Daniel 8:1
In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.
In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar,.... Which some say {t} was the last year of his reign; but, according to Ptolemy's canon, he reigned seventeen years; and so says Josephus {u}; however, this, as well as the preceding vision, were seen before what happened recorded in the "fifth" and "sixth" chapters. The following vision was seen by Daniel, according to Bishop Usher {w} and Dean Prideaux {x} in the year of the world 3451 A.M., and 553 B.C. Mr. Bedford {y} places it in 552 B.C.; and Mr. Whiston {z}, very wrongly, in 537 B.C., two years after the death of Belshazzar. The prophet having, in the preceding chapters, related what concerned the Chaldeans, he wrote in the Chaldee language; but now, henceforward, writing of things which concerned the Jews more especially, and the church and people of God in later times, he writes in the Hebrew tongue.
a vision appeared unto me, even to me Daniel; and not another; which is said for the certainty of it; whether it was seen by him waking, or in a dream, as the former vision, is not certain; it seems rather as if he was awake at first, though he afterwards fell prostrate to the ground, and into a deep sleep; yet the Syriac version takes it to be a dream, and so renders the first clause of the next verse: "after that which appeared to me at the first"; at the beginning of Belshazzar's reign, in the first year of it, recorded in the preceding chapter; which was concerning the four monarchies in general, and particularly concerning the fourth or Roman monarchy, of which a large account is given; and the Chaldean monarchy being near at an end, here the two monarchies between, namely, the Persian and Grecian, are in this vision described.
{t} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 28. p. 81.
{u} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 11. sect. 4.
{w} Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3451.
{x} Connexion, &c part 1. p. 117.
{y} Scripture Chronlogy, p. 710.
{z} Chronological Tables, cent. 10.