110 matching verse commentaries
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
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
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
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king shall do according to his will,.... Not Antiochus, for he could not do as he would, being curbed by the Romans, as has been observed; and there are many things which follow that cannot be applied to him; rather the Roman people, under the name of a king or kingdom, rising up to universal monarchy, upon the decline of the Grecian...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him,.... That is, should the day of the Lord come as they desired, they would not be the better for it; it would be only going from one trouble to another, like escaping Scylla, and falling into Charybdis: or as if a man, upon the sight of a lion, and at his yell, should take to his heels, and flee...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought,.... In their wealth and riches, which are things that are not, because of the uncertainty of them; and, in comparison of true riches, have no solidity and substance in them, Proverbs 23:5; or in any of the things of this world, the lusts of it, the honours of it, human wisdom or strength; all are things of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion,.... The nations gathered against her, and now laid together on the floor as sheaves to be threshed. Here the people of God are aroused, and called out of a low and weak estate, and are animated and encouraged to exert themselves, and fall upon their enemies, and destroy them; alluding to the threshing of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards,.... Creatures remarkable for their swiftness: these are creatures born of the mating of a he panther and a lioness, and not of a lion and a she panther, as some have affirmed; and which adultery is highly resented by the lion; nor will he suffer it to go unrevenged, as Pliny (u) and Philostratus (w)...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then I lifted up mine eyes,.... To behold another vision which follows: and saw, and behold four horns; either iron ones, such as Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made to push the Syrians with, 1 Kings 22:11 or horns of beasts, as the horns of unicorns, to which the horns of Joseph are compared, Deuteronomy 33:17 and signify kingdoms or kings, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he showed me Joshua the high priest,.... Who was one that came up out of the captivity, and was principally concerned in building the temple, and had many enemies to obstruct him in it; and who falling into sin, or his sons, in marrying strange wives, Ezra 10:18, which he might connive at, Satan was ready to catch it up, and accuse him before...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked,.... When he saw another vision, as follows: and, behold, there came four chariots; by which are meant, not the four Gospels; rather the apostles of Christ, who had their commission from Christ; were sent into all the world by him, and carried his name and Gospel thither; were the instruments...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the angel answered and said unto me,.... In order to grant him his request, and explain the vision of the chariots: these [are] the four spirits of the heavens; or, "the four winds of the heavens"; the apostles and ministers of the Gospel may be compared to "the winds", because their ministry is the ministration of the Spirit, which is like...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem,.... By whom are meant, not the inhabitants of Jerusalem in common; nor the children in it, that said Hosannas to the son of David; but the church of God, and true believers in Christ, who are called upon to "rejoice" and "shout": not merely in an external way, by showing marks of...