Ishodad of Merv : That is, before the vestibule and the gate where the river Ulai passed, that is, the gate that opens on the river Ulai. — COMMENTARY ON Daniel 8:2 Jerome : Verse 2. "I saw in my vision while I was in the castle of Susa, which is in the region of Elam" (Vulgate: "city of Elam"). Or else we may render, as Symmachus has translated it, "...in the city of Elam," from which of course the region took its name, just as the Babylonians were named from Babylon. So also the Elamites were thus named from Elam, in consequence of which the Septuagint translates it: "the region of Elamais." And Susis is the chief city of the region of the Elamites, and there, according to Josephus' account, Daniel erected a lofty tower fashioned of square blocks of marble, and of such outstanding beauty that it seems newly built even up to the present day. There also the remains of the kings of the Persians and Medes lie buried, and the custodian or sacristan and priest of that locality is a Jew. "While I was in the castle at Susa..." Not that the city itself is a castle, for as we have stated, it is a chief city of great power; but rather that the city is so solidly built that it looks like a castle. "And I saw in the vision that I was over the gate of Ulai." Instead of this Aquila translated:"...over the Ubal of Ulai"; Theodotion rendered: "above Ubal"; Symmachus: "above the swamp of Ulai"; the Septuagint: "above the gate of Ulai." But it should be understood that Ulai is the name of a place, or else of a gate, just as there was in Troy a gate called the Skaia, and among the Romans there is one called Carmentalis. In each case the name has originated from special circumstances. — St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER EIGHT Theodoret of Cyrus : "I saw in a vision" means I was not awake, nor did I see it during the day: the God of all showed it to me in a dream. — COMMENTARY ON Daniel 8:2