Exposition of the Prophecy of Daniel, Translator to the reader
The Tranſlatour to his Christian friendes in Kent, Suffolke, and elſwhere, wiſheth all health and h…ppines here and hereafter.
I Have bene often requeſted to tranſlate Mr. Brightman vponupon Daniel & the Canticles into engliſh, as he is already vponupon the revelation. I have at length yeelded to doe one, being both ſhort and pithie, leaving the other to ſuch as have more ſtore of gifts and leiſure, for reaſons beſt knowne to my ſelfe, which I muſt crave alſo to keep unto my ſelfe: although I confeſſe I would be gladde that all our engliſh Churches ſhould inioy the benefit of the godlie & learned labours of ſuch a worthie Engliſh mā (nay what if I ſhould ſaie, an engliſh prophet, as ſome learned beyond the ſeas have ſtiled him) for as or bleſſed Saviour ſaith, (and it was his owne lot and portion) a prophet is not without honour but in his owne country, and among his owne kindred. Marc. 6.4.
I have ſeen indeed both Ieſuits and Lutherans abroad, and alſo proteſtants at home, both in pulpits and in private, barking and carping againſt this excellent and worthie man, but I ſpare and pitty them, not anie of them able to doe or ſpeake as he hath done and ſpoken, and manie of them not worthie to cary his bookes after him. It is farre more eaſie …o ca…p at a worthie writer then to compile a booke like his, let them eyther mend his, which wilbe a hard talke for them, ſpeak better, or hould their peace.
He was indeed one of a thouſand, great & gracious manie wais both in life and in learninge, dum ea docuit quae fecit? & ea fecit quae docuit, & verba vertebat in opera. He taught that he did practiſe, and did practiſe that he taught, and ſo turned wordes into workes. He was a great Artiſt and a great linguiſt. He had good ſkill in all arts and tongues needfull for a compleat devine, even in ſong alſo, (vocall muſick being the beſt) till his more weightie ſtudies cald him from the maydēs, to divinitie their miſtreſſe, wherin he excelled and ſhined above manie of his fellowes, all that then lived with him in Queens Colledge in Cambridge, wherof he was a fellowe, doe very well knowe. He ſhined every waie, and was a Brightman indeed anſwerable to his name, foreign, vir ſplendidus, a bright man, in his life ſhining to all that converſed with him, and in his deep learning & knowledge ſhining to all that heard his learned catechizinge, common places, and lectures in the colledge, or his ſermons in the countrie in Bedfordſhire.
Aquila non capit muſcas. Eagle like he ſoareth aloft catching no flies but great and high matters; he doth not with the lambe wade in the ſhallow…s, obvious and playn places, but with the Elephant he ſwimmeth and helps other to ſwimme ſafely over the deepeſt and darkeſt places of the whole canonicall ſcriptures, as Iohns revelations, Salomons ſonge, and Daniels obſcureſt viſion in 11.12.
Some may think he did altum ſapere and beare to high aboue his reach and capacitie, and therfore hee the Auſtr. Lutheran applyeth the ſpeach of Feſtus to Paul Act. 24. to him untruely, but thoſe that did well know him, and the great meaſure of meeknes and humilitie that God had graced him withall, would not think that he did foreign, as the Apoſt…e ſaith very elegantlie in that eloquent exhortation Rom. 12.3. Jmum humilitatis, ſummum divinitatis, The depth of humilitie is the height of divinitie: the lower in or ſelves, the higher with God, as himſelfe ſpeaketh Eſai, 57.15. though he be high and loftie and dwelleth in the highe and holie place, yet he wil dwell alſo with the contrite and humble ſpirit, & vntounto ſuch wil he be a guide and teach them his wayes and counſels. Pſ. 25.9.14.
And therfore I doe not doubt, but God revealed much vntounto him & let him ſee a great deale more into theſe myſticall & darke paſſages, then manie other of his deere ſervants, that ſo he might reveal & open them to others: for as he freely received ſo he freely gave.
But whither will my love carry me? I refraine: his owne works ſhal praiſe him abundauntly; which becauſe being in latin, the greateſt part of our countrimen doe not vnderſtand. I have made his ſhort expoſition of Daniel to ſpeak engliſh unto them, that none maie be deprived of the benefit of his godlie labours.
It is pitie ſuch a bright ſhining candle ſhould be put under the bed or buſhel, but to be ſet ſo as all may ſee & enioy the light therof. Math. 5.15. He hath ſo cleered that pointe of the Iewes vocation, which the Apoſtle caſteth a foreign Rom. 11.33. in theſe latter times after the overthrowe of their laſt & greateſt enemie the Turks, as I have not ſeene in anie writer the like. He goeth beyond the ſtreine and againſt the ſtreame of the moſt interpreters, who goe about for the moſt part to reſtreine all in Daniel to the firſt comming of Chriſt and doe referre all to Antiochus, or to the Romanes: which cannot be, for neither of them come to their endes in Iudea, or the glorious holie mountaine, as the Turk ſhal doe. Dan. 11.45.
Daniel having in the former part of this chapter 11. laied downe their other enemies the Perſians verſ. 2. the Grecians, cheifly Alexander. verſ. 3. and his 4 captaines ſucceeding verſe 4. which came eſpecially to two principall heades: the Lagidans in Egypt, whom he calleth the Kinges of the South, as ſtanding South from Iudea verſ. 5. and the Seleucidans in Syria, whom he calleth the Kinges of the North, verſ. 6. &c. to the 36.
Then and there he commeth to the three laſt enemies of the Iewes, the Romanes, which had clipped the winges of Antiochus in the 30. verſe, till at the end their owne eagles winges were alſo clipped by the Saracens & Turkes in verſ. 40. the one like a doſſing beaſt doe puſh ſore at him, the other comming againſt him like a whirlewinde that cannot be reſiſted, overfloweth, beares and beates downe all before it, entreth into Iudaea, the glorious land, which had bene then a longe time the cockpit of the world in the midſt of their enemies, Babilonians, Perſians, Grecians, Lagidans, Seleucidans, Romans, Saracens and now at this daie the Turkes, the laſt, though not the leaſt of their adverſaries, which ſhalbee troubled with the tydinges of the eaſterne and northerne Iewes converſion, which ſhal make him to march out furiouſly againſt them like another Iehu 2 king. 9.20. though not with like ſucceſſe, but he ſhal com to his end there, in the holie land and glorious mountaine, and note ſhal help him, for who can help and hold him vp whom God wil hinder and caſt downe?
Then followethe joyfull returne and reſurrection of the Iewes: who lay as dead for almoſt ſeventeen hundred yeares in chap. 12. which if it be not meant of them, there is litle comfort for them in the whole prophecy, which was the Prophets maine intention and principall drift and ſcope, Oculus adſcopum, our eye muſt be alwayes at the mark and ſcope, if we mean to hit the white and right meaning, and ſo the Apoſtle Paul doth call their calling and receaving unto grace, life from the dead, Rom. 11.15. whereunto moſt ſweetly agreeth the prophet Ezekiel from the 37. chapter. to the end of his prophecye in the laſt 12. chapters, firſt ſetting downe their converſion in the firſt 14. verſes of the 37. where the dead and dry bones ſcattered come together agayne and live.
2ly the vnyting and joyning together againe the ten tribes with the two, from the 15. verſ. to the end.
Thirdly, the deſtruction of Gog, and all their enemies in the 38. and 39. chapters.
Fourthly, and laſtly, we have a heavenly new prophecie concerning the glorious and Chriſtian Church of the Iewes, whereof Chriſt himſelf was the builder, in the 9 laſt chapters, beginning with a very ſolemne charge, for a reverend attention, and a ſweete carriage, and demeanour of all parts, inward and outward, as of hart, eyes, and eares. 40.4. And alſo concluding with the new and laſting name thereof, not Ieruſalem, as of olde now antiquated, but Iehovah Shammah, the Lord is and will be there for ever, as being the truth of the former type, repreſented by the temple, Pſalm 132.14. This is my reſt for ever, here will I dwell, for I have deſired it.
Thus have I briefly in a word epitomiſed and abridged this learned expoſition for thee: He ſhall now ſpeak unto thee in thine owne mothers tongue and native language. He will bring that to thine eares, which happily thou didſt never heare of before: Make much of ſuch faithfull expoſitours, and praie to God to increaſe the number of ſuch learned interpreters, as may help thee to ſee and vnderſtand ſuch myſticall viſions and revelations of God, and that he would in his due time bring downe thoſe two mayne enemies of his goſpell and his people, the Romane Antichriſt in his old Rome, and the eaſterne Gog and Magog in his new Rome or Conſtantinople, who would ſoon fall of his owne Mahumetane ponderous weight, if he were not ſupported by Romiſhe idolatrie: And let not vsus proteſtants by our ſcandalous lives and converſations be anie hinderaunce to the calling and comming on of our farre diſtant brethren the Iewes, but help forward, what we maie their effectuall vocation, by frequent and fervent prayer for them, and dayly crucifying of ſin, which crucified the Lord of glorie both theirs and ours, and ſo together with joynt conſent ſet forth the purity of Gods worſhip: and celebrate his prayſes unto the full and finall end and conſummation of all thinges.
FINIS.
End of the text · Thomas Brightman, Exposition of the Prophecy of Daniel (1635)