369 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the saints of the most High,.... Or, "of the most high Ones" (d), Father, Son, and Spirit, separated by God the Father in election, and in that sense his servants, or sanctified ones, Jude 1:1, and redeemed by the Son, and sanctified with his blood, or their sins atoned by it, and to whom he is made sanctification, and so his saints, Hebrews...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast;.... What it represented, what kingdom or monarchy was meant by it; for, by the above answer of the angel, he understood the four beasts signified four kings or kingdoms; the three first he pretty well understood; at least he was not so solicitous about them as about the fourth; and this he was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And of the ten horns,.... That is, Daniel desired to know the truth of the ten horns, or the meaning of them what they signified, and who they pointed at, of which in Daniel 7:7, here it is added, that were in his head; observing the situation of them; thought the horns of a beast could hardly be thought to be elsewhere: and of the other which...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints,.... The same little horn before described; not Antiochus Epiphanes, who made war with the Jews, as many think; or the Roman Caesars, that persecuted the church of Christ, as others; nor Titus Vespasian, who fought against Israel, as Saadiah; but antichrist, or the pope of Rome; and this refers...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Until the Ancient of days came,.... Not locally, by change of place, he being the omnipresent God; but in a providential way, to check and put a stop to the power and prevalency of the little horn over the saints; for this is the terminus or end of that; which puts a period to it; for when the Ancient of days comes in the exertion of his power and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thus he said,.... The person that stood by, the angel, of whom Daniel made his inquiries, and who answered him, as follows: the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on earth; which shows that the angel, by four kings, Daniel 7:17, meant four kingdoms, that should successively arise in the earth, and out of it, one after another; and this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise,..... Or ten kingdoms which sprung out of the Roman empire, or into which it was broken and divided upon the dissolution of it, about A.D. 476; which, according to Mr. Mede (k), were thus divided, A.D. 456, 1. Britons; 2. Saxons; 3. Franks; 4. Burgundians; 5 Visigoths; 6....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he shall speak great words against the most High,.... Or, "at the side of the most High" (p); setting himself up as a rival, and upon an equality with him; taking the names and characters of holiness, infallibility, yea, of deity itself, unto him; claiming a power to forgive sin, which is peculiar to God; and preferring his own laws,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the judgment shall sit,.... As in Daniel 7:10, the court shall sit, the Judge shall take the bench, and all things be prepared for the arraignment, trial, condemnation, and punishment, of the little horn or antichrist, when the above time is up; God the Father, the Ancient of days, and Christ, said to be like the Son of man, brought near to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High,.... Not only the dominion that shall be taken away from the little horn or antichrist, and from all the antichristian states, but the dominion of all others throughout all the earth, and under the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Hitherto is the end of the matter,.... Of the angel's words, and of the interpretation of those things Daniel was desirous of being informed about, and of the whole dream and vision Daniel had; and indeed this is the end and issue of all events in Providence, the kingdom and glory of Christ with his people: as for me Daniel: with respect to his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Daniel 8 This chapter contains the vision of a ram and he goat, and the interpretation of it. It begins with observing the time and place of the vision, Daniel 8:1, then describes the ram seen; by the place of his situation; by his two horns; and by his pushing several ways with so much force and fury, that none could stand before...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar,.... Which some say (t) was the last year of his reign; but, according to Ptolemy's canon, he reigned seventeen years; and so says Josephus (u); however, this, as well as the preceding vision, were seen before what happened recorded in the "fifth" and "sixth" chapters. The following vision was seen...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I saw in a vision,.... The following things: and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; not in reality, but so it seemed to him in the vision; as Ezekiel, when in Babylon, seemed in the visions of God to be at Jerusalem, Ezekiel 8:3. This city Shushan, or Susa, as it is called by...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then I lifted up mine eyes,.... To see what was to be seen in this place, where he in the vision was brought; he lifted up the eyes of his understanding, being enlightened by the vision of prophecy, and the eyes of his body, to which objects of corporeal things formed in the fancy were represented: and saw, and, behold; he saw something wonderful...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward,.... That is, with his horns, as rams do; these kingdoms using all their power and strength, wealth and riches, in fighting with and subduing nations, and pushing on their conquests in all parts here mentioned; to the west, Babylon, Syria, Asia, and part of Greece; to the north, Iberia,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And as I was considering,.... The ram, and the strange things done by him; wondering that a creature of so little strength, comparatively with other beasts, should be able to do such exploits: and thinking with himself what should be the meaning of all this, and what would be the issue of it, behold, an he goat came from the west; which is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he came to the ram that had two horns,.... Alexander being chosen and made by the states of Greece captain general of all Greece against the Persians, marched from thence with his army, passed the Hellespont, and entered into the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, signified by the ram with two horns, and came up to Darius Codomannus, possessed...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I saw him come close unto the ram,.... Though the distance between Greece and Persia was very great, and many rivers and mountains in the way, which seemed impassable; Alexander got over them all, and came up to Darius, and fought several battles with him, and entirely defeated him, though greatly inferior in number to him, as follows: and he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore the he goat waxed very great,.... The Grecian monarchy, under Alexander, became very powerful, and was very extensive; he not only conquered the Persian empire, but also the Indies, yea, the whole world, as he imagined; and indeed he did bring into subjection to him the greatest part of the then known world; and he was very great in his...