References (22)
[A total of 14 descendants of Japheth are mentioned. The sons of Japheth are mainly the peoples of the north and west, in Asia Minor and on the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. This corresponds to today's Europe and also parts of the northern Middle East.]
The sons of Japheth were:
Gomer [the Cimmerians on the Black Sea; present-day Turkey] and
Magog [around the Black Sea, present-day Georgia] and
Madai [ancestor of the Medes; southwest of the Caspian Sea; the area around present-day Tehran in Iran] and
Javan [the Ionians, the Greeks; Greece] and
Tubal (Hebr. Toval) [people in eastern Asia Minor; present-day central Turkey] and
Meshech [people in eastern Asia Minor] and
Tiras [present-day Italy].
In the ninth year of Hosea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
And the king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of Media,
[A total of 14 descendants of Japheth are mentioned. The sons of Japheth are mainly the peoples of the north and west, in Asia Minor and on the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. This corresponds to today's Europe and also parts of the northern Middle East.]
The sons of Japheth were:
Gomer [the Cimmerians on the Black Sea; present-day Turkey] and
Magog [around the Black Sea, present-day Georgia] and Madai [ancestor of the Medes; southwest of the Caspian Sea; the area around present-day Tehran in Iran] and
Javan [the Ionians, the Greeks; Greece] and
Tubal (Hebr. Toval) [people in eastern Asia Minor; present-day central Turkey] and
Meshech [people in eastern Asia Minor] and
Tiras [present-day Italy].
In the castle of Ecbatana [one of the ancient capitals] in the province of Media [present-day northwestern Iran], a scroll was found with the following written on it:
In the 3rd year of his reign [around 483 BC] he held a banquet (great feast) for all his princes and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media and all the noble men and public figures from the provinces were there.
[A few years earlier, around 484 BC, Ahasuerus had put down rebellions in both Egypt and Babylon. These victories may be one of the reasons for the festivities and celebrations now described. The word banquet (Hebrew mishteh) comes from the verb shatah (to drink). The word is used twenty times in the book (; ; ; , ) and describes a grand feast with much wine, see also ; .]
Those closest to him [of these wise men] were
Karshena,
Shetar,
Admata,
Tarshish,
Meres,
Marsena [and]
Memochan,
seven princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s face (proximity) and were the highest ranking in the kingdom.
[The mention of seven eunuchs and seven princes symbolically indicates that the king wants to suggest that his kingdom is complete and perfect. The number seven stands for, among other things, perfection. Because it was a human kingdom, not subordinate to God, it was only humanly perfect, but there was also a blessing from God here as Ezra and Nehemiah received the king’s blessing to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and its temple. One of the eunuchs, Bigta (), is mentioned again in connection with a plot to kill the king, see ; .]
This day the noble women of Persia and Media will hear about this concerning the queen, and they will react likewise to all the princes of the king, and there will be no end to all the contempt and anger.
If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go forth from him and let it be written in the law of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti must never again appear before King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) again, and the king should give her royal status to someone else more worthy than she.
And all that he did in his power and authority, and the full sum of the greatness of Mordecai, how the king promoted him, is written in the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia [; ].
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
who will not value silver
and take no pleasure in gold.
[This prophecy was first fulfilled in 539 BC when Cyrus the Mede conquered Babylon.]
A terrible vision is revealed to me:
"The treacherous merchant deals treacherously,
and the spoiler spoils.
Go up, Elam!
Besiege, you Media!
I have put an end to all its sighing (silenced it)."
and all the kings of Zimri and all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media,
Make the arrows shiny,
fill the basket!
The Lord (Yahweh) has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
because his decision is against Babylon to destroy it.
For it is the vengeance of the Lord (Yahweh),
the vengeance for his temple.
Separate the nations against her,
the kings of the Medes and their officials,
and all their rulers
and all the countries under their rule.
Peres (divided) – Your kingdom has been divided and will be given to the Medes and Persians."
[The words "peres" and Persians are similar, which may indicate that it is the Persian army, currently outside Babylon, that will divide the kingdom.]
Darius, the Medes, took over the kingdom. He was then 62 years old.
[Cyrus had begun his military campaign against Babylon in early October 539 BC when he won the battle of Opis, 80 km north of Babylon. On October 11, he advanced another 20 km and captured Sippar. The Euphrates River flows straight through Babylon. By digging several canals to a depression just north of Babylon, the water level of the Euphrates was reduced enough for the army to get under the wall. Just before dawn on October 13, the Persian army marched into Babylon. The Greek historian Herodotus describes how a religious festival was being celebrated and the people were busy dancing and celebrating at dawn when the Persian army captured the city. Had they been on their guard, it would have been easy to defend the city from the walls surrounding the river. Cyrus himself arrived in the city 17 days later and was proclaimed its liberator. Jeremiah had previously prophesied that the Babylonians would rule for 70 years, see Jer 25:12. Interestingly, it was in 609 BC that Nebuchadnezzar's father Nabopolassar burned the last Assyrian stronghold in Harran. A few years earlier, he had plundered and burned the Assyrian capital Nineveh, and the survivors had fled to Harran. He besieged the city for several years until it fell in 609 BC. There are thus exactly 70 years between 609 BC (when the Babylonians became world rulers) and 539 BC, when they lost power to the Medes and Persians.]
Issue such a decree now, O king, and sign it [the document] so that, according to the unchangeable law of the Medes and Persians, it cannot be revoked."
[Darius has just defeated Babylon. He comes from a different country and culture and needs to unite the empire. There are many decisions to be made in a short time, and this sounds like a good idea. In the Babylonian Empire, the king was above the law. In contrast, in the Medo-Persian Empire, everyone, even the king, was subject to the law, see ; . This is also consistent with Nebuchadnezzar's dream about the statue. He was the head of gold, and what followed—the chest and arms of silver—was a weaker empire, see . One reason the law could not be changed was that the Persians regarded their kings as gods—they were the image of Ormuzd, an ancient Iranian sky god. If the king changed his mind, he was not a god. There are several examples of this custom in history. A Greek historian describes how Darius III had a man killed, even though he knew he was innocent. It was a royal decision that could not be changed.]
Then they went before the king and asked him about the royal decree: "Did you not issue a decree that no one may pray to any god or man except you, O king? Does it not say that anyone who violates it within the next 30 days shall be thrown into the lions' den?"
The king replied, "Yes, it is true (it is established) according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked."
Then the men came in a group (did they conspire, did they rush forward) and said to him, "Remember, O king, that according to Median and Persian law, no decree of the king can be changed."
The ram you saw [by the river Ulai, see ], the one with the two [long] horns, is [represents] the kings of Media and Persia.
[Darius' first year of reign began in 539 BC when he took over Babylon, see . The events in this chapter take place twelve years after Dan.'s second vision, which is recounted in chapter 8. Daniel is now in his 80s.]
This happened during the first year of Darius' reign [around 539 BC]. He was the son of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and a descendant of the Medes [an ethnic group within the Persian Empire].
