And now will I show thee the truth
And nothing but the truth; what will most certainly come to pass,
and may be depended on, even what is written in the book of God's
decrees, "the Scripture of truth", and which would appear in
Providence in later times; and this he proposed to deliver to
him, not in figurative, dark, and obscure expressions, but
clearly and plainly, in language easy to be understood:
behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in
Persia;
which were Cyrus, who reigned alone after the death of Darius the
Mede, his uncle; Cambyses, the son of Cyrus; and Darius
Hystaspes. There was another between Cambyses and Darius, called
Smerdis the magician, who reigned but seven months, and being an
impostor is left out, as he is in Ptolemy's canon; not that these
were all the kings of Persia after Darius the Mede; for,
according to the above canon, there reigned six more after them;
but because these kings had a connection with the Jews, and under
them their affairs had different turns and changes, respecting
their restoration and settlement, and the building of their city
and temple; as also because these kings "stood", and the monarchy
under them was strong and flourishing, whereas afterwards it
began to decline; and chiefly it is for the sake of the fourth
king that these are observed, who laid the foundation of the
destruction of the Persian monarchy by the Grecians. And
the fourth shall be far richer than they all:
this is Xerxes, who exceeded his predecessors in wealth and
riches; enjoying what they by their conquests, or otherwise, had
amassed together, to which he greatly added; Cyrus had collected
a vast deal of riches from various nations, especially from
Babylon: God gave him "the treasures of darkness, and hidden
riches of secret places", ( Isaiah 14:3 ) ,
Cambyses increased the store by his victories, and the plunder of
temples wherever he came; out of the flames of which were saved
three hundred talents of gold, and 2300 talents of silver, which
he carried away, together with the famous circle of gold that
encompassed the tomb of King Ozymandias F4: and
Darius, the father of Xerxes, laid heavy taxes upon the people,
and hoarded up his money; hence he was called by the Persians
(kaphlov) F5, the
huckster or hoarder: and Xerxes came into it all, and so became
richer than them all; of whom Justin says F6
``si regem species; divitias, non ducem laudes: quarum tanta copia in regno ejus fuit, ut cum flumina multitudine consumerentur, opes tamen regiae superessent.''And by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the
``your ancestors entered into Macedonia, and the other parts of Greece, and did us damage, when they had received no affront from us as the cause of it; and now I, created general of the Grecians, provoked by you, and desirous of avenging the injury done by the Persians, have passed over into Asia.''And it is for the sake of this, the destruction of the Persian empire by Alexander, that this expedition of Xerxes is here hinted at; and to pave the way for the account of Alexander and his successors, in the following part of this prophecy.