Book 4
Concerning the visions of the prophet Daniel1
Chapter 21
1. And so since the words of the Lord are true, but every man is a liar, just as it is written, let us see if the apostle Paul also is in agreement with the words of the Lord.
2. For writing to the Thessalonians and advising them to always watch and to persist in prayers, but not yet to expect the day of judgment, because the time is not yet fulfilled, he spoke in this way to them, “We ask you brothers, concerning the advent of the Lord, that you not be afraid through a word or through a letter as from us, as that the day of the Lord has come, let no one deceive you in any way, because it will not come unless first the apostasy comes and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and is exalted over everything which is called godly or pious, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember, when I was still with you I taught you these things? And now know what restrains him so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness already is at work, only he who restrains until now is taken2 from the midst. And then the lawless one shall be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the spirit of his mouth and will abolish him with the manifestation of his advent, whose advent is according to the work of Satan.”3
3. And so who is “He who restrains until now,”1 except the fourth beast, which, when it is set aside and is taken from the midst, the deceiver shall come?
4. But always you seek the troublesome, which is how many years remain for the beast, so that he may depart, not understanding that seeking these things, you seek danger for yourself and you desire to see a hastier judgment.
5. For Scripture says, “Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! This is darkness and not light. In which manner one flees from the face of a lion but2 he encounters a bear, and he who bursts into his house and he leans his hand upon the wall and a snake bites him. Will not this day of the Lord be darkness and not light? Even gloom which has no daylight.”3
2 Lit: becomes
3 2 Thessalonians 2:1-9
1 2 Thessalonians 2:6
2 Lit: and to him
3 Amos 5:18-20
Chapter 22
1. But why do you waste labor over times and seek the day of the Lord, when the Savior concealed it from us? Tell me, if you know the date of your departure, why do4 you interfere with the consummation of all the world?5
2. For if God were not long-suffering over us on account of his exceeding good heartedness, why did he pass over all our sins of old.
3. Read what was spoken also by John in the Apocalypse, “And I saw the souls of those who were beheaded for the sake of the name of Jesus under the altar and they shouted to God and said, ‘For how long, O Lord our God, will you not judge and avenge our blood upon those who dwell upon the earth?’ And to them was given white robes and it was said to them that they would endure for a little time, until also their fellow slaves may fulfill their martyrdom, who are destined to be killed as they also.”6
4. And so if it is assigned to persevere with martyrs, who pour out their own blood on behalf of Christ, why do you not also persevere so that also others may be saved and the number of the chosen, even of the saints, may be fulfilled?
4 Lit: so that
5 ἵνα τὴν συντέλειαν τοῦ παντὸς κόσµου πολυπραγµονήσῃς
6 Revelation 6:9-11
Chapter 23
1. So that in this we may not waste the indemonstrable matter which lies before us for the sake of being an inquisitive man, we, being compelled to speak what we are not able1, speak by force.2
2. For when the times from the foundation of the world and from Adam are reckoned, they furnish this matter quite clearly to us who seek an answer.
3. For the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, was December 25th,3 Wednesday,4 while Augustus was in his forty-second year, but from Adam, five thousand and five hundred years. He suffered in the thirty-third year, March 25th,5 Friday,6 the eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, while Rufus and Roubellion were Consuls.7
4. And so it is absolutely necessary for six-thousand years to be fulfilled, so that the Sabbath rest may come, the holy day, in which God rested from all his works which he began to do.
5. The Sabbath is a model and an image of the coming kingdom of the saints, when the saints shall co-reign with Christ, when he arrives from heaven, as also John in his Apocalypse describes. For a day of the Lord is as a thousand years.
6. And so since in six days God made all things, it is necessary for six thousand years to be fulfilled. For they are not yet fulfilled, as John says, “Five have fallen, but one is,” such is the sixth millennium, “the other has not yet come,”1 saying “the other” he describes the seventh millennium in which there shall be rest.
1 Or: what is not possible
2 ἱνα δὲ µηδὲ ἐν τούτῳ ἀναπόδεικτον καταλείψωµεν τὸ προκείµενον
διὰ τὸ λίχνον εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀναγκαζόµενοι ὃ µὴ ἔξεστιν εἰπεῖν
παρὰ βίαν λέγοµεν
3 Lit: Eight days before the Kalends of January
4 Lit: the fourth day
5 Lit: Eight days before the Kalends of March
6 Lit: The day of Preparation
7 The authenticity of this passage is supported in the Appendix to this
book. This is the earliest reference for Jesus’ birth on December 25th
1 Revelation 17:10
Chapter 24
4. And so from the generation8 of Christ it is necessary to count the remaining five hundred years to the consummation of the six thousand years, and in this way the end will be.
5. But because in the fifth and a half time the Savior arrived in the world bearing the incorruptible ark, that is his own body, John says,1 “and it was the sixth hour,”2 so that half of the day may be demonstrated, a day of the Lord is like thousand years. And so the half of these is five hundred years.
6. For he3 does not admit him to be soon at hand. For the law was still burdensome, nor again had the sixth day been fulfilled. For he celebrated the washing,4 in5 the fifth-and-a-half day, so in that remaining half time the Gospel may be preached to all the world and when the sixth day is fulfilled, the present life may cease.
7. For since the Persians ruled and reigned two hundred thirty years, and after them the Greeks, so as being more honorable, three hundred years, it is absolutely necessary that the fourth beast be stronger and greater than all of those before it and to therefore reign five hundred years, when the times are consummated and the ten horns arise from it at the end, the Antichrist will show forth in them, concerning whom we have made a previous6 account.
8. Then while he makes war and persecutes the saints, then it is necessary to expect from heaven the manifestation of the Lord so that the King of kings may be displayed visibly to all and the Judge of Judges, coming with boldness and glory, may be indicated.
9. Forasmuch as has already been predestined by God as occurring and proclaimed by the prophets, these in the same way will be fulfilled in their own time.
1 Hippolytus here seems to believe that the same John authored both the
Apocalypse and the Gospel of John as he cites them in the same way
here and in 4.23.6.
2 John 19:14
3 John
4 Or: baptism
5 Lit: but
6 Lit: before
Daniel’s vision of the goat and the ram
Chapter 25
1. And so the prophet, after ceasing from what lies before, teaches us the certainty of what will be with all precision, he passes again to the kingdom of the Persians and Greeks, describing another vision to us which happened and was fulfilled in his own times, in order that in this he may furnish us faithful and that he may be able to inspire us to be more faithful to God for what is destined to come.
2. For he speaks in this way, “In the third year of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at first. And I was in Susa, in the palace, which is in the land of Elam, and I was upon the Ubal1. And I lifted my eyes and I saw, and behold, one ram standing upon the Ubal, and on him were high horns and one was higher than the other and the high one arose last. And I saw the ram butting to the sea and to the north and to the south. And all the beasts did not stand before him and there was not one who took out of his hand. And he did according to his will and became great. And I myself was considering, and behold, a male goat began from the west2 and came upon the face of all the earth, and the male goat had a horn between his eyes and he came on to the ram, which had horns which I saw standing before the Ubal and he ran at him in the rush of his strength. And I saw him reaching unto the ram and he savaged him and smote the ram and he shattered both his horns and there was not strength in the ram to stand before him. And he hurled him to the earth and trampled him and there was not one who took the ram out of his hand. And the male goat grew exceedingly great, and when he was strong his great horn was shattered, and four horns arose under him to the four winds of heaven. And from one of them came out one strong horn and he grew extraordinarily great to the south and to the power of heaven. And he grew great unto the power of heaven and some of the power and some of the stars fell upon the earth and he trampled them. And until the commander-in-chief shall deliver the captivity, on account of him sacrifice was disordered and it happened also that it prospered to him, and the Holy Place shall be desolated. And sin was given as a sacrifice and righteousness was hurled to the ground and he did it and he prospered. And I heard one of the holy ones speaking and one of the holy ones said to a holy one1 who said, ‘Until when shall the vision stand and the sacrifice be removed2 and the sin of desolation, which was given, and the Holy Place and power be trampled?’ And he said to him ‘Until evenings and mornings, one thousand and three hundred days and the holy place shall be finished3.4’”
1 A river or canal near Susa
2 Or: south or southwest
1 τῷ φελµουνὶ
2 Or: finished
3 Or: removed
4 Daniel 8:1-14
Chapter 26
1. And so as much as he described in the first vision he again recounts in detail these things a second time for the building up of the faithful.
2. For “the ram butting to the sea and to the north and to the south,” 5 he says is Darius the king of the Persians, who prevailed over all nations. For he says, “all the beasts did not stand before him.”6
3. But the male goat who comes from the south7, he says is Alexander the Macedonian king of the Greeks.
4. And so when the goat comes to the ram and savages him and beats him on his face and shatters and hurls him to the earth and tramples him, it signals this, which also happened. For Alexander having engaged war with Darius, overpowered him and prevailed over all his power destroying and trampling his camp.
5. Next after the male goat was exalted, “his great horn was shattered, and four horns arose under him to the four winds of heaven.”1
6. For after Alexander ruled all the land of Persia and subjected them, later he died, dividing his kingdom to his four Chiefs as is shown above, that is to Seleucus, to Demetrius, to Ptolemy, and to Philip, from whom one horn was exalted and grew great unto the power of heaven.”
7. He says, “And on account of him the sacrifice was disturbed,”2 and “righteousness was hurled to the ground.”3 For Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, being from the race of Alexander, was king. And having reigned over Syria and seizing all Egypt under himself, later he came to Jerusalem and he entered into the Most Holy Place and took all the treasures which were in the house of the Lord and the golden lampstand and the table and the altar and he committed great murder in the land and he spoke immoderate words and prevented sacrifice and offering, and he built a sacred grove and built idols in the city, and sacrificed a pig, even a common animal, so that what was spoken by the prophet may be fulfilled, “And on account of him the sacrifice was disturbed and righteousness was hurled to the ground and the Most Holy Place and the power was trampled until evening and morning one thousand and three hundred days.”4
8. For it occurred in that time three and half years the most Holy Place continued desolate, and the one thousand three hundred days were fulfilled up to the uprising of Judas Maccabee after the death of Mathias his father and he withstood Antiochus1 and routed the army of Antiochus and freed the city and recovered the holy vessels and renewed the temple doing everything according to the law.
5 Daniel 8:4
6 Daniel 8:4
7 Or: west or southwest
1 Daniel 8:8
2 Daniel 8:11
3 Daniel 8:12
4 Daniel 8:11-14 mixture of quotes
1 Lit: him
IChapter 27
1. That these things are true, just as has been said, Daniel himself testifies.
2. For he spoke in this way, “And it happened when I saw the vision and I sought to understand, and behold, there stood before me an appearance of a man, and I heard the voice of a man above the midst of the Ubal, and he called and he said, ‘Gabriel cause him to understand that vision.’ And he came and stood holding me2, and when he came, I was astounded and fell upon my face and he said to me, ‘Understand son of man. For the vision is for the end of time.’ And while he spoke with me I was astounded and I fell upon my face upon the ground and he touched me and stood me on my feet and he said, ‘Behold, I myself make known to you what will be at the end of wrath. For the vision is of the end of time. The ram which you saw, who had horns, he is the king of the Persians and Medes. And the male goat is king of the Greeks. And the great horn which was above the midst of his eyes, he is the first king. And after he is shattered, four horns stood up after him, four kings from his nation shall arise and not in his strength. And at the end of their kingdom, when their sins are full, a king, shameless in countenance, shall arise, and who understands riddles. And his rule shall be strong and not in his own strength and he shall destroy wonderful things and he shall prosper and he shall practice and he shall destroy the mighty and the holy people, and the yoke of his chain shall prosper. Cunning is in his hand and in his heart he shall be magnified and in cunning he shall destroy many and he shall stand for the destruction of many and he shall shatter people as eggs in a hand. And the vision of evening and morning which was said is true. And you, seal the vision because it is in many days.’ And I Daniel fell asleep and was weak and I arose and did the works of the king and I wondered at the vision and there was no one who could understand it.”1
2 Lit: my stature
1 Daniel 8:15-27
Daniel’s vision of the 70 weeks
Chapter 28
1. And so since even the angel Gabriel, just as it2 is understood by us, described these things in this way to the prophet, these things also happened and all these things are plainly recorded in the Maccabees,3
let us also see what he says in the vision of the weeks.
2. For in this way, after reading the book of Jeremiah the prophet, in which it is written that the Most Holy Place is to be desolate seventy years,4 in fasts and petitions, he made confessions and asked that the people would quickly return from captivity to the city of Jerusalem.
3. And so in this way he describes this and says, “In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus,5 of the seed of the Medes, who reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, I, Daniel, understood in the books the number of years for the completion of the desolation of Jerusalem, that is seventy years, as the word of the Lord came upon Jeremiah the prophet. And I gave my face to the Lord my God, to seek in prayer and supplications, with fastings and in sackcloth. And I prayed to the Lord my God and I confessed and I said, ‘Lord, great and wonderful God who keeps your covenant and has mercy to those who love you and to those who keep your commandments, we have sinned, we did wrong, we were lawless, and we departed, and turned from your commandments and from your laws and we did not obey
your slaves, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings and our chiefs and our fathers and all the people of the land. To you Lord be righteousness and unto us be shame of face as on this day to the men of Judah and to those who dwell in Jerusalem.’”1
2 Or: he
3 Maccabees 1:20-64
4 Jeremiah 25:11
5 Ἀσουῆρος
1 Daniel 9:1-7
Chapter 29
1. And so confessing from the face of the people, he describes these things, declaring the sins of the people and of their fathers, who did not obey his slaves the prophets, who were sent to them to speak in the name of the Lord.
2. And when he was proclaiming every supplication in humility and fastings and sackcloth, the angel Gabriel was sent forth to him, in order to cause him to understand what was sought by him.
3. For Daniel speaks in this way, “And while I was still speaking and praying and declaring my sins and the sins of my people, prostrating my pitiful case before the Lord my God concerning the holy Mountain, and while I was still speaking in prayer, behold, the man Gabriel, whom I saw in the vision in the beginning, came flying and he touched me around the evening sacrifice and he caused me to understand and spoke with me and said, ‘Daniel, now I have come to teach you understanding. In the beginning of your supplication the word went out and I myself came to proclaim to you that you are cherished man.’”2.
2 Daniel 9:20-23
Chapter 30
1. See how the prophet likened the swiftness of angels to winged flight, on account of the nimbleness and the lightness of the weight of the angels, who are spirits flying quickly to obey what is commanded as Solomon says, “Do not curse your king in an oath lest1 a winged bird carries your words to him.”2
2. And so the angel Gabriel speaks to him in this way, “From the day you gave your face to be humbled before the Lord your God your supplication was heard and I myself was sent to cause you to understand3 so that you may not inquire further before the time of time happens, for you are a greatly cherished man. For you desire to see these things, which are about to be ministered through me, but they will be fulfilled in their own time. 4
3. And he added saying, “Seventy weeks have been cut out for your people and for the holy city, for sin to be ended and for sin to be sealed and for unrighteousness to be erased and for lawlessness to be atoned and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal dreams and prophecy5 and to anoint a Holy of Holies. And to know and understand from the procession of the words for an answer to build Jerusalem until Christ the ruler, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.”6
4. And so having named seventy weeks he divided them into two, so that what was spoken by him to the prophet may be understood all the more.
5. For he says that thusly, “Until Christ the ruler, seven weeks,”7 which is forty-nine years. For also in the twenty and first year Daniel sees these things in Babylon.
6. And so when adding forty-nine years to twenty-one years, they fulfill seventy years, which the blessed prophet Jeremiah has spoken, that for seventy years the Most Holy Place shall be desolate8 from the captivity which happened to them under Nebuchadnezzar and after these things the people shall return and the sacrifices and offerings of Christ their ruler shall be offered.
7. But of which Christ does he speak, except Jesus son of Josedek, who returned together with the people at that time, and in the seventieth year, after the Most Holy Place was built, he offered a sacrifice according to the law?1
8. For all kings and priests were called Christs on account of them being anointed with holy oil, which Moses arranged long ago.
9. And so these carried the Lord's name2 with themselves predicting the future model and bringing to light the image, until he who came from heaven, the perfect king and priest, Christ, who alone does the will of the Father, as is written in the book of kings, “And I shall raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do all according to my heart.”3
2 Ecclesiastes 10:20
3 Daniel 10:12
4 Hippolytus adds text not in Daniel at this point
5 Lit: a prophet
6 Daniel 9:24-25
7 Daniel 9:25
8 Jeremiah 25:11
1 Ezra 3:8, 5:2
2 Lit: the Lord Name
3 1 Samuel 2:35
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