lowliest
Of human beings.’”
The holy watcher or angel explained that this decree and sentence was final, because it was given by order of the watchers or holy ones, who live with the Most High God. God was over all mortal kingdoms. He can give and take away human kingdoms. He sets kings up. He sometimes takes the lowliest of humans to be kings.
“Woe to you
Who drag iniquity along
With cords of falsehood.
Woe to you
Who draw sin along
With cart ropes.
Woe to you
Who say.
‘Let him make haste.
Let him speed his work.
Thus we may see it.
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel
Hasten to fulfillment.
Thus we may know it!’”
Isaiah then takes on those who mock God with false allegations. They operate with cords of falsehood and sins like cart ropes. They pretend to want to see the work of Yahweh, the Most High God of Israel as soon as possible. They claim they want to know and see it soon. In fact, all they want to do is to continue in their sinful ways.
“Then the sons of Aaron shouted.
They blew their trumpets
Of hammered metal.
They sounded a mighty fanfare,
As a reminder before
The Most High.
Then all the people together
Quickly fell to the ground
On their faces.
They worshiped their Lord,
The Almighty,
The God Most High.
Then the singers praised him
With their voices
In sweet full-toned melody.
The people
Of the Lord Most High
offered their prayers
Before the merciful one,
Until the order of worship of the Lord
Was ended.
Thus they completed Simon’s ritual.”
Next the sons of Aaron shouted. Then they blew their hammered metal trumpets with a great fanfare before the Most High God. The people in the assembly then quickly fell with their faces down to the ground, as they worshipped the Lord Almighty, the Most High God. The singers chimed in with their sweet melodic voices, as the people offered their prayers to the Most High merciful God, until this worship service to the Lord was ended.
“When he put on
His glorious robe,
He clothed himself
In perfect splendor.
When he went up
To the holy altar,
He made the court
Of the sanctuary glorious.
When he received the portions
From the hands of the priests,
He stood by the hearth of the altar.
There was a garland
Of brothers around him.
He was
Like a young cedar on Lebanon.
They surrounded him
Like the trunks of palm trees.
All the sons of Aaron
In their splendor
Held the Lord’s offering
In their hands
Before the whole congregation of Israel.
Finishing the service at the altars,
They arranged
The offering to the Most High,
The Almighty.
He held out his hand for the cup.
He poured a drink offering
Of the blood of the grape.
He poured it out
At the foot of the altar.
It was a pleasing odor
To the Most High,
The King of all.”
Sirach explains that the high priest Simon put on his splendid glorious robe. Then he went to the holy altar in the sanctuary. He received the sacrificial gifts from the priests at the foot of the altar. He was like a Lebanon cedar tree among his brother priests who were like palm trees. All the sons of Aaron were there in their splendor as they held the Lord’s offering in their hands before the whole congregation. They arranged the offering to the Most High God, the Almighty one. Simon held out his hand and took the cup. He poured the blood of the grape drink at the foot of the altar, so that it was a pleasing odor to the King of all, the Most High God.
“Except for King David,
Except for King Hezekiah,
Except for King Josiah
All of them were
Great sinners.
They abandoned
The law of the Most High.
The kings of Judah
Came to an end.
They gave their power
To others.
They gave their glory
To a foreign nation.”
Sirach points out that all the kings, whether in Judah or Israel, were great sinners, except for King David, King Hezekiah, and King Josiah. But even these kings also committed some sins. The worst, of course, were the later kings, just before the exile. Somehow these bad kings were responsible for the downfall of the Israelite and Judah kingdoms because these great sinners abandoned the law of the Most High God. They lost their power and gave away their glory to foreign nations.
“They glorified him
For the tens of thousands that he conquered.
They praised him
For the blessings bestowed
By the Lord.
The glorious diadem was given to him.
He wiped out his enemies on every side.
He annihilated his adversaries,
The Philistines.
He crushed their power even to our own day.
In all that he did
He gave thanks to the Holy One,
The Most High,
Proclaiming his glory.
He sang praise
With all his heart.
He loved his Maker.
He placed singers before the altar.
They made sweet melody with their voices.
Daily they sing his praises.
He gave beauty to the festivals.
He arranged their times
Throughout the year.
They praised God’s holy name.
The sanctuary resounded from early morning.
The Lord took away his sins.
He exalted his power forever.
He gave him a covenant of kingship.
He gave him a glorious throne in Israel.”
Sirach told of the glory of King David who had killed thousands of his enemies. He was praised for the Lord’s blessings that he had received. He was given a glorious diadem crown to wear, after an unmentioned dispute with King Saul. David wiped out his enemies, especially the Philistines, but they kept coming back for more. However, David gave thanks to the Holy One, the Most High God. He loved his creator. He sang praises to him. He had singers at the altar as well as set up wonderful festivals throughout the year. Although there is mention of a sanctuary, the Temple was not built until his son King Solomon built it. The Lord took away the sins of David and established a covenant of kingship with him on the throne in Israel. In light of what was to come, there was no eternal covenant of kingship.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 