it could come from heaven (Hitzig), or ascend from the earth to heaven (Hofinann),' but how it could become possessed of omnipotent judicial power. For it is this that is indicated by his coming with the clouds.-3. Israel could not appropriately be compared to a son of man. Such a comparison presupposes that there was a difference as well as a resemblance.-4. In the other passages of this book, in which any one is described as being like the children of men, it is not an ideal person, but a real person, who is spoken of. The same remark applies to Ezek. i. 26.

There can be no doubt that the Lord applied this prophecy to himself. We have already shown in the Dissertation on Daniel, p. 220, translation, that it forms the basis of the Saviour's declarations as to his future coming to judgment, in Matt. x. 23, xvi. 27, 28, xix. 28, xxiv. 30, xxv. 31, xxvi. 64; just as his declarations, respecting the kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven, are founded upon chap. ii. 44, both of these expressions, so far as they relate to the Messianic kingdom, being taken from that passage. And if this may be regarded as established, there can be no doubt, that in other places, in which Jesus speaks of himself in a different connection as the Son of Man, there is also an allusion to the passage before us. The very frequency, with which this expression is employed (we find it no less than fifty-five times in the mouth of Jesus, after making deductions for parallel passages), is an indication of the existence of some passage in the Old Testament, upon which it is founded, and which gives a deeper signification to this unassuming expression. A closer examination of the usage itself leads to the same conclusion. With the exception of those passages which treat of Christ's second coming to judgment, the expression is generally employed by the Saviour, when he is speaking of his humiliation, his ignominy and his sufferings. Compare, for example, Matt. xx. 28: as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister;" Luke xxiv. 7: "the Son of Man must be delivered

1 There is nothing in the text about coming from heaven, or going to heaven. And Carpzov has correctly observed: "the Messiah is said to have come not to men on the earth, but to the Ancient of Days in heaven, and to have been brought not into the presence of the men, who were about to be judged, but into the presence of the Father."

into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified," &c.; John xii. 34: "the Son of Man must be lifted up." In such passages as these its appropriateness and significance can only be seen, as it is explained by the Book of Daniel, where heavenly majesty is associated with appearing as a Son of Man. It then acquires an argumentative force. It grants what is evident to the eyes of all, but proclaims at the same time the hidden majesty behind. It is as much as to say: do not stumble at my lowly humanity, this is not at variance with prophecy; on the contrary, it is attested by it; it does not prevent my being a Son of God, but even according to prophecy the two go hand in hand.—The numerous passages in which this expression occurs presuppose the humanity of Christ; and it is in connection with this that their argumentative force is seen. On the same ground, in part at least, we may explain the fact that the apostles do not speak of Jesus as the Son of Man. When Jesus had ascended to the right hand of the Father, his lowly humanity was no longer the stumbling-block which had to be taken out of the way. During the life of Christ on earth it was but right that both the apostles and the Lord himself should acknowledge, that appearances spoke powerfully against him, and such an admission was contained in the use of the expression "the Son of Man."-A second explanation may be found in the fact, that the words of the Lord were always primarily addressed to persons, who were acquainted with the prophecies of the Old Testament, and to whom slight and significant allusions were both intelligible and impressive. The case was different with the apostles, who had also to address themselves to Gentile Christians. Those who attempt to explain the use of the expression "Son of Man" by Christ, without reference to the Book of Daniel, are unable to do justice to the fact that it is never employed by the Apostles. "The ideal man" would be constantly echoed in the writings of the apostles, if it had been from preference that the Lord made use of so peculiar an expression. Let us look minutely at a few more of these passages. "Whom do men say that I the Son of

1 This argument, however, can only be regarded as of subordinate importance, since Jesus was not called the Son of Man by his disciples even during his life on earth. No one was so called (viz., the Son of Man) but Christ himself, and no one, whilst he walked on earth, so called him except himself." Bengel, Gnomon, vol. i., p. 320, Eng sh translation.

man.

Man am ?" the Lord enquires of his disciples in Matt. xvi. 13. The words in apposition, "the Son of Man," indicate the possibility of various opinions prevailing respecting Christ, some of them very derogatory, and at the same time furnish the groundwork of a correct reply, and contain the germ of Peter's answer, "thou art the Son of the living God." He says to his disciples, Be not ye offended, like the ignorant multitude, at my lowly humanity. Remember that in Daniel the Son of Man comes with the clouds of heaven.-The scribes looked upon it as blasphemy when Christ forgave sins, because he was a man. And it would really have been so, even if Jesus had been the ideal When Jesus says to them, in Matt. ix. 6, "that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins," he refutes the argument drawn from his humanity, by his allusion to the passage in Daniel, in which divinity is associated with humanity," For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" (Matt. xii. 8): I am so, notwithstanding my human lowliness, which Daniel has shown to be attended by divinity.—In John v. 27 he says, "he hath given him power to execute judgment also because he is the Son of Man." To Christ is committed the execution of judgment not because of his humanity alone—even an "ideal man" would have no right to act as a judge; and we must not imagine that an ideal man is referred to merely because the article is omitted-it is upon his combined divinity and humanity that this appointment rests. But there is no intimation of this in the expression Son of Man, except as it is compared with the prediction in Daniel.

THE SEVENTY WEEKS.-CHAP. IX. 24-27.

GENERAL SURVEY.

In the first year of Darius the Mede, Daniel is engaged in the study of Jeremiah, and his mind is deeply affected, when he peruses again the well known prophecies, which foretel the misery

saw.

of the covenant nation, its captivity for seventy years, its return after this to its own land, and the consequent commencement of the rebuilding of the city and temple. The sixty-ninth year had now arrived (see Dissertation on Daniel, 143 sqq., translation). The fall of Babylon, the one leading topic of Jeremiah's prophecies (chap. xxv. and xxix.), had already occurred,―(according to ver. 1, Daniel saw the vision in the first year of Darius "who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans")—and his faith in the truth of the divine predictions with reference to the other event, which was now drawing near with rapid steps, and the very germs of which lay hidden in existing circumstances, was firmly supported by what he already Daniel was far from distrusting the promises of God. But the less he doubted, the more firmly he trusted in the grace of God, and the more thoroughly he recognised the justice of God (for this also required the fulfilment of the promise, when once it had been given in mercy),—the more did he feel himself impelled to intercede on behalf of the nation, the temple, and the city of the Lord. True boldness in prayer to the Lord springs from the conviction, that we are praying according to his will. In form, the prayer of Daniel is restricted to the fact of forgiveness; but there lies hidden in the background a prayer for further disclosures, as to the manner in which it will be granted. From the whole character of Daniel it is a priori impossible, that he should ask for nothing more than a simple confirmation of the prophecies of Jeremiah. We have now before us the one prophet, who was distinguished above all the others for his wide range of vision, and in whose predictions we find on every hand the most minute revelations with regard to the future. And we may see still more clearly from the answer, that a prayer for such revelations lay hidden behind. The answer is not restricted to a fresh confirmation of the fact of deliverance; but more precise disclosures are made as to the manner in which it will be effected. There were two respects, in which such disclosures were especially necessary. First of all the question arose, whether, when the seventy years of Jeremiah were passed, the glorious condition of the kingdom of God, predicted by the earlier prophets, would be realised all at once, and especially whether the Messianic salvation would immediately follow. The pro

phecies of Jeremiah furnished no material for answering this important question, which must have occupied the minds of the people more and more as the seventy years were drawing to a close. In chap. xxv. 11 there is merely a reference to the termination of the Chaldean captivity, and in chap. xxix. 10 to the return to Canaan, with which the commencement of the rebuilding of Jerusalem is naturally associated.-A second important question was, whether the future would bring salvation alone, or whether, in connexion with the revelation of mercy, there would also be a fresh manifestation of the justice of God.

How much these questions were agitated in the days of the prophet, and how great the need of a revelation to decide them, may be seen very clearly from the prophecies of Zechariah, who lived so nearly about the same time. They are the two poles around which these prophecies revolve. To those who are unable to explain the contrast between the actual condition of the nation and the glorious promises it had received, the prophet points out the successive steps by which complete salvation will be attained, and the certain fulfilment in the future of whatever part of prophecy has not yet been accomplished. At the same time he shows them that judgment will accompany mercy, that Jerusalem will again be destroyed, and the people will be scattered once more. In the case of Daniel, there was a preparation for such an announcement as this, in his knowledge of the depth of the people's guilt, to which he gives utterance in his prayer.

The prayer is heard, and Gabriel, the medium of all revelations, is commissioned to make known to the faithful prophet the counsel determined in heaven. The speed with which he arrives shows that on the whole his message is a good one. It is the following. In return for the seventy years, during which the nation, the city and the temple, have been entirely prostrate, they shall receive from the Lord seventy weeks of years, seven times seventy years of renewed existence; and at the end of that period, not only will the mercy of God be still unexhausted, but then first will the people of God become partakers of that mercy in all its richest abundance. Then shall the forgiveness of sins be fully imparted, eternal righteousness brought in, the Most Holy be anointed, and the blessings of salvation, promised