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Thus Say The Prophets
Prophet Daniel
The Antiquities of the Jews, By Flavius Josephus, Book 10, Chapter 11:
Concerning Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and how the Persians dissolved their government; and what things befell Daniel in Media; and what prophecies he delivered there.As discussed in my verse-by-verse commentary on the Book of Daniel, some of the information in Daniel's book is not without controversy. For example, in The Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus (born in 37 CE in Jerusalem and died in Rome, Italy around 100 CE at age 62 or 63), we gain some historical insights into these times from the perspective of a First Century Helenized Jewish historian. Josephus' historical accuracy is sometimes challenged, such as his lineage of the kings between Nebuchadnezer and Belshazer, and the time it took Belshazaer to build the walls of Babylon's extended city, etc. Josephus does not always agree with Daniel nor known history, and yet as a historical supplement to Chapter Six of my Daniel study, Josephus' presentation is insightful and worth considering.
1. Now when king Nebuchadnezzar had reigned forty-three years, 20 he ended his life. He was an active man and more fortunate than the kings before him. Now, Berosus makes mention of his actions in the third book of his Chaldaic History, where he says thus:
"When his father Nebuchodonosor [aka., Nabopollassar] heard that the governor he had set over Egypt and the places about Coelesyria and Phoenicia had revolted against him when he was unable to undergo the hardships [of war], he committed to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was still just a youth, some parts of his army, and sent them against him. So when Nebuchadnezzar had given battle and fought with the rebels, he beat him and reduced the country from under his subjection and made it a branch of his own kingdom. About that time, it happened that his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] fell ill and ended his life in the city Babylon after he had reigned twenty-one years 21. When he returned to his senses, little time remained until his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] was dead, and having settled the affairs of Egypt, and the other countries, as well as those that concerned the captive Jews, and Phoenicians, and Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations; and having committed the conveyance of them to Babylon, to certain of his friends, together with the bulk of his army, and the rest of their ammunition and provisions, he went himself hastily, accompanied with a few others over the desert, and came to Babylon. There, he took upon himself the management of public affairs and of the kingdom, which had been kept for him by one who was the principal of the Chaldeans. He received the entire dominions of his father and appointed that when the captives came, they were to be placed as colonies in the most proper places of Babylonia. He adorned the temple of Belus and the rest of the temples magnificently with the spoils he had taken in the war.
He [Nebuchadnezzer] also built another city besides the older one so that anyone that might besiege it later would be unable to turn the course of the river and thereby attack the city itself. Therefore, he built three walls around the inner city and three others around the outer, with burnt brick. And after he had, in a becoming manner, walled the city and adorned its gates gloriously, he built another palace before his father's palace so that they joined to it to describe whose vast height and immense riches it would perhaps be too much for me to attempt to describe; yet as large and lofty as they were, the builders completed it in a mere fifteen days. 22
He [Nebuchadnezzer] also erected elevated stone places for walking that resembled mountains and built them with all sorts of planted trees. He also erected a pensile paradise [i.e., the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon] because his wife, having been raised in the palaces of Media, was desirous of having things like her own country." In the fourth book of his Accounts of India, Megasthenes also mentions these things, endeavoring to show that this King [Nebuchadnezzar] exceeded Hercules in fortitude and the greatness of his actions, for he said that he conquered a significant part of Libya and Iberia [i.e., the peninsula in southwestern Europe, now occupied by Spain and Portugal]. Diocles also, in the second book of his Accounts of Persia, mentions this King [i.e., Nebuchadnezer], as does Philostrates in his accounts both of India and Phoenicia, saying that this King [i.e., Nebuchadnezer] besieged Tyre thirteen years. At the same time, Ethbaal reigned at Tyre. These are all the histories that I have met with concerning this King.2. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach, his son, received the kingdom's throne and immediately set Jeconiah free, whom he esteemed among his most intimate friends. He [i.e., Evil-Merodach] gave him [i.e., Jeconiah] many presents. He made him honorable above the rest of the rulers that were in Babylon because his father had not kept his faith with Jeconiah when he had voluntarily delivered himself up to him, with his wives and children, and his whole kindred, for the sake of his country, so [Nebuchadnezzar] would not take them by force of arms and utterly destroy them, as we explained before.
When Evil-Merodach was dead, after a reign of eighteen years, Niglissar, his son, took the government, reigned for forty years, and then ended his life. After him, the succession in the kingdom came to his son Labosordacus, who continued in it for only nine months. When he was dead, the kingdom came to Baltasar [i.e., Belshazar], 23 whom the Babylonians called Naboandelus. Against him [i.e., Belshazar] did Cyrus, the King of Persia, and Darius, the King of Media, make war. An excellent and prodigious vision occurred when he [i.e., Belshazar] was besieged in Babylon [i.e., by Cyrus and Darius]. He [i.e., Belshazar] was seated in a large room at supper, and there were many silver vessels, such as those made for royal entertainment. With him [i.e., Belshazar] were his concubines and friends. He [i.e., Belshazar] came to a resolution [i.e., concerning his Jewish problems]. He commanded that the vessels of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had plundered out of Jerusalem - and had not been used, but had been stored in his own temple [i.e., the temple of Bel] - should be brought out of that temple. He [i.e., Belshazar] grew so arrogant that he used them amid his cups, drinking out of them and thereby blaspheming God.
In the meantime, he [i.e., Belshazar] saw a hand proceed out of the wall and writing upon the wall certain syllables. At that sight, being disturbed, he called the magicians and Chaldeans together and all those sorts of men who were among these barbarians and could interpret signs and dreams so that they might explain the writing to him. But when the magicians said they could discover nothing, nor did they understand it, the King was in great disorder of mind and under great trouble at this surprising incident. Therefore, he decreed a proclamation through all the country promising that to anyone who could explain the writing and give the signification couched therein; he would give a golden chain for his neck and allow him to wear a garment of purple (i.e., indicating royalty], as was the tradition of the kings of Chaldea. He would further bestow upon that person authority over a third of the royal dominion. When this proclamation went forth, the magicians ran together more eagerly and were very ambitious to find out the importance of the writing but still hesitated about it as much as before. Now, when the King's grandmother saw him so perplexed concerning this incident, 24 she began to encourage him and told him that there was a certain captive from Judea, a Jew by birth, but brought away [from Israel] by Nebuchadnezzar when he had destroyed Jerusalem, whose name was Daniel, a wise man, and of great sagacity in finding out what was impossible for others to discover, and what was known to God alone, who brought to light and revealed such questions to Nebuchadnezzar as no one else was able to answer when consulted. She [i.e., Belshazer's grandmother] encouraged him to send for him [i.e., for Daniel] and inquire of him concerning the writing and condemn the lack of knowledge of those who could not find the meaning. In this way, God invoked a melancholy spirit among the heathens.
3. When Baltasar [i.e., Belshazar] heard this, he called for Daniel. When he [i.e., Belshazar] had explained to him [i.e., Daniel] what he had learned concerning him and his wisdom and how a Divine Spirit was with him, and that he alone was fully capable of finding out what others would never have thought of, he [i.e., Belshazar] asked him [i.e., Daniel] to explain what this writing meant. If he did so, Daniel would be allowed to wear royal purple and a golden chain about his neck. Belshazar would also bestow on Daniel the third part of his domain as an honorarium for his wisdom so that Daniel would become famous to those who saw him and who might inquire how he obtained such honors. But Daniel replied that Belshazer should keep his gifts. The receiving of wisdom and Divine revelation permits no gifts and bestows its advantages on petitioners freely. Daniel said he would still explain the writing to the King as requested. The interpretation denoted that the King would soon die because he had not learned to honor God and had not admitted the existence of things above human nature, by which punishments his progenitor [i.e., Nebuchadnezer] had undergone for the evils he had committed before God; and because he had completely forgotten how Nebuchadnezzar had been condemned to feed among wild beasts for his sins and did not recover his former life among men and his kingdom, except for God's mercy to him after many supplications and prayers. Then he [i.e., Nebuchadnezzar - after his teshuvah] praised God for the rest of his life as the One of Almighty Power Who oversees humanity. [He also explained] how he [i.e., Belshazar] had also greatly blasphemed God by using God's sacred vessels with his concubines. Therefore [Daniel explained], God, seeing this, became angry with him [i.e., Belshazar] and declared by this writing [on the wall] beforehand what a sad conclusion of his life he should come to. And he [i.e., Daniel] further explained the writing thus: "MANEH:" If expounded in the Greek language, may signify a number, because God had "numbered" a set amount of time for his life and government to continue, and that there remained only a small portion of time for him. "THEKEL:" This signifies a weight and means, showing that God had weighed his kingdom in the balance and found it going down already. "PHARES:" This also denotes a "fragment" in the Greek tongue showing that God would break his kingdom into pieces, dividing it among the Medes and Persians. This also serves as a testament to the mercy of God, Who, even in the face of such blasphemy, offers a chance for redemption.
4. After Daniel told the King that the writing on the wall signified these events, Baltasar [i.e., Belshazar] was in great sorrow and affliction, as expected when the interpretation was so heavy upon him. However, he honored his promise to Daniel, even though he foretold misfortunes to him. Still, he [i.e., Belshazar] bestowed everything promised upon him [i.e., Daniel], reasoning thus: What he was to reward was peculiar to himself. Fate does not belong to the prophet, but it was the lot of a good and just man to give what he had promised, even though the events were melancholy. Accordingly, the King determined to do so. Now, after a little while, both himself and the city were taken by Cyrus, the King of Persia, who fought against him. Babylon was defeated after Baltasar [i.e., Belshazar] had reigned for seventeen years. And this is the end of the posterity of King Nebuchadnezzar, as history informs us. When Darius took Babylon, and when he, with his relative, Cyrus, put an end to the dominion of the Babylonians, he was sixty-two years old.
He [i.e., Darius] was the son of Astyages and had another name among the Greeks. He took Daniel the prophet and carried him into Media, where he honored him greatly and kept him with him. He [i.e., Daniel] became one of the three rulers whom he [i.e., Darius] set over his three hundred and sixty provinces, for into so many did Darius part them.
5. However, even as Daniel was experiencing this great dignity and favor with Darius, being entrusted with everything by him [because Darius perceived that Daniel channeled the gods], Daniel was envied by the other Royals. They perceived that Daniel received greater honor than them. Therefore, they envied him. Considering the great favor Darius granted Daniel, the aggrieved sought any occasion against him. Because he was above all the temptations of wealth, despised bribery, and esteemed it a very base thing to take anything by way of reward, even when it might be justly given him, he afforded those that envied him not the least handle for an accusation. So when they could find nothing for which they might accuse him before the King, nothing that was shameful or reproachful, and thereby deprive him of the honor he was in with him, these evil-doers sought some other method whereby they might destroy him. When, therefore, they saw that Daniel prayed to God three times a day, they thought they had gotten an occasion by which they might ruin him, so they came to Darius and told him that the princes and governors had thought it proper to allow the multitude a relaxation for thirty days, that no one might offer a petition or prayer either to himself or to the gods, and that, "One who transgresses this decree shall be thrown into the den of lions, and there perish."
6. Upon hearing this, the King [i.e., Darius], not being acquainted with their wicked plans nor suspecting that it was a contrivance of theirs against Daniel, said he was pleased with this decree of theirs and promised to enforce what they desired. He also published an edict to promulgate the decree the princes had made among the people. Accordingly, everyone took care not to transgress those injunctions and to rest in quiet, but Daniel ignored the decree, and, as was his custom, he stood and prayed to God in the sight of them all. Having seized the opportunity, the princes eagerly sought charges against Daniel and came quickly to the King.
They accused him, saying that Daniel was the only person who transgressed the decree, while none of the rest prayed to their gods. They did not level this accusation because of any impiety [of Daniel] but because they had observed him out of jealousy, believing that Darius showed him more kindness than them. They feared that Darius might grant him pardon for this contempt of his injunctions. Envying this potential pardon of Daniel, they did not become more honorable but rather demanded that Daniel be cast into the den of lions according to the law.
Darius, hoping that God would deliver him and that he would undergo nothing terrible by the wild beasts, encouraged Daniel to bear this accident cheerfully. When he was cast into the den, he [i.e., Darius] put his seal to the stone that lay upon the mouth of the den and went his way. He passed all the night without food and sleep, being in great distress for Daniel, and when it was morning, he got up and came to the den and found the seal unbroken, which he had left the stone sealed with. He opened the seal, cried out, and called to Daniel, asking whether he was alive. When he heard the King's voice and replied that he had suffered no harm, he ordered his servants to pull him out of the den. When his enemies saw that Daniel had not suffered, they refused to accept that God and His Divine Providence had preserved him. Instead, they charged that someone had fed the lions, so they were not hungry; hence, they supposed, the lions had not touched Daniel or come near him. They alleged this to the King, but the King, disgusted by their wickedness, ordered his servants to throw a great deal of flesh to the lions. Once they had filled themselves, he ordered them to throw Daniel's enemies into the den so he could determine whether fed lions would touch them or not. And thus Darius confirmed by the ravenous beasts who devoured the foolish princes, that it was God alone who preserved Daniel 25.
I suppose, therefore, it was not their hunger, which had been a little before satisfied with an abundance of flesh, but the wickedness of these men that provoked them [to destroy the princes]; for if it so please God, that wickedness might, by even those irrational creatures, be esteemed a plain foundation for their punishment.
7. When, therefore, those who had intended to destroy Daniel by treachery were themselves destroyed, King Darius sent [letters] all over the country praising the God whom Daniel worshipped. He said that He was the only true God and had all power. He [i.e., Darius] also held Daniel in very great esteem and made him the principal of his friends. Now, when Daniel had become so illustrious and famous because of men's opinion that he was beloved of God, he built a tower at Ecbatana in Media: it was a most elegant and wonderfully made building. It still stands and is preserved to this day. All who see it say it appears to have been only recently constructed. It appears to have been built that very day; it is so fresh, 26 flourishing, and beautiful, and no way grown old despite it being built such a long time ago. It is known that buildings suffer the same as people; they grow old as well, and by the number of years, their strength dissolves, and their beauty withers. Now they bury the kings of Media, of Persia, and Parthia in this tower to this day, and Jewish priests are entrusted with its care, as is observed to this day.
It is right to give an account of what this man did, which is most admirable to hear, for he was so happy as to have strange revelations made to him, and those as to one of the greatest of the prophets, 27 insomuch, that while he was alive, he had the esteem and applause both of the kings and the multitude. Now that he is dead, he retains a remembrance that will never fail, for the several books he wrote and left behind are still read by us till this time. They convince us that Daniel conversed with God because he prophesied future events, as did the other prophets, and he revealed their accomplishments' timing. And while prophets used to foretell misfortunes, and on that account were disagreeable both to the kings and to the multitude, Daniel was to them a prophet of good things, and this to such a degree that by the agreeable nature of his predictions, he procured the goodwill of all people; and by the accomplishment of them, he procured the belief in their accuracy
Some people suggested Daniel was some divinity sent among the multitude. He also wrote and left behind him what made manifest his predictions' accuracy and undeniable veracity. He said that when he was in Susa [i.e., Shushan], the metropolis of Persia, and went out into the field with his companions, there was, all of a sudden, a motion and concussion of the earth, and that he was left alone by himself, his friends fleeing away from him, and that he was disturbed and fell on his face and his two hands, and that a certain person touched him, and, at the same time, bid him rise, and see what would occur to his compatriots after many generations. He related that when he stood up, he was shown a great ram with many horns growing out of his head and that the last was higher than the rest. He explained that after this, he looked to the west and saw a he-goat carried through the air from that quarter; that he rushed upon the ram violently, smote him twice with his horns, and overthrew him to the ground and trampled upon him. Afterward, he saw a great horn growing out of the head of the he-goat. He saw that when it was broken off, four horns grew up and were exposed to each of the four winds. He wrote that out of them arose another lesser [or little] horn, which, as he said, waxed great, and that God showed him that it should fight against his nation and take their city [i.e., Jerusalem] by force, and bring the temple worship to confusion, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for one thousand two hundred and ninety-six days.
Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in the Plain of Susa [aka Sushan, Persian city of King Ahasuerus and Queen Hadasah], and he has informed us that God interpreted the appearance of this vision after the following manner: He said that the ram signified the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians, and the horns those kings that were to reign in them; and that the last horn signified the last King, and that he should exceed all the kings in riches and glory: that the he-goat signified that one should come and reign from the Greeks, who should twice fight with the Persian [i.e., with Cyrus], and overcome him in battle, and should receive his entire dominion: that by the great horn which sprang out of the forehead of the he-goat was meant the first king, and that the springing up of four horns upon its falling off, and the conversion of every one of them to the four quarters of the earth, signifying the successors that should arise after the death of the first king, and the partition of the kingdom among them, and that they should be neither his children nor of his kindred, that should reign over the habitable earth for many years, and that from among them, there should arise a certain king that should overcome our nation and their laws, and should take away their political government and should spoil the temple and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for three years. And indeed, it came to pass that our nation suffered these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to Daniel's vision and what he wrote many years before they came to pass.28
Similarly, Daniel also wrote about the Roman government and said they should desolate our country. All these things did this man leave in writing, as God had shown them to him, insomuch that whoever reads his prophecies and sees how they have been fulfilled would wonder at the honor wherewith God honored Daniel and may thence discover how the Epicureans are in error when they cast Providence out of human life and do not accept that God takes care of the affairs of the world, nor that the universe is governed and continued in being by that blessed and immortal nature, but say that the world is carried along of its own accord, without a ruler and a curator. Were the world truly destitute of a guide to conduct it, as they imagine, it would be like ships without pilots, which we see drowned by the winds, or like chariots without drivers which are overturned, so would the world be dashed to pieces by being carried without Divine Providence, and so perish, and come to nothing. So that, by the aforementioned prophecies of Daniel, those men seem to me very much to err from the truth, who determine that God exercises no providence over human affairs because if that were the case, that the world went on by mechanical necessity alone, we would not see that all things would come to pass according to his prophecy. Now, I have described these matters as I have found them and read them, but if anyone is inclined to another opinion about them, let him enjoy his different sentiments without any blame from me.
FOOTNOTES
1 (return)
[ This title of great king, both in our Bibles, 2 Kings 18:19; Isaiah 36:4, and here in Josephus, is the very same that Herodotus gives this Sennacherib, as Spanheim takes notice on this place.]2 (return)
[ What Josephus says here, how Isaiah the prophet assured Hezekiah that "at this time he should not be besieged by the king of Assyria; that for the future he might be secure of being not at all disturbed by him; and that [afterward] the people might go on peaceably, and without fear, with their husbandry and other affairs," is more distinct in our other copies, both of the Kings and of Isaiah, and deserves very great consideration. The words are these: "This shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself, and the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof," 2 Kings 19:29; Isaiah 37:30; which seem to me plainly to design a Sabbatic year, a year of jubilee next after it, and the succeeding usual labors and fruits of them on the third and following years.]3 (return)
[ That this terrible calamity of the slaughter of the 185,000 Assyrians is here delivered in the words of Berosus the Chaldean, and that it was certainly and frequently foretold by the Jewish prophets, and that it was certainly and undeniably accomplished, see Authent. Rec. part II. p. 858. We are here to take notice, that these two sons of Sennacherib, that ran away into Armenia, became the heads of two famous families there, the Arzerunii and the Genunii; of which see the particular histories in Moses Chorenensis, p. 60.]4 (return)
[ Josephus, and all our copies, place the sickness of Hezekiah after the destruction of Sennacherib's army, because it appears to have been after his first assault, as he was going into Arabia and Egypt, where he pushed his conquests as far as they would go, and in order to despatch his story altogether; yet does no copy but this of Josephus say it was after that destruction, but only that it happened in those days, or about that time of Hezekiah's life. Nor will the fifteen years' prolongation of his life after his sickness, allow that sickness to have been later than the former part of the fifteenth year of his reign, since chronology does not allow him in all above twenty-nine years and a few months; whereas the first assault of Sennacherib was on the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, but the destruction of Sennacherib's army was not till his eighteenth year.]5 (return)
[ As to this regress of the shadow, either upon a sun-dial, or the steps of the royal palace built by Ahaz, whether it were physically done by the real miraculous revolution of the earth in its diurnal motion backward from east to west for a while, and its return again to its old natural revolution from west to east; or whether it were not apparent only, and performed by an aerial phosphorus, which imitated the sun's motion backward, while a cloud hid the real sun; cannot now be determined. Philosophers and astronomers will naturally incline to the latter hypothesis. However, it must be noted, that Josephus seems to have understood it otherwise than we generally do, that the shadow was accelerated as much at first forward as it was made to go backward afterward, and so the day was neither longer nor shorter than usual; which, it must be confessed agrees best of all to astronomy, whose eclipses, older than the time were observed at the same times of the day as if this miracle had never happened. After all, this wonderful signal was not, it seems, peculiar to Judea, but either seen, or at least heard of, at Babylon also, as appears by 2 Chronicles 32:31, where we learn that the Babylonian ambassadors were sent to Hezekiah, among other things, to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land.]6 (return)
[ This expression of Josephus, that the Medes, upon this destruction of the Assyrian army, "overthrew" the Assyrian empire, seems to be too strong; for although they immediately cast off the Assrian yoke, and set up Deioces, a king of their own, yet it was some time before the Medes and Babylonians overthrew Nineveh, and some generations ere the Medes and Persians under Cyaxares and Cyrus overthrew the Assyrian or Babylonian empire, and took Babylon.]7 (return)
[ It is hard to reconcile the account in the Second Book of Kings [Footnote ch. 23:11: with this account in Josephus, and to translate this passage truly in Josephus, whose copies are supposed to be here imperfect. However, the general sense of both seems to be this: That there were certain chariots, with their horses, dedicated to the idol of the sun, or to Moloch; which idol might be carried about in procession, and worshipped by the people; which chariots were now "taken away," as Josephus says, or, as the Book of Kings says, "burnt with fire, by Josiah."]8 (return)
[ This is a remarkable passage of chronology in Josephus, that about the latter end of the reign of Josiah, the Medes and Babylonians overthrew the empire of the Assyrians; or, in the words of Tobit's continuator, that "before Tobias died, he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which was taken by Nebuchodonosor the Babylonian, and Assuerus the Mede," Tob. 14:15. See Dean Prideaux's Connexion, at the year 612.]9 (return)
[ This battle is justly esteemed the very same that Herodotus [B. II. sect. 156: mentions, when he says, that "Necao joined battle with the Syrians [or Jews] at Magdolum, [Megiddo,] and beat them," as Dr. Hudson here observes.]10 (return)
[ Whether Josephus, from 2 Chronicles 35:25, here means the book of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, still extant, which chiefly belongs to the destruction of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, or to any other like melancholy poem now lost, but extant in the days of Josephus, belonging peculiarly to Josiah, cannot now be determined.]11 (return)
[ This ancient city Hamath, which is joined with Arpad, or Aradus, and with Damascus, 2 Kings 18:34; Isaiah 36:19; Jeremiah 49:23, cities of Syria and Phoenicia, near the borders of Judea, was also itself evidently near the same borders, though long ago utterly destroyed.]12 (return)
[ Josephus says here that Jeremiah prophesied not only of the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, and this under the Persians and Medes, as in our other copies; but of cause they did not both say the same thing as to this circumstance, he disbelieved what they both appeared to agree in, and condemned them as not speaking truth therein, although all the things foretold him did come to pass according to their prophecies, as we shall show upon a fitter opportunity their rebuilding the temple, and even the city Jerusalem, which do not appear in our copies under his name. See the note on Antiq. B. XI. ch. 1. sect. 3.]13 (return)
[ This observation of Josephus about the seeming disagreement of Jeremiah, ch. 32:4, and 34:3, and Ezekiel 12:13, but real agreement at last, concerning the fate of Zedekiah, is very true and very remarkable. See ch. 7. sect. 2. Nor is it at all unlikely that the courtiers and false prophets might make use of this seeming contradiction to dissuade Zedekiah from believing either of those prophets, as Josephus here intimates he was dissuaded thereby.]14 (return)
[ I have here inserted in brackets this high priest Azarias, though he be omitted in all Josephus's copies, out of the Jewish chronicle, Seder Olam, of how little authority soever I generally esteem such late Rabbinical historians, because we know from Josephus himself, that the number of the high priests belonging to this interval was eighteen, Antiq. B. XX. ch. 10., whereas his copies have here but seventeen. Of this character of Baruch, the son of Neriah, and the genuineness of his book, that stands now in our Apocrypha, and that it is really a canonical book, and an appendix to Jeremiah, see Authent. Rec. Part I. p. 1—11.]15 (return)
[ Herodotus says, this king of Egypt [Pharaoh Hophra, or Apries] was slain by the Egyptians, as Jeremiah foretold his slaughter by his enemies, Jeremiah 44:29, 30, and that as a sign of the destruction of Egypt [by Nebuchadnezzar]. Josephus says, this king was slain by Nebuchadnezzar himself.]16 (return)
[ We see here that Judea was left in a manner desolate after the captivity of the two tribes and was not I with foreign colonies, perhaps as an indication of Providence that the Jews were to repeople it without opposition themselves. I also esteem the latter and present desolate condition of the same country, without being repeopled by foreign colonies, to be a like indication, that the same Jews are hereafter to repeople it again themselves, at their so long expected future restoration.]17 (return)
[ That Daniel was made one of these eunuchs of which Isaiah prophesied, Isaiah 39:7, and the three children his companions also, seems to me plain, both here in Josephus, and in our copies of Daniel, Daniel 1:3, 6-11, 18, although it must be granted that some married persons, that had children, were sometimes called eunuchs, in a general acceptation for courtiers, on account that so many of the ancient courtiers were real eunuchs. See Genesis 39:1.]18 (return)
[ Of this most remarkable passage in Josephus concerning the "stone cut out of the mountain, and destroying the image," which he would not explain, but intimated to be a prophecy of futurity, and probably not safe for him to explain, as belonging to the destruction of the Roman empire by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah of the Jews, take the words of Hayercamp, ch. 10. sect. 4: "Nor is this to be wondered at, that he would not now meddle with things future, for he had no mind to provoke the Romans, by speaking of the destruction of that city which they called the Eternal City."]19 (return)
[ Since Josephus here explains the seven prophetic times which were to pass over Nebuchadnezzar [Daniel 4:16: to be seven years, we thence learn how he most probably must have understood those other parallel phrases, of "a time, times, and a half," Antiq. B. VII. ch. 25., of so many prophetic years also, though he withal lets us know, by his hint at the interpretation of the seventy weeks, as belonging to the fourth monarchy, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the days of Josephus, ch. 2. sect. 7, that he did not think those years to be bare years, but rather days for years; by which reckoning, and by which alone, could seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety days, reach to the age of Josephus. But as to the truth of those seven years' banishment of Nebuchadnezzar from men, and his living so long among the beasts, the very small remains we have any where else of this Nebuchadnezzar prevent our expectation of any other full account of it. So far we knew by Ptolemy's canon, a contemporary record, as well as by Josephus presently, that he reigned in all forty-three years, that is, eight years after we meet with any account of his actions; one of the last of which was the thirteen years' siege of Tyre, Antiq. B. XI. ch. 11., where yet the Old Latin has but three years and ten months: yet were his actions before so remarkable, both in sacred and profane authors, that a vacuity of eight years at the least, at the latter end of his reign, must be allowed to agree very well with Daniel's accounts; that after a seven years' brutal life, he might return to his reason, and to the exercise of his royal authority, for one whole year at least before his death.]20 (return)
[ These forty-three years for the duration of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar are, as I have just now observed, the very same number in Ptolemy's canon. Moses Chorenensis does also confirm this captivity of the Jews under Nebuchadnezzar, and adds, what is very remarkable, that sale of those Jews that were carried by him into captivity got away into Armenia, and raised the great family of the Bagratide there.]21 (return)
[ These twenty-one years here ascribed to one named Naboulassar, in the first book against Apion, or to Nabopollassar, the father of the great Nebuchadnezzar, are also the very same with those given him in Ptolemy's canon. And note here, that what Dr. Prideaux says, at the year, that Nebuchadnezzar must have been a common name of other kings of Babylon, besides the great Nebuchadnezzar himself is a groundless mistake of some modern chronologers rely, and destitute of all proper original authority.]22 (return)
[ These fifteen days for finishing such vast buildings at Babylon, in Josephus's copy of Berosus, would seem too absurd to be supposed to be the true number, were it not for the same testimony extant also in the first book against Apion, sect. 19, with the same number. It thence indeed appears that Josephus's copy of Berosus had this small number, but that it is the true number I still doubt. Josephus assures us, that the walls of so much a smaller city as Jerusalem were two years and four months in building by Nehemiah, who yet hastened the work all he could, Antiq. B. XI. ch. 5. sect. 8. I should think one hundred and fifteen days, or a year and fifteen days, much more proportionable to so great a work.]23 (return)
[ It is here remarkable that Josephus, without the knowledge of Ptolemy's canon, should call the same king whom he himself here [Bar. i. 11, and Daniel 5:1, 2, 9, 12, 22, 29, 39: styles Beltazar, or Belshazzar, from the Babylonian god Bel, Naboandelus also; and in the first book against Apion, sect. 19, vol. iii., from the same citation out of Berosus, Nabonnedon, from the Babylonian god Nabo or Nebo. This last is not remote from the original pronunciation itself in Ptolemy's canon, Nabonadius; for both the place of this king in that canon, as the last of the Assyrian or Babylonian kings, and the number of years of his reign, seventeen, the same in both demonstrate that it is one and the same king that is meant by them all. It is also worth noting, that Josephus knew that Darius, the partner of Cyrus, was the son of Astyages, and was called by another name among the Greeks, though it does not appear he knew what that name was, as having never seen the best history of this period, which is Xenophon's. But then what Josephus's present copies say presently, sect. 4, that it was only within no long time after the hand-writing on the wall that Baltasar was slain, does not so well agree with our copies of Daniel, which say it was the same night, Daniel 5:30.]
Shlomo: the dates given by Josephus here can not be aligned with those of Daniel because too many years would have passed between the reign of Nebuchadzer and Belshazer. Likewise the lineage of these kings is incongruent with Daniel's listing.24 (return)
[ This grandmother, or mother of Baltasar, the queen dowager of Babylon, [for she is distinguished from his queen, Daniel 5:10, 13,] seems to have been the famous Nitocris, who fortified Babylon against the Medes and Persians, and, in all probability governed under Baltasar, who seems to be a weak and effeminate prince.]25 (return)
[ It is no way improbable that Daniel's enemies might suggest this reason to the king why the lions did not meddle with him and that they might suspect the king's kindness to Daniel had procured these lions to be so filled beforehand, and that thence it was that he encouraged Daniel to submit to this experiment, in hopes of coming off safe; and that this was the true reason of making so terrible an experiment upon those his enemies, and all their families, Daniel 6:21, though our other copies do not directly take notice of it.]26 (return)
[ What Josephus here says, that the stones of the sepulchers of the kings of Persia at this tower, or those perhaps of the same sort that are now commonly called the ruins of Persepolis, continued so entire and unaltered in his days, as if they were lately put there, "I [says Reland] here can show to be true, as to those stones of the Persian mansoleum, which Com. Brunius brake off and gave me." He ascribed this to the hardness of the stones, which scarcely yields to iron tools, and proves frequently too hard for cutting by the chisel, but oftentimes breaks it to pieces.]27 (return)
Shlomo: Note that unlike the Rabbinate, Josephus considers Daniel to not only be a prophet, but one of the greatest prophets. I concur with his assessment of this great man.27 (return)
Shlomo: Based on this, identifying the 'Little Horn' prophetically as the 'One More Cruel Than Haman,' the yet future Rex Mundi or World Dictator, may seem inaccurate. However, Daniel reveals a dual prophecy here. Just as Antiochus Ephemes fulfilled this prophecy according to Josephus, a greater secondary fulfillment is yet in our future. The truth of this dual fulfillment is demonstrated throughout his writings. History indeed repeats.
My Daniel Commentary * This translation of The Antiquities of the Jews is that of William Whiston, Clare College, Cambridge (who lived December 9, 1667 – August 22, 1752), with some edits by me for clarity and style.
* © This page is part of a series by John of AllFaith (aka Rabbi Shlomo Nachman ben Ya'akov), © April 12, 1997 (last updated June 18, 2024)
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