bylon,
and given to the Medes and Persians, Dan. v. 28.
This Beast raised itself up on one side; the Persians
being under the Medes at the fall of Babylon, but
presently rising up above them. And it had three ribs in the
mouth of it, between the teeth of it [Chap. vii. 5.], to
signify the kingdoms of Sardes, Babylon, and Egypt,
which were conquered by it, but did not belong to its proper body.
And it devoured much flesh, the riches of those three kingdoms.
The
third Beast was the kingdom which succeeded the Persian; and
this was the empire of the Greeks, Dan. viii. 6, 7,
20, 21.
It was like a Leopard, to signify its fierceness; and had
four heads and four wings, to signify that it should become divided
into four kingdoms, Dan. viii. 22. for it continued in a
monarchical form during the reign of Alexander the great, and
his brother Aridaeus, and young sons Alexander and
Hercules; and then brake into four kingdoms, by the governors
of provinces putting crowns on their own heads, and by mutual
consent reigning [30] over their provinces. Cassander
reigned over Macedon, Greece, and Epirus;
Lysimachus over Thrace and Bithynia; Ptolemy
over Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Coelosyria,
and Palestine; and Seleucus over Syria.
The
fourth Beast was the empire which succeeded that of the Greeks,
and this was the Roman. This beast was exceeding dreadful and
terrible, and had great iron teeth, and devoured and brake in
pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; and such was the
Roman empire. It was larger, stronger, and more formidable
and lasting than any of the former. It conquered the kingdom of
Macedon, with Illyricum and Epirus, in the
eighth year of Antiochus Epiphanes, Anno Nabonass.
580; and inherited that of Pergamus, Anno Nabonass.
615; and conquered that of Syria, Anno Nabonass. 679,
and that of Egypt, Anno Nabonass. 718. And by these
and other conquests it became greater and more terrible than any of
the three former Beasts. This Empire continued in its greatness till
the reign of Theodosius the great; and then brake into ten
kingdoms, represented by the ten horns of this Beast; and continued
in a broken form, till the Antient of days sat in a throne like
fiery flame, and the judgment was set, and the books were
opened, and the Beast was slain, [31] and his
body destroyed, and given to the burning flames; and
one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and
came to the Antient of days [Chap. vii. 13.], and received
dominion over all nations, and judgment was given to the saints of
the most high, and the time came that they possessed the kingdom.
I
beheld, saith Daniel, till the Beast was slain,
and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flames.
As concerning the rest of the Beasts, they had their
dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a
season and a time [Chap. vii. 11, 12.]. And therefore all the
four Beasts are still alive, tho the dominion of the three first be
taken away. The nations of Chaldea and Assyria are
still the first Beast. Those of Media and Persia are
still the second Beast. Those of Macedon, Greece and
Thrace, Asia minor, Syria and Egypt, are
still the third. And those of Europe, on this side Greece,
are still the fourth. Seeing therefore the body of the third Beast
is confined to the nations on this side the river Euphrates,
and the body of the fourth Beast is confined to the nations on this
side Greece; we are to look for all the four heads of the
third Beast, among the nations on this side of the river Euphrates;
and for all the eleven horns of the fourth Beast, among the nations
on this side of Greece. And therefore [32], at the
breaking of the Greek empire into four kingdoms of the
Greeks, we include no part of the Chaldeans, Medes
and Persians in those kingdoms, because they belonged to the
bodies of the two first Beasts. Nor do we reckon the Greek
empire seated at Constantinople, among the horns of the
fourth Beast, because it belonged to the body of the third. [33]