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Israelites, are “broken.” In this verse he pictures the beginning of the struggle of the faithful under Mattathias and his sons.—9. The preceding has brought us to the beginning of the struggle between the Chasidim and the Greek party. Naturally we should then expect that the great horn would be no one else but the great Judas Maccabi. To this, however, Ewald, Dillmann, and nearly all other investigators object, and find this horn in John Hyrcanus. The only reason for doing so is acknowledged to be the fact that the time from Antiochus Epiphanes, with whom this last period commences, to Judas is too short a period for either twelve foreign, heathen kings, or for the rule of twelve angel shepherds (Schiirer). This objection is, however, not valid, for it should be especially noted—what has been so far overlooked entirely—that the writer does not consider the period of the last twelve shepherds closed with the coming of the great horn, but only by the inauguration of the Messianic kingdom. The great horn, and with it the writer, is in the middle and midst of this last epoch, the rule of the last shepherds. Just how many of these had governed before the rise of the horn, and how many were to arise yet until the new kingdom was established, is nowhere stated. The horn itself is historically not the terminus ad quem for this rule, but only an important factor in the events of this tule. We are, then, not even allowed to seek twelve periods from Antiochus Epiphanes to the great horn, but must place the horn rather early in this last period, as great struggles are still expected before the ungodly rule of the shepherds will end. The period will be short, for only twelve shall rule, and the character of this period is reflected in the words “that these last shepherds had slain more than the rest,” and thus certainly points to the eventful days of Judas Maccabi, and not to the comparatively peaceful days of John Hyrcanus. Then the specific number twelve further than indicating a short period, should have little weight in determining who the great horn was, as this twelve is simply the completion of the author’s arbitrary and unhistorical system of the rule of the shepherds in Israel, enigmatically dividing them into four periods of 12+23_23+12 shepherds. Other reasons, too, point to Judas, and not to John Hyrcanus. 1. It is impossible that an author like ours, reciting the weal and woe of the faithful, should have passed over in silence, or in insignificant words, the events of the Maccabean period, which was so important just for him, the establishment o’ religious and political freedom, purification of the temple, the power of the Chasidim in the days of John Hyrcanus. 2. If the one slain in the previous verse is Jonathan (Dillmann), how can it be said that after that period horns grew for the lambs? Did political enthusiasm and success not take place until after the death of Jonathan? Besides it was only a lamb, i.e. a man of lesser importance who was slain,—in all probability the High Priest Onias III., one of the faithful, murdered 171 B.C.; cf. 2 Macc. iv. 33-35. 3. The spirit of the book points to the tumultuous days of Judas, and not to the quiet times of Hyrcanus; cf. Special Introd. § 4.—10. Appeal of Judas to the Jews. All, not in an absolute sense, but rather many, a fact proved by the victories of Judas.—11-15. Struggle between the horn and its enemies. This appears here as a struggle for the very existence of that horn, and hence cannot find an explanation in the rather insignificant two wars of John Hyrcanus against the Antiochus Sidetes and Antiochus Cyzicenus, especially as the latter was an aggressive measure of John Hyrcanus in which he was not even present,—something that is demanded by the context. The words can be properly understood and appreciated only by referring them to the ever-memorable events in the times of Judas Maccabi, and regarding them as a reflex of those bloody, but glorious days. Dillmann himself admits that in this manner vs. 13 could aptly find its explanation in 1 Macc. iii. 7; vi. 53; v.; then 2 Macc. vi. 8 sqq., 13, 14; 1 Macc. vii. 41, 42; and in 2 Macc. xv. 8 sqq. In this struggle against so many foes Judas is represented as being assisted by the man, i.e. angel, who wrote the names of the unfaithful shepherds.—15. In the midst of this contest the Lord himself comes to take part in the struggle. With this the author goes from an historical basis into a prophetic vision of the future, and what follows cannot be regarded as historical, but only as showing how the writer thought, from the present state of affairs, the future would shape itself. We see, then, the author stands in the midst of the Maccabean struggle. the horn Judas has already conquered in battle; his enemies are preparing to crush him. So far the author’s knowledge goes. Of the death of Judas he knows nothing. The expected assistance from God himself, together with what follows, is the prophetic picture he draws of the future fate of this great horn —16. The last attack of the enemies, a feature frequently found in Messianic portions of apocryphal writers. And in this contest the sheep