The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

II. Abravanel Expounds Little Horn as Papal Antichrist

[22] DON ISAAC BEN JUDAH ABRAVANEL (Abrabanel, Abarbanel) (1437-1508), last and most illustrious of a long line of notable Jewish statesmen in the Spanish Golden Age, was a Biblical scholar as well as a statesman. Born in Lisbon of wealthy parentage and possessing extraordinary mental powers, he became master of the learning of his time, and particularly of the Holy Scriptures. Abravanel lived in the age of discovery and social and religious ferment. He was the contemporary of Savonarola, Torquemada, Columbus, Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus, Machiavelli, Erasmus, and Luther. He lived in the transition age, at the end of the Middle Ages, when the world’s horizon was growing wider. The Inquisition against the Marranos was under way, and the Jews were expelled from Spain. Columbus discovered the new world, and the simmering revolt against the church broke forth in the Reformation. ²¹ PFF2 223.1

Three kings (of Spain, Portugal and Naples) recognized Abravanel’s financial ability, and used his services. Notwithstanding, he was at times a homeless wanderer, fleeing from country to country, falling from honor to disgrace, and from wealth to poverty. His father and grandfather had been financiers in Lisbon and Seville, respectively. He attended a Lisbon college where he studied both the Bible and Talmud. He was proficient in Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, and his father’s position gave him wealth and prestige. Abravanel’s earlier life was perhaps the most eventful and picturesque of that of any Jew of his age. He was the friend of scholars, physicians, church dignitaries, and officials. (Portrait appears on page 214.) PFF2 224.1

A financial genius, Abravanel became counselor to Alfonso V of Portugal, upon whose death he was banished by the son, John II, and sought refuge in Toledo, Spain. Later he was advanced to the post of minister of finance to Ferdinand and Isabella, which position he filled for eight years (1484-1492) ²²—the crucial period in Columbus’ life. PFF2 224.2

It is most probable that Abravanel met Columbus, who was in Portugal seeking financial support for his mission while the former was fiscal minister, and he later sought help from Queen Isabella during the eight years, from 1484 onward, in which Ferdinand used Abravanel as collector of the royal revenues. ²³ PFF2 224.3

The massacre against the Jews in 1491 had begun a reign of terror that climaxed in the expulsion in 1492. They were forced to wear an identifying badge. Persecution of the Marranos had grown to full proportions under Torquemada. Many of these Jews had been financiers, judges, and legislators—living outwardly as Christians but inwardly as Jews. Then in 1492 the Spanish expulsion came. Through his official position, and by offering his own wealth, Abravanel tried vainly to persuade Ferdinand to revoke the expulsion edict of March 30, 1492. Failing in this, and with his property confiscated, he had to flee. ²⁴ PFF2 224.4

It was the breakup of Jewish life in Spain, as three hundred thousand fled in all directions. Abravanel went first to the kingdom of Naples, where he became treasurer to the king, but the French invasion of that kingdom sent him to Sicily for refuge. Later he went to the island of Corfu, then returned to Naples for eight years. ²⁵ PFF2 225.1

The harrowing experiences of his people sent Abravanel for refuge and hope to the searching of prophecy. Thus led to the study of the coming deliverance of the Jews by the Messiah, he wrote three books on the subject. ²⁶ In 1503, at the age of sixty-six, he came finally to Venice. Here in his commentaries, which were delivered as lectures, he blazed a new trail in Scripture study. Although acquainted with the history of interpretation, he made use of earlier commentators. ²⁷ He rose to the defense of Literalism, taking issue with the naturalizing and rationalizing trend of the times, and strove to revive the “forlorn hope in a Messiah.” ²⁸ PFF2 225.2

In his exposition of Daniel’s prophecy he taught that the 1335 years ended in 1503 c.e., and expected the Messiah on the basis of Daniel 8:14 and 12:4, as well as on the basis of the time, times, and a half, of Daniel 7:25, reckoning a time as 410 years (the duration of the first temple). ²⁹ PFF2 225.3

Sarachek assures us that “Abravanel is the only writer in Jewish theology who alludes to the Antichrist.” ³⁰ In the succession of prophetic empires, he sees “the successive sway of the world empires, Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome, and the permanent messianic state.” ³¹ M And Abravanel was perhaps the first Jewish exegete to envision the prophecies of Daniel as a whole. ³² This did not come through tradition. ³³ He was uninfluenced by the rationalism of Maimonides, and rejected Cabalism. ³⁴ He shook off the fetters of Aristotelianism, restored neglected grammatical methods, and made free use of the writings of Christians, ³⁵ who similarly used his writings. PFF2 225.4

In 1496, during his exile in the kingdom of Naples, in the very land of the Papacy, Abravanel wrote a remarkable exposition of Daniel, titled Wells [or Sources] of Salvation. Stressing the year-day principle for most of the prophetic time periods, and listing Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome as the four empires, Abravanel declared the Little Horn to be the first pope of Rome. He is the first Jewish writer of whom we have record so to do. ³⁶ In fact, he is about the only Jewish writer in this period who alludes to Antichrist, ³⁷ although he himself rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah. ³⁸ Of the Wells of Salvation, which is a running commentary on the entire book of Daniel, Silver says, of its completeness and scope, that Abravanel’s works are “the most complete and thoroughgoing of their kind in the whole field of Jewish adventist literature.” “The content of the book focuses itself in the vision of the Four Kingdoms”—with the fourth as Rome, following Greece, Persia, and Babylonia. ³⁹ PFF2 226.1

1. CHRISTIANS INCLUDED UNDER ROME’S RULE

Well 2, of Abravanel’s commentary, shows that the four kingdoms are the uniform subject of chapters 2, 7, 8, and 11, with the fifth kingdom, that of the Messiah, as the “common feature.” Laying a foundation for later conclusions, Abravanel makes this significant observation on the “Romans“: PFF2 226.2

“And the Romans and the Christians, although they have different names, are one people, and they have one language, i. e. the Latin language. But since Rome was the capital city with ministers in the provinces, not only in matters of rulership and dominion and kingdom but also it became the head in the conduct of their religion and their faith, for there seats were set for the judgment of the pope, and from there he pastures the whole people of Edom [Rome], therefore the Christians were called under the category of the Romans.” ⁴⁰ PFF2 226.3

Then Abravanel observes that Rome became Christianized under Constantine and compelled the nations to accept the religion of Jesus. PFF2 227.1

2. IRON AND CLAY ARE CHRISTIANITY AND MOHAMMEDANISM.

Well 6 is devoted to Daniel 2, with the non-mingling divisions of iron and clay as Christianity and Mohammedanism, for “some of them accepted the religion of Jesus the Christian, and some of them accepted the religion of Mohammed the Ishmaelite.” It is within this latter state of division that the Messianic kingdom is to be set up. The Christians, Abravanel states, ex plain it as that of “Jesus their God and his house of prayer, which they call ecclesia.” The fourth kingdom, he adds, centers in Italy. ⁴¹ PFF2 227.2

3. STONE KINGDOM NOT THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

Arguing against the Christian church as being the stone kingdom, for it was established centuries before Rome’s division, Abravanel says: PFF2 227.3

“The kingdom of Rome, which is the fourth kingdom, and the fifth kingdom, which to their [the Christian] knowledge and according to their view, was in the religion of Jesus, are one thing just as even today the emperors do, and they are called Roman emperors and Roman empire, but they themselves are Christian, and therefore the fourth kingdom is still in existence, and the fifth kingdom has not yet come.” ⁴² PFF2 227.4

4. ACCURATE PORTRAYAL OF FOUR SYMBOLIC BEASTS

Well 8 deals with Daniel 7 with remarkable accuracy. Abravanel gives the intent of the four symbolic beasts, with details explained, such as the wings of the lion, and the three ribs of the bear, the four heads of the leopard, and the Little Horn on the fourth or Roman beast as the papacy, and the accounting of the fourth beast at the judgment day, followed by the coming of the Messiah. ⁴³ PFF2 227.5

5. LITTLE HORN THE RULE OF THE POPE

Well 8 also deals with the Little Horn of Daniel 7. Citing Rashi, Nahmanides, and Maimonides as evidence for Rome as the fourth beast, Abravanel comes to the ten horn-kingdoms springing from Rome, and the Little Horn. Some Christian commentators, he says, make them the ten kingdoms. Others, Jews and Christians, had different views. Then comes this remarkable statement penned in 1496, repeated in varying forms and places, in which he differed from Gersonides: PFF2 228.1

“Gersonides thought that the little horn was that emperor who compelled the world to embrace the religion of Jesus, and I do not know why he calls him small horn, for was he not Constantine the greatest of the great among the emperors. And furthermore, why does he mention him after the ten emperors, when between him and them there came other emperors, for he was the 39th emperor, and therefore I have come to the inner conclusion that the little horn was the rule of the pope, who began in Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem through a disciple of Jesus; because the pope in his beginning was small and tiny, not mighty, they called it the little horn. And since its beginning was in Rome....” ⁴⁴ PFF2 228.2

Of the plucking up of the three horns, Abravanel narrates how Constantine gave Sylvester the rulership of Rome and Italy while he went to the East and established Constantinople, and compelled the kingdoms under his rule to accept Christianity. Then Abravanel adds the following, and concludes with the statement, “This is without doubt the true interpretation of this verse.” PFF2 228.3

“And Rome specifically became Christian, adhering to the faith of Jesus unto this day. If so, then it was the little horn which was getting great and spreading in the land and before which there were uprooted three kinds of government which had been in Rome, for it no longer had the rule of the kings or the rule of the old men and the councillors, nor the rule of the emperors, but only the rule of the leaders and the popes, and these are the three horns which were uprooted from before the little horn.” ⁴⁵ PFF2 228.4

Of the “eyes of a man,” and the shrewdness of the rule of the pope, his rule and government and law are “different from those of the rest of the nations.” And of the mouth speaking great things, after repeating more than once that the Little Horn is the “rule of the pope,” Abravanel asserts that its strength was in its mouth. Thus: PFF2 228.5

“He confesses and puts under the ban and forbids sins and releases and makes atonement for guilt, and it has become one of the principles of their faith that things are done just as he says, and that everything which he speaks on earth shall be established in heaven, and this is what is meant when it says: ‘And a mouth speaking great things.’ ” ⁴⁶ PFF2 229.1

In addition to the feature of the papal persecution, Abravanel describes the pope’s attempts to change the law. PFF2 229.2

“He will plan to change the seasons and the religion, i. e. that the sect of the adherents of the religion of Jesus will plan to change the festivals of the law and to destroy the commandments of the law and to make a new law in the land, different from the law (religion) of Moses.” ⁴⁷ PFF2 229.3

He proceeds with a discussion of the views of Protestants, that the Little Horn is the “anti-Christ,” who was “opposed to Jesus their Messiah,” and adds: PFF2 229.4

“And three of the former horns were uprooted from before him—they are the three kingdoms of Africa, Egypt and Antiochia [Syria] which he will conquer first, and behold eyes like the eyes of men, this means that the anti-Christ will do many wonders and they will believe that he is God, and this is not so, for he is only human. And a mouth speaking great things—that he will entice [deceive] the children of men through the words of his mouth. I looked until thrones were cast—this speaks of the words of the coming of Jesus on the day of judgment to judge the world and to destroy the anti-Christ.” ⁴⁸ PFF2 229.5

After commenting on the fact that the Christians got the Antichrist idea from their chief apostle in the Revelation, and from Daniel 7, Abravanel says that a “time,” in the three and a half times, means a year. ⁴⁹ But he declares that this “is used with reference to a long time,” perhaps the 1335-year period. PFF2 229.6

6. 2300 YEARS ARE DURATION OF EXILE UNDER ROME

Wells 9 and 10 deal with the 2300 days, which Abravanel shows could not mean literal days but indicate years, leading to the remote future or “far-off days,” at the “time of the end,” and not referring to the seventy years of the captivity. They will extend into, or past, the kingdom of Rome, and not end with Greece. It did not refer to Antiochus, but had reference to Rome, at the end of the exile. ⁵⁰ This was explained in Daniel’s second vision, where the previous destruction of Medo-Persia and Greece was involved. PFF2 229.7

“And indeed in the second vision he [Daniel] saw the destruction of Persia and Media through the hand of the Greeks, and also in the latter period of things, the removal of the continual offering and the holy, and the host trampling under foot, and the number of the two thousand, and three hundred, and he saw in his wisdom that that number of years was required. And therefore he said that he had not understood anything of the vision, for if it was that that exile in which they were then were to last all that time, then the prophet’s promise of the seventy years, of Jeremiah, would not be right. And therefore he thought to himself: Perhaps because of the wickedness of the people the exile has been extended all those 2300 years. And therefore he was compelled to pray to God to turn back His anger and wrath.” ⁵¹ PFF2 230.1

So Daniel came to understand that PFF2 230.2

“thereafter there would come another exile through the hand of the Romans, which would be long and difficult, evil and very bitter, and would last until the conclusion of the 2300 years of the vision.” ⁵² PFF2 230.3

Adverting to the Little Horn of Daniel 7, Abravanel quotes Ben Gorion on the “arrogant king” as “concerning the pope and the might of his rule,” and makes this important declaration concerning the stone: PFF2 230.4

“A stone will arise, not by human agency, which will smite the image which hints to the kingdom of Rome, as I have explained above, and it will destroy them, whether the iron, which is the children of Edom, the Christians, or the clay, which is the Ishmaelites, and all of them will be brought to an end at that time.” ⁵³ PFF2 230.5

7. SEVENTY WEEKS EQUAL 490 YEARS

Well 10 expounds the seventy weeks as 490 years, as between the destruction of the First and Second Temples-the forty-nine years from the destruction of the First Temple to Cyrus’ permission to rebuild, the 434 years from Darius to the second destruction, and the seven years to the period during which Vespasian offered peace to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ PFF2 230.6

8. KINGS OF NORTH AND SOUTH INVOLVE CHRISTIANS AND TURKS

Well 11 sketches Daniel 11—Persia, Greece, and finally Rome. (Daniel 11:31.) Abravanel has difficulty in interpreting the kings of the north and south, believing that somehow the Turks and Christians are involved, as is the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and that disregard of the desire of women “refers to the celibacy of pope and priest.” ⁵⁵ Then the Messiah will appear, and the resurrection occur. Abravanel then gives the “Christian” interpretation (of those opposing the Papacy in 1496): PFF2 231.1

“On the explanation of the rest of the portions of the vision, according to the wise men of the Christians. The angel said to Daniel: And the king will do according to his will, and he will exalt himself, etc., and these verses, unto the end of the book, the Christians interpreted them as referring to the Antichrist, who would come after the world, in their view, as I have mentioned. And they said that he is called a king because of his exaltedness and his rule over many kingdoms, and he would set himself up as a god in the midst of the nations.” ⁵⁶ PFF2 231.2

Abravanel’s familiarity with the historic controversies and counterinterpretations in the Christian church is incidentally disclosed by his reference to Porphyry and his rejection of the Christian view, and his application of the Little Horn to Antiochus. ⁵⁷ PFF2 231.3

9. TIME PERIODS ON YEAR-DAY PRINCIPLE

Well 11 deals with the time periods-the 1290, 1335, and 2300 days and the 70 weeks or 490 years. But by Gematria, Abravanel frequently adds 100 to the year-day reckoning (the numerical value of the word “days”), thus making the 1290 days equal 1290 plus 100, or 1390 years; and similarly the 1335 days mean 1435 years; he ties the 1390 years to the 1453 date, which he believes to be the beginning of the end. ⁵⁸ In supplemental books—The Salvation of His Anointed and Proclaiming Salvation—he scrutinizes minutely every reference to the Messiah and ultimate redemption. ⁵⁹ PFF2 231.4

With many other Jewish writers he believed that the world would endure six or seven thousand years, and upon its dissolution would be reborn. ⁶⁰ PFF2 232.1