CCC Cross Reference:
Dn 3:57-58 2416
Lk 21:4 2544
Back to Deacon’s Bench '07
Back to Servant of the Word '09
Back to SOW II '11
Back to SOW II '13
Back to SOW II '15
Back to SOW II '17
Back to SOW II '19
Back to SOW II '21
Reading 1
Dn 2:31-45
Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar:
“In your vision, O king, you saw a statue,
very large and exceedingly bright,
terrifying in appearance as it stood before you.
The head of the statue was pure gold,
its chest and arms were silver,
its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron,
its feet partly iron and partly tile.
While you looked at the statue,
a stone which was hewn from a mountain
without a hand being put to it,
struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces.
The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once,
fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer,
and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace.
But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain
and filled the whole earth.
“This was the dream;
the interpretation we shall also give in the king’s presence.
You, O king, are the king of kings;
to you the God of heaven
has given dominion and strength, power and glory;
men, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell,
he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all;
you are the head of gold.
Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours,
then a third kingdom, of bronze,
which shall rule over the whole earth.
There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron;
it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others,
just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else.
The feet and toes you saw, partly of potter’s tile and partly of iron,
mean that it shall be a divided kingdom,
but yet have some of the hardness of iron.
As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile,
and the toes partly iron and partly tile,
the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
The iron mixed with clay tile
means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage,
but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
In the lifetime of those kings
the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people;
rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms
and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever.
That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain
without a hand being put to it,
which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold.
The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future;
this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure.”
Responsorial Psalm
Daniel 3:57, 58, 59, 60, 61
R. (59b) Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“You heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
Gospel
Lk 21:5-11
While some people were speaking about
how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,
Jesus said, “All that you see here–
the days will come when there will not be left
a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
Then they asked him,
“Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?”
He answered,
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”
Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;
and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Daniel 2:31 – 45
‘You have had a vision, O king; this is what you saw: a statue, a great statue of extreme brightness, stood before you, terrible to see. The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet part iron, part earthenware. While you were gazing, a stone broke away, untouched by any hand, and struck the statue, struck its feet of iron and earthenware and shattered them. And then, iron and earthenware, bronze, silver, gold all broke into small pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing-floor in summer. The wind blew them away, leaving not a trace behind. And the stone that had struck the statue grew into a great mountain, filling the whole earth. This was the dream; now we will explain to the king what it means.
‘You, O king, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength and glory – the sons of men, the beasts of the field, the birds of heaven, wherever they live, he has entrusted to your rule, making you king of them all – you are the golden head. And after you another kingdom will rise, not so great as you, and then a third, of bronze, which will rule the whole world. There will be a fourth kingdom, hard as iron, as iron that shatters and crushes all. Like iron that breaks everything to pieces, it will crush and break all the earlier kingdoms. The feet you saw, part earthenware, part iron, are a kingdom which will be split in two, but which will retain something of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together. The feet were part iron, part earthenware: the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. And just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together, so the two will be mixed together in the seed of man; but they will not hold together any more than iron will blend with earthenware. In the time of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not pass into the hands of another race: it will shatter and absorb all the previous kingdoms, and itself last for ever – just as you saw the stone untouched by hand break from the mountain and shatter iron, bronze, earthenware, silver and gold. The great God has shown the king what is to take place. The dream is true, the interpretation exact.’
Responsorial Psalm: Daniel 3:57 – 61
All things the Lord has made, bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Angels of the Lord! all bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Heavens! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Waters above the heavens! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Powers of the Lord! all bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Gospel Luke 21:5 – 11
When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said, ‘All these things you are staring at now – the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed’. And they put to him this question: ‘Master,’ they said ‘when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?’
‘Take care not to be deceived,’ he said ‘because many will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand”. Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Tuesday of the 34th and Final Week in Ordinary Time
From: Daniel 2:31-45
Daniel Describes the King's Dream (Continuation)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar,) [31] "You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. [32] The head of this image was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, [33] its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. [34] As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; [35] then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel Interprets the King's Dream
--------------------------------------------------
[36] "This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. [37] You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, [38] and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, making you rule over them all--you are the head of gold. [39] After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. [40] And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and like iron which crushes, it shall break and crush all these. [41] And as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the miry clay. [42] And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. [43] As you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; [45] just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure."
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
2:25-35. Daniel claims no personal credit for knowing the content of the king's dream; he makes it plain that God revealed the Secret to him; only God knows what will happen in the "latter times" (vv. 27-28). We have entered the area of divine revelation, which is what this book is all about -- the world of the End time, which as yet exists only in the mind of God. Our Lord himself will say that "of that day and hour no one knows..." (Mt 24:36).
Daniel uses the opportunity to lead the king to the true God, the God of heaven, who knows all mysteries.
In line with the thread of the story, Daniel first tells the king about the content of his dream (2:31-35) and then interprets it (3:13-22). The king's vision is full of symbolism In the Bible, statues connote idolatry, insofar as they are graven images (cf Ex 32), even though the passage does not expressly say that the image is an idol. As one moves from head to feet, the metals used in the statue decrease in value. In contrast with the materials of the statue are the stone and the mountain, symbols of solidity and stability. The interpretation reads the metals as representative of the various kingdoms. This is a classical symbolic image: Hesiod, a Greek historian of the eighth-to-seventh century BC, in his book "Works and Days", 199-201, had used the very same metals and in the same order to signify periods of history; something similar is to be found in Polybius ("Historia", 38, 22) and other classical authors. Now, in Daniel's vision, the four metals all appear together, at the same time, so to speak--a sign that, for God, history is all of a piece.
The image with "feet of clay" (vv. 32-33) is often taken as a reminder that human nature is frail and that nevertheless it is endowed with precious gifts from God: "Our Lord and our God: how great you are! It is you who give our life supernatural meaning and divine vitality. For love of your Son, you cause us to say with all our being, with our body and soul: 'He must reign!' And this we do against the background of our weakness, for you know that we are creatures made of clay – and what creatures! Not just feet of clay, but heart and head too" (St. Josemaria Escrivá, "Christ Is Passing By", 181).
2:36-45. Daniel is not being sycophantic by addressing the king as he does in vv. 37-38; he is simply saying that the king has an impressive empire because he has been given it by God, who rules over all things; he wants the king to see that the power and glory that he enjoys are part of God's plans. The other metals (silver, bronze, iron), as one can deduce from the rest of the book, stand for the empires of the Medes, Persians and Greeks, though that interpretation is not perfectly clear because the silver could stand for the empire of the Medes and Persians together. The divided kingdom made of clay and iron is a reference to the Greek empire after the death of Alexander the Great (cf. 11:4) and to the political marriages made between the Seleucid and Lagid Greeks (Antiochus II marrying Bernice; Ptolemy V marrying Cleopatra: cf. 11:6, 17) that failed to bring about unity or union. This passage would have been composed when the Seleucids and Lagids were at loggerheads, and it was against the same background that the prophecy about the end of time seeing the establishment by God of an everlasting kingdom was made (God's action is symbolized by the stone that strikes the image; there is no sign of any human power at work). It does not say here who will be given the kingdom, but in the light of 7:26 and the fact that it says that the kingdom will not be left to another people (v. 44), the implication is that it will be given to faithful Israelites.
The symbol of the stone has a messianic dimension insofar as it is the means by which the everlasting kingdom will be established and the previous kingdoms destroyed. There are echoes here of images in other prophetical works and in the psalms. Isaiah speaks of God as a "stone of offense", a stumbling-block for Israel (cf. Is 8:14) and in Psalm 118:22 the people of God are compared to a stone which the builders have rejected and which has become the cornerstone. In the New Testament that stone is Christ, and the kingdom which he ushers in is the Kingdom of God which will be taken from Israel, to be given to another people that will produce fruit (cf. Mt 21:42-43); Christ also says that anyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces (cf. Lk 20:17-18). Using this Christological interpretation of the stone, some Fathers interpret the mountain from which the stone comes as being the Blessed Virgin, and the stone cut off "by no human hand" as an image of the conception of Jesus in the Virgin's womb without the involvement of a man: "When Daniel says that the one who inherits the eternal kingdom is like a son of man, who can he mean, if not the Lord himself? For he was born of a woman, like a son of man, but he showed that his life and power were not of human origin. To say that he is a stone that moves under no external force is a mysterious description: it means that Christ is not the fruit of the work and will of men; he is the fruit of the providence of God, the Father of the universe" (St Justin, "Dialogus Cum Tryphone", 76, 1).
The interpretation of the dream, the message it contains, would interest the reader of the book--but not Nebuchadnezzar, who died centuries earlier. It describes how, after the kingdoms of this world which succeed one another over the course of history, an everlasting kingdom will be established by God himself -- a kingdom surpassing any that man could create. A Christian will read this as heralding the Kingdom of Christ, although that will not be an earthly, political kingdom, but a spiritual one, as Jesus will tell Pilate at his trial: "My kingship is not of this world" (Jn 18:36).
*********************************************************************************************
From: Luke 21:5-11
Discourse on the Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5] And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, He (Jesus) said, [6] "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." [7] And they asked Him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?" [8] And He said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after them. [9] And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once."
[10] Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; [11] there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven."
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
5-36. The disciples are in awe of the magnificence of the temple, and Jesus uses the occasion to give a long discourse, known as the "eschatological discourse" because it has to do with the last days of the world. The account given here is very similar to those in the other Synoptic Gospels (cf. Mt 24:1-51; Mk 13:1-37). The discourse deals with three inter-connected subjects -- the destruction of Jerusalem (which took place some forty years later), the end of the world, and the second coming of Christ in glory and majesty. Jesus, who also predicts here the persecution the Church will experience, exhorts His disciples to be patient, to pray and be watchful.
Our Lord speaks here in the style and language of prophecy, using images taken from the Old Testament; also, in this discourse prophecies which are going to be fulfilled very soon are mixed in with others which have to do with the end of the world. It is not our Lord's intention to satisfy people's curiosity about future events, but to protect them from being discouraged and scandalized about what is going to happen in the days immediately ahead. This explains why He exhorts them: "Take heed that you are not led astray" (v. 8); "do not be terrified" (v. 9); "watch at all times" (v. 36).
8. On hearing that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed, the disciples ask what sign will be given as a warning of these events (vv. 5-7). Jesus answers by telling them "not to be led astray," that is to say, not to expect any warning; not to be misled by false prophets; to stay faithful to Him. These false prophets will come along claiming to be the Messiah ("I am He!"). Our Lord's reply in fact refers to two events which in the Jewish mind were interrelated -- the destruction of the Holy City and the end of the world. This is why He goes on to speak of both events and implies that there will be a long gap between the two; the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem are a kind of sign or symbol of the catastrophes which will mark the end of the world.
9-11. Our Lord does not want His disciples to confuse just any catastrophe --famine, earthquake, war -- or even persecution with the signals of the end of the world. He exhorts them quite clearly: "Do not be terrified," because although all these has to happen, "the end will not be at once;" in spite of difficulties of all kinds the Gospel will spread to the ends of the earth. Difficulties should not paralyze the preaching of the faith.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
Lk 21:4 2544
Back to Deacon’s Bench '07
Back to Servant of the Word '09
Back to SOW II '11
Back to SOW II '13
Back to SOW II '15
Back to SOW II '17
Back to SOW II '19
Back to SOW II '21
Reading 1
Dn 2:31-45
Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar:
“In your vision, O king, you saw a statue,
very large and exceedingly bright,
terrifying in appearance as it stood before you.
The head of the statue was pure gold,
its chest and arms were silver,
its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron,
its feet partly iron and partly tile.
While you looked at the statue,
a stone which was hewn from a mountain
without a hand being put to it,
struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces.
The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once,
fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer,
and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace.
But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain
and filled the whole earth.
“This was the dream;
the interpretation we shall also give in the king’s presence.
You, O king, are the king of kings;
to you the God of heaven
has given dominion and strength, power and glory;
men, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell,
he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all;
you are the head of gold.
Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours,
then a third kingdom, of bronze,
which shall rule over the whole earth.
There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron;
it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others,
just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else.
The feet and toes you saw, partly of potter’s tile and partly of iron,
mean that it shall be a divided kingdom,
but yet have some of the hardness of iron.
As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile,
and the toes partly iron and partly tile,
the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
The iron mixed with clay tile
means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage,
but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
In the lifetime of those kings
the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people;
rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms
and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever.
That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain
without a hand being put to it,
which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold.
The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future;
this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure.”
Responsorial Psalm
Daniel 3:57, 58, 59, 60, 61
R. (59b) Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“You heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
Gospel
Lk 21:5-11
While some people were speaking about
how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,
Jesus said, “All that you see here–
the days will come when there will not be left
a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
Then they asked him,
“Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?”
He answered,
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”
Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;
and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Daniel 2:31 – 45
‘You have had a vision, O king; this is what you saw: a statue, a great statue of extreme brightness, stood before you, terrible to see. The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet part iron, part earthenware. While you were gazing, a stone broke away, untouched by any hand, and struck the statue, struck its feet of iron and earthenware and shattered them. And then, iron and earthenware, bronze, silver, gold all broke into small pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing-floor in summer. The wind blew them away, leaving not a trace behind. And the stone that had struck the statue grew into a great mountain, filling the whole earth. This was the dream; now we will explain to the king what it means.
‘You, O king, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength and glory – the sons of men, the beasts of the field, the birds of heaven, wherever they live, he has entrusted to your rule, making you king of them all – you are the golden head. And after you another kingdom will rise, not so great as you, and then a third, of bronze, which will rule the whole world. There will be a fourth kingdom, hard as iron, as iron that shatters and crushes all. Like iron that breaks everything to pieces, it will crush and break all the earlier kingdoms. The feet you saw, part earthenware, part iron, are a kingdom which will be split in two, but which will retain something of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together. The feet were part iron, part earthenware: the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. And just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together, so the two will be mixed together in the seed of man; but they will not hold together any more than iron will blend with earthenware. In the time of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not pass into the hands of another race: it will shatter and absorb all the previous kingdoms, and itself last for ever – just as you saw the stone untouched by hand break from the mountain and shatter iron, bronze, earthenware, silver and gold. The great God has shown the king what is to take place. The dream is true, the interpretation exact.’
Responsorial Psalm: Daniel 3:57 – 61
All things the Lord has made, bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Angels of the Lord! all bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Heavens! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Waters above the heavens! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Powers of the Lord! all bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Gospel Luke 21:5 – 11
When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said, ‘All these things you are staring at now – the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed’. And they put to him this question: ‘Master,’ they said ‘when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?’
‘Take care not to be deceived,’ he said ‘because many will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand”. Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Tuesday of the 34th and Final Week in Ordinary Time
From: Daniel 2:31-45
Daniel Describes the King's Dream (Continuation)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar,) [31] "You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. [32] The head of this image was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, [33] its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. [34] As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; [35] then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel Interprets the King's Dream
--------------------------------------------------
[36] "This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. [37] You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, [38] and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, making you rule over them all--you are the head of gold. [39] After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. [40] And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and like iron which crushes, it shall break and crush all these. [41] And as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the miry clay. [42] And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. [43] As you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; [45] just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure."
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
2:25-35. Daniel claims no personal credit for knowing the content of the king's dream; he makes it plain that God revealed the Secret to him; only God knows what will happen in the "latter times" (vv. 27-28). We have entered the area of divine revelation, which is what this book is all about -- the world of the End time, which as yet exists only in the mind of God. Our Lord himself will say that "of that day and hour no one knows..." (Mt 24:36).
Daniel uses the opportunity to lead the king to the true God, the God of heaven, who knows all mysteries.
In line with the thread of the story, Daniel first tells the king about the content of his dream (2:31-35) and then interprets it (3:13-22). The king's vision is full of symbolism In the Bible, statues connote idolatry, insofar as they are graven images (cf Ex 32), even though the passage does not expressly say that the image is an idol. As one moves from head to feet, the metals used in the statue decrease in value. In contrast with the materials of the statue are the stone and the mountain, symbols of solidity and stability. The interpretation reads the metals as representative of the various kingdoms. This is a classical symbolic image: Hesiod, a Greek historian of the eighth-to-seventh century BC, in his book "Works and Days", 199-201, had used the very same metals and in the same order to signify periods of history; something similar is to be found in Polybius ("Historia", 38, 22) and other classical authors. Now, in Daniel's vision, the four metals all appear together, at the same time, so to speak--a sign that, for God, history is all of a piece.
The image with "feet of clay" (vv. 32-33) is often taken as a reminder that human nature is frail and that nevertheless it is endowed with precious gifts from God: "Our Lord and our God: how great you are! It is you who give our life supernatural meaning and divine vitality. For love of your Son, you cause us to say with all our being, with our body and soul: 'He must reign!' And this we do against the background of our weakness, for you know that we are creatures made of clay – and what creatures! Not just feet of clay, but heart and head too" (St. Josemaria Escrivá, "Christ Is Passing By", 181).
2:36-45. Daniel is not being sycophantic by addressing the king as he does in vv. 37-38; he is simply saying that the king has an impressive empire because he has been given it by God, who rules over all things; he wants the king to see that the power and glory that he enjoys are part of God's plans. The other metals (silver, bronze, iron), as one can deduce from the rest of the book, stand for the empires of the Medes, Persians and Greeks, though that interpretation is not perfectly clear because the silver could stand for the empire of the Medes and Persians together. The divided kingdom made of clay and iron is a reference to the Greek empire after the death of Alexander the Great (cf. 11:4) and to the political marriages made between the Seleucid and Lagid Greeks (Antiochus II marrying Bernice; Ptolemy V marrying Cleopatra: cf. 11:6, 17) that failed to bring about unity or union. This passage would have been composed when the Seleucids and Lagids were at loggerheads, and it was against the same background that the prophecy about the end of time seeing the establishment by God of an everlasting kingdom was made (God's action is symbolized by the stone that strikes the image; there is no sign of any human power at work). It does not say here who will be given the kingdom, but in the light of 7:26 and the fact that it says that the kingdom will not be left to another people (v. 44), the implication is that it will be given to faithful Israelites.
The symbol of the stone has a messianic dimension insofar as it is the means by which the everlasting kingdom will be established and the previous kingdoms destroyed. There are echoes here of images in other prophetical works and in the psalms. Isaiah speaks of God as a "stone of offense", a stumbling-block for Israel (cf. Is 8:14) and in Psalm 118:22 the people of God are compared to a stone which the builders have rejected and which has become the cornerstone. In the New Testament that stone is Christ, and the kingdom which he ushers in is the Kingdom of God which will be taken from Israel, to be given to another people that will produce fruit (cf. Mt 21:42-43); Christ also says that anyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces (cf. Lk 20:17-18). Using this Christological interpretation of the stone, some Fathers interpret the mountain from which the stone comes as being the Blessed Virgin, and the stone cut off "by no human hand" as an image of the conception of Jesus in the Virgin's womb without the involvement of a man: "When Daniel says that the one who inherits the eternal kingdom is like a son of man, who can he mean, if not the Lord himself? For he was born of a woman, like a son of man, but he showed that his life and power were not of human origin. To say that he is a stone that moves under no external force is a mysterious description: it means that Christ is not the fruit of the work and will of men; he is the fruit of the providence of God, the Father of the universe" (St Justin, "Dialogus Cum Tryphone", 76, 1).
The interpretation of the dream, the message it contains, would interest the reader of the book--but not Nebuchadnezzar, who died centuries earlier. It describes how, after the kingdoms of this world which succeed one another over the course of history, an everlasting kingdom will be established by God himself -- a kingdom surpassing any that man could create. A Christian will read this as heralding the Kingdom of Christ, although that will not be an earthly, political kingdom, but a spiritual one, as Jesus will tell Pilate at his trial: "My kingship is not of this world" (Jn 18:36).
*********************************************************************************************
From: Luke 21:5-11
Discourse on the Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5] And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, He (Jesus) said, [6] "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." [7] And they asked Him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?" [8] And He said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after them. [9] And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once."
[10] Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; [11] there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven."
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
5-36. The disciples are in awe of the magnificence of the temple, and Jesus uses the occasion to give a long discourse, known as the "eschatological discourse" because it has to do with the last days of the world. The account given here is very similar to those in the other Synoptic Gospels (cf. Mt 24:1-51; Mk 13:1-37). The discourse deals with three inter-connected subjects -- the destruction of Jerusalem (which took place some forty years later), the end of the world, and the second coming of Christ in glory and majesty. Jesus, who also predicts here the persecution the Church will experience, exhorts His disciples to be patient, to pray and be watchful.
Our Lord speaks here in the style and language of prophecy, using images taken from the Old Testament; also, in this discourse prophecies which are going to be fulfilled very soon are mixed in with others which have to do with the end of the world. It is not our Lord's intention to satisfy people's curiosity about future events, but to protect them from being discouraged and scandalized about what is going to happen in the days immediately ahead. This explains why He exhorts them: "Take heed that you are not led astray" (v. 8); "do not be terrified" (v. 9); "watch at all times" (v. 36).
8. On hearing that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed, the disciples ask what sign will be given as a warning of these events (vv. 5-7). Jesus answers by telling them "not to be led astray," that is to say, not to expect any warning; not to be misled by false prophets; to stay faithful to Him. These false prophets will come along claiming to be the Messiah ("I am He!"). Our Lord's reply in fact refers to two events which in the Jewish mind were interrelated -- the destruction of the Holy City and the end of the world. This is why He goes on to speak of both events and implies that there will be a long gap between the two; the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem are a kind of sign or symbol of the catastrophes which will mark the end of the world.
9-11. Our Lord does not want His disciples to confuse just any catastrophe --famine, earthquake, war -- or even persecution with the signals of the end of the world. He exhorts them quite clearly: "Do not be terrified," because although all these has to happen, "the end will not be at once;" in spite of difficulties of all kinds the Gospel will spread to the ends of the earth. Difficulties should not paralyze the preaching of the faith.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
No comments:
Post a Comment