Daniel 7:10

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him,.... Or, "a river of fire" (s); which denotes the copious judgments of God, the abundance of them; the full flow of his wrath, and the fierceness

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

A fiery stream issued; see Psalms 1 3; noting his justice and wrath, in giving sentence and executing it. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: this is the great assize. The judgment was set, and the books were opened: see ,12. This, say some, is spoken agreeable to the Synedrium or Sanhedrim, and after the manner of men, and notes the book of life, of God’ s eternal decree, the book of God’ s omniscience, &c.

Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.Ver. 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him.] The last and great judgment must needs be very dreadful, where, beside that wicked men shall give account with all the world flaming about their ears, the law they shall be judged by is a fiery law, the tribunal of fire, the judge a consuming fire; his attendants flaming seraphims; his pleading with sinners shall be in flames of fire; the trial of their works shall be by fire; the place of punishment a lake of fire, fed with tormenting temper, and kindled by the breath of the Lord. Well may the "sinners in Zion be afraid, and fearfulness surprise hypocrites"; well may they run away, if they can at least tell whither, with these words in their mouths, "Who among us shall dwell with this devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" Thousand thousands ministered unto him.] There is an innumerable company of angels, and when Christ cometh to judge the world, he shall bring them all with him, not one being left behind him in heaven, that he may have their assistance in the sentence and execution of judgment. The judgment was set, and the books were opened.] Terms taken from judgments among men, wherein indictments are read, proofs are produced, laws also are considered. The books that shall here be opened are God’ s records and conscience’ s register. Quae scripta sunt non atramento sed flagitiorum inquinamento, saith Ambrose, which are written, not with ink, but with sin’ s filth. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words.] As Antichrist shall be judged for his blasphemies, so shall all ungodly men for their hard speeches, yea, for their waste words. Sedendo et quiescendo anima fit prudens. - Aristot. Physic., lib. vi.

(10) The books—i.e., the unerring record of man’s thoughts, words, and deeds, which is written in the unfailing memory of God. (Comp. Exodus 32:32; Psalms 56:8; Psalms 69:28; Isaiah 4:3; Malachi 3:16.)

Verse 10. A fiery stream issued] This is not spoken of the final judgment; but of that which he was to execute upon this fourth beast, the Roman empire; and the little boasting horn, which is a part of the fourth beast, and must fall when the other falls.

10. a stream of fire … from before him] For ‘from before,’ cf. Daniel 5:24; and on Daniel 6:10. Comp. also Revelation 1:14, ‘his eyes were as a flame of fire.’ thousand thousands] Cf. Deuteronomy 33:2, R.V. (if the existing Heb. text of line 4 is correct); also 1 Kings 22:19; Zechariah 14:5 end, R.V.; Enoch i. 9 (cited, with slight verbal differences [see Charles’ ed. p. 327], in Judges 14, 15 [for ‘saints’ in Daniel 7:14, A.V., see the note on Daniel 8:13]). The present passage is doubtless the source of Enoch xiv. 22 (cited on Daniel 7:9), xl. 1 (cited below, p. 106); cf. lx. 1, lxxi. 8, 13; and of Rev 5:11. ministered … stood] Better, were ministering … were standing, the tenses being as in Daniel 4:12. stood before him] viz. in attendance: cf. for the idiom 1 Kings 10:8. the judgement was set] i.e. (in accordance with the old English sense of the expression) was seated: the Aram. is lit. sat, ‘judgement’ being used here in a concrete sense for the judges; cf. LXX., Theod., τὸκριτήριονἐκάθισεν, Vulg. judicium sedit; and see Daniel 7:26, ‘shall sit’. The Almighty is represented as holding a court of judgement. For was set in this sense see in A.V., Matthew 5:1 (‘when he was set,’ i.e. was seated), Matthew 27:19; Hebrews 8:1 (R.V. sat down); Psalms 9:4 (P.B.V), ‘thou art set (i.e. hast seated thyself) in the throne that judgest right.’ W. A. Wright quotes, from an old writer, ‘When they were sette’ (viz. at table). and the books were opened] the books in which the deeds of men are recorded—in particular the deeds of the four ‘beasts,’ representing the four empires. Cf. Revelation 20:12, ‘And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne; and books were opened; … and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works:’ also 2Es 6:20; Apoc. of Baruch xxiv. 1; Ascension of Isaiah (ed. Dillmann, 1877), ix. 22; Enoch xlvii. 3 (cited on p. 106), lxxxix. 70, 71, 76, 77, xc. 20, xcviii. 7, 8, civ. 7,—all passages speaking of the deeds of men being recorded in books, which are afterwards opened in heaven. See further Charles’s note on Enoch xlvii. 3; and comp. Abhoth ii. 1, ‘Know what is above thee, a seeing eye, and a hearing ear, and all thy deeds written in a book.’ The germ of the representation is to be found most probably in the figurative expressions in Isaiah 65:6 (‘Behold, it is written before me’: cf. Jeremiah 17:1); Malachi 3:16 (cf. Esther 6:1); Psalms 56:8.

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him - Streams of fire seemed to burst forth from his throne. Representations of this kind abound in the Scriptures to illustrate the majesty and glory of God.

10. This vision of Jehovah’s judgment seat is worthy of Ezekiel. (See Ezekiel 1, 10).