{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-3512","native_reference":{"book_number":340,"chapter_from":1,"chapter_to":1,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":3,"verse_to":3},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Hippolytus of Rome</b>: And Scripture says, \"And the king told Ashpenaz the chief of the eunuchs to bring in some of those from the sons of the captivity of Israel and from the seed of the king and from the princes, young men, who have no blemish, who are beautiful in appearance and are understanding in all wisdom, being well versed in knowledge, disposed to prudence, and who have in themselves the strength to stand in the house of the king, and to teach them the letters and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them on that very day to be nourished from the table of the king and from the wine which he drank in order for them to be nourished three years, and after these things to stand before the king. And there was among them from the sons of Judah, Daniel and Hanniah, Mishael, and Azariah.\" [Daniel 1:3-7]</p><p>It is necessary that those who love learning to not read these things cursorily, but to prepare the mind for the things that lie before us. For the divine writings do not idly preach to us, but their admonition is meant for us and also the blessing of these prophets and the demonstration of all the things which are spoken by them are for us as well.</p><p>For when Hezekiah king of Judah was sick unto death, then \"Isaiah the prophet came to him and told him 'Set in order your sons and your daughters and your father's house, for you will die and you will not live.'\" [2 Kings 20:1, also see Isaiah 38:1] Having been grieved at this word, \"Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord saying, 'Lord remember me just as I have walked before you in truth and in faith and with a full heart and I have done what is pleasing in your presence.' And Hezekiah wept with great weeping.\" [2 Kings 20:1-3] After this occurred, Isaiah was sent to him a second time and he said to him, \"The Lord the God of David your father says this, 'I have heard your prayer and have seen your tears. Behold, I set before you the days of your life, ten and five years and I will deliver you from the hand of the king of the Assyrians. This will be a sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will bring about this word which he spoke. Behold, I turn back the shadow on the stairs of the house of your father which the sun descends upon, the shadow shall descend ten steps so that there will be in that day thirty two hours.'\" [2 Kings 20:9]</p><p>For after the sun ran its course and arrived at the tenth hour and the shadow had descended ten steps of the house of the temple, then the sun reversed again upon those ten steps behind it according to the saying of the Lord, and there were twenty hours in the day. And again the sun having encircled its own course according to its own path, it went to the west. Therefore there were thirty-two hours of daylight.</p><p>But perhaps one will say, \"This is not possible.\" O man, what is impossible for God? From the beginning did not he himself design all creation from what was not and set the measures in creation for illumination of day and night, and to whom do all things, being in subjection, serve and to whom does creation tremble at the hearing of his voice? And so what is impossible for men, these things are possible for God. [Matthew 19:26]</p><p>But we also have another witness regarding this demonstration. For when Joshua the son of Nun was warring with the Amorites, the sun having descended already to the west and the battle nearly won, the blessed Joshua was shrewd lest night come to pass and the foreigners flee, so he shouted saying, \"Stand still sun at Gibeon and moon at the chasm of Aijalon, as long as I war with this people.\" [Joshua 10:12-13] And the sun and moon stopped in their position and the sun did not go to set until the end of one day, so that that day was twenty-four hours of daylight. And on account of this Scripture testified saying, \"There was never a day like that before when God heeded a man.\" [Joshua 10:14] And so from the beginning, having fixed the measures in heaven and having prescribed for these things perpetual courses according to his own authority, how could he not also divert and turn and change these things whenever he should will it to be possible? For before Joshua the sun stopped at Gibeon and the moon at the chasm of Aijalon for one day, but before Hezekiah the moon together with the sun reversed backwards, so that there would not be a disorderly collision of the two intervals of time, which follow one another. These periods of time not only happened before the Lord, when he suffered, but also the same day and all the world was shaken.</p><p>For also then, Berodach the Chaldean, the king of Babylon, because he practiced the astrological art and precisely measured out the course of the sun and moon, and learning the cause of the phenomenon, was astounded at what happened to Hezekiah, and sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah.</p><p>Just as in a similar manner also the Magi did, who came from the east. For after the Lord was born in Bethlehem and a star shone in heaven, according to what was prophesied, the Magi, being astonished at the occurrence of the sign, came to Jerusalem, saying, \"Where is he who has been born the King of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.\" [Matthew 2:2] And so similarly also the Chaldeans then, not finding the habitual course of the sun, honored Hezekiah with gifts and letters as a God fearing and righteous man, having been amazed at the sign which was given by his God.</p><p>Hezekiah rejoiced at these things and showed the Chaldeans all the treasures which were in the house of the Lord; next he showed them all the wealth and his glory. And so afterward, when Isaiah the prophet said \"Who are these men and from where have they come to you?\" Hezekiah answered, \"They have come from a far off land to me, from the land of Babylon.\" Isaiah said to him, \"What did they see in your house?\" And Hezekiah said, \"They saw all the things which are in my house and there is nothing which I did not show them, but even the things which are in my treasuries.\"</p><p>And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, \"Hear the word of the Lord, the all powerful Lord of Hosts. 'Behold, days are coming', says the Lord, 'when even all of the things which are in your house and as much as your fathers treasured until this day shall even go into Babylon and not one thing shall be left behind,' says the Lord, 'And from your children, who have come from you, being begotten by you, they shall be taken and be eunuchs in the house of the king of Babylon.'\" [Isaiah 39:1-7]</p><p>And so therefore what was spoken by the Lord was fulfilled and the prophet, who spoke truthfully, showed that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came and took all the treasures which were found in the house of the Lord and made the people captives, he also took to himself the sons of the king and from those who were wellborn of nobility from boyhood, among whom were also called Daniel, Hanniah, Mishael and Azariah, whose lineage Scripture passes over in silence, but it describes their piety and faith and the acts which occurred there.<br/><i>— Commentary on Daniel 1.7.1-10.1</i></p><p><b>Jerome</b>: Verse 3. \"And the king said to Ashpenaz the overseer of his eunuchs, that he should out of the number of the children of Israel and, of the royal seed and (the seed of) the rulers bring in some young lads who were free from all blemish.\" Instead of Ashpenaz (\"Asphanez\") I found Abriesdri written in the Vulgate edition. For the word phorlhommin which Theodotion uses, the Septuagint and Aquila translated \"the chosen ones,\" whereas Symmachus rendered \"Parthians,\" understanding it as the name of a nation instead of a common noun. This is in disagreement with the Hebrew edition as it is accurately read; I have translated it as \"rulers,\" especially because it is preceded by the words \"of the seed royal.\" From this passage the Hebrews think that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were eunuchs, thus fulfilling that prophecy which is spoken by Isaiah regarding Hezekiah: \"And they shall take of thy seed and make eunuchs of them in the house of the king of Babylon\" (Isaiah 39:7). If however they were of the seed royal, there is no doubt but what they were of the line of David. But perhaps the following words are opposed to this interpretation: \"...lads, or youths, who were free from all blemish, in order that he might teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.\" Philo supposes that Chaldee is the same thing as the Hebrew language, because Abraham came from the Chaldeans. But if we accept this we must ask how the Hebrew lads could now be bidden to be taught a language which they already knew; unless, perchance, we should say, as some believe, that Abraham was acquainted with two languages.<br/><i>— St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER ONE</i></p><p><b>Theodoret of Cyrus</b>: And so the God of all makes evident the foolishness, infirmity and loathsome ways of the world in order to put to shame its power and wisdom. People who care for bodily things and seek beauty, greatness and great bodily strength know nothing of divine wisdom but rather only a false and artificial sort of eloquence. And thus is the distance between humanity and God. The false pretense of the king is shown as he wished not only the other captives be servants but also that they be descendents from kings. Now all this happened just as Isaiah had predicted to Hezekiah …: \"And some of your own sons will become slaves, yes eunuchs, in the palace of the king of Babylon.\"<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON Daniel 1:3-4</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"394b74b60d9f7b48ebc5c7a9222b5c421125261e9f23df8fc00b62e4921df0e0","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":3512,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"4a7dc0cd3dfb8e4b1396b6febc3c32cd4fe70cf1cd620406f27f52f6ba76c9cd","translator":null,"work":null}