:)^:^}^.SJ-r-^i
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THE BOOK OF DANIEL
The International critical Commentary
A CRITICAL AND
EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY
ON
THE BOOK OF DANIEL
BY
JAMES A. MONTGOMERY, Ph.D., S.T.D.
PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA AND IN
THE PHILADELPUIA DIVINITY SCHOOL
Edinburgh : l\ &c T. CLARK, 38 George Street
PRINTED IN GRFAT BRITAIN BY
MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED
FOR
T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH
NEW YORK : CHARLES SCRIBNER's SONS
First Printed .... 1927
Second Impression . . . 1950
Third Impression , . , 1959
TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN p. PETERS
MORRIS JASTROW, JR.
ALBERT T. CLAY
ILLUSTRIOUS MEN
PREFACE.
In the summer of 1918 Doctor John P. Peters did me the
honor of asking me to collaborate with him on this commentary,
which volume had long been assigned to him, but which his
manifold activities had not permitted him to undertake. Ex-
traordinary duties prevented me from accepting until the fol-
lowing year. I had then but one brief interview with Doctor
Peters on our common task. He died November 10, 1921. The
publishers generously acknowledged me as heir to his under-
taking, and the inheritance has given me an added sense of re-
sponsibility for a work which should have borne his name.
With Doctor Peters, my early teacher and friend, I associate
the names of two close and dear friends who also during the
prosecution of these labors have passed away — Professor Morris
Jastrow, Jr., who died in 1921, and Professor Albert T. Clay,
whose loss befell us last year. These three men were remarkable
types of a brilliant generation in American Oriental studies.
May they indulge me in recalling their ancient association with
one another and my own intimate relations with them in work
and friendship by the dedication to them of this volume.
The mandate laid upon me in this commission was, it ap-
peared obvious, the presentation of a primarily philological
commentary. With all honor to the several brief commentaries
on Daniel in English and German during the last generation or
longer, we had still to depend, with the exception of the elab-
orate apologetic commentary of d'Envieu, upon works of the
third quarter of the last century and earlier; indeed, in large
measure upon commentators of the first third of that century.
Meanwhile, within very recent years the philological apparatus
has been enormously enlarged by the discovery of the Elephan-
tine papyri, along with a wealth of other new materials, in
correspondence with the rapid development of all Orientalistic
studies. Not that Daniel has been neglected. He has been the
objective of liigher criticism and apology to an unparalleled ex-
tent, especially since the revelations of Assyriology. But all such
vii
Vlll PREFACE
studies have necessarily been one-sided, have not met the need
of a commentary devoted primarily to philology. Even in the
field of Biblical Aramaic grammar no comprehensive grammar
has appeared since that of Kautzsch in 1884, and none which
includes the nev/ sources for study of that dialect. And the lack
in this line has been especially evident in English and American
scholarship.
In the second place, my interest has been attracted to the
textual criticism of the book. I have gone so far afield in this re-
spect that that part of my work may be regarded as an avoca-
tion, but I trust that on this score it may claim some originality,
if its results be approved. Again, with the treatment of the texts
of the versions goes their interpretation. In the first place, their
bearing on textual criticism cannot be valued unless they be
understood as in the large interpretative documents, to be stud-
ied in and for themselves; and in the second place, as the earliest
interpretations of the Biblical books, they have an inestimable
interest to the exegete, even if the results do not much affect the
original text — as in Daniel they do not.
In regard to the literary and historical criticism of the book,
I have taken positive position, as one must in the clashing
Entweder-Oder of the long discussion. The briefs have long been
at hand in the cause celehre, nor is there sight of its adjudication.
I have not been able to do much more than to register my rea-
soned decisions, opinions which I trust will not appear captious
or arbitrary to those from whom I differ. In some respects, e.g.,
the dating of cc. 1-6, I have broken, along with a number of
recent scholars, with the regnant view of one camp that the
whole book is Maccabaean. A positive contribution, however,
may be found in my attempt to respect Daniel as a work of
literature and as containing documents of real interest and value
for the understanding of the Orient of its day. To this end I
have tried to illustrate my work as far as possible from the his-
tory and traditions of its age — an eclectic world in which min-
gled Semitic, Persian, and Hellenic cultures.
It has been my desire to do full justice to my predecessors,
not only for honor's sake but from interest in the study of exege-
sis, in the case of Daniel a peculiarly fascinating study. I have
been concerned to discover and record the initiators of interpre-
tations, and it has often been surprising to find how much that
PREFACE IX
passes as "modern" may appear in an old-time Protestant or
Jewish or Patristic commentator. On the other hand, except in
cases of peculiar interest, I have not deemed it necessary to
give caiencB of all the witnesses of interpretation, for one scholar
or a few may be right, and the majority does not count as in a
democracy. My regret is that I have not been able to make
greater use of the Jewish commentators — the initial key to Bibli-
cal exegesis, and of the great Protestant and Catholic scholar-
ship immediately subsequent to the Reformation. As far as
possible I have economized space and labor by reference to gen-
erally accessible authorities. But there has been expansive treat-
ment of certain subjects, especially those in the fields of Aramaic
and comparative Semitic grammar, so that the work may serve
as a guide to the reader who desires introduction to fields which
largely lie beyond the scope of usual BibHcal studies. I should
be gratified if my work may prosper the cause of Aramaic stud-
ies. The English reader may welcome the constant registration
of the four current English versions, and the opportunity to
trace their dependence upon both elder and modern scholarship.
The fully articulated Table of Contents will, it is hoped, facili-
tate reference for the reader, while at the same time it avoids the
necessity of elaborate indexes.
In conclusion I have acknowledgments to make to several
kind friends: to Professors G. A. Barton and R. P. Dougherty
for painstaking contributions which will be acknowledged in the
pertinent places; to Professors R. Butin, E. M. Grice, A. V. W.
Jackson, M. L. Margohs, A. T. Olmstead, and D. M. Robinson
for drafts upon their skilled knowledge; to Doctors C. D. Benja-
min, H. S. Gehman, and M. J. Wyngaarden, for the pleasure as
well as profit I have had in co-operative studies with them ; and
very particularly to Doctor Gehman for his generous assistance
in reading much of the manuscript and all the proof. And I
acknowledge my obUgations to the publishers for their patience
with my delay and with a volume that is swollen beyond original
expectations. j^^^^g ^^ Montgomery.
December 15, 1926.
CONTENTS.
FACE
PREFACE vii
BIBLIOGRAPHY xv
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS xxvii
SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS IN THE TEXTUAL
APPARATUS xxxi
INTRODUCTION
I. THE BOOK I
§ I. The Contents i
§ 2. Early Testimony to the Book and Its Place in the
Canon 2
§ 3. Literary Divisions of the Book 5
§ 4. a. Apocryphal Additions 8
b. Later Pseudepigrapha 10
c. Legends 10
II. TEXT AND LANGUAGE 11
§ 5. The Hebrew-Aramaic Text 11
§ 6. The Hebrew 13
§ 7. The Aramaic 15
§ 8. Foreign Words 20
a. Words from the Akkadian 20
b. Persian Words 21
c. Greek Words 22
§ 9. The Literary Form of the Book 23
HI. ANCIENT VERSIONS 24
§ 10. Summary according to Languages 24
a. Greek 24
(i) The Old Greek or 'Septuagint' .... 25
(2) The Theodotionic Group 26
(3) The Versions of Aquila and Symmachus . 27
(4) The Medleval Gr.eco-Venetus .... 29
b. Latin 29
(i) The Old Latin 29
(2) The Vulgate 3a
xi
XU CONTENTS
PAGE
c. Coptic 32
d. Syriac 33
e. Aeabic 34
/. Other Languages 34
§ II. The Old Greek Version 35
§ 12. Theodotion 39
a. The Greek B-Group 39
b. The Sahidic-Coptic 42
c. The Old Latin 43
§ 13. Theodotion: Triumph over the Old Greek; Age;
The Problem of 'Ur-Theodotion' 46
§ 14. The Hexaplaric Revisions: Or^ (V 62 147) and OrC
(the A- Group, Arabic, Bohairic) 51
§ 15. The Lucianic Revision 53
§ 16. The Old Syriac Version 55
§ 17. Jerome's Version: the Vulgate 56
§ 18. Method and Use of the Textual Apparatus . . 56
IV. HISTORICAL CRITICISM OF THE BOOK ... 57
§ 19. The Historical Data 57
a. The Appearance of the Book in Literature . 58
b. The Philological Evidence 58
c. The Historical Objective of the Book: the
Four Monarchies 59
d. Darius the Mede 63
e. Belshazzar 66
/. The Third Year of Jehoiakim; the CHALDiEANS,
ETC 72
g. The Book as an Apocryphon 76
§ 20. The Theology of the Book and Its Place in Jew-
ish Religion 78
§ 21. The Problem of the Unity of the Book and of
the Two Languages 88
a. The Two Books, the Stories and the Visions 88-
b. The Problem of the Two Languages ... 90
c. Further Divisive Theories 92
d. The Dating of the Two Sections .... 96
e. Losses and Additions to the Original Book . 99
§ 22. An Appreciation of the Literary and Religious
Character of the Book 100
a. The Stories 100
b. The Visions 102
J 23. Review of the Literature on Daniel . . . . 105
CONTENTS Xlll
COMMENTARY
PAGE
I. THE HISTORIES 113
Chapter i : The Education of Daniel and His Three Com-
panions 113
Chapter 2: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream and Its Interpre-
tation BY Daniel i3'j
Note on the Symbolism of the Image and Its Interpre-
tation 185
Chapter 3: The Golden Image and th^-^ Three Confessors 193
Chapter 4: Nebuchadnezzar's Madness 220
Note on the Translation of ^ 247
Chapter 5: Belshazzar's Feast 249
Note on the Translation of C5 267
Chapter 6: Daniel in the Lions' Den 26S
Note on the Translation of ^ 280
n. THE VISIONS 282
Chapter 7: The Vision of the Beasts and the Man . 282
Note on 'Son of Man' 317
Chapter 8: The Vision of the Ram and the Buck . . 324
Textual Note on 8"'^- ^ 356
Note on VSS at 8"'' 358
Chapter 9: The Revelation of the Seventy Weeks . 358
Note on the Interpretation of the Seventy Weeks 390
Note on the Greek Texts of 9=^-"
(i) OF (S 401
(2) OF THE Texts of 0 402
Chapters 10-12: The Final Revelation 404
Note on the Princes and Angels in c. 10 . . . . 419
Note on the Interpretation of c. ii 468
INDEXES
I. Index Variorum 481
II. Philological Indexes 484
III. Literary References, Biblical, etc 486
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The following select Bibliography includes books and articles bearing
upon the whole of Daniel or upon general questions involved. Reference is
made ad locos to special monographs. There are included works of philo-
logical and historical bearing upon the subject. Titles not directly known
to the author are Hsted on account of their worth or historical interest;
these are marked with an asterisk.
Aben Ezra: text in Mikraoth Gedoloth.
Abrabanel:* Comm. on Dan., for edd. s. Rosenmiiller, p. 39.
AcHELis, H.: Hippolytstudien, TU, vol. i, Heft 4.
Albertus Magnus:* Commentarius in Danielem, Lyons, 1651, etc.
Anderson, R.: Daniel in the Critics' Den (answer to Professor Driver and
Dean Farrar), n.d.
Aphrem Syeus: Comm. on Dan., Roman ed., vol. 2, 1740.
Apollinaris: excerpts of comm. in Mai, q.v.
Auberlen, K. a.: Der Prophet Daniel u. die Offenbarung Johannis, 1854.
AucraNCLOSS, W. S.: The Book of Daniel Unlocked, N. Y., 1905.
Ball, C. J.: Daniel and Babylon, Expositor, 19 (1920), 235.
Bar, S.: Libri Danielis Ezrae et Nehemiae, 1882.
Bardenhewer, O.: Des heiligen Hippolytus von Rom Commentar zum
Buche Daniel, 1877.
* Polychronius . . . ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Exegese, 1879.
Bar Hebr^us:* J. Freimann, SchoUen zu Dan., 1892; * A. Heppner,
Scholien z. Ruth u. z. d. apok. Zusatzen zu Dan., 1888.
Barth, J.: Die Nominalbildung in den semitischen Sprachen, 1889, 1891
(= Nhg).
Barton, G. A.: The Composition of the Book of Daniel, JBL 1898, 62
(rev. by Konig, Theol. Literaturblatt, 1908, no. 46).
Bauer, H., and Leander, P.: Historische Grammatik der hebraischen
Sprache, vol. i, 1922.
Bayer, E.: Danielstudien, /Vlttestamentliche Abhandlungen (Miinster i. W.)
3, Heft 5, 191 2.
Behrmann, G.: Das Buch Daniel, in Nowack's HK, 1894 (rev. by Roth-
stein, DLZ Nov. 28, Dec. 26, 1896).
Benjamin, C. D.: Collation of Holmes-Parsons 23 (Venetus)-62-i47 in
Daniel from Photographic Copies, JBL 44 (1925), 303-326.
Bergstrasser, G.: Hebriiische Grammatik (announced as ed. 29 of Gese-
nius' Grammatik), pt. I, 1918.
Bertiioldt, L.: Daniel, 1806.
Bertholet, a.: s. under Stade.
XV
XVI BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bevan, a. a.: a Short Commentary on the Bk, of Dan., 1892 (rev. by
Nestle, LCB 1892, no. 37).
Bevan, E.: House of Seleucus, 2 vols., 1902.
Jerusalem under the High-Priests, 1904.
Bianchini, J.: Dissertationes, on Chigi text; s. Int. §10, a (i),
Bleek, F.: Einleitung in das Alte Testament, edd. 4 and 5 (1886) by
J. Wellhausen.
* tJber Verfasser u. Zweck des Buches Dan., Theol. Zts., 1822, 171.
* Die mess. Weissagungen im Buche Dan., Jahrb. f . deutsche Theologie,
i860, 47.
Blxidau, a. : De alexandrinae interpretationis libri Danielis indole critica et
hermeneutica, Miinster i. W., 1891
Die alexandrinische tjbersetzung des Buches Daniel und ihr Verhalt-
niss zum massorethischen Text = BibUsche Studien ii, Heft 2-3, Frei-
burg i. B., 1897.
Die Apokalypse und Theodotions Danieliibersetzung, Theol. Quartal-
schrift, 1897, p. I.
BocHART, S.: Omnia opera, Leyden, 171 2.
BoNWETSCH, G. N.: Studien zu den Kommentaren Hippolyts zum Buche
Daniel und Hohenliede, TU i (1897).
and AcHELis, H.: ed. Hippolytus' Comm. to Dan., GCS i, 1897.
Bouche-Leclercq, a. : Histoire des Lagides, 4 vols., 1903 seq.
Histoire des Seleucides, 1913.
Bousset, W. : Die Religion des Judentums im neutestamentHchen Zeitalter^,
1906.
BouTFLOWER, C: In and Around the Bk. of Dan., London, 1923 (c/. Rowley,
The Belsh. of Dan. and of History, Exp. Sept., Oct., 1924).
Breithaupt, J. F. : R. Salomonis Jarchi [ = Rashi] commentarius hebraicus
in Prophetas [etc.] latine versus, Gottingen, 1713.
Briggs-Driver-Brown : A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the O. T., 1891-
1906 (= BDB).
Brockelmann, C: Lexicon Syriacum, 1895, ed. 2, 1923 seq. {Lex).
Grundiss der vergleichenden Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen,
2 vols., 1908-1913 (= VG).
Broughton, H.:* Daniehs visiones chaldaicae et ebraeae, London, 1596.
Brown, C. R.: An Aramaic Method, 1886 (in Harper's series).
Buhl, F.: ed. Gesenius' Heb. u. Aram. Handworterbuch^*, 1915 (= GB),
Daniel, PRE^, 1898.
BuRKiTT, F. C.: Texts and Versions, in EB.
Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, London, 1913.
BuTTENWiESER, M.: Apocalyptic, JE.
BuxTORF, John: Lexicon chaldaicum, talmudicum et rabbinicum (ed. by
his son), Basel, 1640.
BuzY, D.: Les symboles de Daniel, RB 15, 403.
BIBLIOGRAPHY XVll
Calmet, a. :* Commentaire litteral sur tous les livres de I'Ancien et du Nou-
veau Testament, 1707, etc.
Calvin, John:* Praelectiones in librura prophetiarum Danielis I. Budaei et
C. lonuillae labore et industria exceptae, Geneva, 1561 (Eng. tr., Edinb.,
1852).
Caspari, C: Zur Einfiihrung in d. Buch Dan., Lpzg., 1869.
Ceriani, a.: Codex syrohexaplaris ambrosianus photolithographice editus
= Monumenta sacra et profana, vol. 7, 1874 (rev. by Nestle, TLZ 1876,
179)-
Charles, R. H.: A Critical History of the Future Life in Israel, Judaism,
and Christianity, 1910.
ed. Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2 vols.,
1913 (= Apoc).
Book of Daniel, New Century Bible, n.d.
Religious Development between the Old and the New Testaments,
n.d.
CoccEius (Cock), J.: Observata ad Danielem, Leyden, 1666.
Collins, A.:* The Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered, 1726.
Cooke, G. A.: A Text-Book of North Semitic Inscriptions, Oxford, 1903
(= NSI).
Cornelius a Laplde: Commentarii in Scripturam Sacram, Lyons, 1885.
Cornell, C. H.: Einleitung in das A. T." 1892 (Eng. tr. 1907).
Corpus inscriptionum semiticarum, 1881 seq. (= CIS).
Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum, 1866565'. (= CSEL),
CoRRODi:* Freimiithige Versuche liber verschiedene in Theologie u. bibl.
Kritik einschlagende Gegenstiinde, 1783.
Cowley, A.: Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C., 1923 (= AP);
also s. under Sayce.
CozzA, J.: Sacrorum Bibliorum vetustissima fragmenta graeca et latina,
Rome, 1867-77 (s- Int. §10, a).
Creelman, H.: An introduction to the O.T. Chronologically Arranged,
N. Y., 1917.
Critici sacri, editor Cornelius Bee (London, 1660), Amsterdam, 1698.
Curtis, E. L.: Daniel, DB, 1898.
Dalman, G.: Worte Jesu, Lpzg., 1898 (also Eng. tr., Scribner's).
Grammatik d. judisch-palastinensischen Aramaisch-, 1905 (= Gr.).
Aramaisch-neuhebriiisches Handworterbuch zu Targum, Talmud u.
Midrasch-, 1923 (= Uwb.).
Davidson, Samuel: Introduction to the O.T., vol. 3, 1863.
Deane, H.: Daniel, his Life and Times, London, 1888.
Daniel, in ElUcott's Old Testament Comm.
Delitzsch, Franz: Daniel, in PRE edd. i. 2.
Delitzsch, Friedrich: Philological Contributions to Bar's text, pp. vi-xii.
b
XVlll BIBLIOGRAPHY
Delitzsch, Friedrich: Assyrische Grammatik, 1889 (= Gr.).
Assyrisches Handworterbuch, 1896 (= Hwh.).
Die Lese- und Schreibfehler im A. T., 1920.
De Wette, W. : Lehrbuch d. . , . Einleitung in die Bibel Alten und Neuen
Testamentes, ed. 4, 1845.
DoLD, A.: Konstanzer altlateinische Propheten- und Evangelienbruch-
stiicke, = Texte u. Arbeiten herausgegeben dutch die Erzabtei Beuron,
I Abt., Ilefte 7-9, Lpzg., 1923.
Dougherty, R. P.: Nabonidus and Belshazzar (to appear in YOS).
Driver, G. R. : The Aramaic of the Book of Daniel, JBL 1926, 110-119.
Driver, S. R.: Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, ed. 10,
1900, N. Y. = ed. 6, 1897; also an ed. 8, 1909.
A Treatise on the Tenses in Hebrew^, 1892.
Daniel, in CBS, 1900, last imprint 1922.
Duval, R.: Traite de grammaire syriaque, 1881 (= GS).
Ehrlich, a. B.: Randglossen zur hebraischen Bibel, vol. 7, 1914, pp. 126-
155 on Dan.
EicHHORN, J. G.: Einleitung in das A. T.^ 1823-25.
Elliott, E. B.: Horae apocalypticae, London, 1862 (vol. 4 contains history
of interpretation).
l'Empereur, C.:* ed. with tr. of Ben Yachya's comm., Amsterdam, 1633.
d'Envieu, J. F.: Le Hvre du prophete Daniel, 4 vols., Paris, 1888-91.
Eusebius: Demonstratio evangehca, ed. Gaisford, 1852 (Eng. tr. by Ferrar,
1920).
Praeparatio evangelica, ed. Gifford, 1903.
EWALD, H.: Daniel, in Die Propheten d. Alten Bundes-, vol. 3, 1868 (Eng.
tr. 1881, vol. s).
Ausfiihrliches Lehrbuch der hebraischen Sprache', 1870.
Fabricius, J. A.: Codex pseudepigraphus Veteris Testamenti, Hamburg,
1713-
Farrar, F. W.: The Book of Dan., in Expositor's Bible, 1895.
Field, F.: Origenis hexaplorum quae supersunt, 1875.
Fuller, J. M.: Daniel, in the Speaker's Commentary, 1876.
Bk. of Dan. in the Light of Recent Discoveries, Exp., March, June,
1885.
Gall, A. von: Die Einheitlichkeit des Buches Daniel, 1895.
Galle, a. F.: Daniel avec commentaires de R. Saadia, Aben-Ezra, Raschi,
etc., et variantes des versions arabe et syriaque, Paris, 1900.
Gebhardt, O. von: Graecus Venetus, Lpzg., 1875 (rev. by Kamphausen,
TSK, 1876, 577).
Gehman, H. S.: The "Polyglot" Arabic Text of Daniel and Its Affinities,
JBL 44 (1925), 327-352.
BIBLIOGRAPHY XIX
Geier, M.: Praelectiones academicae in Danielem prophetam (1667), Lp3g.,
1684.
Gesenius, \V.: s. under Briggs-Driver-Brown, Buhl, Kautzsch.
GiNSBURG, C. D.: Hebrew Bible, London, 1894.
Introduction to the Massoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible,
London, 1897 (= Int.).
GiRON, N.: for monographs on OAram. texts s. Int., §7, n. 2.
Graetz, H.: Beitriige zur Sach- u. Wortererklarung des Buche3 Daniel,
MGWJ 20 (1S71), 339-352, 385-406, 433-449-
Graf, C. H.:* Daniel, in Schenkel's Bibellexicon, 1861.
Die griechischen christUchen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte,
1897 seq. (= GCS).
Griesinger, G. F.:* Neue Ansicht der Aufsatze im Buche Daniel, Stuttgart,
1815.
Grotius, H.: Annotationes in Vetuset Novum Testamentum, London, 1727.
Gxjnkel, H.: Schopfung u. Chaos in Urzeit u. Endzeit, 1895 (s. Giesebrecht,
GGA 1895, 596^., Wellhausen, in Skizzen u. Vorarbeiten, 6 (1899), 215-
249, and Gunkel in reply ZWT 42 (1899), 581-611).
Hahn, H. a.: AavfJjX xa-ri Toii; ip5o:j.Tf)xovTa e codice chisiano, etc., Lpzg.,
1845.
Hamburger, J.: Daniel, in his Real-Encyclopadie f. Eibel u. Talmud, vol. i,
1870, also on the bk., p. 920.
Hatch, E., and Redpath, H. A.: A Concordance to the Septuagint, 1S92-
97, Oxford.
Haupt, p.: Notes to Kamphausen in SBOT.
Havernick, H. a. C: Commentar iiber das Buch Dan., 1832.
Neue kritische Untersuchungen iiber d. B. Dan., Hamburg, 1838.
Hebbelynck:* De auctoritate libri Danielis, Lowen, 1S87.
Heller, B.: Das Traumerraten im Buche Daniel, ZATW 1925, 243-246.
Hengstenberg, E. W.: Authentie des Daniel, 1831.
Hilgenfeld, a.:* Die Propheten Esra u. Daniel, 1863.
Hippo LYTUS: s. under Bonwetsch.
HiTZiG, F.: Das Buch Daniel, 1850.
Holm, A.: Griechische Geschichte, vol. 4, 1894.
Holmes, R., and Parsons, J.: Vetus Testamentum graecum cum variis
lectionibus, 4 vols., 1 798-1827, Oxford.
HoLSCHER, G.: Die Entstehung des Buches Dan., TSK 1919, 113.
Huhn, E.: Die messianische Weissagungen, 1899, vol. i, §30.
Ibn Janah: The Book of Hebrew Roots, ed. A. Neubauer, 1875.
Jackson, F. J. Foakes, and Lake, K.: The Beginnings of Christianity,
vol. I, London, 1920 (with contributions by Montefiore, G. F. Moore).
Jahn, G.: Das Buch Daniel nach der Septuaginta hergestellt, 1904.
XX BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jastrow, Marcus: Dictionary of the Targumim, etc., 1903.
Jastrow, Morris: Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, 1905 seq.
LE Jay, G. M.: Biblia Sacra polyglotta, Paris, 1645.
Jephet ibn 'Ali: Comm. on Daniel, ed. D. S. Margoliouth, in Anecdota
Oxoniensia, 1889.
Jerome: In Danielem prophetam, ed. Vallarsi, vol. 5, 1768.
JotJON, P.: Grammaire de I'Hebreu biblique, Rome, 1923.
Junius, F.:* Expositio prophetae Danielis, Heidelberg, 1593.
Kahle, p.: Masoreten des Ostens, 1913.
Ed. texts with Babylonian punctuation in Strack's Grammatik.
Sections on Bab. punctuation in Bauer-Leander's Grammatik.
Kamphausen, A.: Das Buch Daniel u. die neuere Geschichtsforschung, 1893.
Daniel, in SBOT, 1896.
Daniel, in EB, 1899.
Kautzsch, E.: Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramaischen, 1884 (rev. by Nol-
deke, GGA, 1884, 1014-23).
Wilhelm Gesenius' Hebraische Grammatik-*, 1896 (= GK); Eng. tr.,
by A. Cowley.
Die Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des A. T., 2 vols., 1900.
Die Aramaismen im Alten Testament, 1902.
Keil, C. F.: Biblischer Commentar iiber den Propheten Daniel, 1869.
Kennedy, J.: The Book of Daniel from the Christian Standpoint, London,
1898.
Kennicott, B.: Vetus Testamentum hebraicum cum variis lectionibus, 2
vols., 1776, 1780, Oxford.
Kent, C. F.: Sermons, Epistles and Apocalypses of Israel's Prophets,
N. Y., 1910.
KiRCHNER, G. S. L.:* Die Hauptweissagungen des Buches Daniel, 1898.
KiRMSS, H. G.:* Commentatio historico-critica exhibens descriptionem et
censuram recentiam de Danielis Ubro opinionum, 1828.
KiTTEL, R.: Biblia hebraica, ed. i, 1905, ed. 2, 1912.
Kliefoth, T.: Das Buch Daniel, 1868.
Knabenbauer, J.: Commentarius in Danielem prophetam Lamentationes
et Baruch, Paris, 1 891, in Cursus Scripturae Sacrae.
Konig, E.: Historisch-kritische Lehrgebaude der hebraischen Sprache, 2
vols., 1881, 1885 (= Lgb.).
Syntax der hebraischen Sprache, 1897 (= Syn.).
Hebriiisches und aramaisches Worterbuch zum A. T., ed. i, 1910, ed.
3, 1922 (= Hii'b.).
■ Die messianischen Weissagungen des A. T., 1923.
Theologie des A. T.^, 1923.
Kranichfeld, W. p.: Das Buch Daniel, 1868.
Kuenen, a.: Hist.-kritische Einleitung in die Biicher des A. T., 2 vols.,
1887-92.
BIBLIOGRAPHY XXI
Lambert, M.: SsinnDD in Cahana's, B'niB n.d.
Lengerke, C. von.: Das Buch Daniel, 1835.
Levias, a. : A Grammar of the Aramaic Idiom contained in the Babylonian
Talmud, Cincinnati, 1900.
Levy, J. : Neuhebraisches und chaldaisches Worterbuch iiber die Talmudim
und Midraschim, 1876 seq.
LiDZBARSKi, M.: Handbuch der nordsemitischen Epigraphik, 1898 (= NE).
Ephemeris fiir semitische Epigraphik, 3 vols., 1902-15 (= Eph.).
Altaramaische Urkunden aus Assur, 192 1.
Mandaische Liturgien (including Luting's Qolasta), 1920.
LiGHTFOOT, John (1602-1675): Works, ed. Pitman, 12 vols., 1825.
LoHR, M. : Textkritische Vorarbeiten zu einer Erklarung des Buches Daniel,
ZATW 189s, 75-io3> 193-225; 1896, 17-39.
ed. critical apparatus in Kittel's Bible.
LowTH, Wm.: Commentary upon the Prophecy of Daniel and the Twelve
Minor Prophets, 1726.
Luther, M.: Die Bibel, print of the National-Bibelgesellschaft.
* Auslegung des Propheten Daniel (compilation of three works, in
Walch's ed., vol. vi; for bibUography s. Rosenmiiller, p. 44).
LuzzATTO, S. D.: Grammatik der bibUsch-chaldiiischen Sprache und des
Idioms des Thalmud Babli, 1873.
Macler, F.: Les apocalypses apocryphes de Daniel, Paris, 1895.
L'Apocalypse arabe de Daniel, Paris, 1904.
Mahaffy, J. P.: The Empire of the Ptolemies, 1895.
Mai, a.: Scriptorum veterum nova collectio e vaticanis codicibus edita,
2 vols., 1825-31; vol. I contains Polychronius and commentarii vari-
orum on Daniel.
^DE MaItres, S.) : Daniel secundum Septuaginta ex tetraplis Origenis, Rome,
1772.
Maldonat, J. :* Commentarius in Jeremiam, Ezechielen, Danielem, Leyden,
1611.
Manchester, George, Duke of:* Times of Daniel, Chronological and
Prophetical, 1849.
Margoliouth, D. S.: s. under Jephet.
Margolis, M. L.: Lehrbuch der aramiiischen Sprache des babylonischen
Talmuds, 19 10.
Marsham, John:* Canon chronicus, Frankfurt, 1697.
Marti, K.: Daniel, in Kautzsch, Die Heiligen Schriften des A. T., 1894.
Das Buch Daniel, 1901, in Marti's KHC.
Kurzgefasste Grammatik der biblisch-aramaischen Sprache, ed. i, 1896
(rev. by Noldeke, LCB 1896, 702, by Rahlfs, TLZ 1896, 585), ed. 2, 191 1
(ed. 3*, 1925).
Maurer, F.: Commentarius grammaticus criticus in Vetus Testamentum,
vol. 2, Eze., Dan., Lpzg., 1838.
XXll BIBLIOGRAPHY
McCowN, C. C. : Hebrew and Egyptian Apocalyptic Literature, in Harvard
Theol. Rev. i8 (1925), 357-411.
Meinhold, J.:* Die Komposition des Buches Daniel, 1884 (Diss.).
Beitrage zur Erklarung des Buches Daniel, 1888 (rev. by Budde, TLZ
Dec. 29, 1888).
Das Buch Daniel, 1889, in Strack and Zockler's Comm.
Meissner, B.: Babylonien und Assyrien, 2 vols., 1920-25.
Melanchthon, p.:* Commentarius in Danielem prophetam, 1543.
Merx, a.: Cur in libro Danielis iuxta hebraeam aramaea adhibita sit dia-
lectus, 1865.
Meyer, E.: Geschichte des Altertums, vol. 3, 1901.
Ursprung und Anfange des Christentums, vol. 2, 1921 (ed. 4-5, 1925).
Michaelis, C. B.: Uberiorcs annotationes philologico-exegeticae in liagio-
graphos Veteris Testamenti, Daniel in vol. 3, Halle, 1720.
Michaelis, J. D.: Orientalische und e.xegetische Bibliothek, 1771 seq.
Neue or. u. ex. Bibliothek, 1786 scq.
Supplementa ad lexica hebraica, n.d.
Reprint of de Maitres, Daniel secundum Septuaginta, Gottingen, 1773,
1774-
Michaelis, J. H.: Biblia hebraica ex aliquot MSS, etc., Magdeburg, 1720.
Migne, J. P.: Patrologia latina, 1878 seq. (= PL).
Patrologia graeca, 1886 seq. (= PG).
Milfraoth Gedoloth (Hebrew title): Warsaw ed., vol. 6, 1874.
Mills, L. H.: Avesta Eschatology compared with the Book of Daniel and
Revelation, 1908.
Moffatt, James: The Old Testament, a New Translation, 2 vols., 1924-25.
Mommsen, T.: Romische Geschichte', vol. 5, 1885.
Montgomery, J. A.: Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur, Philadelphia,
1913-
The Ilcxaplaric Strata in the Greek Texts of Daniel, JBL 44 (1925),
289-302.
MuLLER, C: Fragmenta historicorum graecorum, 1841 seq.
Musaeus, J.: Scholae in prophetas Danielem Micham et Joelem, 17 19
Nestle, E.: Bibeliibersetzungen, in PRE'.
Marginalien und Materialien, 1893 {Marg., ref. to first part).
s. under Tischendorf.
Neubauer, a.: s. under Ibn Jan^h.
Newton, Sir Isaac: Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the
Apocalypse of St. John, 1732, etc. (also Lat. tr., Amsterdam, 1737); an
ed. from 'unpublished MSS.' by W. Whitia, Daniel and the Apocalypse,
London, 1922.
Nicolas de Lyra:* Commentary, in Migne s Cursus completus Scripturae
Sacrae, vol. 20.
BIBLIOGRAPHY XXlll
NoLDEKE, T.: Mandaische Grammatik, 1875 (= MG).
Kurzgefasste syrische Grammatik^, 1898 (= 5G); Eng. tr. by Crichton,
Compendious Syriac Grammar, London, 1904.
Neue Beitrage zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft, 1910 (= NBSS).
Oecolampadius, J.:* In Danielem libri duo, Basel, 1530.
Pereira (Pererius), B.:* Commentariorum in Danielem prophetam libri
xvi, Rome, 1586.
Perles, F.: iVnalekten zur Textkritik des A. T., ed. i, 1895, ed. 2, 1922.
Philippe, E.:* Daniel (prophet and book), in Vigouroux, Dictionnaire de
la Bible, 2, coll. 1 247-1 283.
PoGNON, H.: Inscriptions s^mitiques de la Syrie, etc., 1907-08.
PoLANUS, A.:* In Danielem . . . commentarius, Basel, 1606.
Pcle, Matthew: Synopsis criticorum, vol. 3, 1694, Frankfurt.
PoLYCHRONius : s. Under Mai.
Porter, F. C: The Messages of the Apocalyptical Writers, N. Y., 1905.
Powell, H. H. : The Supposed Hebraisms in the Grammar of Biblical Ara-
maic, Univ. of Calif. Publications, vol. i, 1907.
Preiswerk, FL: Der Sprachenwcchsel im Buche Daniel, Berne Diss., 1902
(rev. by Meinhold, TLZ 1904, 353).
Preuschen, E.: Handworterbuch zu den Schriften des N. T., 1910.
Prince, J. D.: A Critical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, Lpzg., 1899.
PusEY, E. B.: Daniel the Prophet (ed. i, 1864), ed. 2, 1868.
Rahlfs, a.: Verzeichniss der griechischen Handschriften des A. T., vol. 2 of
his Mitteilungen des Septuaginta-Unternehmens, 1914.
Ranke, E.: Monographs on OLat. texts, s. Int. §10, b (i).
'Rashi' (R. Solomon b. Isaac): text in Mikraoth Gedoloth; s. under
Breithaupt.
Rawlinson, G.: The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern
World, ed. 2, Chicago.
Reckendorf, H.: Arabische Syntax, 1921.
Reuss, E.: La Bible, Traduction nouvelle avec introduction et com-
mentaires, vol. 7, 1879 = Das A. T., vol. 7, 1894.
RiESSLER, P.: Das Buch Daniel, 1899.
Rosenmuller, E. F. C: Scholia in Vetus Testamentum, pt. 10, 1832.
DE Rossi, J. B.: Variae lectiones Veteris Testamenti, 4 vols., 1784-88, and
supplement, Scholia critica in V. T. libros, 1798, Parma.
Saadia: s. under Spiegel. Text of Pseudo-Saadia in Mikraoth Gedoloth.
Sabatier, p.: Latinae vcrsiones antiquae seu Vetus Italica, Rome, 1751 seq.
Sachau, E.: Aramaische Papyrus und Ostraka, 1911 (= APO).
Sanctius, C.:* Commentarius in Danielem prophetam, Lyons, 1612.
XXIV BIBLIOGEAPHY
Sayce, a. H., and Cowley, A.: Aramaic Papyri Discovered at Assuan, 1906
(= APA).
ScHEFTELOWiTZ, I.: Arisches im A. T., Konigsberg Diss., 1901.
Die altpersische Religion und das Judentum, 1920.
ScHOTTGEN, C.: Horae hebraicae et talmudicae, 2 vols., 1733, 1742, Dresden
and Lpzg.
ScHRADER, E.: (Keilinschriften und das A. T.-) = Eng. tr. by Whitehouse
The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, 2 vols., 1888
( = COT) ; also s. under Zimmern.
ScHULTENS, A.: Opera minora, Leyden, 1769; pp. 320-327 Animadversiones
philologicae in Danielem.
ScHULTHESS, F.: Lexicon syropalastinum, 1903.
and LiTTMANN, E.: Grammatik des christlich-palastinischen Ara-
maisch, 1924.
ScHtJRER, E.: Geschichte des judischen Volkes', 3 vols., 1904-09.
Sellin, E.: Introduction to the Old Testament, 1923 (Eng. tr.).
Sinker, R.: Daniel, in Temple Bible.
Smith, R. Payne: Thesaurus syriacus, 3 vols., 1879 seq.
* Daniel i-vi, an Exposition, 1886.
SoDERBLOM, N.: La vie future d'apr^s le Mazdeisme, 1901.
Sola, J. M. :* La profecia de Daniel.
Spiegel, H.: Saadia al-Fajjumi's arabische Danielversion, Berne Diss., 1906.
Stade, B.: Lehrbuch der hebraischen Grammatik, 1879.
Biblische Theologie des A. T.; vol. 2, 1911, by A. Bertholet.
Stevenson, W. B.: Grammar of Palestinian Jewish Aramaic, 1924.
Strack, H. L.: Einleitung in das A. T.^, 1906.
Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramaischen*, 1921 (rev. by Laible, Theol.
LB, 1922, 90, Lidzbarski, TLZ, 1922, 127; earlier ed. rev. by Noldeke,
LCB 1896, 304).
Strossmann, G.:* Die Erlebnisse und Geschichte des Propheten Daniel,
1922.
Stuart, Moses: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, Boston, 1850.
SwETE, H. B.: The Old Testament in Greek, 3 vols., 1887 seq., ed. 2, 1895
seq.
An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek, 1900.
Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur, 2d
Series, 1897 seq. (= TU).
Texts and Studies, Cambridge, 1893 seq. (= TS).
Thackeray, H. St. John: Grammar of the Old Testament in Greek, vol. i,
1909.
The Septuagint and Jewish Worship, 192 1.
Thayer, J. H.: A Greek-Enghsh Lexicon of the New Testament, N. Y.,
1887.
BIBLIOGRAPHY XXV
Thiefenthal, p. F.:* Daniel explicatus, Paderborn, 1895 (rev, by Ryssel,
TLZ 1895, 557).
Thilo, M.: Die Chronologic des Danielbuches, pp. 43, Bonn, 1926.
(Thomas Aquinas) : for In Danielem postillae attributed to him s. Int., §23.
Thompson, J. E. H.: Daniel, in Pulpit Commentary, 1897.
TiscHENDORP, C. : Biblia sacra latina Veteris Testament! Hieronymo inter-
prete . . . testimonium comitatur Codicis Amiatini, Lpzg., 1873.
Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX Interpretes, ed. 7 by Nestle, 2
vols., 1887.
TiSDALL, W. St. Clair: The Aryan Words in the Old Testament, JQR i,
335/.; 2, 213/., 365/.; 4, 97/.
Egypt and the Book of Daniel, Exp. 47 (1921), 340.
ToRREY, C. C: The Composition and Historical Value of Ezra-Nehemiah,
Beiheft to ZATW, 1896.
Ezra Studies, Chicago, 1910.
Notes on the Aramaic Part of Daniel, in Transactions of the Conn.
Academy of Arts and Sciences, 15 (1909), 241 (= Notes, I).
Stray Notes on the Aramaic of Daniel and Ezra, JAOS 43 (1923), 229
(= Notes, II).
Venema, H.:* Dissertationes ad vaticinia Danielis emblematica (to cc. 2, 7,
8), 1745.
* Commentarius in Dan. cc. xi. 4-xii. 3, 1752.
VoLZ, P.: Jiidische Eschatologie von Daniel bis Akiba, 1903.
Wald, S. G.:* Curarum in historiam textus Danielis specimen i, Lpzg., 1783.
Walton, B.: Biblia Sacra polyglotta, London, ed. 1657.
Weber, F.: Jiidische Theologie auf Grund des Talmud', 1897.
Wellhausen, J.: s. under Bleek.
Westcott, B. F.: Daniel, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 1863.
Wicks, H. J.: The Doctrine of God in the Jewish Apocryphal and Apoca-
lyptic Literature, London, 191 5.
Wilson, J. D.: Did Daniel write Daniel? N. Y., n.d.
Wilson, R. D.: The Aramaic of Daniel, in Biblical and Theological Studies
(Princeton Theol. Sem.), N. Y., 191 2.
Studies in the Book of Daniel, N. Y., 191 7 (rev. by Paton, Am. Journ.
Theol., 1919, 225, by Fullerton, Bull. W. Theol. Sem., Oct., 1918).
The Book of Daniel and the Canon, Princeton Theol. Rev., 13 (1915),
352-408.
The Silence of Ecclesiasticus concerning Daniel, ib. 14, 448.
The Title 'King of Persia' in the Scriptures, lb. 15, 90-145 (also. Titles
of the Kings of Persia, Festschrift E. Sachau, 19 15).
Apocalypses and the Date of Daniel, ib. 19, 529-545.
Daniel not quoted, ib. 20, 57-68.
XXVI BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wilson, R. D.: Darius the Mede, ib. 177-211.
The Origin of the Ideas of Daniel, ib. 21, 161-200.
Iniiuence of Daniel, ib. 21, 337-371, 541-584.
The Background of Daniel, ib. 22, 1-26.
The Prophecies of Daniel, ib. 22, 377-401.
Winer, G. B.: Chaldaische Grammatik', 1882 (ed. Fischer).
Wright, C. H. H.: Daniel and his Critics, 1906.
Daniel and his Prophecies, 1906 (Comm.).
Wright, William: A Grammar of the Arabic Language', 2 vols., 1896-8.
Wyngarden, M. J.: The Syriac Version of the Book of Daniel, Pennsylva-
nia Thesis, Lpzg., 1923.
Zimmern, H., and Winckler, H.: Die Keilinschriften und das A. T. (ed. 3
of Schrader), 1905 (= KAT).
ZoCKLER, O.: Daniel, In Lange's Theol.-homiletisches Bibelwerk, 1870, Eng.
tr. in Schaff's Commentary by James Strong, N. Y., 1876.
Zotenberg, H.: Geschichte Daniels (Persian text), in Merx, Archiv, vol. i,
1869.
Zuendel, D. : Kritische Untersuchungen iiber die Abfassungszeit des Buches
Daniel, i86i.
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS.
Names of authors and works frequently cited, especially the commentators
and philologians, have been abbreviated. In cases where a work is cited un-
der the name of the author alone, the title is given in this Key in parentheses.
Further abbreviations of titles are given under the authors' names in the
Bibliography, or the abbreviation can easily be understood. It has not been
deemed necessary to give here the customary abbreviations for Biblical and
other books, nor those of common use in such an apparatus, grammatical
and otherwise, and only a few such are recorded here.
Abh.: Abhandlung(en).
AEz. : Aben Ezra (comm.).
AJA: American Journal of Archae-
ology.
AJSL: American Journal of Se-
mitic Languages and Literatures.
Akk.: Akkadian ('Assyrian' lan-
guage).
AP : Cowley, Aramaic Papyri.
APA : Sayce and Cowley, Aramaic
Papyri.
Aph. Syr.: Aphrem Syrus (comm.).
APO : Sachau, Aramaische Papyrus.
Aq.: Aquila.
Arab.: Arabic.
Aram.: Aramaic.
Ass.: Assyrian.
Aug.: Augustine.
AV: 'Authorized Version,' King
James' Bible, the modem text.
BA : Beitriige zur Assyriologie.
Bab.: Babylonian.
Bar: edition of Heb. Bible.
BDB: Briggs-Driver-Brown, He-
brew Le.xicon.
BDD: Bible Dictionaries.
BE: Babylonian Expedition, Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania.
Behr.: Behrmann (comm.).
Bergstr.: Bergstrasser (Hebraische
Grammatik).
Bert(h).: Bertholdt (comm.).
Bev.: Bevan (comm.).
bk., bks.: book(s).
BL: Bauer-Leander, Grammatik d.
hebr. Sprache.
Blud.: Bludau (d. alex. tjbersetzung
d. B. Daniel).
Boutflower (In and Around the Bk.
of Dan.).
Brock.: Brockelmann.
BSira: The Heb. text of Ecclus.
Euxt.: Buxtorf (Lexicon).
c. : circa.
c, cc: chapter(s).
Calv.: Calvin (comm.).
CBMich.: C. B. Michaelis (comm.).
CBS: Cambridge Bible Series.
Cha.: Charles (comm.).
ChrPal.: Christian-Palestinian dia-
lect.
Chr>'s.: Chrysostom (comm.).
CIS: Corpus inscriptionum semiti-
carum.
Clem. Alex.: Clement of Alexandria.
Comm. : main text of this Commen-
tary.
xxvii
XXVIU
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
comm.: coinmentator(s), commen-
tary (-ies).
Com.: Cornill.
COT: Schrader, Cuneiform Inscrip-
tions and the O.T.
CSEL: Corpus scriptorum ecclesi-
asticorum latinorum.
Cypr. : Cyprian.
Dalm.: Dalman.
DB: Hastings' Dictionary of the
Bible.
DCB : Dictionary of Christian Biog-
raphy.
Del.: Friedrich Delitzsch.
de R. : de Rossi, critical apparatus.
dittog.: dittograph(y).
DLZ: Deutsche Litteraturzeitung.
Dr.: Driver (comm.).
EAram.: East Aramaic.
EB : Encyclopaedia Biblica.
ed., edd.: editor(s), edition(s).
Ehr.: Ehrlich (Randglossen).
Enc. Brit.: Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica.
dEnv.: d'Envieu (comm.).
Epiph.: Epiphanius.
ERE: Encyclopaedia of Religion
and Ethics.
Eth.: Ethiopic.
Eus.: Eusebius Pamphili.
Ew.: Ewald (comm.).
Exp. : The Expositor.
Exp. T. : The Expository Times.
Field: Field's Hexapla.
vGall: von Gall (Einheitlichkeit d.
B. Dan.).
OB: Gesenius-Buhl: Heb. Hwb.i«.
GCS : Die griechischen christlichen
Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahr-
hunderte.
Ges.: Gesenius.
GGA : Gelehrte Anzeigen of the
Gottingen Academy.
Gin.: Ginsburg (ed. of Heb. Bible).
GK: Gesenius-Kautzsch, He-
braische Grammatik'^.
Gr., Grr.: Greek; Greek version (s).
Gr.: Grammar, Grammatik.
Graetz: (Beitrage).
GV: Luther's German Version.
haplog.: haplograph(y).
Hav.: Havernick (comm.).
Heb.: Hebrew.
Hengst.: Hengstenberg (Authentic) .
Her.: Herodotus.
Hipp.: Hippolytus (comm.).
Hitz.: Hitzig (comm.).
HP: Holmes-Parsons.
HR: Hatch-Redpath, Concordance
to the Septuagint.
Hwb. : Handworterbuch.
Iren.: Irenseus.
J A : Journal asiatique.
Jahn: (comm.).
JAOS: Journal of the American
Oriental Society.
JAram. : Jewish- Aramaic dialect.
Jastr.: Jastrow (Diet, of the Tal-
mud).
JBL : Journal of Biblical Literature.
JDMich.: J. D. Michaehs.
JE: Jewish Encyclopedia.
Jeph.: Jephet (comm.).
Jer. : Jerome.
Jos.: Josephus; + A J, Antiquitates
Judaicae; -|- BJ, Bellum judai-
cum.
JPOS : Journal of the Palestine Ori-
ental Society.
JQR: Jewish Quarterly Review,
New Series.
JRAS : Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society.
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
XXIX
JTkSt.: Journal of Theological
Studies.
Jul. Afr.: Julius Africanus.
Jun.: Junius (comm.).
Just. M.: Justin Martyr.
JV: 'Jewish Version,' i.e., The
Holy Scriptures ace. to the Masso-
retic Text, Philadelphia, 1917.
Kamp.: Kamphausen (text in
SBOT).
KAT: (Schrader-)Zunmem-Winck-
ler, Keilinschriften u. d. A. T.'.
Kau. : Kautzsch (Gramm.d.B Aram.) .
KB: Schrader's KeilinschriftUche
Bibliothek.
Ken. : Kennicott, critical apparatus.
Kit.: Kittel (ed. of Hebrew Bible).
Khef.: KUefoth (comm.).
Knab.: Knabenbauer (comm.).
Kon.: Konig.
5r.: the^re.
Kran.: Kranichfeld (comm.).
Kt.: the Kttb.
Lamb.: Lambert (comm.).
Lat.: Latin.
LCB : Literarisches Centralblatt.
Lex(x).: lexicon, lexica.
Lidz.: Lidzbarski.
Lohr: critical apparatus in Kittel's
' Bible.
Lucif.: Lucifer Calaritanus.
Luzz.: Luzzatto (grammar).
Mar.: Marti (comm.; grammar cited
by sections).
Mass.: Massora, Massoretic.
Maur.: Maurer (comm.).
Mein.: Meinhold (comm.).
MGWJ: Monatschrift fur Gc-
schichte und Wissenschaft des Ju-
denthums.
Mich. : J. H. Michaelis (ed. of Heb.
Bible).
Midr.: Midrash.
Moab.: Moabite.
Moff.: Moffatt, Eng. tr. of Bible.
MVAG: Mitteilungen d. Vorderasi-
atischen Gesellschaft.
Nab.: Nabataean.
NE: Lidzbarski, Nordsemitische
Epigraphik.
NHeb.: New Hebrew {i.e., post-
Bibhcal).
Nold.: Noldeke.
Notes: philological notes in this
Commentary.
NSI : Cooke, North-Semitic Inscrip-
tions.
NSyr. : New Syriac.
N.T. : New Testament.
OAram.: Old Aramaic.
Occ: Occidental (Mass. tradition).
OLat.: Old Latin {i.e., pre-Hiero-
nymian).
Olsh.: Olshausen.
OLZ : Orientalistische Literaturzei-
tung.
OPers.: Old Persian.
Or.: Oriental (Mass. tradition).
Or.: Origen.
OSlav.: Old Slavonic.
O.T.: Old Testament.
PAboth: Pirke Aboth.
Palm.: Palm3T:ene.
pap(p).: papyrus, papyri.
Pers.: Persian.
PG: Migne, Patrologia graeca.
Phoen.: Phoenician.
PL : Migne, Patrologia latina.
Pole (Synopsis criticorum).
Polyb.: Polybius.
Polych.: Polychronius.
Pr.: Prince (comm.).
PRE: Realcnzyklopiidie fiir prote-
stantische Theologie und Kirche.
XXX
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
PSBA : Proceedings of the Society
of Biblical Archaeology.
PSmith: Payne Smith (Thesaurus).
PsSa.: Pseudo-Saadia (comm.).
QS : Quarterly Statement of the
Palestine Exploration Fund.
Ra.: Rashi (comm.).
RB : Revue biblique, New Series.
rdg(s).: reading(s).
ref.: reference.
resp.: respectively.
rev.: review.
Riess.: Riessler (Das Buch Daniel).
rt.: root.
Rosen.: Rosenmiiller (comm.)
RV: English Revision of AV, 1884.
RW: RV + SV.
Sa.: Saadia (Arab. tr.).
Sab.: Saba^an.
Sach.: Sachau.
Sam.: Samaritan Aramaic.
SBA : Sitzungsberichte, Berlin
Academy.
SBE: Sacred Books of the East.
SBOT : Haupt's Sacred Books of the
O.T.
Schr.: Schrader.
Schult.: Schultens (Opera minora).
seq. : and following.
Sib. Or.: SibyOine Oracles
Str.: Strack (text; grammar cited by
sections).
Stu.: Stuart (comm.).
suppl.: supplet, -ent.
SV: 'Standard Version,' American
Revision of AV, 1901.
s.v. : sub voce.
Sym.: Symmachus.
Syr.: Syriac.
Talm.: Talmud.
Targ. : Targum.
Tert.: Tertullian.
Test. XII Patr.: Testaments of the
XII Patriarchs; Test. Jos. = Test.
of Joseph, etc.
Theod.: Theodotion.
Theodt.: Theodoret.
TLZ : Theologische Literaturzei-
tung.
tr., trr.: translate, translation (s).
Trem.: Tremellius (cited from Pole).
TS : Texts and Studies.
TSBA : Transactions of the Society
of Biblical Archaeology.
TSK : Theologische Studien und
Kritiken.
TU : Texte und Untersuchungen,
Second Series.
v., vv.: verse(s).
var(r).: variant(s).
vs.: versus.
VS, VSS: (ancient) Version(s).
WAram.: West Aramaic.
WH: Westcott-Hort.N.T. in Greek.
Wilson: R. D. Wilson (Studies in the
Bk. of Dan.).
Wright: C. H. H. Wright (Daniel
and his Prophecies).
WSem.: West Semitic.
WZKM : Wiener Zeitschrift f iir die
Kunde des Morgenlands.
YOS: Yale Oriental Series.
ZA : Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie.
Zad. Frag.: Schechter's 'Zadokite
Fragments,' vol. i.
ZA TW : Zeitschrift fur die alttesta-
mentliche Wissenschaft.
ZDMG: Zeitschrift der Deutschen
Morgenliindischen Gesellschaft.
ZKR Inscr.: Pognon, Inscriptions
semitiques, no. 86.
ZNTW: Zeitschrift fiir die neu-
testamentliche Wissenschaft.
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
XXXI
Zock.: Zockler (comm.).
ZPT: Zeitschrift fur protestanti-
sche Theologie.
Zts.: Zeitschrift.
ZWT: Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaft-
liche Theologie.
SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS IN THE
TEXTUAL APPARATUS.
A: Codex Alexandrinus.
A: Arabic Version.
Aq.: Aquila.
B : Codex Vaticanus.
QI^ : Coptic-Bohairic Version.
fflS: Coptic-Sahidic Version.
c: 0 text of the Chigi MS.
d: Old Greek Version ('Septua-
gint').
<gG: Gr. text.
(&^: Syro-hexaplar text.
Qi-ven . ' Graecus Venetus. '
?|: Hebrew- Aramaic text.
h: 0 text of Hippolytus.
hP: Gr. text.
hS: OSlav. text.
H: Old Latin Version(s).
5]Wng. Weingarten Fragments.
IJwib; Wiirzburg Fragments.
Lu.: Lucian.
Jfl: Massoretic apparatus to 1|.
iMB(ab); tiie Babylonian punctua-
tion.
MP^: the Occidental tradition.
iS&P': the Oriental tradition.
Or*^: Constantinopolitan - Origenian
text (A-group).
OrP; Palestinian-Origenian text (V
62 147).
Q: Codex Marchalianus.
&: Syriac Version.
Sym.: Symmachus.
V: Codex Venetus (= HP 23).
3: Vulgate.
B'^: Codex Amiatinus.
V: Codex rescriptus Cryptoferra ten-
sis.
0: Theodotion ( =
wise defined.)
B, unless other-
The following symbols are also used:
t indicates that all the cases in the Hebrew Bible are cited.
* a theoretical form.
+ a critical plus.
II parallelism.
> etymological process toward.
<C etymological origin from.
[ ] used to give context of word or words discussed. In the translation [ ]
has bearing on the text of ?^, ( ) expresses an interpretative addition.
INTRODUCTION.
I. THE BOOK.
§1. THE CONTENTS.
The Book of Daniel is a composition partly in Hebrew, partly
in Aramaic, found in the third place from the end of the Kethu-
bim or Hagiographa, the third division of the Hebrew Bible.
It purports to give the story of one Daniel who suffered the
first exile under Nebuchadnezzar and lived in the Eastern Dia-
spora. The story begins with the hero's youth, when he is a
boy at school, and continues the story to an age when the
promise of a life beyond the grave is a comfort (12"). The bk.
is divided into two nearly equal portions (not coincident with
the two languages).
I. The first section presents six anecdotes of his life in com-
pany with certain compatriots (one of the anecdotes being con-
fined to the experiences of the latter) as a confessor of the Re-
ligion and a seer of the future.
C. I. Year 3 of Jehoiakim and on. The faithfulness of Dan.
and three companions in their education at the Bab. court.
C. 2. Year 2 of Nebuchadnezzar. Dan. interprets Neb.'s
dream of a monstrous Image.
C. 3. The martyr-constancy of his three companions in re-
fusing to worship a golden Image.
C. 4. Dan. interprets Neb.'s dream of a great Tree.
C. 5. Last year of Belshazzar. Dan. interprets Belshazzar's
vision of an Inscribing Hand.
C. 6. His deliverance from the Lions' Den, whither he was
cast for refusal to worship Darius. His subsequent elevation in
the reigns of Darius and Cyrus.
II. The second section details four visions granted to Daniel.
C. 7. Year i of Belsh. A vision of the conflicts of four mon-
strous Beasts, of the Fourth Beast and its Horns, and the The-
ophany which introduces the divine dominion.
C. 8. Year 3 of Belsh. A vision of the conflict of a Ram and
a Buck and of the Little Horn of the latter's four horns, which
2 INTRODUCTION
grew great. The vision is expounded by the angel Gabriel as of
the Medo-Persian and Greek empires, the latter to culminate in
a blasphemous tyrant, whose end is foretold.
C. 9. Year i of Darius. Dan.'s prayer for the restoration of
Israel; the appearance of the angel to him and his exposition of
the 'seventy years' of prophecy.
CC. 10-12. Year 3 of Cyrus. In answer to Dan.'s pious ex-
ercises undertaken for the boon of greater illumination, the angel
again appears to him (lo-ii^^), and unrolls a panorama of
Kingdoms and Kings culminating in a godless and inhuman ty-
rant, whose end is depicted along with the transcendental vin-
dication of saints and sinners (ii^''-i2^); with a supplementary
confirmatory vision and a word of personal assurance to Dan.
(12 5-").
It will be observed that parallel historical sequences are fol-
lowed in the two sections, following a Jewish tradition of the
progress of secular history: I. Neb., Belsh., Darius, the con-
tinuance of the seer's career into the reign of Cyrus being de-
noted i^S 6^^ ^2*^ ; II. Belsh. (two visions), Darius, Cyrus.
§2. EARLY TESTIMONY TO THE BOOK AND ITS PLACE IN
THE CANON.
The hero's name was given to the bk. with the usual tradi-
tional implication that he was the author, a surmise which was
naturally supported from 1 2*. The name, ^S'^Jl? was wide-spread
in Sem. antiquity; s. at i*. It is also the name of an evidently
traditional saint (^Sn) who is associated by Ezekiel with two
other primitive worthies: 'Though these three men, Noah,
Daniel and Job were in it (the land), they should deliver but
their own souls by their righteousness,' 14^^- ^o; and, 28^, the
Prince of Tyre is thus apostrophized: 'Behold, thou art wiser
than Daniel, there is no secret thing they can hide from thee.'
These passages written in the years 6 and 11 of the Exile {i.e.,
dating from 597) cannot refer to the youthful hero of our book,
but to a figure of antique and cosmopolitan tradition, like the
Noah-Utnapishtim of the Flood story and the Job of the Ara-
bian steppes, one of the Wise of the East. If we seek an assimi-
lation of the two Daniels it would be due to the fact that the
writer most arbitrarily adopted the name of the otherwise un-
§2. EARLY TESTIMONY TO THE BOOK 3
sung sage of the past, even as Enoch, Noah, Baruch, Ezra were
made titular authors of Apocryphal bks. But the hypothesis is
unnecessary. The name was taken from living Jewish folk-
story.^
There is then no reference to our Daniel as an historic person
in the Heb. O.T., although his life is attributed by the bk. to
the 6th cent. B.C. Nor is his name found in the list of Worthies
presented by Ecclus. 44-50 (c. 200 B.C.), although the writer
names the three other 'Major Prophets' and 'the Book of the
Twelve,' i.e., the 'Minor Prophets.' The earliest allusions to,
or citations from, our bk. appear in the Jewish literature of the
2d cent. B.C.- There are many such in Enoch, of which the
Dream- Visions, cc. 83-90, may go back to the days of Judas
Maccabee.3
A section of the Sibylline Oracles, viz.: iv, 388-400, which
dates back toward the middle of the same cent., certainly cites
our bk.'s description, cc. 7, 8, of the godless tyrant; the passage
is cited in Comm. at 7^-*.
I Mac, composed at the end of the same cent., after the reign
of John Hyrcanus, has many reminiscences of Dan. ; e. g., the
citation of 'Abomination of Desolation,' i^ after d of Dan.,
and the specific allusion to the deliverance of the three com-
panions of Dan., by name, and of Dan. ' in his perfectness,' 2" ^-j
cf. Dan. 3^ Cf. a list of chief instances given by Wright, p. 65.
' Traditionalist comm. differ in their treatment of the possible identification;
some ignore it, e.g., Stu., Pusey; others insist that Eze.'s ref. is corroboration of the
historicity of our hero and bk., so Heng., 70 J.; Keil, 25 /.; Wright, 48. It is idle to
debate over appropriateness of the name, a fancy indeed which induced the story of
Susanna, in which Daniel ('God-judges') did 'come to judgement,' with Shake-
speare; or as though the judgments of God are the theme of the bk.; or as if a Pers.
origin were to be sought, e.g., from OPers. ddnu, 'wise,' with Cheyne, Origin . . .
of the Psalter, 105, note t. The name was of a type that rendered it available for
angels, and so it appears for one of the fallen angels, En. 6', 6g^ and of an evil spirit
in the Mandaic Ginza.
' The innumerable correspondences between Dan. and the Chronicler (e.g., the
prayers Dan. 9, Neh. 9) are insisted upon by Pusey (p. 355 /.) and others as proof
of the priority of Dan. to Neh. Wright recognizes the weakness of this argumenta-
tion. After accepting Pusey's argument, he proceeds to remark: "The true lines of
'defense' of the Bk. of Dan. do not rest upon the foundations laid by Heng. or
Pusey. . . . But the real defense . . . ought to a large extent to be based upon
the internal evidence presented in the bk." For dependence of Dan.'s prayer on
the Chronicler s. the extensive argument by the Catholic scholar Bayer in his
Danielstudien.
' For a full list of these refl. s. Charles, Book of Enoch-, Index, p. 3 1 2. For a review
of this literature s. Wright, c. 2.
4 INTRODUCTION
The Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, which was written
about the same time, has many current citations; s. index in
Charles, Eng. tr., p. 238. Jubilees, a bk. of the same age, has
in common with Dan. the scheme of year-weeks. And the
Apocryphal Baruch has, 11^-2", a mosaiclike resetting of the
prayer in Dan. 9^-^^, s. §13. Also the Apocryphal Wisdom 3^
cites Dan. 12^, and gives, 3*, an interpretation of Dan. 7^^ The
Psalms of Solomon, written after Pompey's death, cites Dan. 12^,
a true Pharisaic theme.
Schechter's Hebrew 'Fragments of a Zadokite Work' (mis-
leadingly so called) is a product, probably or possibly, of an
early 'Pharisaic' sect and of the 2d cent, b.c.^ Its parallelisms
with Dan. have not been sufficiently remarked by Schechter,
but the correspondences in terminology are very instructive as
to its date. Note: p. 4 (Heb. text), 1. 4, 'those who stand up at
the end of the days,' cf. Dan. 121^; p. 6, 1. 21, t^Tpn in^D'DD, cf.
Q^iff-; p. 20, 1. 8, jT^^j; ''tmp = 7I8, etc.; p. 20, 1. 25, Til^S b
nmnn ^1^:1 nX i:»'-lS = •'^f'nS n" (of value for interpretation
of the latter); p. 20, 1. 26 /., msn^fj^ ^^^2 miH'' ^j;''trna b
= n''nn •'V^trn?: n^^ and for the 'refining' cf. ii==^ i2i»; also cf.
p. 20, 1. 28, with 9^^
The existence of the ' Septuagintal ' tr. of Dan., doubtless to
be assumed for the 2d cent. B.C., and also of a ' pre-Theodotionic '
tr. prior to the N.T. further attests the immediate wide-spread
authority of the bk.; s. §§ii ^.
There is no question of the authoritative character of Dan.
in the N.T. The name is mentioned but once and with the
title of 'prophet,' Mt. 241^ (not in the approved text of the par-
allel Mk. 1^^*). Heb. ii^^ f-,' stopped the mouths of lions (after ©),
quenched the power of fire,' recalls the stories in cc. 3, 6. But
the influence and language and the spirit of the bk. are powerful
* In vol. I of his Documents of Jewish Sectaries, igio; also Charles, Apoc, vol. 2
(appearing in earlier separate form); E. Meyer, 'Die Gemeinde des Neuen Bundes,'
Ahhandlungen of the Berlin Academy, igig (dating the document about 170 B.C.);
cf. also his Ursprung u. Anfange des Christentums, 2, 47#.; Bertholet, Zur Dalierung
der Damaskus-Schrifl, Beiheft of ZATW, 1920; W. Stark, Die jiid. Gemeinde des
Neuen Bundes; Ginzberg, Eine unbekannte jiid. Sekle, New York, 1922 (in Selbstver-
lag); F. J. Foakes Jackson, Beginnings of Christianity, i, 97 f., on the sect of the
'Covenanters,' also noting other literature.
'C/. also the expression p. g, 1. 21, 'the man shall be excluded from the Purity
(mnan)' with i Mac. 14^6, Ixofouv xXfjyJjv ixeyaXifjv ev x'n ayvsi'i}:, i.e., in the sacred
precincts of the temple.
§3- LITERARY DIVISIONS 5
throughout the apocalyptic sections of the N.T., the Parousia
passages of the Gospels, 2 Th. and esp. Rev.^
Josephus presents the story of Daniel as a 'prophet' quite at
length A J x, lo-ii. The contemporary 2 Esd. draws largely
upon it. And by the final canonization of the Heb. Scriptures
about the end of the ist cent. a.d. our bk. was included without
question or doubt. The bk. and those of the Chronicler are
found at the end of the Canon.^ For those who defend the 6th
cent, origin of the bk. this fact is indifferent, for they hold that
these 'closed-up words' (12^) were not published until late.
But they do not explain how the bk. was published just at the
right time or why it agrees exactly with the apocalyptic litera-
ture with which the 2d cent. B.C. was rife.
The Christian Church, fed on the Or. trr. of the bk., took it
over con mnore, and along with it certain Apocryphal accretions;
s. §4. The literary rearrangement effected by the Hellenistic
Jews in the order of their Canon attached Dan., with its Apocry-
phal satellites regarded as one with it, to the Major Prophets,
where it ranked fourth (but in the lists of Melito and Eusebius
as preceding Eze.) ; s. Swete, Int., Part II, c. i. For a full catena
of the evidence s. R. D. Wilson, 'The Bk. of Dan. and the
Canon,' Princeton Theol. Rev., 13, 3 5 2-408. ^ For the views of
the authorities in the Talmud, for whom Daniel was not a
'prophet,' s. §23; this lower rating of course never derogated
from the actual canonicity of the bk.
§3. LITERARY DIVISIONS OF THE BOOK.
For the eldest tradition of 'chapter' divisions we must go to
the Christian tradition.^ The Theodotionic order placed the
* There are also several reminiscences of Dan. which have been generally over-
looked by N.T. editors in consequence of their failure to diagnose the Grr. texts.
E.g., I note as signal instances 22°, cf. i Cor. i-^ 2", cf. Mt. 21^^; 7', cf. Mt. 27';
7", cf. Rev. i^* (dependent on OS's corrupt text).
' This general statement is to be precised more exactly that in the classical Talm.
passage on the Canon, Baba balhra 146 seq., Dan. and Est. exchange places, prob.
a shifting on historical grounds; s. Ginsburg, Int., pt. i, c. 2, and Ryle, Canon of
the O.T., Exc. C; also de Rossi, Variac lectioncs, i, p. xxvi. Ryle, Exc. B., gives the
Talmudic passage in translation.
' Dr. Wilson's learned article combats the chimasra that the claim of later age for
the bk. contradicts its canonicity. He brings absolutely no new evidence to show
that the bk. was even known before the 2d cent. B.C.; how he can 'possibly' find a
ref. to Dan. at Ecclus. 49"" passes comprehension, and as for the witness of i Mac.
he overlooks the fact that this bk. was composed near the close of that cent.
1 On this subject s. Swete, Int., Part II, c. i, and for Dan. in particular p. 260.
6 INTRODUCTION
Apocryphal Susanna first,^ then our Dan., and at the end the
Apocryphal Bel and the Dragon; and this is the order of the
uncials A B Q, also 147 and 21/ but the reverse order in V 62
(B^ d^. Consequently the Gr. Dan. was divided into twelve
* Visions' (so A Q): Susanna = no. i, Dan. cc. 1-9 = nos. 2-10
(inclusive of the Song in Vision 4), Dan. 10-12 = no. 11, Bel,
etc. = no. 12. Mss 62 147 have occasional notation of the
Visions, but begin them with Dan. i ; s. Benjamin, p. 305. There
was also another division current in the Gr. mss, that of Lec-
tions, e.g., B indicates 21 such (for the whole Gr. bk.), one
cursive has 9, etc.^
The Syro-Hexaplar (s. §8), although casting Susanna after
our Dan., enumerates the cc. after the traditional system so
that our c. i is c. 2, the series terminating, however, with cc.
8-12 (the whole regarded as one vision, or scribal neglect after
this point ?).^ I have no information as to main divisions in the
early Latin Bible. Cod. Amiatinus of H, containing also Jer.'s
Preface to his translation, indicates for our bk. 27 capilula with
specific rubrics, plus four additional capp. covering Susanna,
etc. = 31 capp.; s. Tischendorf, Biblia Sacra Latina V. T., pp.
Ixiv seq.
The Mediaeval division of the Bible into chapters^ is that
which all Western use appears to have followed for Dan. Un-
fortunately the unity of cc. 10-12 was ignored and the one
Vision was divided into three chapters (after the ancient scheme
of twelve Visions?).
' We can trace this tradition back to Hipp.; s. Bonwetsch, 'Studien zu den Kom-
mentaren Hippolyts,' TU 1897, pt. 2; so the Bohairic; but the Slav. tr. places
Susanna at the end.
' I do not understand why Swete has not followed this order of his authority
Cod. B in his edition; it is disconcerting, in lack of explanation, to the student, who
immediately finds in the marg. to the int. of Dan. i that Codd. A Q entitle it 'Vision
2.' Swete's order is that of Origen's arrangement. Tischendorf-Nestle places Su-
sanna first. An extraordinary mistake has been made by Swete in his Int., p. 260,
with his statement: "In the Greek mss no break or separate title divides these
Greek additions from the rest of the text, except that when Daniel is divided into
'visions,' the first vision is made to begin at i. i, Susanna being thus excluded from
the number." This statement is contradicted by his own apparatus.
♦ See Swete, pp. 351 ff.; cf. the divisions of H and M, v. inf. A has the division
into Visions, enumerated as in A; s. §14, n.
' Similarly in the Chigi MS, containing our sole Gr. MS of the Septuagint and
also a Theodotionic text (c), the order is that of the Syro-Hexaplar.
° See in addition to Introductions to the Canon, etc., G. F. Moore, 'The Vulgate
Chapter and Numbered Verses in the Heb. Bible,' JBL 12, 7o-'78.
§3- LITERARY DIVISIONS 7
The Jewish divisions have been obscured to the reader of the
Heb. Bible by the most unfortunate practice of dividing the
printed Bibles according to the Mediaeval chapter division.
This procedure, which still obtains in Bar's professedly Masso-
retic text, has been corrected by Ginsburg and Kittel (best by
the former, throwing the chap, and v. numerals into the margin).
There was an ancient Seder or Lection division in the Heb. bks.,
which has survived in the Mass. tradition. In the apparatus to
his text of Dan., p. 95, Bar gives a list of these Sedarim, which
are denoted by M as seven in number. Ginsburg, who finds
vast fault with Bar (Int., 21) for his registration of the Sedarim
in general, gives a slightly variant division (ib., 60):
Bar
ii
236
330
5^^
511 (10)
Q"
III
Gin.
ii
235
330
5'^
529 (28)
9*
lo-i
Gin. also conveniently notes these Sedarim in the marg. of his
text. It will be observed that these seven divisions are about
quantitatively equal, the last two being somewhat shorter than
the preceding ones; they possess no Uterary reason and must
have been made on the pious principle of 'a chapter a day.'
The editors of the printed Heb. Bibles introduced the Christian
system of chapter division, but altered it in two respects: they
followed the Seder division about f°, actually making it at 3^1
(41), so perpetuating the error of including Neb.'s profession
within c. 4; and at the end of c. 5, following a pasilk-pathiXh (a
greater paragraph division), they began c. 6 with 5" of the
Christian use (here the exact point of division may be indiffer-
ent).
Throughout this Comm. citation will be made after the use
of the printed Heb. Bibles; where the Christian use varies, the
correspondent figures will be given also in parenthesis, where
at all necessary. This practice will also be followed in the case
of the plus of w. in c. 3 of the Gr., due to the insertion of the
Song. The Jewish chapter divisions may be followed, very con-
veniently, in JV; they are noted in the marg. of RVV.
8 INTRODUCTION
§4. A. APOCRYPHAL ADDITIONS; B. LATER PSEUDEPIGRAPHA ;
C. LEGENDS.
a. Apocryphal Additions.
As far back as the testimony for them goes the * Septuagint '
((i>) and Theodotion (©) included with our bk. certain Apocry-
phal accretions.! This material comprises: (i) Susanna, which
in the tradition of 0 at least always preceded our bk. (for the
reason that Dan. appears in it as a young and unknown man).
(2) What the English Bible calls 'The Song of the Three Holy
Children,' 67 vv. inserted in c. 3 between vv.'^^ and 2^; this piece
actually comprises: (a) vv.*^*"*^^ a Prayer of Azarias,^ being
a prayer of confession and supplication; {b) a prose Interlude,
Yy_4G-5i^ describing the heating of the fire and the descent of the
Angel of the Lord to cool the flames^; (c) the Benediction (the
liturgical 'Benedicite') of the Three, w.^^-^''. Then appended
to our bk. is a collection, treated as one 'Vision,' containing: (3)
the story of Bel, and (4) that of The Dragon, to which is added
a manifest supplement introducing the prophet Habakkuk.
The discussions over the originality of these Additions, which
of course involves that of the original language, are manifold;
s. Schiirer, GJV 3, 452-458, and the Introductions to the Apoc-
rypha. Despite Jer.'s desire to separate the Apocrypha from
the O.T. and his scholarly rubrics that these Additions are not
found in the Heb.,^ the Latin Church appears to regard them
as integral parts of the bk., even as they are physically such in
the edd. of U.^ This position is not wholly confined to that
Confession; e.g., Howorth, 'Some Unconventional Views on the
Text of the Bible: VII. Dan. and Ch.,' PSBA 29 (1907), 31-38,
61-69, holding these additions to be integral parts of the bk.
' Swete conveniently gives the text of Cod. A for the two Odes in c. 3 at end of
vol. 3, pp. 804 f.; ed. 2, pp. 826/.
' Not of Ananias, otherwise the first-named of the three Companions. The change
appears to have been effected by the alphabetical rearrangement of the names in
the Gr.
' There is a verbatim allusion to this — the earliest notice of these Additions — in
3 Mac. 6^ Spoff{aa<; xa:[i.tvov= our v. <*"'.
* Before the Apocryphon in c. 3 and before Bel.
' E.g., the comm. of d'Envieu and Knabenbauer; and so Szekely, Bibliotheca
apocrypha, Freiburg, vol. i, 1913, excludes them from his contents.
§4A. APOCRYPHAL ADDITIONS 9
More particularly there has been considerable recent debate as
to the authenticity of the prose Interlude. Rothstein, in his
comm. on the Additions, in Kautzsch, Apok. u. Pseud., i, 175,
has proposed® a theory whereby the Interlude is original, but
the Apocryphal intrusion, first of the Benediction, then of the
Prayer, has upon ultimate censorship caused the loss of the in-
cluded genuine Interlude. Andre, Apocryphes de VAncicn Tes-
tament, Florence, 1903, pp. 214^., agrees with Rothstein, but
regards only w.^^"*- '*®-^°^ as original; Jahn (an enthusiast for
(&) retains only vv.^^-^^ Bennett, upon this Apocryphon, in
Charles, Apoc, i, 629, inclines haltingly to the same position.
That is, modern editors of the Apocrypha incline to save some
flotsam of this Apocryphon; but, on the other hand, all comm.
of the Heb., outside of the Latins and Jahn, have excluded this
as well as the other Additions from serious consideration.
The present writer at first, years ago, hailed Rothstein's view
as correct. Subsequent cooler consideration has made him re-
nounce it, not for reasons philological or critical but dramatic.
He avers that the Heb. story is far more striking in leaving the
discovery of the marvel to the heathen king's eyes, rather than
with the banal explanation made to precede it. Which is all a
matter of taste ! He is thus relieved from further treatment of
the subject in this Comm.'^
' After brief suggestions of vGall, Einheillichkeit, 23, n., Bludau, Die alexandri-
nische Uebersetzung d. B. Daniel, 207.
' A few notes may be added here. In orig. 0 v. "b has been lost whether through
homoiotel. in the orig. I^'or in the Gr., or because it was excised in view of v.<"'.
<S and 0 present but variant texts of the Prayer and the Benediction. The bulk of
the interlude in <& (the balance being evidently supplemental) appears in 0 (in-
cluding the characteristic 'Septuagintal' phrase ol xspl t. 'Ai^apfctv, cf. <g v."); it
looks as though the whole Apocryphon first appearing in C6 has been subsequently
inserted in 0, which would explain how the latter's text includes it despite his scru-
pulosity for the Veritas hcbraica. The Syr. is translated from the Gr., not from a
Sem. original at all; not only is this the general judgment upon all Apocrypha in
the present Syr. O.T. as secondary {e.g. Duval, Litleralure syriaque, 36), but it is dis-
tinctly so stated for this Apocryphon by Polychronius at 3-*, " this hymn is found
neither in the Hebrew nor in the Syriac Scriptures," while Aphrem Syrus ignores it
in his comm. The Daniel Apocrypha of the Syr. are to be found in the London
Polyglot in vol. 4; for c. 3 only the Prayer and the Benediction (without the Inter-
lude), which were prob. introduced from some Gr. collection of 'Odes.'
M. Gaster has published an alleged 'Aramaic Original of Theodotion's Additions
to the Bk. of Dan.' in PSBA 16, 280/.; 312/.; 17, 75/. But as Dalman remarks,
Worle Jesti, 11, n. i, the texts are pieces from the Chronicle of Jerahmeel which
the author himself says he translated from the Greek Bible.
lO INTRODUCTION
b. Later Pseiidepigrapha.
Naturally enough, 'secret books' continued to amass about
the appropriate name of Daniel. Fabricius collected in his
Codex Pseudepigraphus Vet. Test., nos. cxx seq., a number of ex-
tracts and references bearing upon such literature, including
astrologies and oneirocritica, of a species that flourished also in
the vernaculars of the Middle Ages. Tischendorf, Apocalypses
apocryphae, 1866, xxx-xxxiii, published some extracts of Daniel
literature in the Gr., and E. Klostermann a Gr. 'Apocalypse of
Dan.' and two other oracles in his Analecta, 1 13-128. The Ar-
menian 'Seventh Vision of Dan.' has been edited by G. Kalem-
kiar, WZKM 6 (1892), 109-136, 227-240 (text and tr.). See
also Zahn, Forschungen, V (1893), 118 ff., Harnack, Gesch. d.
altchristl. Litt., 916 jf. For the Syriac Duval, Litt. syr., 93, notes
the apocalypse of 'The young Daniel concerning our Lord and
the end of the world'; Baumstark, Gesch. d. syr. Lit., 230, 250,
signalizes Syr. astrological mss under the same name, for which
cf. Furlani, ZA 33, 162, etc. J. Darmesteter has published a
Persian composition, U Apocalypse per sane de Daniel, 1886.
From the Arabic F. Macler has published V Apocalypse arabe
de Daniel, 1904, text and tr. (text first published in Heb. type
by Zotenberg in Merx's Arckiv, pt. 4, 1869, pp. 385-427), cf.
Bousset, The Antichrist Legend, 109; and also a corpus of Orien-
tal texts in Les apocalpyses apocryphes de Daniel, 1895, contain-
ing additional material of Darmesteter's Pers. text, the tr. of a
Coptic Apocalypse, tr. with notes of Kalemkiar's Arm. Apoca-
lypse (noting that it is the ' seventh vision ' because of the Arm.
division of Dan. into six visions), and tr. of Klostermann's Gr.
text.
The following literary note may be added. In his fascinating
book. Heaven and Hell in Comparative Religion, N. Y., 1921,
President K. Kohler recalls that the Jew Immanuel of Rome,
the admirer and imitator of Dante, takes Daniel as guide in his
Hebrew poem on Hell and Paradise.
c. Legends.
Legendary amplification of Dan.'s history grew apace. Jose-
phus, AJ X, 10, I, makes him offhand a prince of the blood
royal, an easy deduction from i^ {q-v.), and Bel v.^ (S makes
§5- THE HEBREW-ARAMAIC TEXT II
him a priest. (Ps.-)Epiphanius knows his father's name as
Sabaan and his birthplace as Bethabara, Adv. hacr., Iv, 3, Vita
proph., X. For various Jewish and Arabic legends s. JE 4, 427,
429. His tomb has been shown, since the 6th cent., at Susa, a
little west of the acropolis; s. Loftus, ChaldcBa and Susiana, 1857,
pp. 317 jf. (with illustration reproduced as frontispiece in Dr.'s
comm.); JE p. 429 (with another picture). There is a ref. to
this tomb in Tabari, s. Nold., Gesch. d. Perser u. Araber, 58. See
also F. W. Hasluck, 'The Caliph Maimun and the Proph. Dan.,'
Journal Hell. Studies, 42, 99-103, with full bibliography; he
notes that there is another tomb of Dan. at Tarsus. This tradi-
tion agrees with Josephus' datum that Darius took Dan. with
him to Media {AJ x, 11, 4), borrowed by Jer. in his comm. at
5". Jos. himself has {ib., §7) the tradition of a tower the prophet
built at Ecbatana which is the place "where they bury the
kings of Media, Persia and Parthia to this day."*
The Jewish Aggada on Dan. is collected in Rabnitzki and
Bialik, Sepher Haaggadah (Heb. title), Berlin, 1922, vol. 4, pp.
187 _^., and in tr. in L. Ginsberg, vol. 4, Philadelphia, 1913, pp.
326-350 (a memorandum kindly contributed by Dr. E. Speiser).
11. TEXT AND LANGUAGE.
§5. THE HEBREW- ARAMAIC TEXT.
The bk., as at hand, is written in two languages, i.e., Hebrew
and, for 2^''-7, Aramaic, this section being introduced by a rubric
gloss, n''D1t< Aramaicc. The problems of text are the same for
both languages. But the Aram, text appears to be far less defi-
nitely fixed by tradition than that of the Heb.; this being due
to the fact that the later editors were primarily occupied with
the literature and phonetics of a language in theory divine, and
so were less sure or more careless in the treatment of the Aram.;
'Dr. E. Sukenik, of the Dropsie College, kindly reminds me of the design of
Daniel in the Lions' Den worked in the mosaic pavement of the 2d cent, synagogue
at 'Ain-dilk in the Jordan Valley (s. Vincent, RB 1919, 532/-; plan p. 535, showing
one of the lions). To cite Dr. Sukenik: "Clermont-Ganneau's suggestion that we
have here Daniel in the lions' den was confirmed by Pere Vincent's excavations,
when they found on the other side of the man the inscription CP!!' Sn-ji, which
means 'Daniel rest in peace!' or 'Daniel in peace.' The field was apparently re-
garded as the most honorable spot in the synagogue. Ptre Dhorme's first impres-
sion of the synagogue was that it was dedicated to Daniel."
12 INTRODUCTION
also the latter was the Jewish vernacular, and this rendered it
susceptible to current contamination in contrast with the rigid-
ity of classical Heb. Withal the whole bk. exhibits an extraordi-
nary amount of variation, not only in Ktib and K^re and in their
exchanges, but also in actual variant rdgs. of mss, many of
which correspond to those of the VSS. Hence the problem of
original text is peculiarly accentuated for this bk.
The Massoretic text (JH, as distinguished from 1^, the con-
sonantal text, which alone lay before the eyes of the ancient
translators) is the result of an idealistic striving after a final,
flawless text of Holy Scripture, with a fixed Ktib or consonantal
basis, accompanied with an apparatus to indicate the exact
pronunciation and reading of the words and phrases (involving
syntax), along with corrections of the Kt. to be observed in the
actual enunciation, — the Kre. This ideal unity was never per-
fectly achieved. In the latter half of the first millennium two
Schools had formulated variant Massoretic texts, the Oriental
and the Occidental, and another complication exists as between
the rival texts of Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali of the first half
of the loth cent. The Western tradition prefers the authority
of Ben Asher and naturally and professedly follows the Occi-
dental Massora; even when an editor, e.g., Ginsburg, critically
prefers an Oriental rdg. he presents it only in the marg.^
In view of such an artificial condition of text, the writer has
made it his practice to cite, quite regularly, the variant rdgs. of
four standard editions of M, namely those of J. H. Michaelis,
Bar, Ginsburg, Kittel, and, in addition, of Strack's Aram, text.^
To this apparatus of the Occidental Massora can now be added
a partial apparatus for an Oriental Massora brought to light in
recent years: texts provided with the 'Babylonian' vowel-sys-
tem, one less adequate than ours, the 'Tiberian,' but of great
"Consult Strack, Prolegomena critica in V.T. hchr., 1873, Pt. I; Ginsburg, Int.;
Buhl, Kanon u. Text d. A.T., pp. 82-108; Kahle in BL §§6-9; also Briggs, Study
of Holy Scripture, c. 7; Geden, Outlines of Int. to the Heb. Bible, c. 2.
^ See Bibliography. Bar gives an extensive Appendix of Mass. apparatus; Gin.
in his mg. presents a summary apparatus. The primary value of Kit.'s Bible lies in
its being a reproduction, with slight changes (s. Preface) of Jacob Chayyim's Bom-
berg Bible, 1524-5, which became the standard exemplar for Bible prints. The
non-Mass, critical apparatus in the mg. of this ed. is the work of M. Lohr, and this
part will be duly attributed to him. The traditional differences between the Orien-
tal and Occidental Schools are denoted by M'^', M^"^. Strack in his Gr. {v. inf.) has
given collations of a Berlin Codex = Ken. 150, and Cod. Erfurtensis 3.
§6. THE HEBREW 13
interest to the philologian. For the material of this apparatus
and discussion summary reference may be made to P. Kahle,
'Masoreten des Ostens,' Heft 15, Beitrdge z. Wiss. vom A.T.,
1913.^ Kahle has rendered particular service to the student of
Dan. by publishing accessible portions of this Oriental text of
our bk.: viz., op. cit., pp. 81 Jf. for 2^1-", and in Strack, Gr., edd.
3-6, for 312-15. 20-24^ 4^^-7^ (all Aram, passages). Where citation
of this apparatus is necessary the signature iJJ^"'' is used.
But the critic is concerned in going behind this ideal unity of
a Textus Receptus, back to the mss. For this comparison he
has at hand the two great collections of variant rdgs. compiled
by the labors of Kennicott and de Rossi, for which s. the Bib-
liography. The study of these variants in Dan. has proved in-
teresting but may not be enlarged upon here. As a sample
there may be noted the cases where the variants agree with
rdgs. of VSS. For example : 5" + i^tT^lp [jM^S] = Q Lu. of
0 tradition and ^; 8" + n^i"! [a^Q''] = 0; iqIo ^br\ with (I
iov^T; lo^om. inm . . . ^yiiitrSl with (gg*; lo^^ ]*DS"1 with
(^ 0 ^ for pTm. The most notable of all variantsis in Ken. 313
at 9", where for the difficult Q^^flp'^Cji^ hv is read 'V mn'' b^n^,
such a rdg. as the translator desiderates, and supported by (B
(one text) and H. This rdg., first detected by Ken., was en-
thusiastically accepted by JDMich., who proclaimed it 'maso-
rethica lectione ueriorem.' But de R. acutely observes that the
MS has an accompanying Latin tr. and that the unique rdg. is
doubtless a Christian contamination.^
§6. THE HEBREW.
For this subject a large lexical and grammatical apparatus is
now accessible. 1 For the language and diction of the Heb. ref-
'C/. his earlier Der masorcthische Text d. A.T. u. die Ueberlieferung d. hahylon.
Judcn, 1902. For the punctuation system s. Bergstrasser, Eebr. Gramm., pp. 50 jf.,
and esp. Kahle in BL §7.
< This instance opens up an interesting line of inquiry as to MSS; n.h. Ken. 93 has
its bks. arranged, as Ken. notes, 'ace. to the English order.' The same order is found
in the Complutensian Polyglot ( = Ken. 270), whose rdgs. there is no reason to cite,
for the edition is contaminated (as is evident in Dan.) from the Christian Bible by
the ecclesiastical scholarship which edited it.
1 For dictionaries, those of Briggs-Driver-Brown, Gesenius-Buhl, and Konig.
Grammatical ref. is made as far as possible to Gesenius-Kautzsch (also in Eng. tr.
by Cowley). More recent grammars are those by Bergstrasser (igiS), Bauer-
Leander (1922), and Joiion (1923).
14 INTRODUCTION
erence may be made to the statistics in the opposing arguments
of Pusey, pp. 575-598, and Dr., Int., 504-508, summarized in his
Comm., pp. Ix-lxiii; cf. his list of peculiarities in Chr. in the
former work, pp. 535-540, and Curtis, Chr on., pp. 27-36. It is
universally accepted that the language of our bk. is that of
Chr.-Ezr.-Neh. and Est., while its literary use of Eze. is acknowl-
edged as term, a quo for the bk. Whether Dan. is anterior (with
Pusey), or subsequent (with Dr., dating it in the 2d cent.) to
the Chronicler, is the primary moot point. The writer agrees
with Dr., Int., 504, that "the great turning-point in Heb. style
falls in the age of Nehemiah . . . and not, as is sometimes sup-
posed, the Captivity." If this literary judgment is true, then
Dan. can hardly be earlier than the 5th century, and Pusey's
argument falls. If the Chronicler belongs to the 4th century,
as critics now generally hold, and if Ezra's activity is subse-
quent to Neh., c. 400, as many have come to see, the a quo
limit is still further lowered. -
Statistical arguments are not conclusive. E.g., the brief sum-
mary given by Behr., Dan., p. iii, is not rigorous and contains
fallacies; he notes the loss of sense for the modes of the vb. and
their consecution {cf. F. T, Kelly, 'The Imperf. with Simple
Waw,' JBL 39, 21); the absence of the article (but this in cases
where the noun becomes 'proper,' e.g., T\'^*\'2 'Covenant'; at
most a stylism); irregularities and inconsequences within the
book, but most of these may be laid to the account of inten-
tional or accidental change.' The Aramaisms of vocabulary are
actually not numerous.^ In Dr.'s list are noted only TJ, rt.
nnr ,inn ,j?id ,n*o'7D ,'r^^ ,ntyn ,s]pn; phrases like nii'x
HD? ,7 ^7 jflJ; there may be added as features of late usage
the use of Hif. for Kal in certain vbs., and the development of
process as between Piel and Hif., corresponding to that of
NHeb. and the Aram, dialects. The little we possess of com-
parable prose diction of the post-classical Heb. (Neh. is still
classical) is not adequate to provide exact dating. Ben Sirach,
c. 180, wrote in rhetorical poetry, and can only be related to our
^Torrey, Composilion, regards the Memoirs of Ezra as part of the Chronicler's
handiwork, a position that would date that document still later.
^ Cf. the very suggestive thesis by O. H. Bostrom, Alternative Rdgs. in the Heb. of
the Bks. 0/ Sam., Rock Island, igi8.
* See in general Kautzsch, Aratnaismcn im AT, 1902.
§7- THE ARAMAIC 15
bk. in the general characteristic of words, forms and syntax
which are constant in NHeb. It is quite impossible to compare
with Dan. the somewhat earlier EccL, with its barbaric but
masterful diction. The opinion of such a connoisseur of Heb.
diction as Franz Delitzsch, PRE^ 3, 470, himself no radical,
must weigh in casting what is more a literary than a philological
decision: the Heb. of Dan. in "general character resembles the
Heb. of the Chronicler, who wrote shortly before the beginning
of the Gr. period, and, as compared either with the ancient Heb.
or with the Heb. of the Mishnah, is full of singularities and
harshnesses of style." For a document which reads most akin
to the diction of Dan., attention must be called to the so-called
Zadokite Fragments, the cross-references of which with Dan.
have been noted above, §2. In both there are the same obscure
diction and halting grammar, which are only lit up by the moral
earnestness of the authors. As literature the Aram, of the bk.
is of higher order than the Heb. To sum up, the argument from
the Heb. points to a late age in comparison with the known
Biblical literature, and it can be assigned with entire philological
satisfaction to the 2d cent.; while a date earlier than the 4th
cent, cannot on comparative evidence be easily attributed to it.
§7. THE ARAMAIC.
The Biblical texts in this language are found Dan. 2^*^-7 and
Ezr. 4^-6'^ yi2-26^ along with a glossated verse, Jer. lo^S and an
Aram, phrase of two words in parallelism with its Heb. equiva-
lent, Gen. 31''^ — the earliest literary evidence of the language.
This subject requires more attention than should ordinarily
be given in a commentary, for several reasons : the lack of proper
grammatical apparatus for BAram. in English; the great in-
crease of practically contemporary documents bearing on the
language which have not been registered in the manuals; and
the general condition that Aram, is still treated as a luxury and
exotic in the study of the O.T. and, one might add, the N.T.
The one compendious grammar on the subject is still that
by E. Kautzsch, 1884. With this there are the excellent brief
grammars by H. Strack and K. Marti (the latter now in a 3d
ed., 1925, which appeared too late for use in this work). Strack
and Marti include the Aram, texts with glossaries, the glossary
1 6 INTRODUCTION
in Marti being enriched by the contributions of the Iranist
scholar C. F. Andreas. Strack adds some critical apparatus
and also sections of Aram, text with the Bab. punctuation,
edited by Kahle (v. sup. §5). Marti attempts a critically emended
text with the original referred to the marg.; in ed. 2 he adds
also the first three numbers of Sachau's papyri. For grammati-
cal bibliography s. Kautzsch, §8. The grammars of Luzzatto,
Winer and Brown unfortunately treat the Biblical material
along with later Jewish dialects. To his text of Ezr.-Neh.-Dan.
Bar has prefixed 44 pp. of a 'Chaldaismi biblici adumbratio,'
which Noldeke criticised as a 'ganz misslungene Skizze,' GGA
1884, 1014. With this apparatus must now be compared the
grammatical surveys in Sayce-Cowley's and Sachau's editions
of the Elephantine papyri (resp. pp. 14-20, pp. 261-274), ^-s also
in Lidzbarski, NE 389-399.
For lexicographical material BDB (final title-page of date,
1906) cites Sayce-Cowley, but it appeared too early to include
Sachau's material; both collections are fully used in GB. The
Biblical apparatus is now supplemented by the fully collated
Index of the papyrus vocabulary in Cowley, AP.
'Biblical Aramaic' (also Chaldee, Chaldaic, Syriac, s. at 2^)
is an inadequate name, due to its application to what was until
recently the unique Aram, literature found in the O.T.; the
term was in contrast with the later Jewish Aramaic dialects.
With the discovery of Aram, inscriptions going back into the
8th cent., and the gradual unearthing of various brief texts on
clay, papyri, etc., hailing from Mesopotamia and Egypt and the
lands between, culminating in large papyri finds at Elephan-
tine, at the first Cataract of the Nile, in the first decade of this
century, archives of a Jewish garrison colony existing there from
the 6th cent, till c. 400 B.C., we are now in a position to recognize
the dominant language of the later Semitic world, an official
tongue of the empires on the one hand, and on the other a lit-
erary language with products similar to those found in the O.T.'
For the Aramaeans and their language and the earlier"
material the reader is referred to the rich material on the sub-
* The Story of the Three Pages, i Esd. 3^4'-, is a tr. from a Pagan Aram, original,
s. Torrey, Ezra Studies, c. 3. The theme may have motived the Story of the Three
Confessors, Dan. 3. The Ahikar romance now found in the papyri is a similar
product.
§7- TIIE ARAMAIC 1 7
ject.^ For the dialectic differences which arose in the language
and the later division into Eastern and Western with their dia-
lects, similar reference is to be made to the authorities. Fortu-
nately the later dialects and literatures are so close to the earlier
language, with which we are concerned, that their grammar and
vocabulary are in constant requisition; indeed, the whole Aram.
field is indispensable to the close student of the present sub-
ject.^
'In addition to current Dictionary articles, s. Streck, 'Uber d. alteste Gesch. d.
Aramaer,' Klio, 6 (igo6), 1S5; SchiSer, Die Aramder, 1911; E. Kraeling, Aram and
Israel, N. Y., 1918; S. A. Cook, cc. 13-14 of The Cambridge Ancient History, 2 (1924),
s.v. 'Arama;ans' in Index.
For the elder epigraphic material s. CIS ii; selected texts with full vocabulary
and gramm. synopses in Lidzbarski, NE, continued in his Ephemcris, vols. 1-3
(1902-1915), publishing the current fresh material, as does also the Repertoire
d'epigraphie semilique, 1901 seq.; and G. .\. Cooke, NSI 1903, with texts, tr. and
comm. Of specially noteworthy discoveries and finds outside of the papyri may
be noted: for Babylonian dockets, A. T. Clay, 'Aram. Indorsements on the Docu-
ments of the Murashu Sons' (5th cent.) in O.T. and Sent. Studies in Memory of
W. R. Harper, vol. i, 190S, pp. 285-322, and Delaporte, Epigrapkes arameens, 1912;
the ZKR Inscription (now known to have been found near Aleppo, and at last
lodged in the Louvre), Pognon, Inscriptions semitiques de la Syrie, 1907, no. 86.
The wide-spread existence of the language is indicated by an Indian Aram, text,
s. Cowley, 'The First Aram. Inscr. from India,' JRAS 1915, 342 J-, and the Aram.-
Lydian Bilingual, s. Littmann in Publications of the Amer. Soc. for the Excavation
of Sardis, igi6, cf. S. \. Cook, Journ. Hell. Studies, 37 (1917), pp. 77#-. 215 J'., and
Torrey, AJSL 34 (1918), 185 _ff. The oldest Aram, literary document, outside of
the inscriptions, is the ostrakon letter of Asshurbanapal's age published by Lidz.,
Allaram. Urkunden aus Assur, 1921. The writer would enter his caveat against the
listing, with the handbooks, of the Senjirli inscriptions as Aramaic; only the latest
one, the so-called Building Inscription, can be so classed: the others are Hebrew.
The ZKR Inscr. is a medley of both languages.
The standard editions of the two Elephantine collections of papyri are those of
Sayce-Cowley, 1906, and Sachau, 191 1 (with complete photographic reproductions
and inclusion of earlier published papyri material). Sayce-Cowley's papyri appear
in Lietzmann's Kleine Texte, nos. 22, 23, and the first three papyri, ib., no. 32 (as
also in Mar. Gr., s. above), both edited by W. Stiirk; Sachau's material is completely
reproduced in Ungnad, Aram. Papyrus aus Elephantine, 191 1; and finally the whole
of the material, with introductions, bibliography and Index of vocabulary in Cow-
ley, AP 1923. Cowley has also published an Eng. tr. of selected texts in Jewish
Documents of the Time of Ezra, S.P.C.K., 1919. Noel Giron has made some interest-
ing additions to our sources for Egyptian Aramaic: 'Fragments de papyrus arameens
provenant de Memphis' (known to me only in offprint); 'Glanures de mythologie
egyptienne'; Bull, de Vlnstitut Franq. d'Arch. Orientale, 23 (1925), 1-25; 'Tomb with
Aram. Inscriptions,' Aticient Egypt, 1923, 38-43, epigraphs of great historical inter-
est, containing reference to king Tirhaka (read Npinn), placed by the writer be-
tween the middle of the 7th cent, and end of the 6th, prob. the oldest known Egypt.
Aram. text.
'For the Aram, in general s. Noldeke, 'Semitic Languages,' Enc. Brit.', repro-
duced in his Semitische Sprachen, 1887, and his series of arts, on several dialects,
ZDMG 21, 183 #.; 22, 443 _ff.; 24, 85 J.; Chabot, Lcs langues el les littiratures ara-
l8 INTRODUCTION
The assimilation of all this fresh material, especially that
from Egypt, rich not only in personal letters and business and
official documents but also in a noteworthy literary composition
(the Wisdom of Ahikar), has not yet been fully made with
BAram. studies. It has therefore been necessary in the follow-
ing Comm. to make as complete current reference as possible
to the philological phenomena of the fresh texts. The language
of this pre-Christian Aram, was, it is manifest, plastically set,
and had attained literary form. The orthography of our BAram.
texts has suffered in the development of the vowel-letters (in
this in company with all Biblical documents), and there is to be
noticed the subsequent scribal confusion of final N and H, which
in the elder Aram, were neatly distinguished. There has always
been question as to the amount of Hebraism in our texts, with
the general tendency on part of modern critics (e.g., Marti,
Lohr) to regard these cases as later contaminations. But the
papyri, for the most part written also by Jewish hands, show
similar conditions of Hebraism, both in form and vocabulary,
and we may not lightly emend such cases.'* Also contamination
from the later Jewish dialects has been alleged, but such charges
must be very sharply scrutinized.
The Aram, papyri date from the reign of Darius I, with the
transcript of his Behistun Inscription, to a document of the
reign of the pretender Amyrtasus, c. 400 (s. Sachau, APO p. xi,
Cowley, AP no. 35). Their philological bearing upon the date
of the Aram, of Ezr. and Dan. has become at once a moot ques-
tion. Sayce and Cowley remark, APA 20: "Much of the inter-
meennes, igio. For a survey of the WAram. dialects s. Kautzsch, §s; for publica-
tions on the modern Syriac (Lebanon) dialect add Bergstriisser, Abh. f. d. Kunde d.
Morgenlandes, 13 (1915), nos. 2, 3; 15 (1921), no. 4; ZA 23 (1918-19), 103 /.
For the later Jewish Palestinian Aram. (JAram.) s. Dalman's Gr. and the recent
brief Grammar by Stevenson; for the Christian-Palestinian, Schulthess' Lex. and
the recently published Gr. by Schulthess-Littmann, 1924. For the vocabulary of
the later Jewish literature, Talmud, Midrashim, etc., s. the Dictionaries of Buxtorf,
Levy, Jastrow, Dalman. For Syriac there should be named especially the Gram-
mars by Duval and Noldeke, and for its lexicography Payne Smith's Thesaurus,
the manual Dictionary by Payne Smith-Margoliouth, and Brockelman's Lexicon,
now in process of a greatly enlarged 2d ed., 1923 scq. Noldeke's Mandaische Gr. is
an indispensable adjunct.
* See the excellent Thesis by H. H. Powell, The Supposed Hebraisms in the Gram-
mar of the Biblical Aramaic, whose positions, sometimes too stringent in claiming
unnecessarily overmuch as Aramaic, have in general been approved by the lan-
guage and grammar of the papyri.
§7- THE ARAMAIC 19
est lies in the many points of contact which they show as rep-
resented by the bks. of Ezr. and Dan."; similarly Sachau, in the
preliminary publication of his first three papyri, p. 3: "Die
Sprache, in der sie geschrieben sind, ist in alien wesentlichen
Stucken identisch mit derjenigen der aram. Kapitel in den
Biichern Esra u. Daniel," an observation omitted in the fuller
edition. R. D. Wilson has pressed this identity of dialect in his
paper, 'The Aram, of Dan.' 191 2, followed independently by
C. Boutflower, In and Around the Bk. of Dan., 1923, c. 21. The
primary impression the student obtains is in agreement with
this position, which has a crucial bearing upon the dating of
the Aram, sections of the Bible. But Torrey has subjected this
alleged identity to a searching test in 'The Aram, of the Bk. of
Dan.,' AJSL 1908, 232^. = Ezra Studies, 1910, 161 _^. He lays
particular stress on the historical process of Aram. T (when =
Arab. J) to T; in BAram. T alone appears, whereas in the
papyri T is predominant, and is universal in the Bab. dockets.
The dental demonstratives are of the theme T except in the
combinations '':3^'»T ,S';:"I ,''21 (each once, in APA, E, F, of
resp. dates 447, 441); also, including papyri published after
Torrey 's work, we find DHT 5 times vs. '2,T\1 once; 13T in 6
papp. vs. 13T in 2 ( ?) ; and ""ST = ''3T each once apiece. It is
objected by Wilson and Boutflower that in Akk. the OAram. z
is represented by d, e.g., idri = "ITJ^; but the Bab. dockets
always have T (s. Delaporte, cited above, n. 2). Thus this proc-
ess is only at its beginning in the papyri. On the other hand
the process oi U = Arab, i into H had already taken place by
the 6th cent. Also it may be noted that OAram. p = Arab.
(/ = later Aram. V appears in the dockets, e.g., pIS, exclusively;
in the papyri both p"lS and yii<, the former alone in the an-
cient Ahikar narrative; but outside of the early Aram, gloss
Jer. 1 1 10 never in BAram. Torrey also notes that the papyri
have for the 3d pi. pron. "ll^n [also QH ,]n], whereas BAram.
has along with IDH (Ezr.) or_ ^i^T] _(Dan.) also the later jlJ^.
Dan. again alone uses the latter as a demonstrative (2-**) and
has the unique pT; but the papyri exhibit a variety of pro-
nominal forms, and little argument can be laid on these forms.
Such evidence is not extensive, but the whole weight of dif-
ferences (as Torrey says: "the points of difference are what we
20 INTRODUCTION
need most to consider") forces the present writer to hold that
the Aram, of Dan. is not earlier than within the 5th cent., is
more likely younger, certainly is not of the 6th cent. As he
holds that cc. 1-6 are earlier than cc. 7-12 (s. §21, b), he has
no disposition to date down the former section too far.^
§8. FOREIGN WORDS.
Foreign importations into the vocabulary of Dan. have, apart
from their philological interest, a crucial bearing upon the
problem of the age of the bk., and so require some detailed no-
tice. See, in addition to the Lexx., Friedr. Delitzsch in Bar, pp.
vi-xii, Kautzsch, §64, Behrmann, Dan., p. Lx. Dr., Conim., pp.
Ivi seq. i and for arguments in rebuttal of the alleged witness of
such words for the late composition of the bk., inter al., Pusey,
Notes A seq. (at end of vol.), Boutflower, cc. 21, 22, containing
a useful exposition of the possible influences of Greece upon the
Orient; cf. his Chronological Table III, p. xvii, for early con-
tacts of the Greeks with the Orient. In the following summary
listing, the place in the Comm. is cited where discussion of the
word in question is given; if it occurs elsewhere in the O.T. the
bks. are indicated.
a. Words from the Akkadian.
Cf. Zimmern in KAT 6-jS Jf. Omitting ancient borrowings,
e.g., ^iSTl ,D''1D ,"lSD ,nnS, we note the following:
TJl"!^ 5' = P-)"*^ elsewhere in O.T.
m;3 8=, Ch., Neh., Est.
jrt 2« Ecc, Est., BSir.
i^ij 2^ = -iSi; Ezr. 6",
jit? 2*^, Is. 41, Jer., Eze., etc.
3r; Shaf. ^vz' 315,
nns 2".
T V
f^n'j'O 5^''= Aram. vnSn 5^.
Also note Dy;p with Akk. mng. 3'°, and so prob. hry 5^.
' Wilson rightly takes issue with Dr. over the latter's contentions for the late
character of the Aram, of Dan., many of which the papyri invalidate. But Wilson
commits the same fallacy of indiscriminatingly appealing to the later dialects. It
may be remarked that we have no evidence from this age for a distinction, as
Noldeke and most postulate, between EAram. and WAram.
§8b. PERSIAN WORDS 21
b. Persian words.
niJ-nN 3^, an officer.
N-TTN 2^, 'made known.'
|3i.-irnN, 3", 'satrap,' Ezr., Est.
pDN 11^5^ 'palace.'
na-j^ 3=, an officer (or = -\2V Ezr. f\
or a dittograpli).
PT 7-5 'law,' Ezr., Est. (occurrence
Dt. 33- an error).
■'?71 3"> an officer.
■>37l' 3'*, an officer.
D^n 2^, 'limb.'
'^■?r'?q (etc.) 5^, 'necklace.'
li 3^, 'species,' Ps., Ch., BSir.
11D 6', an officer.
nn-^? i^ 'noble.'
jpns I*, 11=", 'provision.'
a,!?? 3'S 'word,' Est., Eccl.
IT 4^, ' secret.'
vnpn 3-, an officer.
nj-ij 7 15 is to be excluded as a corruption. For njraj s. at 2«, and for raa
at 3='.
All these words are found in the Aram, section, exc. three,
and two of these in c. i, which is possibly a tr. from the Aram.
Eight are official titles. As the history of Dan. through cc. 1-5
is enacted under Bab. kings, it is passing strange that so much
Pers. vocabulary, actually including Pers. titles, is included.
Sachau, APO 268, enumerates (prob. not exact list) for his
papyri of the 5th cent, about twelve words of Pers. origin, and
Sayce-Cowley, p. 20, three or four more. The correspondence
between the Elephantine colony and the Pers. governor (Sa-
chau's papp. 1-3) contains only one Pers. word, 1*^iri^3 'gov-
ernor,' I, 1. 5. In the Aram, copy of Darius I's Behistun Inscr.
there are no Persian words exc. proper names. Accordingly the
Pers. must have made its way very slowly into the Aram., as
we might expect for the language of the conquerors of a highly
civilized people. Boutflower notes, p. 244, 'the fourteen words
which belong to court life,' and argues: "That these words
should be expressed in the OPers. by a writer in the position
occupied by Dan. is really nothing to be wondered at, nay, is
almost what we might expect." But why should even a royal
official, who was a Semite and had enjoyed most of his life and
experiences under Bab. monarchs, be so contaminated in the
diction of his old age with the vocabulary of the new empire?
Indeed his Pers. vocabulary is more extensive than his Baby-
lonian.
This fairly large proportion of Pers. words in the Aram, sec-
tion of the bk. is an argument for the distinction of the first and
22 INTRODUCTION
the second half of the volume, and further points to the origin
of the first part in Babylonia, not Palestine; s. §21, a.^
c. Greek words.
There are three words of undisputed Gr. origin, and one gen-
erally so accepted. The latter is 8Ti^3 3^ 'herald,' a genuine
Sem. formation from Krjpva-attv -^ s. Behr., p. ix; but Noldeke,
GGA 1884, 1019, doubts the Gr. origin. The other words appear
in the list of musical instruments in 3^, etc.: DIH'^p = Ktdapi'i-^
j''"iniDD= -^jraXTijpiov^ N''JSD'1D= crvii^oivia. On these words
s. Dr., Comm., p. Iviii. The KidapL<; is an ancient instrument; the
■y^aXTrjpLOv first appears in Aristotle; the word o"f/A<^a't'ta, ' har-
mony, ' first in Plato, while in the sense of a musical instrument
it is first used, probably, in Polybius. And this latter authority
uses it, as Dr. notes, "singularly in his account of the festivities
in which Antiochus Epiphanes indulged (xxvi, 10, 5; xxxi, 4, 8)."
The rebuttal of this evidence for a low date lies in the stress-
ing of the potentialities of Gr. influence in the Orient from the
6th cent, and on; cf., e.g., J. Kennedy, The Bk. of Dan. from a
Christian Standpoint, 1898, App. II, and Boutflower, c. 22. The
latter offers arguments based upon alleged Hellenic influences in
the Orient, e.g., the introduction of the Ionic column, while
the tiling in Nebuchadnezzar's throne-room, discovered by Kol-
dewey, is even ascribed to that influence. Without doubt we
may no longer close our eyes to the interchanges of the currents
of the Eastern Mediterranean civilizations; yet we are equally
learning more and more of the profound influences exerted by
the East upon the West. In the matter of music, for instance,
the Orient was far developed; s. the literature on the subject in
the Comm. at c. 3. If our bk. were otherwise an approved docu-
ment of the 6th cent., we should be forced to allow that the
words in question were of early coinage. But as the evidence
stands, these Gr. words must incline the scales toward a later
dating. We may allow that the cautious Driver speaks too
* The Pers. had very slight influence upon the Gr., at least to the lower limits of
the Hellenic Golden Age. The present fancy of postulating an extensive Pers. influ-
ence in the West must reckon with this philological fact. Sayce, The Higher Criticism
and the Monuments, 493 /., notes the absence of Pers. vocabulary in the Bab. docu-
ments.
§9- THE LITERARY FORM OF THE BOOK 23
positively in his categorical statement, p. Ixiii, that "the Gr.
words demand ... a date after Alex, the Great"; we might
prefer to express his opinion in terms of likelihood; but with
every decade as we move back the likelihood would diminish
progressively toward zero. The Gr. words are, until more light
comes, to be put in the scales with those from Persia, and both
categories require a heavy counterweighting to resist their logi-
cal pressure. 2
In addition to the above words Torrey has argued for the
derivation of DJnS from <^^ey/xa; but s. Comm. at 3'^ One Gr.
word appears in the papyri, j"irir,D = araTrjpe^^ in Sachau,
APO Pap., 35, of date c. 400, dated in the reign of the Graecizing
Amyrtaeus, also in a few other undated papyri. In one or two
places the writer has suggested Gr. influence upon the diction,
e.g., 12^ '^^^= V oUov/xePT].
§9. THE LITERARY FORM OF THE BOOK.
It is to the credit of Bertholet in his comm., 1806, to have
first recognized poetic passages in the bk., distinguishing them
by aligning their (poetic) verses in his translation, but without
further discussion of their form. Ewald in his comm., after his
usual method, cast his whole translation into apparently metri-
cal form by a system of caesuras. Otherwise this literary char-
acteristic has been generally disregarded by comm. and ignored
in histories of O.T. Literature. Marti has given very meritori-
ous attention to this feature, s. his Dan., p. xi, and has cast many
passages into poetic form with attempt at metrical analysis.
This cue has been taken up, fortunately, by the Jewish Version,
as well as by Lohr and Charles. An extreme attempt was made
by E. Bayer, Danielstudien, the second Study in which is 'Der
Strophenbau des Buches Dan.,' with a translation of the whole
bk. in verse and strophe. But this is an exaggerated feat with-
out metrical control. Szold has attempted something similar for
c. II, s. Int. to that chap.
The writer has made a moderate attempt at marking out such
poetic passages in the translation, with pertinent remarks, but
not going as far as Marti. The forms are too spontaneous to
*Dalman notes 25 Gr. words (ace. to the count of Wilson, op. cit., 2g6) inTarg.
Onk., s. his Gr. §37.
24 INTRODUCTION
be allowed to control the text. The cases exhibit the fact that
Aram, diction could break out into poetry as does Heb. and
Arab., in both of which we find the art of the improvisatore as
in the Italian, a well-known literary phenomenon which has
been ignored by many critics who would put the Hebrew writers
into metrical strait-jackets. Charles has taken the pains of
pointing out the same phenomenon in the Apocalyptic literature.
The form of Aram, poetry is similar to that of Heb. with mea-
sured beats, generally trimeter; cf. the recognition by Torrey of
a 3-beat rhythm in the Story of the Three Pages in 2 Esd., s.
Ezra Studies, p. 47, and by Lidzbarski for the Mandaic, Man-
ddische Liturgien, p. xiii, a form which he believes was carried
over into the Manichaean Turkish, Gottingen Nachrichten, 191 8,
SOI.
I find definite metrical structure in 3^^ 4^-^- ''^-^- "-^'', and the
greater part if not all of vv. 21-34; in 6"-2», y^-i"- i^-^*- ^^-^', g^S i23.
But metrical criticism may not be pushed too far in the premises.
in. ANCIENT VERSIONS.
§10. SUMMARY ACCORDING TO LANGUAGES.
The ancient VSS often present an older form of text than
that of ^, or at least worthy and interesting primitive varieties.
The only method for the study of the VSS lies in the way of
their genetic relationships, their language is a very secondary
item. But it is convenient to give a preliminary survey of them
according to language.
a. Greek.
For introduction to the ancient Gr. VSS, their mss, editions,
etc., reference can be made to Swete's Introduction, and in detail
for the Greek and all important VSS to the often indispensable
articles, s. voce. 'Versions,' 'Septuagint,' 'Theodotion,' and the
like, in the BDD, DCB, PRE\ Cf. also the more popular Hand^
hook to the Septuagint by Ottley, 1920. The texts primarily fol-
lowed in this Comm. are those presented by Swete in vol. 3 of
his O.T. in Greek (the Int. to which vol. should be consulted for
further discussion of the mss employed) ; the text of Theodotion
appears (but not based on photographic material) in Tischen-
§IOA. GREEK 25
dorf-Nestle's text (Nestle being also a large contributor to
Swete's ed.). For the bk. of Dan., Swete offers a more extensive
and varied apparatus than usual for the Gr. books. On the left-
hand page he gives the vulgarly called ' Septuagint ' text, taken
from Cozza's transcript of the unique ms in the Vatican, and
in the marg. the variants of the parallel ' Syro-Hexaplar ' (v. inf.),
retranslated from Syriac into Gr. On the right-hand page ap-
pears the VS of 'Theodotion' after the text of the uncial B, with
the variants of the other uncials A Q and the fragmentary F,
the texts of A B Q being collated from the photographic repro-
ductions of those codices now at hand, that of the palimpsest T
from the collation of Cozza, Sacrorum Bibliorum letustissima
fragmenta graeca et latina, vol. i.
The standard list of Gr. mss of the O.T. is now that pub-
lished by Rahlfs in his Verzeichncss. For the rdgs. of all other
MSS except those named above the student of Dan. has had to
rely upon the vast variorum work of Holmes and Parsons (HP),
1798-1827, now accordingly a century old. The writer and his
collaborators have been able to add some fresh photographic
and other material, v. inf.
The material may be conveniently divided into the following
groups:
(i) The Old Greek or 'Septuagint.'
The Old Greek VS of Dan., belonging to that corpus of trans-
lations which is roughly called ' Septuagint ' in distinction from
later VSS, was early banned by Christian scholarship because
of its glaring discrepancy from the neritas hebraica. A unique
cursive MS of that earliest translation alone exists, in the Codex
Chisianus, where it is followed, after selections from Hippolytus'
comm. on Dan., by a text of the Theodotionic type. Its dis-
covery and publication have a romantic history. Pope Alexan-
der VII, a member of the Chigi family, to which the ms be-
longed, intrusted it to Leo Allatius, librarian of the Vatican
(b. 1586, d. 1609) for publication, but the undertaking was not
carried out. It was resumed a century later by Vincent de
Regibus and Joseph Bianchini, both of whom died before their
labors were over, and the work was finally brought to the press,
anonymously, as far as the imprint shows, by Simon de Magi-
stris (de Maitres) in 1772 in folio, a title in Greek and Latin, s.
Bibliography. The vol. contains also Hipp.'s comm. and the
26 INTRODUCTION
Theodotionic text noticed above, along with five long disserta-
tions, the work of Bianchini. The edition was not copied directly
from the MS but from a copy made by de Regibus. Several re-
prints of the text rapidly appeared, but they are now antiquated
for d by the critical edition of Cozza in his Sacroruni Bibliorum
vetustissima fragmenta graeca et latina, part 3, Rome, 1877. This
is the text published by Swete as noted above. There is used for
this text the symbol (^, which covers equally the Syro-Hexa-
plar; where the two differ in their rdgs. they are distinguished
by the sigilla (&^ and Cl^. This avoids the unfortunate confu-
sion which appears to have arisen through the confusing of
Holmes-Parsons' symbol; Parsons used 88 (for both ® and ©),
Field corrected this to 87, and the error has been perpetuated
by Swete; s. the writer's note, JBL 1925, p. 289, n. 5.^
(2) The Theodotionic group.
The remaining Gr. mss belong to the stock of the transla-
tion ascribed by ecclesiastical tradition to Theodotion (s. §12).
The name (©) is used here in a general way as including the later
Hexaplaric and Lucianic revisions with much material of Aquila
and Symmachus in glosses. But in case of variation among the
strata, 0 is used strictly of the primitive translation. For the
material we have:
The uncial codices A (Alexandrinus), B (Vaticanus), Q (Mar-
chalianus), the fragmentary F (Codex rescriptus cryptoferraten-
sis, text of Cozza, op. cit., vol. i), the first three in photographic
reproduction and all in Swete's apparatus; and V (= HP 23),
of which a collation from photographs in connection with this
work has been published by C. D. Benjamin (s. §14).
> A reprint of the cdilio princcps, in small format and with the exclusion of the
Dissertations, was published at Gbttingen in 1773 (also the imprint 1774 appears),
anonymously but at the hand of J. D. Michaelis. This was followed by editions by
Segaar, Utrecht, 1775, and H. A. Hahn, Lpzg., 1845. See for bibliography and
earlier discussions Bludau, De alexandrinae inter pretationis libri Danielis indole criiica
et hermencutica, Miinster, 1891, pp. 37 Jf-, and the same scholar's Die alex. Ueberset-
zung d. Buches Daniel, 1897 = Biblische Studien, ii, parts 2, 3, pp. 2$f. For a note
on the authorship s. Nestle, DB 4, 441 b. The earlier editions still have a value far
their presentation of the text of the little studied Theodotion of the ms. An unreg-
istered edition is a print by S. Bagster, London, n.d., The Gr. Sept. Vs. of the O.T.
according to the Vatican Edition together with the Real Septuagint Vs. of Dan., etc.
The MS has been generally assigned to the gth cent.; but Tischendorf (Prolegomena
to his Vetus Testamentum Graece, ed. 4, p. xlviii, n. 3), Vercellone (s Field, Hexapla,
2, 567), Bleek-Wellhausen, Einl.*, 588, Lohr, ZATW 1895, 76, put the date in the
nth cent.; cf. also Swete, O.T. in Gr., 3, p. xii.
§IOA. GREEK 27
Cursives HP 62 147 have been similarly collated and pub-
lished (v. ibidem). Of HP's remaining thirty numbers four (37
45 61 132) are lectionaries, mostly confined to cc. 2, 3; 149
contains cc. 3-6, 105 is a fragment of 3 w., 229 is the Bible text
in a MS of Theodoret's comm. For HP 0 88 I have adopted the
sigillum c (chisianus), so as to avoid the confusion noted above,
following the editio prima and Michaelis' reprint.
In addition the very full Bible text — by rough calculation
about four-fifths of the whole — contained in Hipp.'s comm.,
now published in full by Bonwetsch, has been adduced for the
apparatus, = h. A Jerusalem MS of the Prophets from the
Holy Sepulchre has been studied from a photographic copy;
for the MS s. Swete, Int., p. 268, at end of list, Rahlfs, p. 84,
Holy Sepulchre, no. 2. The latter text is Lucianic without par-
ticular value. Tisserant has published Lucianic fragments of
^2-15 jj^ j^is Codex zuquinensis, Rome, 1911."
(3) The Versions of Aquila and Symmachus.
Theodotion has been noticed first against the usual academic
traditional custom; for the reasons s. §13. Aq. and Sym. may
be grouped together, for their fragmentary remains are found
in the same sources. The thesaurus of these materials is Field,
Origenis hexaplorum quae supersuni, etc. (Hex.), 2 vols., 1875.^
A close study of the Gr. of Dan. adds considerably to our
knowledge of those translators, especially of Aq. As in the other
O.T. bks. our prime source of information is the Syro-Hexaplar,
with the respective initials generally marking the glosses from
'the Three,' Aq., Theod., Sym. These materials, redone into
Gr., most usefully appear in Swete's marg. to the (S text. There
come next the citations of the Three found in the Fathers, Euse-
bius, Theodoret, Chrysostom, etc., and especially in Jer.'s very
ample and close comm. And in addition we have glosses of
' The writer has not had opportunity to try out thoroughly the ingenious and
reasonable theory of F. Wutz for a transcription of the Heb. into Gr. letters as
basis for the Gr. VSS: ' Die Transkriptionen von der Septuaginta bis zu Hieronymus,'
Beilr. z. Wiss. d. A.T., Heft g, 1925. Wutz applies his theory to the two VSS of
Dan., pp. 168-175. But many of his alleged proofs can be explained far more satis-
factorily from corruptions, oral and scribal, in the Sem. field. Cf. for example my
Notes at 2', 2" for satisfactory explanations which do not require his theory. The
theorj' is hardly applicable to much of <8's free and fluid rendering.
' N.b. also the Auctarium at end of vol. 2, p. 57, for additional notes. Add to
the abundant literature on this subject J. Reider, Prolegomena to a Gr.-Heb. and
Ileb.-Gr. Index to Aquila, Dropsie College, 1916. The only drawback to this val-
uable treatise is that it lacks the necessary indices.
28 INTRODUCTION
scholiasts to mss, marked or unmarked. Q has some of this
marked material, s. at 4^^, lo*- ^°, 11", with a case in A at 9^, all
which uncial evidence is given in Swete's marg. Still more ma-
terial to be diagnosed as Aquilanic or Symmachian is found in
certain other mss (v. inf.). And probing of the Hexaplaric addi-
tions to (^ and 0 discovers much more material (from which
contaminations no MS is free, not even B), that is also to be
referred to those translators.
In the following Comm. the material of this order which is
had in Field, much of which is handily given by Swete, is not
cited except for reason. The two translations have little bearing
upon the text, for their text is with a minimum of slight excep-
tions that of i^. Their importance, apart from their testimony
to the fixation of the text, consists in their interpretations, rep-
resenting as they do, in Aq. at least, authoritative Rabb. exege-
sis of the first third of the 2d cent., and hence invaluable for the
substance and history of interpretation. For brevity's sake ref-
erence must be made ad. loc. to the Notes for notable rdgs. In
general both translators exhibit the same characteristics as ap-
pear elsewhere in the O.T.
In addition to these definitely annotated glosses and the
Patristic citations, which are fully given by Field, there are
many unique rdgs. and some marginal glosses, most of which
are probably to be referred to those Jewish translators. Most of
such glosses are found in HP 36 (10 in number); V and 26^ fol-
low in number of peculiar rdgs. There are over 30 such cases
not noticed by Field, the character of which refers them to
those translators. These will be noted when of interest ad loc.
For a sample there is the unique and correct rendering by c of
NPIu) 519 by 'icroi^e (© 'irvmev)^ so only ^. Field notes two
citations from o 'E/3paco^ (s. Hex., i, p. Ixxi seq.), at i' and at
9^6 (Auctarium, p. 58).
But the influence of these translations amounts to far more
than a list of citations can show. Origen's Hexapla rested largely
for form at least, much less in peculiar vocabulary, upon Aquila.
This element will be discussed more at length in connection with
the Hexaplaric revisions, s. §14. An exemplary case of filling a
lacuna from Aq. is found in (8 ii4ib-42a_
* Klostermann on this MS, Anahcla, lo: "Der als Repriisentent der Rezension
des Hesychius (Cornill, Ceriani) [?] wichtige Codex ist nicht gut kollationiert."
§IOB. LATIN 29
(4) The Mediaeval Graeco-Venetus.
This is a version (Gr/"") contained in a unique ms at Venice,
first made known in the i8th cent. It has been partly published
in an exemplary edition by O. Gebhardt: Graecus Venetus: Pen-
tateuchi Proverbiorum Ruth Cantici Ecclesiastae Threnorutn Da-
nielis versio graeca, 1875, with pref. by Franz Delitzsch. It was
probably made toward the end of the 14th cent, by a cosmopoli-
tan Jew (one Elissaeus of Constantinople, as Delitszch suggests),
and is done in a way that has earned for him the title of a
'second Aquila.' The Aram, section of Dan. is rendered, by a
remarkable tour deforce, in Doric in contrast to the Attic of the
rest of the tr. It has no value for text criticism, but is of inter-
est as representing Jewish interpretation of the age, Kimhi being
the translator's master. See Kamphausen, TSK 1876, 577-586;
JE 'Elissaeus,' and vol. 3, 1876.
b. Latin.
(i) The Old Latin.
By this title is meant a version, or rather group of versions,
of sporadic origin, which preceded Jerome's translation, the Vul-
gate, which was published early in the 5th cent. The latter is
in general so original that its predecessors can easily be distin-
guished, even in texts compounded of the old and the new.^
The OLat. texts are sub- versions from the Gr., and in respect
to pre-Hieronymian citations are based upon ® and 0. For the
change from the former to the latter, which appears in TertuUian
and his disciple Cyprian (the date of the Latin of Irenaeus is
now a moot question), reference is to be made to the discussion
in §12, c. The MS fragments and the great majority of the pre-
Hieronymian citations are based on 0, and the symbol 21 will
denote Latin texts of that character.
The citations present very complicated problems. But schol-
arship has been for some time in the fortunate possession of sev-
eral extensive fragments of Dan. These were published by E.
Ranke: Fragmenta versionis sacrarum scriptiirarum latina ante-
hieronymiana, Vienna, 1868 (the 'Weingarten' Fragments), cov-
ering Dan. 2^*-^^, 92^-10" (= Ba^^"*"'); Par palimpsestorum wirce-
' See H. A. A. Kennedy, DB 352 ff., for a full and compact art., 'Old Latin Ver-
sions,' with good bibliography; and now Dold's vol., to be mentioned immediately,
with its citations of more recent literature.
30 INTRODUCTION
hurgensmm, Vienna, 1871 (the Wurzburg Fragments = W^^^),
containing Dan. i^^-^^^ T^n-(.bo)^ 8^-91°, lo^-ii"^; another fragment,
J. j35-39 jj^ Stutgardiana versionis sacrarum scripturarum latinae an-
tehieronymianae fragmenta, Vienna, 1 888 (so the copy at hand —
I suppose identical with the variant title noted by Dold, p. 3,
n. I, Antiquissimae Veteris Testatnenti latinae fragmenta stutgar-
diana, Marburg, 1888); and by P. Corssen, Zwei netie Fragmente
der Weingartner Prophetenhandscrift nebst einer Untersuchnng
iiber das Verhdltniss d. Weing. u. Wiirzb. Prophetenhandschrijt,
Berlin, 1899 (which I have not seen).
Since the practical conclusion of this apparatus there has come
to hand a most important and exhaustive volume by A. Dold:
'Konstanzer altlateinische Propheten- u. Evangelien-Bruch-
stiicke: mit Glossen,' etc., Lpzg., 1923, in Texte u. Arbeiten
herausgegeben durch die Erzabtei Beuron, i Abt., Heft 7-9. The
learned author appears to have substantiated the fact that the
so-called ' Weingarten ' Fragments (a fortuitous name) and the
Stuttgart Fragment came originally from the cathedral library
in Konstanz. He has accordingly edited under attribution to
that place all the ms material which he and his predecessors
have been able to ferret out in various parts of Germany (often
found made up in bookbindings !), including the Weingarten
and Stuttgart material. (The earlier editors with their notes and
commentaries are by no means antiquated; but there is con-
stant revision of the earlier rdgs. of the obscure, often palimp-
sest, texts.) Dold has also contributed considerable fragments
of an unpublished text from the monastery at St. Gall: i^-*,
^20-22^ ^^3o_gic (some sections fragmentary), 9-^-10^, 11^-12"; also
fragments of the Apocryphal Additions. This fresh material
came too late for digestion for this work; but important data
will be registered in the Comm. Dold's volume is encyclopaedic
in character; it contains, inter al., a comparison of the Dan.
texts with the Patristic citations, pp. 154-158; cf. the summary,
p. 279. The present writer allows his own list of citations, given
below, to stand, as representing his own sources. Naturally the
apparatus of the Comm. depends primarily upon these authen-
tic fragments for its use of the OLat.
For the OLat. Patristic citations the one corpus is the classic
collection by P. Sabatier, Bibliorum sacrarum latinae vcrsiones
antiquae seuvetus Italica, Rheims, 1739-49, reprinted Paris, 1757.
§IOB.
LATIN
31
Its material for Dan. is meagre, and the writer has had to make
his own collation.^ He has found gleanings of interest, some of
them of textual importance, and presents the survey of citations
in outline; it will serve at least for registration of the OLat.
references in the Comm. The Fragments of 21 are also in-
cluded. The whole material covers perhaps three-quarters of
the bk.^ For critical discussion of this material s. §§12, 13.
ii6_229 wzb.
2I8 j3 Wng. = Const.
2^^ Cassiod., In Ps., loi.
231-35 Cypr., Test., ii, 17; Maternus,
c. 21.
2^ '• Iren., v, 26; cf. iv, 34, 10.
234 f. Tycon., p. 2.
241-M Iren., v, 26, i.
315- (50) Wzb.
^le-is Cypr., Test., iii, i; cf. Ep. ad
Fort., c. II, Epp. vi, viii; Spec, c.
44.
2(25J7) Aug., Ep., p. 646; cf. Cypr.,
De laps., c. 31.
3 ("-^' Cypr., Test., iii, 20.
3 <''-^^' Aug., Ep., cxi.
3(51) Cypr., De doni. or., c. 8.
3 (" ff) Aug., De civ., xi, 9.
324b-25 jren., v, 5, 2.
4'''-'' Spec, c. 114.
4=°-", 4'''-8i« Const.
4^ Cypr., De opere ei eleem., c. 5.
S" ^/'ec, c. 3.
^25-28 j)g prom., ii, 34.
624 (23) -28 (27) ^^.p^.^ TeSt., iii, 20.
7'-" Lucif., c. 30.
7* Iren., v, 25, 2; Victor., In Apoc,
xiii, 2.
7'-'" Ps.-Cypr., Ad Nov., c. 17.
7'° Iren., ii, 6, 2; Tycon., p. 60.
7'' ^- Iren., iv, 34, 10, cf. iii, 20, 2, iv,
50, I, iv, 55, i; Cypr., Test., ii, 26;
Maternus, c. 25; Aug., De civ.,
xviii, 34.
^I acknowledge particular debt to Burkitt's studies, 'The Rules of Tyconius,'
TS iii, and 'The Old Latin and the Itala,' ib., iv, to which further reference will be
made. Cf. now Dold's register of citations, p. 279, noted above.
'The texts used are:
Augustine, De civ. Dei, ed. Dombert, 1877; Epistolae, ed. Goldbacher, CSEL
vol. 34, pt. 2.
Cassiodorus, In Psalmos, PL 70.
Commodianus (c. 250), ed. Dombert, CSEL vol. 15 (for citation of Biblical phrases
s. his Index).
Cj^jrian, ed. Hartel, CSEL vol.3, pt. i; Ps. -Cyprian, Ad Novalianum, ib., pt. 3.
Irenaeus, ed. Harvey.
Julius Firmicus Maternus (fl. 350), PL vol. 12.
Julius Hilarianus, De mundi duralione libellus, PL vol. 12, pp. 1102 ff.
Lucifer Calaritanus (c. 350), De tion parcendo in Deum dclinquentibus, ed. Hartel,
CSEL vol. 13.
Tertullian, Adv. ludaeos, ed. Oehler.
Tyconius, ed. Burkitt, TS vol. 3, pt. i.
Victorinus of Pettau, ed. Haussleiter, CSEL vol. 39 (against Bludau, p. 19, Vict,
also uses 0).
De Pascha computus (c. 253?), ed. Hartel, CSEL vol. 3, pt. 3.
De promissionibus et praedictionibus Dei (Ps. -Prosper), PL 51, 733 ./T. (largely cited
by Sabatier).
32
INTRODUCTION
y 15-28 Aug., Dc civ., xx, 23.
720-25 Iren., v, 25, 2.
f Iren., v, 34, 2.
8^ 5/'cc., c. 114.
gs-gio Wzb.
giib-iz ii-en., V, 25, 3.
823-25 Iren., ib.
g,i-2b Tert., v4(^z). lud., c. 8.
g3.2o Aug., Ep., cxi.
9^-' Cypr., Z)e laps., c. 31.
9='-" Tert., c. 8.
g23-27 jD^ prom., ii, 35.
g24-27 j)g pascha, c. 13.
g25_jQii Wng. = Const.
g25 Victor., De fabrica niiindi, c. 8.
g26_jQ6 Const.
9^8 Commod., ApoL, 11. 267/.
9" Iren., v, 25, 3.
lO^-II'
Wzb.
1 1 6_ J J 31 Const.
J J 16-23 Const. (Corssen).
ii20J3 Wzb.
11^^12" Const.
JJ35-39 Const. (Ranke's Stuttg.).
j2ib-3 Aug., De civ., xx, 23, xxii, 3.
12- Spec, c. 27.
12^ Iren., iv, 40, i;Spec., cxvi.
12*- ""Iren., iv,4o, i; Cypr.,rc5/.,i,4.
12"'' Cass., In Ps. li.
(12'-" Iren., i, 12, Gr. and Lat. texts,
citation of C§ from Marcosian
source.)
12'^ Iren., v, 34, 2; Aug., De civ., xx,
23; ^/-ec, c. 27.
Susanna (always preceding Dan.).
13I-3 Cjqir., Test., iii, 20.
i3« 5^ec., c. 3.
cc. 13-14 Iren., s. Harvey's Index.
(2) The Vulgate.
For Jerome's Version (H) s. the full article by H. J. White,
'Vulgate,' BD. The text used in this Comm. is Tischendorf's
Biblia sacra latina Veteris Testamenti, 1873, being the official
Clementine text, with the rdgs. of the Codex Amiatinus in the
marg. These rdgs. will be distinguished by H'^'", they are almost
always preferable to the received text. It may be noted that in
his comm. Jer. does not always follow his tr., probably in such
cases borrowing from iH.
c. Coptic.
There are two printed texts of Coptic translations of Dan.,
both of them being sub-versions from the Gr.^
(i) The elder, in the Sahidic dialect of Upper Egypt, was
published by A. Ciasca, Fragmenta copto-sahidica Musei Bor-
giani, Rome, 1889. Its fragments of Dan. are 7^'^^ 8^^-^^, 9'-^^,
lo^- ^-", 65 vv. in all. For my knowledge of this VS, as yet un-
translated, I am indebted to Prof. G. A. Barton for a translation
he kindly made for me, and to Dr. Gehman, who has assisted me
' See Vaschalde, RB 29, 253, for other fragments and citations in a series entitled
'Ce qui a ete public des versions coptes de la Bible.' On the general subject s.
Hyvernat, 'fitude sur les versions coptes,' ib., 3, 429.
§IOD. SYRIAC S3
in a critical examination of the text. It belongs to the Theo-
dotionic tradition and will be treated in §12, J as CH^.
(2) The VS in the Bohairic dialect, of Lower Egypt, was pub-
lished by H. Tattam in Prophetae Majores in dialecto linguae
aegyptiacae memphitica seu coptica, Oxford, 1852, vol. 2, accom-
panied with a Latin tr. As (H^ it belongs to the Hexaplaric
group, s. §14.
d. Syriac.
There are two distinct translations accessible:
(i) The earlier translation (vulgarly called Peshitto) made
directly from the original (= ^) appears in practically identical
texts in the Paris and London Polyglots, the Lee (1823) and
Urmia (1852) editions, and the photographic copy of the Am-
brosian Codex published by A. Ceriani, Translatlo syra Peschitto
Veteris Testamenti ex cod. ambrosiano, Milan, 1876 seq.^ The
London Polyglot has been generally consulted in this Comm.
(2) The Ambrosian ' Syro-Hexaplar ' text has been sump-
tuously published by Ceriani in photographic facsimile, Codex
syro-hexaplaris ambrosianus, 1874, as vol. 7 of his Monumenta
sacra et profana, Milan.^" It is a literal translation of a copy of
Origen's Hexapla made, as the scribal notes attest, for Paul of
Telia (Telia de-Mauzelath), in 616-7. It is provided with the
Origenic asterisks and obeli, and with an extensive apparatus of
variant rdgs. in the marg., mostly ascribed to Aq., 0, Sym., as
the case may be. The colophons of the bks. attest this origin,
asserting, variously, that the copy was made from the Hexapla,
Tetrapla or even Heptapla. The text is practically the Syriac
counterpart of the unique ' Septuagint ' Gr. text noticed above.
For Dan. they have identical colophons: "It was written from
copies having this subscription : written from the Tetrapla, with
which it has been compared." The colophon to Prov. states
that the original was in the hands of Pamphilus and Eusebius;
» Sec M. J. Wyngaarden, The Syr. VS of I he Bk. of Dan., Lpzg., 1923 (Univ. Penn.
Thesis), p. 15. Some variant rdgs. are given in the London Polyglot, vol. 6, pp. 37 /.
'"It had been previously edited by Norberg, 1787, and in part by Middeldorpf,
1835, and the textof Dan. by C. Bugati, Z)a«. 5ec. e(f. LA'X . . . ex cod. syro-esthran-
gelo, etc., Milan, 1788. For the MS and its history s. Ceriani's preface; Field, Proleg.
to his Hex., p. Ixvii seq. ; Bludau, p. 26 Jf. ; Swete, O.T., 3, p. xiii. Int., 112/. Also s.
in general and for a detailed comparison of the texts of the Syro-IIex. and the Chigi
MS, Lohr, ZATW 1895, pp. 75/-, u)iJj.; 1896, pp. 17/.
3
34 INTRODUCTION
the colophon to Isaiah tells that those scholars corrected the
text from 'the library of Origen.' The contents of this text will
be treated in connection with the Hexaplaric revisions, §14.
(3) There may be noted finally a Daniel text in the remains
of Jacob of Edessa's revision of the O.T.; a ms of it is in Paris,
s. Field, Hex., i, 649/., for a description, and for further state-
ment s. Baumstark, Gesch. d. syr. Lit., 251, n. 2.
e. Arabic.
There is only one type of ancient Arabic text of Dan. in print,
namely, the identical text in the Paris and London Polyglots.
On this text s. the full treatment by H. S. Gehman, 'The "Poly-
glot" Arabic Text of Daniel and Its Affinities,' JBL 44 (1925),
327-352; outside of studies on the Pentateuch this is the most
thorough treatment of any bk. of the Arabic Bible. As A it will
be considered below in §14.
A tr. of Dan. into Arabic in Heb. characters was made by the
great Jewish master Saadia, first part of the loth cent. This
has been published by H. Spiegel (s. Bibliography). It is of
•great exegetical interest and will be cited currently in the Comm.
Saadia often avails himself of interpretative paraphrases.
For very interesting evidence for an early translation of the
Bible into Arabic in Spain, s. introduction to Gehman's mono-
graph, and to his art. in Speculum, 1, 219. There may be noted
here two references to early Muslim use of Dan., given by
Margoliouth, Early Development of Mohammedanism: p. 41, a
son of the conqueror of Egypt read the works of Dan. and made
prophetical calculations therefrom (Tabari, ii, 399); and p. 235,
cf. p. 241, Abu Nu'aim identified the Stone of c. 2 with Mo-
hammed.
/. Other languages.
No Ethiopic text exists in print.
Holmes-Parsons gives (s. Pref. to Gen., p. iv 5e^.), apparently
via translations, variants from printed edd. of the Armenian,
Georgian and Slavonic Bibles, the last-named from the Ostro-
gozok and Moscow edd. Of these the Armenian is of special
interest for criticism, but having no control over the original
the writer has made no reference to it. Dr. Gehman plans to
make a critical study of it.
§11. THE OLD GREEK VERSION 35
However, one Slavic VS has been used in this apparatus,
namely the Slavic VS (appearing in German tr.) printed in
parallelism with the Gr. text of Hipp.'s comm. published by
Bonwetsch. This version, as will be noticed in §12, is of critical
value, at times offering a better text than its Gr. partner.
A Hebrew tr. of the Aram, of Dan. and Ezra is presented by
Kennicott's ms 240 in parallel column with the Bible texts.
The MS was written by a scribe Menahem in 1327, according
to de Rossi, vol. i, p. Ixiii. It has been discussed by I. L.
Schulze, Chaldaicorum Danielis et Esrae capitum inter pretatio
hebraica, Halle, 1782. The tr. follows the text of ^, is probably
not earlier than the loth cent., but is of interest as representa-
tive of current Jewish exegesis; s. Bertholdt, Daniel, 52, note.
Another ms, Ken. 512, gives a similar tr. of the Aram, sections
at the end of the respective bks.; it does not appear to have
been studied.
§11. THE OLD GREEK VERSION.
As indicated in §10, a (i) and d (2), we are confined for the
earliest Gr. tr. of our bk. {(B) to two practically identical copies,
albeit in different languages, the Chigi Gr. ms (^*") and the
Syro-Hexaplar {(B^). Ever since their comparatively modern
publication in the i8th cent., scholars have been keenly inter-
ested in the character and worth of that translation. The most
recent extensive study of it is that of Bludau, 'Die alexandri-
nische tjbersetzung d. Buches Daniel,' 1897. He has collated
most thoroughly the work of preceding scholars and contributes
much in the way of elucidation, although his work is more im-
portant for its accumulation of material and registration of diffi-
culties than for solutions obtained. The problem as to the
character of (B is expressed in the pertinent section, §4, in
which the author sums up the views of scholars: "Fast alle
Beurtheiler . . . machen dem tJbersetzer zum Vorwurf Willkiir,
Unkenntniss, Tendenzkramerei, Falschung, u.s.w. Noldeke
nennt ihn einen 'Pfuscher,' u. Field bemerkt: 'Danielem ab
Alexandrino absurde conversum est.' . . . Nur wenige ... [of
moderns, Cornill, Bevan, Behrmann, von Gall] scheinen sich
vom Banne dieses Urtheils ein wenig frei gemacht zu haben."
Bludau proceeds, p. 31, to make an acute critical distinction
36 INTRODUCTION
between cc. 3-6, at which most of the condemnation is directed,
and the rest of the bk. For this balance the present writer's
opinion, independently attained, agrees with Bludau's, that a
careful study relieves much of the odium that has been cast
upon the translation. The translator worked with three draw-
backs : first, the inherent difficulty all translators have ever since
contended with, the intentionally mystifying subject-matter of
the apocalyptic portions hampering interpretation; secondly,
the text with which he worked, especially in the last three cc,
was to all appearances execrably written; and finally Aram, and
not Heb. was his vernacular. This last point has not been spe-
cifically diagnosed in the several summaries of characteristics,
e.g., Bevan, pp. 48-52, Behrmann, p. xxxi. See for typical cases
the Notes at 8^^ eVl to TrpoaTay/xa /ctX., and 11'^ eV opKO).
These points are rightly insisted upon by Bludau, who comes
to the final judgment that the tr. is a ' staunenswerthe Leistung'
(p. 87). But he has not recognized one feature, the observation
of which clears up the greatest difficulties: the presence of genu-
ine glosses, both primary and secondary, which may occur lines
away from their proper destination (e.g., eW Kaipov avvrekeCa';
1 2 Ms gloss to a lacuna in v.^), and also of doublet translations.
The Notes will abundantly illustrate this statement, and for
ocular proof reference is made to the tabulated criticisms of (&
glib. 12 ^j^(j g24-27 a.t the end of the respective cc. When we have
analyzed such portions we see that the translator worked faith-
fully word by word, especially in the obscure passages, and that
the present muddled condition is largely due to the shuffling
into the text of true glosses or doublets which once stood in
the marg. An exactly similar case has occurred in almost all
MSS of 0 at end of c. 9; s. Note at end of that chap. These
glosses, and in some cases the duplicates, are evidently mostly
prior to the Origenian revision, which itself has tended further
to cover up original <S; for we have always to bear in mind that
we are dealing with a thoroughgoing Hexaplaric text, and hence
'Septuagint' is a doubly erroneous term. It would be worth
while for some student to attempt the reconstruction of original
(^, rejecting the Hexaplaric additions, correcting manifest errors
of text-tradition, transferring the glosses to the marg., and ar-
ranging doublets in parallel columns. Literarily the translator
was worthy of such a task, for he was a writer of skill in Greek and
§11. THE OLD GREEK VERSION 37
of ingenious spirit. We may note such elegances as a.'ywvLOi ii",
KUTTTeLP ii2^ avvr\\oir)6e 2'*^, avdo^pC 31^, the dramatic term
KaTucTTpocp'^ 722^ j^l^g neat 'sophists and philosophers' i^°, 'Kit-
tim' 11''°= 'Romans'; the avoidance of monotonous repetition
of names by ol irpoyeypa/x/xevoi 7,^, For an example of ingenuity
may be cited the tr. of jniynn ]''Din 2^ 'be dismembered,' by
irapahet'yixaTt.a-OricrecrOe 'be made an example of,' as though
jiQl = irapdSeLjfia^ giving capital sense. Space forbids here
further listings of the characteristics of (1.
As observed, cc. 4-6 must be considered separately. See the
Notes appended to those cc. resp. in the Comm. and cf. Bludau,
§§18-20. In the Notes the conclusion is reached that there is
considerable evidence for a translation from a Sem. copy which
is responsible for much of the additions, largely midrash, now
in (S. The case would be comparable to a similar origin of the
Apocryphal Prayer, Interlude, Benediction in c. 3 by progres-
sive interpolation (s. above, §4); n.b., the bombastic character
of that Interlude. The phenomenon appears to point to the
actual circulation of cc. 3-6 as a distinct collection of stories at
some stage (n.b., the Gr. Lectionaries appear to contain only
these cc), a point perhaps worthy of consideration in regard
to the compilation of the bk. Another view {e.g., J. D. Mi-
chaelis, Bev., Kamp.) holds to a separate tr. of those cc, which
after attaining its present garbled form was borrowed by the
translator of the other cc. in editing the whole bk. But the proof
presented from vocabulary is not stringent.
The recognition of the character of (^ and of the fatalities
that happened to the Sem. 'Vorlage' and then to the copies of
text, diminishes the range of possible corrections of ^ from that
quarter. The very ingenuity of the translator must put us on
guard against accepting his facile translations as representing a
better text than ^. The lists assembled by the writer for cases
where (^ may be used against ^ yield a small modicum of posi-
tive betterments, many of them hanging in the balance.
In the light of this view, Jahn's thoroughgoing adoption of ^
(Das Buck Dan., 1904) as representing the original text, which
he reverts into Heb. as the language of that original, results
only in an exercise in Hebrew composition, which may be left
to Jewish literati. An earlier, more moderate opinion but spe-
cifically challenging Bludau's judgment of the worth of the text
2S INTRODUCTION
of ® is that of Riessler, Das Buck Dan., iSgg. Of this booklet
of 56 pp. only a half, pp. 28-52, is devoted to a treatment of
certain select passages for the defence of the writer's theories,
one of which is that adopted by Jahn that the original language
of the whole bk. was Heb., and that this was the text before
the translator. And similarly Charles, Daniel, p. xxx, comments
on the value of (^•. "A long-sustained and minute study of the
text and versions has led him [the writer] to conclude that it is
just in these chapters (cc. 4-6) that the LXX makes its greatest
contribution to the reconstruction of the original text, particu-
larly in chap, iv." Such theories appear to the writer entirely
baseless, as will appear in the Comm.
As for the date of (^, some of its phraseology appears in our
Greek i Mac, although not to the extent sometimes assumed.
Of the correspondences listed by Bludau, p. 8, n. 6, only the
following are at all significant: Mac. i^ HXrjdvvav kukcl eV r^ jfj
= 12'': Mac. i^^ eirecrav rpav/xariaL ttoWol = n-^j Mac. i^^
^SeXvjfia iprj /xco(T€Q)<; = n^ij Mac. V^- ^^ KaOapi^eiv ra a<^La =
8". As for /3S. ip., that may have arisen contemporaneously
with Antiochus' sacrilege. Comm. have long observed the iden-
tical phrase airripeiaaTO aura iv tw eiScoXeio) avrov i^ = i Esd.
2^, and so the origin of (S of both bks. from the same hand has
been proposed by Gwyn, DCB ' Theodotion,' note p. 977 ; Thack-
eray, DB I, 761 b; Riessler, with a long list of (often merely
nominal) parallels, pp. 52-56; Torrey, Ezra Studies, 84. On
rather scanty evidence, that the Jewish historian Eupolemus,
c. 150 B.C. (text given by Swete, Int., 370 = Eus., Praep., ix, 31)
knew (S of 2 Ch. 12^-^-, Torrey holds, p. 82, that the OGr. tr. of
Ch.-Ezr.-Neh. (containing 2 Esd.) existed by the middle of the
2d cent. If so, with the equation of (B of that series and of
Dan., the latter would then precede the Gr. of i Mac, which is
quite likely, as the Gr. of the latter bk. cannot be earlier than
100 B.C. Torrey holds, p. 83, that the home of the tr. of his (B»
text "may well have been Egypt," a position naturally to be
assumed. This is corroborated by (S's rendering of "l!ik7(2n
Dan. i^ by A^teaSpi^ simply an Egyptian transliteration of the
Sem.; a parallel Coptism is found in the Egyptian Cod. A,
BapTacrap for BaXraaap (s. on that codex §14).
For the Hexaplaric additions, which are for the most part
noted in <B^ and (1^ by asterisk and obelus (more correctly
§12. THEODOTION 39
and consistently in the latter), s. §14 on the Hexapla. For the
usurpation of (S by 0, entailing almost its extinction, s. §13.
§12, THEODOTION.
Before the end of the 2d Christian cent, another translation
than that of ^ was making its way into the use of the Church,
and within the first half of the 3d cent, it had become mistress
of the field. This is the translation assigned by all Patristic and
MS evidence to Theodotion, whose age is traditionally put in
the second half of the 2d cent, after Christ. On this subject s.
§13-
The MS evidence for this version in its earliest form is found
in the Gr. and in two sub-versions from the latter, the OLat.
and Sahidic-Coptic. This triple chain of evidence is distin-
guished by the absence of the marks of the Origenian revisions,
so that it must be assigned as a tradition to an age anterior to
the middle of the 3d cent.
a. The Greek B Group.
We possess in the eldest of the uncials, the Codex Vaticanus,
the best type of 0's text. This apparently dogmatic statement
is supported by all the tests tried by the writer. That text
stands almost alone in its thoroughgoing correspondence with
the OLat. and (E^, and it is the one which, with exceptions to
be noted in a subsecjuent section, is the basis of all subsequent
revisions. Empirical analysis has discovered mss 8g 130 as
standing closest to B, more distantly (with Origenian elements)
26 42; and the text in Hippolytus (h) which is freshly adduced
in this Comm. has particular interest in both its Gr. and Slav,
forms. It is adequate to consider B as the master text of its
group and to observe its characteristics.
This high opinion of B is expressed despite the recognition of
certain shortcomings; but it is as text far cleaner than any of
its colleagues, and is infinitely superior to Cod. A, a most imper-
fect document. Naturally the interest of critical scholars has
been devoted to (^, but unfortunately B has been neglected
both in respect to its intrinsic worth and to critical study of it
as an undoubted representative of a pure Theodotionic text, the
like of which can only be discovered with pains in other parts
40 INTRODUCTION
of the Gr. O.T. Withal scholars have perpetrated the mistake
of baldly citing B as though it were ultimate, with no attempt
to criticise it apart from its group and to recover the original
text. Accordingly, in this Comm. special attention has been
paid to B and its congeners, with the purpose of arriving at
that original. 1
For faults of all kinds in the text of B the writer has counted
some 65 cases, in most of which B is supported by very respect-
able authority. It contains a small number of unique scribal
errors. About 25 interpolations have been counted, but most
of them from (S, some of which are supported by IC, hence
primitive contaminations. The resultant verdict agrees with
that expressed upon the text of B in the N.T. by Westcott-Hort,
Int., 233 /.: "The scribe by no means reached a high standard
of accuracy, and on the other hand his slips are not proportion-
ately bad ... he occasionally omits necessary portions of
text," etc.
There are many cases where © as represented by B has mis-
read or mispronounced his text or had a faulty text (some 30
cases have been listed); e.g., 2^^- ^^ jli^n with two different erro-
neous translations; 8^^ DSS2 = W ««; 12^ QJ? T* = yvaoa-ovrai;
etc. Judgment of these errors in so difficult a text as Dan. (a
large proportion of the errors occur in c. 11) must be lenient.
The well-known characteristics of 0 appear in B, and they
need not be diagnosed at length here. His tr. depends primarily
upon (S, and hence his independent value often fails, especially
in difficult passages, where he simply repeats (Bi, a weakness
common to all translators. At the same time he handles ^ gen-
erally with fine discrimination; the opening vv. of the bk. might
be observed for this point. His characteristic of literalness ap-
* With the development of photographic processes it is only sluggishness when
scholarship does not acquaint itself with the exact texts of MSS. The advance now
needed is the formulation of a critical apparatus to a group such as that represented
by A or B, etc., and to attempt to restore the basis of the group. And this work
should be done quite apart from thought of eiJect on the text of i^; that is another
matter. Another requirement is the study of each of the great mss in extenso
throughout the O.T., the kind of work which has been done in the N.T., but which
fails utterly in the O.T. field. What is said about the characteristics and the excel-
lences of B is based entirely on its text for Dan. Now exactly opposite results are
obtained by Torrey, p. 95, in the comparison of A and B. For his Biblical portion:
"The best uncial by far is A; and the worst by far is B." What shall we say, then, to
these things in the case of A and B as wholes ?
§I2A. THE GREEK B GROUP 41
pears in his frequent transliterations of words (sometimes with
reason, e.g., ^aBSeiu^ possibly a current loan from the Sem.,
sometimes with tact in case of an unknown word, e.g., (j)opOofx/x€iv
i^^). His usual but not constant word-for-word tr. of the Heb.
lands him in frequent barbarisms, especially in the case of assim-
ilation of the new with the old, e.g., 6^^ ^^^K Withal he drops
his literalism quite often, as though impatient of Sem. stylisms
and repetitiousness.
One feature of B, worthy of notice in text criticism, is the fre-
quency of abbreviation, ranging all the way from omission of
single words of no essential importance to the abbreviation of
repetitious phrases. In some cases ICCE^ do not run with B in
these omissions, and the phenomenon must be regarded then
as secondary. While often the omissions m'ght be ascribed to
subsequent scribes, especially in cases of homocoteleuta, the
writer has come to the conclusion that this tendency is an origi-
nal characteristic of 0 (Torrey has noticed the same for his sec-
tion of B, p. 95, but charging them to 'incredible carelessness').
The lacunae can hardly be attributed to scribal losses, so well
supported are they. In most cases (^ supports ^ as against
B, and that combination is generally to be respected. A case
of simplification from an original status where two parallel
antique texts were once present in 0 texts appears at end of
c. 9, where B has selected one of them, with consequently the
remission of the more interesting duplicate into the marg. of
our Gr. edd. (s. Note at end of c. 9). In general B represents
the authentic text of 'Theodotion' for Dan.
A note is due on Hippolytus' Theodotionic text in his comm.
to Dan.; see §10, a (2). The Biblical text used by Hipp, is
present in double form, in Gr. and in Slavonic, and as the latter
varies from the former to some extent we possess an inner appa-
ratus for Hipp.'s text. In some cases the Slav, has better rdgs.
than the Gr.; I note: 33007)^ p_ u^ (of Bonwetsch's edition);
4"', p. 128; 5", p. 152; 68, p. 162; 79, p. 184; 8^ p. 250 (s. Notes
ad loc). The Slav, text has thus its own tradition, a fact sug-
gesting the worth of critical examination into the translations
in that language. As the doubly witnessed text has not been
studied hitherto for its bearing on text criticism, it is useful to
note that it is very closely related to B, agreeing with the latter,
in the large, in its characteristic rdgs. and omissions. In a few
42 INTRODUCTION
cases it is better than B, e.g., in the omission of e| opov^ 2^*
(p. 56), and 8" (p. 250) Dlin = irapaxdrj, H conturhatum est,
'cs. B ^pa-x^V- In two places Hipp, has independent renderings
of ^, and this suggests that that Father had control of Heb.
Compare the tradition about him as the ' Expositor of the Tar-
gum' and his undoubted acquaintance with Rabbinic learning;
s. Achelis (cited in the next note), pp. 1 13-120. The cases in
point are 11", p. 300, and ii^°, p. 298. The not considerable
variations from B are Hexaplaric-Lucianic, more particularly
Lucianic. This latter characteristic belongs to the general prob-
lem of ' pre-Lucianic rdgs.,' s. §12 end, §15 end.
Now Hipp.'s text is one of our most primitive proofs not only
for B but also for the tradition of 0.^ Bardenhewer, p. 68, and
Bonwetsch, p. 2, assign the comm. to Dan. quite confidently to
the time of Septimius Severus' persecution, 202 a.d., in this fol-
lowed by Zahn and Harnack, as against Salmond, who places
it 'a good deal later,' p. 1046. Whatever may be the fact in that
point, Salmond's statement (p. 87^) that Hipp.'s activity may
go back to the beginning of the last decade of the 2d cent, (he
may have heard Irenaeus) argues for the existence of the Theo-
dotionic tr. as authoritative well back into the 2d cent. The
date of the Latin tr. of Irenseus being now held by many to be
much later (z^. inf. [c]), this fact as to Hipp.'s text is of great im-
portance. The 'pre-Lucianic rdgs.' in Hipp, point to a Syrian,
Antiochian origin, as do also the OLat. texts, and Hipp, may
have been instrumental as purveyor of that form of 0 in con-
trast to the B text, which is prob. of Egyptian origin.
b. The Sahidic-C optic.
My Hst of variations from B in the 56 vv. of the Sahidic num-
bers all told about 20. This count includes particles and other
easily variable factors. In many cases they help to correct B
where it can otherwise be proved to be untrue to its group, e.g.
the intrusion in 9^; in several cases there is correspondence with.
m against B. The most frequent correspondences are with Q
26 233 = l!f. This establishment of some links between the
Coptic and Q agrees with the findings of Ceriani, De codice
' See Salmond, 'Hipp.,' in DCB, and consult Bibliography under Achelis, Barden-
hewer, Bonwetsch.
§I2C. THE OLD LATIN 43
marchaliano, etc., Rome, i8go, as reported by Swete, OTG 3,
pp. viii seq. There are agreements with (S, also with some of
the Origenic groups and so indirectly with Lu. Reference is
made to the Note at the end of c. 9 for its interesting form of
the text of the last vv. of that chap.
This close correspondence between B and 01^ adds weight to
my opinion that B represents the Egyptian type of 0, as against
others, Palestinian and Syrian. As to the importance of 01^
the writer's belief has only grown stronger with repeated study
that if the whole of the Sahidic Dan. existed it would be a
worthy peer to B.
c. The Old Latin.
The sources of materials for this subject have been given
above, §10, h (i). The OLat. ms texts are distinctly pre-Hexa-
plaric, corroborating Burkitt's dictum upon Patristic citations
that the OLat. nowhere exhibits the Hexaplaric earmarks.' And
the text is in general that of B. Ranke has placed scholars in
his debt by giving an apparatus of comparison of rdgs. with
Holmes-Parsons, but with these drawbacks, that he has taken
as his basis the faulty Sixtine text (against which the user of
HP must always be on his guard), that he simply compares B
with no attempt at criticism of its text, and finally that as a
purely classical scholar he does not know the Sem. background.
Also he often leaves unnoticed many evident faults of the texts
that can be easily corrected.'* This OLat. material bears as a
translation the same relation to its Gr. copy as the latter, 0,
does to 1^, and hence the work of comparison is immensely sim-
plified. 21 is of great value in showing the antiquity of errors,
glosses, etc., in B, e.g., the doublet 2^- pectus et bracchia; and
conversely it often exhibits a better rdg. which may also be in
Gr. Mss, e.g., 2^° sapientia et uirtiis = Q alone = ^, the rest
with a third glossed doublet, which also appears in Cassiodor,
ad Ps. ci, -\- intellectus. As for agreements with the Gr. groups
as against B the most correspondences are with the Lucianic
group (14 cases), then with the Origenian mss (no Hexaplaric
additions!), e.g., with A 13 cases, Q n cases, 106 10 cases, etc.
' "No (asterisked) passage is found in any form of tiie African Latin," Rules of
Tyconius, p. xcvi.
* E.g., 8" sermone for SoXw arose from the misreading of 5. as Xoyw.
44 INTRODUCTION
The citations of the Patristic material have been given in
§io. These numerous cases, which often present three or four
parallels, have been fully digested for this work; much chaff had
to be winnowed, but valuable gleanings were attained; cf. the
Note on 0 at end of c. 9 for a very important rdg. in Tertullian.
The criticism of this whole material would be a work in itself,
for which important preliminary studies have been made by
Burkitt in his Rules of Tyconius and The Old Latin mid the
Itala.^
It has generally been held that the earliest Patristic text using
iH is the Latin Interpretation of Irenseus, whose Against the
Heresies was probably written in the eighties of the 2d cent.^
This view of the early origin of IC of Irenseus has been upset by
the studies of Jordan and Souter, who very positively refer the
Latin tr. to the 4th cent.^ If this judgment be true, Irenaeus'
primacy for the critical student of the OLat. is dislodged. But
the Lat. of Iren. still remains incontestable proof of Iren.'s
thoroughgoing 0 text, for, as Burkitt remarks. Old Latin, p. 6,
n. 2, the translator would have revealed traces of the Septua-
gintal character of his original, if it had such. If, with Venables,
p. 254, Irenaeus' birth is to be put between the limits 126 and
136 A.D., the text of 0 must be carried back into the first half of
the 2d cent., when as a schoolboy he was initiated into the one
text we know he used ; and at the other end there is the unadul-
terated 0 text of Hippolytus, providing us with a continuous
catena for a large part of that cent. In addition to Irenaeus we
have evidence for 0 in the early part of the 3d cent, in Tertullian
in part, while his scholar Cyprian uses both (S and 0, sometimes
in conflate form.*
Jerome's well-known criticism of 21 for its 'diuersa exempla-
^ See now the Patristic apparatus presented by Dold, pp. 279/.; for an earlier
listing, Bludau, De indole, 20 f. Oesterley has collated Ranke's Fragments and
Patristic Citations for the Minor Prophets in JThSt., vols. 5, 6.
^ So Venables, DCB 3, 258. All the citations from Dan. are found only in the
Latin, with one exception, Dan 12' f- in i, 12, a citation from a heretic, which inter-
estingly enough is from (8.
' H. Jordan, 'Das Alter u. d. Herkunft d. latein. Ubersetzung d. Hauptwerkes d.
Iren.,' Theol. Studien, Th. Zahn dargebracht, 1908, and Souter in Sanday and Turner,
Novum Testamentum S. Irenaei, 1923; it may be noted that the editor Dr. Turner still
remains unconvinced. Cf. rev. by Lagrange, RB 1924, 260 Jf.
' See in general Burkitt, Old Latin and the Ilala. For a theory of a Marcionite
Vetus Latina as the first attempt at a Latin tr. of the Bible s. d'Ales, Biblica, 4,
1923, pp. 56/., esp. 85/.
§I2C. THE OLD LATIN 45
ria' and the ' interpretum uarietatem' (s. Kennedy, DB 3, 48)
appears to be substantiated by the large amount of variation
among the Patristic citations and the authentic texts of 21. It
leads nowhere to make the hypothesis of an indefinite number
of versions; this did not occur in the primitive Gr. Church. But
it may be suggested that there arose early in the Latin-speaking
Church an oral 'Targum,' since in important dogmatic and also
popular passages a crystallized translation would have come in
vogue, which itself allowed much room for variation even after
it was written down. For instance, the Interpreter of Irenaeus
with the Gr. before his eyes at the same time had the current
Targum in his head; the latter would be modified by his schol-
arly attention to the text as well as by existing variants in the
oral translation. A study of these OLat. texts induces a high
appreciation of the fidelity and, comparatively speaking, the
scholarship of the early Latin translators.
Finally, the problem of 'Lucianic' rdgs. in the OLat. must
be touched upon. It has long been observed by students^ that
the OLat. of the O.T. is markedly 'Lucianic' In his Par palimps.
•wire, 410, Ranke lists in order the Gr. mss most closely corre-
sponding to iC in the latter's variations from B; and the Lu-
cianic MSS 22 36 48 51 231 stand, almost all, at the head of the
Hst. The problem must be discussed in connection with Lucian,
§15. There can be but one explanation, that Lucian himself
used as a basic text one that varied primitively from that of B.
That is, there existed a Syrian or Antiochian form of ©, which,
as iC shows, early made its way from Syria to the West and
became the basis of the OLat. translation. Direct connections
of the West with Syria, not only via Egypt and the north coast
of Africa, as so often assumed, must be allowed. Irenaeus came
from Asia Minor. Hippolytus probably came from the East.
Note also that on Irenaeus' authority Theodotion was an Ephe-
sian. The problem is accordingly connected with that of the
Western Readings in N.T. text criticism. Sanday, as cited by
Kennedy, has suggested that the text of the N.T. in OLat. and
Syriac came from Antioch. It can be positively insisted upon
that despite the alleged 'Lucianisms' none of the Hexaplaric
' See Kennedy, Z)5 3, 61/., Schijrer, G7F3,34.s, 431, n. 14, Dieu, ' Retouches lucia-
niques sur quelles tcxtes de la vieille version latine (I et II Samuel),' RB 16, 372^-,
summary, p. 403.
46 INTRODUCTION
interpolations, none of the characteristic Lucianic doublets ap-
pears in 31.
Finally it is to be remarked that with this coincidence of 2j,
(E^ and Patristic citations with B the text of the latter must
represent that of 0 back toward 200 a.d. at least; and this judg-
ment, reached independently, agrees with that of Westcott and
Hort for the N.T.,7«/., 222: the text of B and Sinaiticus is 'essen-
tially a text of the second or early third century.'
§13. theodotion: triumph over the old greek; age;
the problem of ' ur-theodotion.'
Little direct information is at hand for the replacement of
the Old Greek ('Septuagint') VS of Dan. by 0. The triumph,
starting as we have seen in the 2d cent., rapidly became an ac-
complished fact, as witnessed by sub-versions which go back
at least to the beginning of the 3d cent. Jerome gives the fullest
statement in the Preface to his comm.: "Danielem prophetam
iuxta septuaginta interpretes Domini Saluatoris ecclesiae non
legunt, utentes Theodotionis editione, et hoc cur acciderit nescio.
. . . Hoc unum afhrmare possum, quod multum a veritate dis-
cordet, et recto iudicio repudiatus est." Origen in his Hexapla
fully edited and revised both (S» and 0 of Dan., although his
work in other bks. shows that he depended upon 0 for filling up
lacunae in ($, e.g., Jer. and Job. It is assumed by many (s.
Schiirer, GJV 3, 442) that the immediate cause of rejection of
(^ was its false interpretation of the Weeks, c. 7 (s. Note at end
of that chap.); but the patent incorrectness of ® was sufficient
ground to prefer a better translation, which had its own good
tradition.
Of Theodotion we know next to nothing as to his person and
date.^ The earliest mention of him is in Irenaeus, Adv. Haer.
iii, 24: "Theodotion the Ephesian made a translation, and
Aquila the Pontian, both Jewish proselytes." No confidence
can be placed in Epiphanius' statement, De mens, et pond., §17,
placing him under Commodus' reign, c. 180, which is at once
contradicted by Irenaeus' use of 0 (s. also Gwyn, arguing for a
mistake in the imperial names). As Irenasus names him before
'See Gwyn, 'Theodotion,' DCB; Bludau, De indole, §3; Swete, Int., 42^.;
Schiirer, GJV 2, 439 J.
§13- THEODOTION 47
Aquila, there is clear presumption that he antedated the latter,
and the convention of naming him after the latter has no more
reason than the fact that in Origen's columns Aquila preceded
Theodotion; it is unfortunate that his presumable priority,
urged by Schiirer, p. 442, is ignored in the authoritative works.^
Cf. Jer.'s ignorance as to this translator's age, in the Pref. to his
comm.: "qui utique post aduentum Christi incredulus fuit."
But the age of the translator Theodotion, which must logi-
cally be referred back at least to the first third of the 2d Chris-
tian cent., cannot date for us the rise of the ' Theodotionic ' ele-
ments in the Greek Bible. The problem has long been noticed
and solutions attempted. Credner, Beitrdge zur Einlcitmig in
die bibl. Schriften, 1838, 2, 61 ^., proposed that there was an
early Christian version of Dan. which would explain the N.T.
citations. Gwyn's hypothesis is the boldest, DCBp. 976: "Side
by side with the Chisian LXX there was current among the
Jews, from pre-Christian times, another version of Daniel, more
deserving of the name, claiming to belong to the LXX collec-
tion and similar in general character to the LXX versions of
other books of the Hagiographa; that this was the version known
to the author of the bk. of Baruch . . . and to St. Matthew,"
etc. Swete's criticism of this position, Int., p. 49, is cautious and
non-committal. Bludau in his full discussion of the evidence
from Dan. (Die alex. Ubers., §2, p. 23) comes to the result of an
older Gr. tr. 'reformed' by the historic Theod. of the 2d Christian
cent. Schiirer expresses himself similarly, p. 442: "Dieses ganze
Material lasst nur zwei Erklarungen zu: entweder Theod. ist
alter als die Aposteln, oder es hat einen 'Theod.' vor Theod.
gegeben, d. h. eine Revision der LXX in ahnlichem Sinne, die
dann von Theod. weitergefuhrt worden ist."
Only a brief resume of the evidence, and that for Dan. alone,
can be given here; for fuller data reference can be made to
Bludau, I. c.
In Clement of Alexandria, c. 150-200 (not included by Bludau)
the citations are (after Stilhlin's ed. in GCS with cross-reference
to Potter's ed.):
Dan. 2"^: .S'/ro;;?.,i,4, p. 16 (P. p. 330) = 0 with ' Lucianic ' -f-
' Sec the author's Samaritans, 77, 2Q2, for Samaritan reminiscences of Theod.;
there is ref. to a 'Targum of Nathanael,' i.e., Theodotion.
48 INTRODUCTION
73=-: Paed., ii, 10, p. 222 (P. p. 235) = 0.
7^'' : ib., iii, 3, p. 246 (P. p. 262) = 0.
8"f-: Strom., i, 21, p. 91 (P. p. 408) = 0 (Stiihlin's text much
improved).
Q^'*-": ib., p. 78 (P. p. 393) in general = 0; s. further Note
at end of c. 9.
12" f-: ib., p. 91 (P. p. 409) == 0, but hodrivat for hodrjaeTai
with V Q 62 Lu. al.
Justin Martyr (f c. 165) cites 7^-28 at length, Tryph., xxxi. His
other citations are all from the same chapter, except 2^^ in
Tryph. , Ixx, i, where the text is indifferent between (^ and SI;
and 11^^ in ex. 2, where (B is the basis (n.b. e^aWa). Archam-
bault's ed. of Trypho in Hammer and Lejay's Textes et Docu-
ments has been consulted. Swete has conveniently presented the
long passage from c. 7 in parallel with (^ and 0, Int., p. 421, to
which the reader may refer. My result of comparison is that
this mosaiclike composition is not due to the intrusion of a later
scholiast into Justin's original (B text; the care with which the
variations are made points to the first hand. In most cases the
intentional variations from CH were made where ($ has a cor-
rupt or complicated text, for which 0 offered improvements.
Of three 'Apostolic Fathers' (Gebhardt's text), toward the
end of the ist cent.. Shepherd of Hcrmas appears indifferent be-
tween (^ and 0, except for the citation of 0 6 -^'-^^ in Vis., iv,
2, 4 against (B.^ The citation of 2^^ in Sim., ix, 2, i is indepen-
dent.
Ep. Barnabas, iv, 4 /., contains memoriter citations of 724-27.
against Bludau's judgment that (S is visible, nothing definite
can be postulated; Swete, Int., 48, holds that the correspondence
is closer with 0.
Ep. Clement, xlv, recaUing Dan. 6'^"'^^, is closer to 0 e^XrjOr]
than to ^ €ppi(j)7}. In c. xxxiv eXetTOvpyovu = 0 710 vs. (S
edepdirevov. For the inversion of the numerals, 'myriad myri-
ads,' 'thousand thousands,' in company with old ecclesiastical
use, s. Burkitt, Old Latin, 22; it follows Rev. 5^^
Josephus' Bible text has been variously diagnosed, but with-
out positive results.^
' The writer also depends upon Sem. tradition in his reference to the angel who
'stopped' (IJD) the mouth of the lions as 0eYpt i.e., i^eypc; s. 'Segri,' DCB
Schiirer, 3, 441, for the discussions by J. Rendel Harris and Hort.
•* See Bludau, Ryssel, and for other literature Schiirer, 3, 422.
§13- THEODOTION 49
But the New Testament, with its wealth of citation from
Dan., offers the best touchstone for the problem. To begin
with the kindred Apocalj^se of John, we discover propinquity
to both ($ and 0, often with apparent conflation, and equally
with a sovereign independence of known Gr. texts. ^ The follow-
ing cases of Theodotionic character may be noted and analyzed:
Rev. 9-0 : Dan. 5-^ = 0, but ecScoXa = (g.
Rev. 10^ f-: Dan. 12^= Qwjjioaev eV T(p^oiVTL=Q^(^ tov ^oivra.
Rev. 11": Dan. 7-^ =0 irrcLei irokejiov /xera roiv a<yioiv vs. (S
iroX. avvLard/xevop tt/oo? (0's plus has been introduced into (B
v.^); the same correspondence at Rev. 13" but with more varia-
tions in the fuller citation.
Rev. 12^: Dan. io-° = 0 7ro\eixT]craL^ vs. (^ Siafj-dxecrOaL.
Rev. i6i^: Dan. 121 the plus eTrt r. 77}? = Or., Lu., but 0 i^
Trj 777. (Has this plus entered the Gr. of Dan. from Rev.? I
have noticed some cases of the kind in Cod. A.)
Rev. 196: Dan. io« = 0 ox^ov, vs. <B 6opv(3ov.
Over against these correspondences with 0 are to be reckoned
those with (&, some seven in number, while yet other reminis-
cences are more or less independent of either.
But the closest correspondence is found in Heb. ii^^,'' where
ecfipa^ap arojxaTa Xeovrcov = Dan. 6-^ "^-^^ ive(f)p. ra ctto/jL. twv
~Xe6v.^ (g failing here wholly. An interesting case, rather ignored
in N.T. apparatus, is XiKpLrjaei Mt. ai^-* = Lu. 20^* from Dan.
© 2^^. Further: Mt. 28^*^ =07^ (overlooked in N.T. apparatus) ;
Ja. 1^2 fiaKdpLo<; avrjp 69 virofieret = 0 12^^ fia/c. 6 virofxivoiv vs.
(^ i/x/xevcov. I Cor. !-■* ^ptajov ©eoO hvvapiiv k. ©eou ao^iav is
a citation of the true text of 0 ace. to Q ^^—%, vs. B al. The
neighboring e^ov6evT)p,eva i Cor. i^s = 0 4" i^ovSePij/xa.
But the most striking parallelism of an early Gr. document
with 0 of Dan. is found in the Epistle of Baruch, the date of which
is now most commonly placed about a.d. jo.'' In Bar. 11^-2" is
' Cf. Bludau, 'Die Apokalypse u. Theodotions Danielubersetzung,' Theol. Quartal-
schrift, 1897, 1-26. The author holds that by the N.T. age a new tr. of Dan. had re-
placed <&, which then was already antiquated, that tr. being eventually incorporated
in ©. But some of the most striking correspondences of N.T. with 0 lie outside of
Dan. A critical survey of the O.T. citations in Rev. is given by Swete in his Apoca-
lypse, Int., c. 13.
* See Overbeck, TLZ 1885, col. 341.
' But s. now R. R. Harwell's Yale thesis, The Principal Versions of Baruch, 1915.
Cf. Thackeray's criticism in his Scpluagint and Jen is h Worship, pp. 85.^. Pp. 24 ff.
he discusses the problem of 'Theodotion or t/r-Theodotion?' and expresses belief
in the necessity of some such theory as the latter.
4
50 INTRODUCTION
found a long prayer mostly composed of excerpts, arbitrarily
arranged, from Dan's prayer, c. 9. This appears from the fol-
lowing exhibit of the order of the fragments of Dan. : vv. Sb. 10.
15. lib. 10. 12. 13a. 8. 136. 14. 10. 15. 16. 17. 19c. 196. 18. 20.
It is small wonder that the parallelism has induced scholars to
make 0 the basis of the Gr. Gwyn, p. 976, appears to have been
the first to develop this thesis at length; he is corroborated by
Schijrer, GJV 3, 441, and so TLZ 1904, 255^.
The many agreements are obvious; Gwyn has presented the
most striking ones. But the disagreements must not be ignored.
Bar. i' agrees with ^ v." reading eirl t. KaKol<;^ which 0 om.
Bar. i^" reads for ^ v." "]nn eKoWrjOr^^ where (S 0 iirrjXOe.
Bar. i^^, 2^" use the non-Theod. word irpocndyixara. But the
crucial case for showing that the Gr. translator was citing ulti-
mately (memoriier?) from the Heb. appears at 2^^ = Dan. v.^^,
where he follows a different syntax as well as a different trans-
lation from (^ and 0, differing also from the pointing of M.
That is, he is making his own free version of ^.
To interpret these phenomena we have to realize that the
passage in Bar. is a prayer following Biblical and liturgical
forms. In passing over into the Hellenistic Synagogue Gr. Tar-
gums arose, these for long oral in character. In the present case
the translator had language ready made, which again he might
correct from his knowledge of the original Heb.
And this argument presents experimentally the writer's judg-
ment on the problem of 'Ur-Theodotion.' That there existed
some such body of received translation before the Christian age
lies beyond doubt; but we must not too quickly assume a writ-
ten version. Very much can be explained by the hypothesis of
a Hellenistic oral Targum, necessary in the first place for cor-
rection of faulty renderings, and especially of lacunas in (^.
(It is found that early 'Theodotionic' rdgs. generally appear in
such cases.) And then we may link up this oral tradition with
the Theodotion of Church tradition of the early part of the 2d
Christian cent. He is the Hellenistic Onkelos, whose work was
facilitated by the presence of a large amount of customary oral
translation of the Scriptures, possessed by him memoriter. Of
course such a theory does not exclude the possibility of literary
predecessors of the historical Theodotion.
§14- THE HEXAPLARIC REVISIONS 51
§14. THE HEXAPLARIC REVISIONS: OR^ (v 62 I47) AND
OR^ (the A-GROUP, ARABIC, BOHAIRIC).
In his Hexapla (the Tetrapla is included in this generic term)
Origen revised both ^ and 0, the Gr. and Syr. texts of the for-
mer offering the best example we have of the Origenian appa-
ratus. To a large extent he entered the same plusses into both,
but in general most of the lacunae were in the abbreviating 0.
But in very many cases the conflate character of (8» is due to
earlier revisions; s. §§ii. 12. As for the 0 text, the great bulk
of the Gr. mss are Hexaplaric (Lucian being sub-Hexaplaric), a
contamination that has not spared one of them, even B.
Most of the work for the present apparatus has been devoted
to the Hexaplaric group. The argumentation for the results
obtained have been presented by the writer in JBL 1925, pp.
287-300, 'The Hexaplaric Strata in the Greek Texts of Dan.,'
followed by the corroborative studies of C. D. Benjamin, 'Col-
lation of Holmes-Parsons 23 (Venetus)-62-i47 in Daniel from
Photographic Copies,' pp. 303-326, and H. S. Gehman, 'The
"Polyglot" Arabic Text of Dan. and Its Affinities,' pp. 327-352.
The stress has been applied to Cod. A, an alleged master
codex, and the Venetian Codex V (now recognized as an uncial
= HP 23) and the Oxford cursives 62 147. The last three have
been collated by Benjamin from photographs procured by the
Yarnall Library in the Philadelphia Divinity School for this
work.i
The chief result obtained is that V 62 147 represent the
earliest form of Origen's revision of 0, a position which can be
adjudged from Benjamin's collation and the comparisons reg-
istered there with the other groups. The group in question is
the basis of a subsequent revision — critically retrograde in its
approximation toward the elder Textus Receptus — represented
by what we may call the A-group; and again this was succeeded
by the Lucianic group. For the group V 62 147 the descriptive
epithet 'Palestinian' has been taken, as typifying Origen's own
work = Or^; for the A-group the epithet Constantinopolitan,
on the h}T:)othesis that it represents the Eusebian revision or-
' The whole of V in photographic copy is now in the Library of that School, sub-
ject to the use of scholars. Similar reproduction ol the whole of 62 and 147 is now
in process of preparation for the same Library.
52 INTRODUCTION
dered by Constantine for the use of the Church in his new cap'-
tal (Eus., Vita Const., iv, 36. 37) = Or^. Or^ and Lu. would
then be approximately contemporary revisions, made for iden-
tical ends, of the Origenian work, one for Constantinople, the
other for Antioch. And, however the origin of the A-group is
to be explained, the writer has more and more become con-
vinced of the correctness of his opinion that the above hypothe-
sis explains all the essential facts of the problem.
For Or^ nothing more need be added than has already been
published. Of the three mss, 62 147, although degraded and
contaminated types, are closer to the mother text than V, which
has rather made an eclectic choice of rdgs. (largely marked with
the Hexaplaric asterisks). The group is Aquilanic in the sec-
ondary sense that it presents Origen's work in its closest ap-
proximation to his Jewish master.
For Or^, of the Gr. mss A Q F 106 35 230 42 (the cursives
arranged in the order of their worth as empirically determined)
are the best representatives of the group; with them go the
Arabic (A) and the Bohairic-Coptic (QI'O- Codex A must be
extremely discounted as a witness; an early listing has disclosed
more than 175 errors, some of them most glaring,^ a large num-
ber solecisms of A. Its closest mate in character and faults is
106, the two serving admirably to supplement one another.
Cod. A is Egyptian in physical origin, this revealed for Dan.
by its Coptic pronunciations, /Sapraaap i\ afxepaap i^ (s. ad
locc. and JBL 298, n. 12), but Constantinopolitan in text, as a
codex of the Melchite Church in Egypt. Its colleague A is then
the early tr. made for the Arabic-speaking Melchites. A is
infinitely superior in the text it represents to A and its Gr. fel-
lows, and is the truest specimen of Or^ that we have; it must
have been made from an early authoritative codex of which A
is a base offspring.^ See in general Gehman's full and important
' No attempt has therefore been made to register all the rdgs. of A in che Notes;
they are at hand for the curious in Swete's apparatus. The codex only has value as
one of a group.
' Ryssel announced categorically, TLZ 1S95, 561, similar results for the relation
of A to A and for the avoidance by the former of the latter's glaring errors. It may
be observed that A follows A's enumeration of the ' Visions ' ; but through (editorial ?)
neglect c. i is not so marked in the London Polyglot, but c. 2 is Vision 3, etc., prov-
ing that Susanna preceded. An independent partial chapter distinction appears at
i', 2", 4', but then lapses. The Paris Polyglot has the additions in their proper
order, but no 'Vision' rubric until c. 2 = Vis. 3, with an additional chapter rubric
at 3".
§15- THE LUCIANIC REVISION 53
discussion of the whole subject. Finally the Bohairic appears,
from the translation, which has been carefully examined, to be
a true and thoroughgoing representative of this group, probably
superior again to A. Dr. Gehman fortunately promises a criti-
cal study of it.
The Armenian VS has not been studied. It apparently pre-
sents many striking identities with Or^; and its possible rela-
tions to Or^ and Lu. deserve careful examination.
A word is to be said on the very individual Cod. Q. Its text
is distinctly Origenian, in its plusses and in its faults, as a com-
parison with A easily shows. It has several Hexaplaric anno-
tations (s. §10, a [3]) indicating its pedigree and its scholarly
character. At 2-° it gives with 21 alone the correct rdg. Bwafxt^
for o-ff^eo-t?; 51^ end, a unique, poss. authentic, plus, kul eiirev
vat ^aaiXev Kai uirev; ni* with t,t, 232 irapa^acrewv from Sym.
vs. 0 \oL/xo)v^ also some errors of its owm, e.g., 8^ Svaiv^ gn
e7r\t]6vv6r] (but neither absurd). The prevailing theory is that
Q represents the Egyptian Hesychian text, for which in Dan.
some correspondences with (H^ and IC may be noted.
For the considerable balance of minor pre-Origenian varia-
tions from B in these groups s. §15.
§15. THE LUCIANIC RE\'ISION.
Field {Hex., i, p. Ixxxiv seq.), corroborated by Lagarde, gave
demonstration for the recognition of texts of Lucianic origin.^
For the Prophets, including Dan., he selected as Lucianic HP
22 36 48 51 62 90 93 144 147 233 308. Most of these titles have
been accepted by subsequent students of the Prophets.^ The
writer's independent study of the text of Dan. revealed a solid
group of five mss, often unanimous, often standing alone, obvi-
ously representing Lucian, namely the group 22 36 48 51 231.
Of these all but 231 are contained in Field's list, while they are
the ones which Cornill in his Ezechiel, p. 65 ff., signalized as
Lucianic. With this group are to be associated some others
which run closely with it, esp. 229 (a ms of Theodoret's comm.
containing most of the Bible text), and the Chigi Theodotion
' See the convenient summary of the bibliography by R. K. Yerkes, 'The Lucianic
Version of the O.T. as illustrated from Jeremiah 1-3,' JBL igi8, 163.
^ See Yerkes, p. 171, for the selections propounded by Cornill, Klostermann, Nes-
tle, Liebmann, Procksch, Burkitt. Cf. also Montgomery, JBL 1925, 293.
54 INTRODUCTION
text, c' As for 62 147 the theory advanced in §14 has de-
fined them as primitive-Origenian, therefore pre-Lucianic, and
as the basis on which Lucian worked.
The Gr. stylism of Lu. in Dan. is that so well known and
often observed in other bks., and requires no further remark.
An interesting phenomenon (also noted elsewhere, e.g., Driver,
Samuel"^, p. H) is the presence of doublets in the text, viz.: at 4^,
523 (22)^ 72^ gu^ 8", 92", iiio^ ii36^ J j4o^ 12^ Including these doublet
corrections there may be noted not more than about twenty
cases where Lu. exhibits variations representing a better trans-
lation or at least points of interest in interpretation. His actual
contributions therefore are rather small. In two cases at least
he follows a tradition which appears in B*, at i^^, 3-^ (g-v.), which
presuppose original information local in Syria. In some cases
his text has retained the original, correct form, which has been
otherwise corrupted, e.^., 11^^, ii'°. We may have to allow
that he made some contributions, but withal with most con-
stant dependence upon Or 'gen, whom he knew in practically
the shape of Or'', Accordingly he represents one fork from that
master root, as Or*^ represents another, as has been argued
above.
But another condition in Lu. has long since given rise to ag-
gravated discussion, the appearance of 'Lucianic rdgs.' in texts
antedating Lu. These appear in the OLat. par excellence, also
in primitive Gr. texts of the ist and 2d centuries, perhaps going
back to 'Ur-Theodotion.' These variations are all slight in
value, nowhere exhibit Hexaplaric rdgs. or the plusses charac-
teristic of Origen and Lucian. At times they offer more literal
translations in word order, particles, etc., than we find in B.
As has been observed above, §12, c, the explanation must be
that Lu. was following a form of 0 text which was variant from
that represented by B. We must put the historical Theodotion
back into the first third of the 2d cent. a.d. at least; we may
have to carry the tradition of that text still farther back, and
this stretch of time would have involved variations in different
regions. A minute examination reveals the fact that Origen's
basal text differed from B: Lucian's appears to have differed
' See §10, 4 (i), and the writer's note in JBL n. 5. This Chigi text is the only
Lucianic text that has been edited and printed for Dan. The Lucianic doublets
appear in it asterized; the text has many interesting features.
§l6. THE OLD SYRIAC VERSION 55
Still more. We have then to postulate different types of text,
as we may surmise, one in Egypt = B, one in Palestine =
Origen's basis, and one in Syria = Lucian's. The correspon-
dences with the Western texts, as observed at end of §12, the
OLat., would then have to be explained by a straight inheritance
of the West from Antioch, It is a case similar to the ' Western
Readings' in the N.T.^
§16. THE OLD SYRIAC VERSION.
For critical results obtained from study of §>, the ancient and
simple Bible text as distinguished from the Hexaplaric, sum-
mary reference is made to Wyngaarden's Pennsylvania thesis.
The Syriac Version of the Bk. of Dan., Lpzg., 1923. The earliest
Syr. comm., Aphraates and Aphrem, offer no essential variations
and depend upon our ^; s. Wyng., p. 33, cf. Riessler, Dan., 18.
The Old Syr. Gospels (Euangelion de-Mefarrese) do not depend
upon it, and are prob. anterior; but it precedes the general pub-
lication of the Hexaplaric apparatus, of which it shows no
trace, and may therefore be assigned toward the first half of the
3d cent. The tr. appears to come from a Christian hand, s.
Wyng., pp. 30/.
S* is generally a literal tr. of ^ except in evident cases of
interpretation or theological modification. There are a few
cases where it may offer a better text than 1^. In regard to the
VSS, it is slightly, if at all, dependent upon ®. On the other
hand, the translator made constant use of 0 (Wyng., pp. ig f.).
Wyng. discusses, pp. 22 jff., the possible affinities with Origen
and Lucian (never in cases of Hexaplaric additions), but no
dependence can be proved, beyond that of identical basal texts.
There are a few cases of identical interpretation between ^
and Lu., but these point only to the root of a common interpre-
tation in Syria {cf. §15). The correspondences with % are con-
siderable; many of them are due to the identical Theod. back-
ground, upon which Jer. depended as did #, others are identities
of text or of interpretation; e.g., g-*^- ". It is to be observed
* My conclusions arc the same as those of Burkitt, Rides of Tyconius, pp. cxvi seg.,
cf. his Fragments of . . . Aqiiila, pp. 2(->f.; s. also the writer, op. cit., JBL 1925, 299/.
As for the alleged possible influence of Lu. upon &, as suspected by Wright and
Duval, the relation must be chronologically the reverse; see the next §. Parsons'
remarks on Lu., Pref. to vol. i, c. i, §8, are noteworthy for their good sense.
56 INTRODUCTION
that both were composed in the same environment, Christian
but subject to vital Jewish influences.
§17. Jerome's version: the vulgate.
This VS has not been particularly studied by itself in the
present preparation, its general characteristics being, it is as-
sumed, well known. Jerome was acquainted with all his prede-
cessors, at least through the Hexaplaric apparatus, and his
translation as also his comm. are invaluable as summarizing the
results of earlier scholarship. His text is that of Hf, varying
from it, almost entirely, in cases of dependence upon his pred-
ecessors, in paraphrases, and sometimes prob. through careless-
ness. It is fatuous to lay any stress upon 13 as evidence where
it agrees with one or other of the preceding VSS. Its chief in-
terest is as an interpretation, reflecting by Jer.'s predilection
the Jewish scholarship of which he availed himself; indeed, there
occur several cases in which he anticipates the interpretations
of the mediaeval Jewish comm. Any study of Jewish commen-
tation upon the Scriptures should certainly include Jerome as
almost the sole witness for an age otherwise dark, since the
Jewish interest in Dan. as an object of learned or midrashic com-
ment appears only in later literature.
§18. method and use of the textual apparatus.
The preparation of this apparatus has the object of gaining
precision of terms and simplification of reference.
Hf is the Ktib, IH its Massoretic apparatus. The inner vari-
ants to these traditional data are noted, the rdgs. of the chief
printed editions of M, being carefully registered, along with im-
portant MS rdgs. As far as textual criticism is concerned, there
is no need of registering all the translations of later VSS, Aq,
No single ms authorities are cited as final proof of their re-
spective VSS. (^ is not the unique Gr. text alone but can only
be obtained by composition between that and the Syro-Hexa-
plar, while the text must then be discounted in respect to its
contaminations and Hexaplaric additions. Especially is © not
B, although that codex is by far the best exemplar of the VS,
and will be cited for 0 where there is no dispute. Similarly there
§19- THE HISTORICAL DATA 57
is no use in citing Cod. A as a fmal authority for anything;
it has not that importance even for its own group. The aim has
been to discover the groups which represent the various versions
and revisions, and to present the results of critical analysis of
the witnesses in each group. In general the mss, uncials as well
as cursives, will be comparatively rarely cited; reference will be
made to the groups in which they belong, e.g., in the compHcated
field of the Theodotionic tradition, to 0 (the literary text an-
tecedent to Origen), Or^, Or*^, Lu., the results being based upon
careful digestion. Where there is no true variation of testimony,
0 will stand for the whole Theod. tradition.
As for the valuation of the testimony of the VSS, their real
evidence is not obtained by the counting of noses — a theory
generally accepted, but not generally practised. In Dan. there
is such an interlocking of evidence, 0 depending upon CS, §> and
"B depending upon 0, that their combined evidence may not
count more than one unit.
Again it is not the coincidence of testimony that evokes con-
fidence, rather the disagreements must be appraised. The
identity of (i> and 0, of 0 and S>, may mean nothing; but the
disagreements of such pairs are worthy of inspection. And espe-
cially the principle must be laid down that the older the VS the
greater its interest and perhaps its authority for the primitive
text. Accordingly in this Comm. ^'s rdgs. are always respected
as against 0, even against the writer's prejudice; the combina-
tion 1^ + (^ is not easily overcome; and similarly the combina-
tion 1^+0 against the later field. On the other hand, the wit-
ness oi (& -^ & against ^ is of precarious value, for 0 may be
dependent upon (B.
The sub- versions have to be handled with care. They may
not be treated as though they were prime versions, but only as
representatives of their groups. So treated they are invaluable,
but without laying down their genetic history such comparison
is most fallacious,
IV. HISTORICAL CRITICISM OF THE BOOK.
§19. THE HISTORICAL DATA.
Dr. Pusey, distinguished as scholar and Churchman, opens his
book on Daniel the Prophet with these words: "The book of
58 INTRODUCTION
Daniel is especially fitted to be a battle-ground between faith
and unbelief. It admits of no half-way measures. It is either
Divine or an imposture." Dr. Pusey proposes a theological di-
lemma. But there is involved also a critical dilemma. For the
student must take position as between a view of the bk. which
assigns it, along with tradition, to the 6th cent. B.C., as practi-
cally the composition of the seer whose name it bears; and a
view which regards it as a product of the Hellenistic age. There
is a gap of 400 years between the two parties, an extent of time
so vast that it is impossible for either to understand the other,
or for either to make impression upon the other's argumentative
bulwarks. While the majority of philological commentaries and
standard articles upon the bk. now accept the late date for its
origin,^ nevertheless this tendency may not arrogate to itself the
whole of scholarship, as there still remain excellent modern
scholars who vigorously defend the traditional position.^ On the
ground of the apparent impossibility of the two parties coming
to terms or even understanding one another, this Comm. must
pursue its own line of logical development, meeting respectfully,
if often too summarily, the opposing views on its way. The
lines of argumentation have not much changed since d'Envieu
and Driver; the fresh archaeological data seem to lead to more
dispute with no greater prospect of composition of the debate.
a. The appearance of the hook in literature.
The absence of any possible citation from or allusion to the
bk. before the middle of the 2d cent. B.C. has been indicated
in §2.
b. The philological evidence.
It has been shown above that the character of the Hob. of
the bk. points at least to a century after the Exile (§6), that
the actual variations of the Aramaic indicate a later age than
that of the papyri, although our bk. traditionally belongs to the
• For the past generation the writer can name for comm. on the conservative side
only those by the Roman Catholic scholars d'Envieu and Knabenbauer, and those
by Fuller, Thompson, and Wright.
' In addition to the comm. named, there are the collections of studies by Wright
(in a complementary vol. to his comm.), Wilson, Studies, and Boutflower, along
with a series of articles by Wilson in the Princeton Theol. Rev.; for earlier works
those by Deane and Kennedy. For the titles s. Bibliography.
§I9C. HISTORICAL OBJECTIVE OF THE BOOK 59
century before these documents (§7), and that the presence of
foreign words argues almost indubitably for the age of the Per-
sian settlement well after the Exile, and very reasonably for the
Hellenistic age (§8).
c. The historical objective of the book : the four monarchies.
The historical objective of the bk., whether it is understood
as contemporaneous to the writer or as prophetically foreseen,
is the Hellenistic age. This appears definitely in the climax, the
final vision, cc. 10-12, in the exact survey of history from the
end of the Persian empire (after 'the fourth' king 'in Persia')
down through a clearly limned sketch of Hellenistic history to the
time of Antiochus Epiphanes. It may be said that the great
bulk of exegesis admits this; opinions vary as to whether or just
where the Antichrist appears in the story; e.g., Jerome follows
history through 11-°, and where others find Antiochus entering
the stage, he makes a bold leap in finding the Antichrist in the
personage of vv.^^"-. Most critics allow that Antiochus is the
character from that point, the proposed Antichrist being then
often found at the end of the chap. In fact, some of the Fathers
could pursue the history well into the Maccabasan age. See at
length the Note at the end of c. 11.
This chapter is the greatest stumbling-block to the 'tradition-
alist' interpretation of the bk. On the one side its defenders
only grudgingly allow the Hellenistic features, accepting them
as merely prophetic 'examples' out of the future, so Keil. The
position of Wilson, Studies, 274, is unique, that the whole of 11^
"is absolutely within the sphere of ordinary predictive proph-
ecy, and puts one in mind of the indefiniteness of the verse of
Balaam: 'There shall come forth a star out of Jacob.' "^ If
there is one sure and definite bit of secular history in the bk., it
is this chap., which, intentionally obscure as it is, can neverthe-
less be interpreted and approved by historical scholarship. It is
interesting to observe that certain conservative scholars have
ventured to regard this chap, as practically inauthentic; so
Zockler, who was inclined to reject it as too utterly alien to
' Smend, 'tJber jud. Apokalyptik,' ZATW 1885, 222 f., believes that c. 11 is an
historical document of first-rate importance — a more honorable treatment of it
than Wilson's ascription of utter vagueness.
6o INTRODUCTION
other parts of Holy Writ, cf. the comparative indefiniteness of
the earHer Visions, while Wright has actually advanced the
theory that the chapter has been overlaid with Targum (for
which he most unconservatively cites parallels from the late
Jewish literature), and confesses that "the closing prophecy of
Daniel, in its present form, cannot be proved to go back to an
earlier period than 164 B.C." Wright's theory is a pure assump-
tion. Nevertheless Boutflower adopts the speculation.^
After any possible 'analogy of Scripture,' and indeed any pos-
sible interpretation of a book regarded as a unit, the atheistic
and inhuman personage described in ii^^^-, who fully corre-
sponds to the role of Epiphanes, the tyrannical persecutor of
the Religion and forerunner of the idea of the Antichrist, must
be identical with the similar personage described 8^^^-, a king in
'the latter time of the kingdom' of 'Greece,' as is specified v.^';
and again with 'the little horn' of the Fourth Beast of the first
Vision, 7^f-. In the Vision of c. 9, with the avoidance of personal
portraiture, the 'prince that shall come,' who 'shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary,' v.^^, is evidently the same personage.
That is, all four Visions of the second half of the bk. culminate
in one and the same execrable tyrant, in one and the same ex-
pected catastrophe of the Nation and the Holy City. He and
his doings are the climax of the 'kingdom of Greece.' It is in-
deed difficult to understand how any exegete can dodge this
exact specification of the last Monarchy.
The kingdom of Greece is introduced in c. 11 with 'a mighty
king,' who 'shall rule with great dominion and do according to
his will,' upon whose death 'his kingdom shall be broken,' etc.,
\^. ^'^•. This is absolutely parallel to the symbol in c. 8 of the
Buck with the 'conspicuous horn,' v.^, which horn was broken,
being replaced by four horns, v. ^, the whole range of symbol-
ism being historically interpreted in w?'^^-: the Buck is the king
(collectively) of Greece, the great horn the first king, the four
horns succeeding the four kingdoms into which his kingdom is
divided; and so 11^ his kingdom is divided to the four winds of
heaven. The Buck annihilates the Ram, whose two horns rep-
resent the kingdoms of Media and Persia. Here without doubt
^ See Wright, Dan. and his Prophecies, 317 Jf-, Boutflower, pp. 4 ff. The citation
from Wilson given above is his only reference to c. 11.
§I9C. HISTORICAL OBJECTIVE OF THE BOOK 6 1
we have Alexander, the conqueror of the traditional Medo-Per-
sian empire, as it is known to Greek historiography.
In cc. 2 and 7 we find a parallelism of a system of four king-
doms, which parallelism is admitted by all. In c. 2 the four are
symbolized by the successive series of metals composing a com-
posite Image; in c. 7 by a series of successive monstrous Beasts.
The first of these kingdoms thus symbolized in parallel is ad-
mitted by almost all interpreters to be Babylonia, as it is spe-
cifically incarnated in the person of Nebuchadnezzar, 2" ^^ Now,
analogy requires the identification of the fourth Beast with its
successive horns in c. 7 with Greece as specified in c. 8. Accord-
ing to the equally specific statements at the end of c. 11 and the
beginning of c. 12 the predecessor of Greece is the kingdom of
Persia, i.e., the third kingdom. The remaining, second king-
dom can be nothing else than Media, which according to ancient
historiography, as still maintained by historians, e.g., Rawlin-
son, up to our own day, was one of the Great Monarchies of the
ancient Orient. That Media and Persia are assembled in 8^° as
the two horns of the Ram is not to be pleaded against this iden-
tification, if we are justified in seeking the missing second king-
dom. Media did actually empty into Persia, as Greece did into
Rome. But the distinction between the two is maintained in
the clear-cut separation between Darius 'the Mede,' or 'of the
seed of the Medes,' absolute monarch, dynastically speaking,
over a Median empire, 6^"-, 9^ and Cyrus 'the king of Persia,'
101.5
Support for this postulate of a Median negemony succeeding
^ For the history of the interpretation of the Four Monarchies s. Note after c. 2.
Consult Rawlinson's 'Third Monarchy' for what was earlier known, almost entirely
from the Gr. historians, concerning the alleged Median empire. In the ancient
periodic composition of history place had to be found for the Medes, the reputed
conquerors of Assyria, and so they were given a distinct position in the hierarchical
succession of 'Great Powers.' The history of 'the Medes' remains most obscure
still. From the latest datum on the destruction of Nineveh, in Gadd, The Fall of
Nineveh, 1923, it was the Umman-Manda which took the city. In just what way
we are to harmonize 'Manda' and 'Madai,' whether as identical or confused in
tradition, historians have not yet determined; cf. Prasek, Gesch. d. Meder u. Perser,
I, 128. For a writer of the 6th cent., holding office under Belshazzar, the last Bab.
scion, and Cyrus, conqueror of Babylon ace. to Biblical, Greek and his own royal
proclamations, to have interpolated an intervening Median kingdom, were an ab-
surdity. If he was a writer of much later age, his method is perfectly intelligible;
he was following the schematism of the Gr. historians, itself derived from Oriental
tradition, and some such empire did exist, cj. Prasek, pp. 124-169. Thus there falls
62 INTRODUCTION
that of Babylon was had in the Bible itself. Several prophetic or-
acles had announced the coming destruction of Babylon by the
Medes — doubtless a true reflex of the triumph of the Umman-
Manda over Nineveh — and this expectation affected the Jewish
retrospection. Such passages are Is. 13^^, 21^, Jer. 51'^- -"--^
(n.b., 'the kings of the Medes').
There is one ancient and very respectable reason why the
Fourth Monarchy has been sought in Rome. With the putting
off of the fulfilment of the Apocalyptic expectation of the con-
summation of the Kingdom of God, interpretation simply pro-
ceeded to keep the prophecy up to date. Accordingly the Jews
under Rome found that Monarchy in their new mistress, teste
Josephus; and this ruling Jewish interpretation was naturally
carried over by the Church with its vivid eschatological hopes.
Subsequently the Jewish comm. found that Monarchy in Islam,
and in the same spirit Protestant theologians were content to
work out the fulfilment of prophecy through the Middle Ages
down to their own day (the feet and toes of the Image were
German states and what-not), and the Papacy could be identi-
fied with the Antichrist.® But the early Christian exegesis fol-
lowed the Jewish interpretation in finding the desecration of
the sanctuary, end of c. 9, in the Roman destruction of Jeru-
salem, an interpretation followed by Jesus himself in expecting
the future setting up of the ' Abomination of Desolation' ; it was
only subsequently, with the rise of Christian historical scholar-
ship that the chronologers came to devote themselves to the
task of reading the mystery of the 490 years, and to find it cul-
to the ground such an assertion as is made by Wilson, p. 147: "It will be per-
fectly evident that all educated men living in and before the second century n.c.
must have had access to so much information with regard to the number and history
of the Babylonian and Persian kings, as to render it highly improbable that any
writer of the second century B.C. could have been as ignorant of the history of Persia
as certain critics represent the writer of Daniel to have been." If the author of
Dan. had read the Gr. historians he would have been corroborated in the scheme of
successive monarchies he here presents — which shows that his lack of historical
knowledge does not prove him to have been an unlearned and foolish writer. For the
still obscure subject of the Median kingdom, or rather kingdoms, s. Justi in Geiger
and Kuhn's Grundriss d. iran. Philologie, 2, 406-413; Winckler, KAT 104/.; and
the brief Outline of Pers. History Based on the Cuneiform Inscriptions, 1922, by Ahl.
Supplementarily there is to be added the valuable discussion by Forrer, ZDMG 76
(1922), 247, ace. to which Manda = Madai can be traced back in Akk. and Hit-
tite documents to the reign of Naram-Sin.
• This latter identification still figures in Boutflower's presentation of 'The Roman
Scheme,' p. 14, where the Little Horn = the temporal power of the Papacy !
§I9D. DARIUS THE MEDE 63
minating somewhere in the history of the first-century Chris-
tian Church. On the history of this interpretation s. the Note
at end of c. 9 and also that after c. 2. It is a vast mistake that
has been perpetrated, especially by Protestant theologians in
their disregard of the history of exegesis, to hold that the iden-
tification of the lower term of the 490 years with the epoch of
Jesus Christ has always been the 'Christian' exegesis. This is
false to the fact of the great variety of Christian interpretation.
d. Darius the Mede.
How then can we identify Darius the Mede? Such is his
designation, and he was 62 years old, according to 6i<2). 9^
makes him 'son of Xerxes, of the seed of the Medes,' who suc-
ceeded as king over the kingdom of the Chaldaeans.'' In the
Bible we learn of four Persian kings: Cyrus, e.g., Ezr. i; Ar-
taxerxes, 4^; Darius 4^ 5^"^-, probably Darius the Persian, Neh.
12^^ — so the actual order in Ezr.-Neh.; and Xerxes, Est. i, etc.
Likewise according to Dan ii^ there were four Pers. kings, cj.
the 'four heads' of the symbolic beast 7^. This abbreviation of
the length of the Persian empire has its counterpart in the later
Jewish reckoning of but 34 years to the Pers. regime; s. Note
on the Interpretation of the 70 Weeks, end of c. 9, suh (3). Our
Darius the Mede is evidently distinguished from Darius the
Persian. Boutflower, p. 143, notes six identifications that have
been proposed for the Mede, two of them of recent origin. One
of the elder identifications (s. Dr., p. liii) is Astyages, the Median
king conquered by Cyrus, whom the latter is gratuitously sup-
posed to have installed as viceroy in Babylon; another Cyaxares
(II), who, according to Xenophon's Cyropaedia, viii, 5, 8, mar-
ried his daughter to Cyrus; but according to i, 2, i, Cyrus mar-
ried a daughter of Astyages. We see how little confidence we
can place upon Xenophon's romance. This lightness of later
tradition is carried on by Josephus, who states, A J x, 11, 4,
that this Darius "with his kinsman Cyrus put an end to the
dominion of Babylon; he was the son of Astyages (ace. to Dan.,
of Xerxes !), and had another name among the Greeks."
'There is nothing cryptic in the expressions translated 'received the kingdom,'
6', and 'was made king,' g', v. ad locc; this against those wlio hold to indications that
Darius was only a viceroy.
64 INTRODUCTION
One recent identification is that with Cambyses, on the ground
that the latter appears to have enjoyed the title of king from the
beginning of Cyrus' reign; this was proposed by Winckler, KAT
287, and has been warmly adopted by Boutfiower, p. 145. But
no explanation of the equation 'Darius the Mede — Cambyses
the Persian' is offered, and Boutfiower appeals in vain (pp. 153^.)
to a hypothesis that the Pers. names were epithetical, titular.
The more popular recent identification is that with Gubaru,
Cyrus' lieutenant, who made the actual entry into Babylon in
the name of his master, and subsequently was governor of that
province according to the Nabonidus-Cyrus Chronicle. Other
texts have since come to light which indicate that Gubaru was
a high officer under Neb., probably toward the end of his reign;
that under Cambyses he was governor both of Babylon and
Abar-Nahara ('Across-Euphrates'). He appears also in the
Behistun Inscription as one of Darius I's field-marshals. Herod-
otus makes frequent reference to him in the history of Darius,
and Xenophon gives extensive notices of him in the Cyropaedia
(as Gobryas). This material has now been assembled and am-
ply discussed by W. Schwenzner, who presents a plausible and
most romantic reconstruction of the history of this Persian mag-
nate, who probably as a mercenary enjoyed high rank under
Neb., who appears to have made defection from Nabonidus (of
the anti-Nebuchadnezzar party) and gone over to Cyrus, then
received his high commands in the new empire, and subsequently
became one of Darius' doughty lieutenants in the estabUsh-
ment of his kingdom.*
But ' Darius = Gubaru,' as far as names go, is still as fallacious
an equation as is ' Darius — Cambyses' ; such attempts are no bet-
' W. Schwenzner, 'Gobryas,' Klio, 18 (1922), 41-58, 226-252. The texts in their
chronological order appear: in Scheil, Rev. d'ass. ii (1914), 1(35 Jf-, a text indicating
that Gubaru held high rank under Neb. (so Scheil and Schwenzner, but Clay, JAOS
41, 466 argues that the date is under Cyrus); in the Nabonidus-Cyrus Chronicle (for
literature s. note 12 below), ace. to which 'Gubaru, governor of Gutium, and the
soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without a battle,' and after Cyrus' entry into the
city and proclamation of peace 'he appointed Gubaru his satrap and prefects also
in Babylon'; in Nies and Keiser, Bah. Inscriptions in the Collection of James B. Nies,
pt. 2, 1918, nos. 69 and 114, of Cambyses' accession year, in both of which trans-
gression against the terms of the documents involves 'sin against Gubaru, governor
{bU pihati) of Babylon and of Abar-Nahara {cbir nari)'; in Clay (not the editor, Hil-
precht), BE viii, i, no. 80, of Cambyses' ist year, recording a 'canal of Gubaru'; in
Strassmaier, Inschriftcn v. Cambyses, no. g6, relating to his private affairs, barns,
§I9D. DARIUS THE MEDE 65
ter than those of ^ and Josephus to rectify the order of Pers.
kings in the later bks. of the O.T. The Behistun Inscr. knows
Gubaru as a Persian, against Wilson's vain attempts to prove
the possibiUty of his being a Mede. Further, the more we know
of Gobryas the less can we assign him royal rank. It is well-
nigh impossible that a highest noble could have been given the
title even popularly, still less by a member of the Pers. court, as
the seer Daniel is alleged to have been. Such a title could have
been nothing less than high treason, involving the subject as
well as the writer. But the Biblical Darius the Mede acts as
omnipotent autocrat over a vast empire of 120 satrapies,^ and
the ne plus ultra of royal autocracy appears in the edict he signs
that none should worship any god or man but himseK. Neither
Gobryas nor Cambyses, in his father's lifetime, could have per-
petrated such an absurdity. For explanation of the story we
can only make surmises. For local reasons not known to us the
great Darius I, who made Cyrus' domain into an organized
empire, who had to punish Babylon for its rebelliousness in his
early days, may have passed as a Mede, and there being no
place for him in the line of the four Pers. kings known to the
Bible, may have been made the representative of the supposi-
titious Median kingdom and so been placed before Cyrus. In
him the captures of Babylon by Gobryas and Darius I may have
been compounded, and in so far we may have a residuum of
tradition. ^°
etc.; in Pinches, PSBA 38 (1916), 29/., of Cambyses' 4th year, similar to the Nies
texts (the title of governorship of Abar-Nahara is omitted). In the Behistun Inscr.
there is ref. to Gubaru-Gaubaruua, in §68 in trilingual form, in §71 in OPers. alone,
Gubaru being termed 'son of Mardonia, a Persian,' and appearing as one of Darius'
field-marshals (s. Weissbach, 'Die Keilinschriften d. Achameniden,' in Vorderas.
Bihliothek) . Gobryas appears as a leading personage in Herodotus for the events in
Darius I's reign (iii, 70, etc.), while he figures largely in Xenophon's Cyrus Romance,
the Cyropaedia. Below in sub-section (e) will be given a summary of the story told
in viii, 5, of his seizure of the palace in Balsylon and the killing of the Bab. king;
most of the anecdotes about Gobryas concern his relations with Darius. The his-
torical value of these Gr. traditions is fully discussed by Schwenzner. See also for
an earlier discussion C. F. Lehmann-Haupt, 'Gobryas u. Belsazar bei Xenophon,'
Klio, 1902, 341-5.
• Technically a woful exaggeration, excusable only from the later degenerated
use of 'satrap'; s. at 3^
'» Cf. Behrmann, p. xix. Dr., p. liv, Cornill, Tnl., 258, against which line of argument
cf. Wilson, cc. 10-12. Cambyses' acts of sacrilege in Egypt may have given rise to
this fable of royal claim of deity, yet Darius appears in the story as a friendly char-
acter. But the theme belonged to the common satire of Jewish story; ace. to Judith
3' Neb. gave an edict that he alone should be worshipped.
5
66 INTRODUCTION
e. Belshazzar.
The existence of a Belshazzar at the end of the Chaldaean
dynasty was strikingly demonstrated by the discovery of his
name on the Nabonidus Cylinder, in which he appears as Na-
bonidus' son." Otherwise Belsh. had entirely disappeared from
history except for the reff. in Dan. and the dependent ref. in
Bar. i", where the Jews are bidden to 'pray for the life of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and for the life of Baltasar
his son,' which appears at first sight to be an echo of Dan. A
large number of cuneiform references have since been discov-
ered. The following treatment concerns itself only with the
main facts and their interpretation. ^^
In the cuneiform texts Belsh. is called either by his name or,
as in the Nabonidus-Cyrus Chronicle simply 'son of the king,'
i.e., anglice, 'crown prince.' In the Chronicle for years 7, 9, 10,
II of Nabonidus' reign it is recorded that "the king was in
Teima; the son of the king, the princes and his (or, the) army
were in the land of Akkad." In the texts hitherto known Belsh.
is never given the title of king, and this has been ground for
argument against one detail of our story which represents Belsh.
as absolute king. But Sidney Smith's presentation of a new text
(s. end of Note 12) shows that royal dignity was actually con-
" Cf. for the first discoveries COT 2, 130.
" The writer is deeply indebted to Prof. R. P. Dougherty, late of Goucher College,
now of Yale, for his generosity in affording him the full use of his materials for a
forthcoming volume entitled Nabonidus and Belshazzar, in the Yale Oriental Series.
Only as this volume was being finally prepared for the press did the ms copy of Dr.
Dougherty's volume come to hand. The data here presented, as, indeed, all the
earlier studies, will be much antiquated by Dr. Dougherty's exhaustive volume.
But it seems wise to the writer to leave his study in its present state with the pres-
entation of his conclusions as already reached, while referring the reader to that
forthcoming volume.
For the literature used here I note the following: Rogers, Cuneiform Inscr. and the
O.T., 37& ff., and KAT vol. 3, give the Nabonidus Cylinder already mentioned, as
also the Cyrus Cylinder celebrating his conquest of Babylon; these also appear in
Barton, Archceology and the Bible, c. 20, along with the Nabonidus-Cyrus Chrosicle,
first published by Pinches, PSBA 1882, 167^. Recently published refl. to Belsh.
are those of Pinches, PSBA 1916, 2t ff.; Clay, Miscell. Inscr. in the Yale Bab. Collec-
tion, 1915, no. 39; Dougherty, Records from Erech, Time of Nabonidus (Yale Or.
Series), 1920, no. 134, and Archives from Erech, Time of Nebuch. and Nab. (Goucher
College), 1923, no. 294. For successive presentations of the material s. Pinches,
O.T. in the Light of the Hist. Records of Ass. and Bab.^, 1903, c. 12; Wright, c. 4; Wil-
son, c. 6; Boutflower, c. 11. Finally, a new text of Nab. describing his conquest of
Arabian Teima has been published by Sidney Smith, Bab. Hist. Texts, 1924, 84 if.
§I9E. BELSHAZZAR 67
ferred upon Belsh. This text, of the third full year of Nabonidus,
detaiUng that king's victorious campaign against Arabian Teima
(as this place has elsewhere been identified by Dougherty), re-
cords: "He intrusted a camp to his eldest, his first-born son;
the troops of the land he sent with him. He freed his hand; he
intrusted the kingship {larnltam) to him." That is, in the early
part of Nabonidus' reign, in his third year, his son was invested
with royal dignity, which, in view of the active position he held
throughout the subsequent years, must have continued through-
out his life. That is, the Bible story is correct as to the rank of
kingship given to Belsh. Now in several texts the prince's name
is coupled with his father's in the latter's prayers and in the
omens interpreted for him; and in Pinches' text and two texts
in the Yale Museum his name is associated with his father's in
an oath; on which Dougherty remarks: "There is no other in-
stance in available documents of an oath being sworn in the
name of the son of the king." The induction therefore that had
been made from earlier data by Pinches, Dougherty, and others,
is now brilliantly corroborated; as in a previous statement of
the latter scholar: "It appears that he was invested with a de-
gree of royal authority, not only at the close of the reign of his
father, but throughout large part, if not the whole, of the reign
of Nabonidus."
For the capture of Babylon, the fall of Nabonidus and the
disappearance of Belsh. from history, the Nabonidus-Cyrus
Chronicle is our immediate authority. The following transla-
tion is taken from Dougherty: "In the month Tishri,i2a when
Cyrus fought at Opis on the Tigris river against the troops of
Akkad, he destroyed the people with burning; he put the people
to death. On the 14th day Sippar was captured without fight-
ing. Nabonidus fled. On the i6th day Ugbaru the governor of
Gutium, and the troops of Cyrus entered Babylon without fight-
ing. Afterward, when Nabonidus returned, he was taken cap-
tive in Babylon. Until the end of the month the arms of Gutium
surrounded the gates of the temple Esagila. No one's weapon
was placed in Esagila or the sanctuaries, and no appointed time
was disregarded. In the month Marchesvan, the 3d day, Cyrus
"» E. Meyer, ZATW i8q8, zzq JI-, corrected 'Tammuz' to 'Tishri,' as the se-
quence of events demands; Dougherty reads 'Tishri' without comment.
68 INTRODUCTION
entered Babylon. Harine (?) were carried before him. Pros-
perity was established in the city; Cyrus decreed prosperity for
all in Babylon. Gobryas, his governor, placed governors in
charge of Babylon. From Kislev to Adar the gods of Akkad,
whom Nabonidus had brought up to Babylon, they returned to
their cities." There follow, as Dougherty notes, the death of
a prominent personage and a period of mourning, in the follow-
ing fragmentary lines: ''In the month Marchesvan, on the night
of the nth, Ugbaru . . . In the month (?) the . . . of the king
died. From the 28th day of Adar to the third day of Nisan
there was weeping in the land of Akkad. . . . All the people
prostrated their heads." Who this personage was is quite
doubtful ; most scholars, while recognizing the uncertainty, have
filled the lacuna with 'the son [of the king],' i.e., Belsh.; so, e.g.,
King, Barton, Clay, Boutflower (p. 129), and Dougherty earlier;
but the latter now does not venture to fill the gap. He writes
later on: "Accurate interpretation ... is impossible owing to
the illegible condition of the text. However, there is strong
probability that Belsh. was slain in connection with the fall of
Babylon, as indicated in the fifth chapter of Daniel and inti-
mated by the record of Xenophon." On this point the writer
admires Dougherty's candid scepticism, for he himself must
enter a demurrer against the theory that the conqueror's own
record could have so distinguished the death of a prince who
was, when free and alive, a hopeless rebel.
How and where Belsh. came to his end we do not learn from
the Akk. documents. But some Gr. data, which have often been
alleged as history, must be considered. Herodotus, i, 191, de-
scribes at length Cyrus' capture of Babylon. According to his
story the city had been stoutly fortified and provisioned against
Cyrus' attack. But the latter diverted the Euphrates into a
great basin, which had been made by Neb.'s queen Nitocris
when she was building the water-walls of the city; and by this
dry channel he entered the city unawares (by night ? — although
this is not stated), "as they were engaged in a festival, dancing
and revelling until they learned of the capture but too surely."
The story is paralleled by a much longer narrative in Xenophon's
Cyropaedia, vii, 5 (noticed above under the title 'Darius the
Mede'). Cyrus formed the plan of draining off the river into a
trench which he had dug; he drained off the waters on a night
§I9E. BELSHAZZAR 69
when "he heard that there was a festival in Babylon, in which
all the Babylonians drank and revelled the whole night." The
attacking party was headed by Cyrus, with his officers Gadatas
and Gobryas acting as guides. They entered the city, taking
advantage of the revelry in the streets, and easily reached the
palace. They entered and found the king standing with his
sword drawn; he was made away with by Gadatas and Gobryas
and their party, and then ensued a massacre of those found in
the streets. Soon after Cyrus held a public reception and entered
into the palace.
Certain parallels with the story in Dan. 5 are obvious and
interesting, and the reconstruction often made is that this un-
named king of the Cyropaedia is Belshazzar, that he was func-
tioning as king, even without the actual name, and that Gobryas
who killed him is Darius the Mede, the Gubaru of the Bab.
records.
On these stories it is to be remarked that historians now uni-
versally reject the tradition of a forcible capture of Babylon in
view of the plain record of the Nabonidus-Cyrus Chronicle that
Cyrus' troops under Gubaru peacefully occupied the city and
captured Nabonidus in it, he himself celebrating his triumph a
little later. Furthermore we have the account of Berossus pre-
served by Josephus, C. Apionem, i, 20, which varies somewhat
from the official records but gives no room for a 'king Belshaz-
zar.' We read: "When Nabonnedus perceived that Cyrus was
coming to attack him, he met him with his forces, and, joining
battle with him, was beaten and fled away with a few of his
troops, and was shut up within the city Borsippa. Hereupon
Cyrus took Babylon and gave order that the outer walls of the
city should be demolished, because the city had proved very
troublesome to him, and cost him great pains to take it. He
then marched away to Borsippa to besiege Nabonnedus; but as
Nabonnedus did not sustain the siege, but delivered himself
into his hands, he was at first kindly treated by Cyrus, who
gave him Carmania as a place for him to inhabit and sent him
out of Babylonia." It is to be noticed that there are variations
from the Chronicle, especially in regard to the resistance put
up by Nabonidus and the difficulty of taking the city promptly.
It must be borne in mind that Berossus himself is a witness 240
years after the events he narrates, although withal a much
70 INTRODUCTION
more reliable authority than the earlier Herodotus and Xeno-
phon.^'
There remains, however, but only after Xenophon's Romance,
the death of an unnamed king of Babylon in his palace on a night
of revelry at the hands of two Persian officers, one of them
Gobryas, doubtless a reminiscence of the historical Gubaru.
That the unfortunate Belsh., abandoned by his father in his
chivalrous resistance to the conqueror, should have been popu-
larly called king by his faithful subjects is not impossible, and,
as Lehmann-Haupt remarks, in note 8, he would have passed
in native tradition as the last Bab. king. Nor, it must be al-
lowed, would the Chronicle, edited by the new administration,
have granted him that title even if he had actually assumed it,
as Cyrus regarded himself as the legitimate successor of Na-
bonidus.^* But whether a Jewish writer, contemporaneous with
the conqueror and one of his court, would have desired or dared
to use the title * king ' of the prince Belshazzar, whom the Pers.
dynasty could only have regarded as a rebellious upstart, is a
matter for serious deliberation for those who must pass upon
the historicity of the Biblical story.
Yet other data are given in Dan. 5 which have a bearing upon
our investigation. The 'Queen,' recognized by all to be the
queen-mother, enters the banquet-hall to bid her son call in the
sage Daniel, who 'in the days of king Neb. thy father had been
made by him master-magician.' What is to be said about this
asserted paternity of Nebuchadnezzar? And can we identify
the lady?
In the foundation cylinder of Nabonidus, already cited and
existing in duplicate {KB 3, 96) Belsh. is spoken of as 'the first
son proceeding from my heart' {libbia). Wilson, pp. 117-122,
considers at length ' the possibility of a man having two fathers.'
After an excursus on the vague use of 'son' in Oriental lan-
guages, he presents eight different ways in which Belsh. may
have been called 'son' of Neb.^* E.g., he may have been Neb.'s
" A longer account by Berossus of the Chaldsean empire has been preserved in
the Armenian Chronicle of Eusebius, first published by Mai; s. C. Miiller, Fragm.
hist, grace, 2, 504. Berossus' narratives appear to be generally ignored by the
apologists for c. 5.
" See the arguments by Wilson, c. 5, 'The Use of the Word "King."'
" He gives as an instance of the ideal or spiritual use of 'offspring of my heart'
the application of that term to Nabonidus by the high priest of Harran.
§I9E. BELSHAZZAR 7 1
own son adopted by Nabonidus, in which case the family his-
tory in Dan. is literally exact; or he may have been Nab.'s son,
but a grandson of Neb. through a possible marriage of Nab.
with a daughter of Neb. ; etc., etc. Boutflower advances and pre-
fers yet another possibility, pp. 115 ff. Recognizing that Belsh.
must have been born before his father's accession to the throne,
and doubtless the latter as a private citizen not being eligible
to a queen-mother's hand, he argues that Nab. had married the
queen of Neb., the famous Nitocris of Herodotus, after his ac-
cession, and so in this way by a complicated legal casuistry had
made his own son legal son of Neb.^° There are indeed all sorts
of possibilities and combinations, but in lack of evidence it is
simplest to accept the family relationship at its face value, and
this would agree with Herodotus' foreshortened view of the
Chaldaean dynasty (i, 188); he makes Labynetos (II = Nabo-
nidus) the son of Labynetos (I = Nebuchadnezzar) by Nitocris.
And so, more correctly as to the names, Abydenus, cited by
Eus., Praep., xi, 41, 6, knows only two kings, Neb. and Labyne-
tos. And this is equally the understanding of Bar. i, which
presents Neb. and his son Belsh. in the fifth year after the de-
struction of the city. The historical bks. of the O.T. know only
of Neb. and his son Evil-Merodach ; but between the latter and
Nabonidus history now certainly inserts Neriglissar and his son
Labashi-Marduk after Berossus, Jos., C. A p., i, 20.
Yet another item in c. 5 involves discussion. Whosoever
should read the mystic inscription was to be called 'third' in
the kingdom. The elder popular view was that the second after
the king was the queen-mother; and to this view the writer
would subscribe in case ' the Third ' is not in itself a proper title,
lilce Heb. salts ; s. at 5^ But the discovery of Belshazzar's name
as 'king's son,' and coregent with his father has quite naturally
induced the supposition that the triple hierarchy should begin
with Nabonidus; so Wright, p. 133, Boutflower, p. 119, and such
is Dougherty's conclusion. We should then have to think of a
traditional reminiscence of Nabonidus as in the background of
" Wright also assumes identification with Nitocris. Nab. ascended the throne 17
years after Neb.'s death, but Boutflower does not observe that the lady in question
was probably rather advanced in years to enter a new harem. As I understand
Dougherty's position, the queen-mother is the daughter of Neb. and wife of Na-
bonidus and so mother of Belsh. Why, however, he gives her the name Nitocris,
which is that of the consort of Neb., i.e., Labynetos I, ace. to Her., I do not see.
72 INTRODUCTION
Belsh.'s 'reign.' But for the story itself, considered as a dra-
matic unity, only the queen-mother can be included. When a
king is pictured in the plenitude of royal estate, as is Belshazzar,
a super-king cannot easily be surmised.
To sum up, the story of Belshazzar is not imaginary fiction,
but possesses true historical traditions, as do Herodotus and
Xenophon, and is superior to the two Greeks in knowing the
name of the last Bab. prince. The parallelism demands — and
Dan. is closer to Xenophon than to Herodotus — that we recog-
nize in all three traditional developments of the popular memory
of the fall of Babylon.
/. The third year of Jehoiakim; the Chaldceans ; etc.
Other points, almost innumerable, in the alleged history of
Daniel, are impugned by the critics; and they are defended with
equal tenacity by the apologists. The minor points should be
approached from the judgment obtained for the main historical
considerations, the questions of Darius the Mede, Belshazzar,
the Fourth Monarchy. If the decisions fall out in favor of these
points as historical, it remains for the historian but to discount
minor difficulties and inaccuracies. The argument depends upon
the accumulation of evidence pro or con}'^
The datum at the opening of the bk. that there was a captiv-
ity of Jehoiakim and his people in the 3d year of his reign, a year
before Neb.'s defeat of Necho at Karkemish (Jer. 46^), is inex-
plicable from anything we know of Oriental history at that time
or from inner-Biblical data, except a statement in 2 Ch. 36^- ''
that Neb. came against Jeh., bound him in fetters to carry him
to Babylon, and carried off the vessels of the temple. Nothing
is known of this captivity in the parallel in 2 Ki. 24. Our author
has preferred Ch. to Ki., and appears to have combined the
datum of Ch. with that of 2 Ki. 24^ that Jehoiakim served Neb.
three years, then rebelled, and Neb. sent against him marauding
" It is a vast pity that apologists have gone so far as they have in attempting to
maintain every iota of statement in the bk. — this in their zeal to support not so
much its historical accuracy as its divine infallibility. In consequence they demand
an extreme of respect for Dan. which is not required by conservative critics for the
historical bks. of the O.T. or even for the Gospels, in which the play of human lim-
itation and inexactness is generally allowed. Equally some radical critics have
overreached themselves in finding 'absurdities' throughout the bk.
§I9F. THE THIRD YEAR OF JEHOIAKIM 73
bands, so obtaining the third year by a very daring deduction
— very likely an interpretation that had already been made be-
fore the composition of the bk.^^
There is internal trouble with the date of year 2 of Neb. at 2^
because of the prima facie disagreement with the three years'
discipline required of the youths i^; s. Comm. at 2^. For Dan.'s
continuing unto year i of Cyrus, i^^, v. ad loc. The remaining
regnal years: 7^ Belsh. year i; 8^ do. year 3; 9^ Darius year i;
10^ Cyrus year 3, appear to be arbitrary, or was 3 years the
traditional term for the reigns of Belsh. and Cyrus? Darius'
age of 62 years, 6^ (5^0 must depend upon some kind of histori-
cal tradition. ^^
Perhaps transcending the obvious historical difficulties re-
corded above is the naive use of ' Kasdim-Chaldaeans ' as a class
of magicians: see Comm. at 2^, Dr., p. xlix seq. Schrader, for the
first generation of Assyriologists, says (COT 2, 125): "This is in
itself a clear indication of the post-exilic date of the bk."; and
equally the conservative Sayce, Monuments, 535: "In the eyes
of the Assyriologist the use of the word Kasdim . . , would
alone be sufficient to indicate the date of the work with unerring
certainty." It is an anachronism similar to an identification of
the historical Egyptians with the Gypsies and their magic prac-
tices.^°
In regard to the whole background of classes of soothsayers,
omen-diviners, etc., among whom the Chaldaeans are rated as a
distinct class (e.g., 4'"^>), F. Lenormant, the first student of the
Bab. omen texts and magic, has been often cited by apologists
for the early origin of Dan. in his appeal to the Bab. coloring of
" See Comm. at i'. This is really a case of Scripture vs. Scripture, despite Wilson's
arguments, cc. 3. 4.
" <& followed by 0 texts assigns year 18 of Neb. for the story of the Three Con-
fessors, 3', i.e., the date of the destruction of Jerusalem; this is repeated in <8 3"
(4').
^'' Wilson's discussion of this technical term, c. 18, has value for its chain of testi-
monies for this particular professional sense among the Greeks from Herodotus
down, the Greeks in general coming to confine it at last to that sense; withal the
historical mng. survived among them down to Strabo, just as this sense appears in
'Belshazzar the Chaldsan king,' 6'". The first evidence for the latter sense, outside
of the disputed bk. of Dan., is in Herodotus, who wrote some 150 years after the
opening dates of Dan.; which would seem to argue for the lateness of the bk.'s use
of the word in that sense. The new slant to the word is easily explained as arising
after the intrusion of the new Pers. empire and religion, when 'Chaldxan' became
a religious designation just as 'Jew' became.
74 INTRODUCTION
the bk. with its description of the soothsayers, their classes and
their methods, as a proof of its origin in the Bab. empire. His
latest statement, as known to the writer, is as follows :2i "The
further we advance in the knowledge of the Cuneiform texts, the
greater does the necessity appear of reversing the condemnation
much too prematurely pronounced by the German exegetical
school against the date of the writings of the fourth of the
greater prophets. The language of the book of Daniel, inter-
spersed as it is in various places with Greek words, proves with-
out doubt that the definitive translation (Fr. 'redaction'), as we
possess it, is posterior to the time of Alexander, but the founda-
tion of the work dates much further back; it is tinged with a
very decided Bab. tint, and certain features of the life at the
court of Neb. are there pictured with a truth and exactitude, to
which a writer a few centuries later could hardly have attained."
But passing by some of his critical admissions, we note that
Lenormant was not aware of a fact which has since his day been
well established, although many still ignore it: the survival of
the Bab. religious practices long after the fall of the empire. At
the beginning of the Hellenistic period Bab. astronomy was at
its acme in the person of Berossus, the Bab. priest and historian
who migrated to Cos and founded a school there. And the reli-
gious literature continued far later; the youngest specimen
known to the writer is a hymn written in 80 B.C., published by
Reisner, Sumerische Hyrnnen, 1896, no. 49, cj. p. xiv.
Now we actually know far more of the religion of the New
Babylonian empire than we do of its history. We are wofuUy
ill informed of the data of the reign of that admirable monarch
Nebuchadnezzar. But his many inscriptions, like those of Na-
bonidus, are almost entirely religious. And on this score the
religious actions and attitudes ascribed to Neb. and Darius the
Mede are incomprehensible. For each of these kings a story is
told (cc. 3. 6) of an attempt to foist a single and strange object
of worship upon the realm, in the one case a golden Image, ^^ in
the other the king's person to the exclusion of any god. No
'' See his Chaldcean Magic, Eng. tr. of his La magic chez les Chaldeens, 1874, with-
out date but with preface dated 1877, and so this authorized and improved ed. is
subsequent also to the author's La divination et la science des presages, 1875. The
citation above is found p. 14 of the Eng. tr.
" For this legend there may be a basis in Berossus' account of Ochus being the
first to erect images; s. Comm. at c. 3.
§I9F. THE THIRD YEAR OF JEHOIAKIM 75
trace of any such legislation can be found in antiquity, not even
in the consummate religious tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes.
And, on the other hand, the extreme terms of the royal confes-
sions, 3^*1-^^ (4^"^), 431-34(34-37)^ a^jj(j especially of the legal decree
of Darius, 6^^-29 (2 b-2s) ^ are, to say the least, hardly probable, al-
though they are not beyond the scope of the story-teller. The
subtle inference that Neb. became a worshipper of the one God
is not borne out by any known facts or any possible hypothesis
based on facts. It is erroneous, as many have done, to argue
that the portraiture of these two kings was modelled after the
arch-tyrant Antiochus. Neb. and Darius are friendly, human
natures; the latter immediately regrets the impulsive action into
which he has been inveigled by Dan.'s enemies; the former swells
with pride, is punished, but is given opportunity of repentance
and is rewarded. On the whole they are models of what kings,
when corrected, may become. The milieu of the story is rather
that of an earlier age than the Maccabaean, when there were al-
ready many ill-wishers of the Jews, much popular anti-Semitism,
like that expressed in Judith. ^^
In general it must be said that the atmosphere of the Pagan
world and its contrast with Judaism are capitally presented.
There is but one serious fault, when in his zeal over his hero's
triumph the writer makes Dan. actual ' master-magician ' of the
royal court, 4®'^\ Were the story true, Dan.'s position as a
pious Jew would have been intolerable and impossible for all
parties. If it be a romance the naive /aM.r pas is quite excusable.
The upshot of this survey of the facts is that when the alleged
historical data are examined, the principal stumbling-blocks can
only be explained by ingenious combinations of infinite possibili-
ties and alternatives which daze rather than satisfy the mind.
That a series of hypothetical events may, one by one, have hap-
pened, no historian can deny; on the other hand, in the large
paths of history he cannot become a detective, putting together
all the possibilities to make a hypothetical case. He must stand
by the ascertained facts, allowing them to be modified only by
sure or probable data.
But if the bk. be regarded as a work of religious romance, it
" The story of Judith presents Neb. in a very different light, as a man who would
be a god, 3'. None of the usual apologists would allow the credibility of this, and
yet, as has been recognized, Judith is not devoid of historical reminiscences.
76 INTRODUCTION
becomes entirely intelligible. It reflects well the forces of the
Babylonian-Persian-Greek civilization, in which there was a con-
tinuity of Orientalism slightly altered by the successive political
phases. There is the inheritance of the age-old Bab. religion, the
stage-setting of the barbarous Persian Empire, all of which rather
swallowed up Hellenism than was affected by it. It contains
historical legend, which may possibly be woven in with other
late traditions to add to our knowledge. But its essential histori-
cal value lies in its reflection of the conditions of that Oriental
complex of life on which we are too iU informed. This dominant
interest of the bk. has been too much overlooked by both radical
critic and apologist in their zeal for attack or defence, and the
religious and literary merits of the bk. have accordingly suffered.
What is here said refers almost entirely to cc. i-6; the milieu of
cc. 7-12 is quite different, s. §21.
g. The book as an apocryphon.
The bk. as a unit is an apocryphon, that is, a volume of alleged
antiquity that had been purposely ' hidden away ' until the emer-
gency arrived for its publication.^* The injunction for such dis-
posal of our bk. is given at the end of the final vision, 12*:' Thou,
Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of
the end [= 'Endzeit'].' It is the first specimen of technical
apocrypha that we possess in Jewish literature, and the forerun-
ner of a very extensive series of similar but far more elaborate
productions of the 2d cent. B.C. and after, all the apocalypses
being characterized by this fiction, the Christian Apocalypse of
John being the exception." In most cases the fiction is implied,
^ This is the most plausible explanation for the primary mng. of the many-sided
word; see, e.g., Porter, 'Apocrypha,' DB p. 112, Charles, Int. to his Apoc. Schiirer
takes opposite ground in favor of relating it to the Jewish term geniz, used of bks.
withdrawn from public use and stored away in the Geniza ; s. his art. 'Apokrypha,'
7?£, and his review, TLZ 1900, 202, of Kautzsch, Apok. u. Pseudepig., who contra-
dicts this etymology. But the preference for the view here accepted is supported by
2 Esd. 12", where the apocryphal bks. are to be put away 'in loco abscondito,' which
Hilgenfeld properly reverts into ev xoxw dxoxputpw, and also by the title of the papy-
rus text of the Eighth Book of Moses published by Dieterich, Abra.xas, i6g, Mwu-
altos lepa pt'flXos dz6x,pU90c; ExtxaXoujjLsvT) dySoT) y] dyfsr.
"If with some (s. Schiirer, GJV 3, 273) we are to place the Dream Visions of
Enoch, cc. 83-90, before the death of Judas Mace. (ace. to Charles, Bk. of Enoch, 180,
'possibly before his purification of the temple'), the bk. of Dan. may be but a speci-
men of an already established type of literature.
§I9G. THE BOOK AS AN APOCRYPHON 77
e.g., the bk. of Enoch, the antediluvian sage, or Jubilees, the
Kabbala of Moses that had been esoterically handed down. In
2 Esd. appears the fullest expression of the fiction, 12": 'Write
all these things that thou hast seen in a book and put them in
a secret place'; and still more specifically in c. 14, where Esdras
is commissioned to write the bks. vouchsafed him, vv.*^- *^: 'The
24 Books [i.e., the Heb. Canon] that thou hast written publish,
that the worthy and unworthy may read. But the seventy last
thou shalt keep to deliver to the wise among thy people. '
As a specimen of this genre of literature, which first appears
in the 2d cent., the apocalyptic portion of Dan., cc. 7-12, must
logically be placed about that age.^^ The idea of such ancient
mystical literature may go back early in Babylonia. Berossus
(Eus., Chron., i, ed. Schoene, p. 14) tells how the mythical mon-
ster Oannes not only [taught men civilization but "committed
this book {Xoyov — i.e., on politics) to men," a story exactly com-
parable to the legends of Enoch and of Moses as author of Jubi-
lees." This was a kind of Hterature that naturally came to the
fore in the competitions of the wisdoms of the peoples in the
Hellenistic age and their precipitation in Greek literary form, in
which movement Berossus, Manetho, and Sanchuniathon stand
forth; the latter records (Eus., Praep. ev., i, 10) that the seven
Kabiri and their eighth brother Asklepios ' set down these things
in memoirs (vTrofivrjfiara)/ a datum which would easily have
induced, if it was not actually based upon, literary compositions.
But the closest examples of prophetic apocalyptic pseudographs
like those of the Jews in the 2d cent, are found in Egyptian
literature. Of these the most striking is the so-caUed Demotic
Chronicle.^*
This Demotic text, in script and composition, belongs to the
3d cent. It contains a series of obscure prophecies, accompanied
with an interpretation, oracle by oracle, with the fiction that
the interpretation was composed under the native king Tachos
'' The case is entirely different from the anonymous prophecies of the O.T. and
the supplements made to the Prophets. It is also different from the ancient Heb.
Apocalyptic like the Songs of Jacob and Moses, the Balaam Cycle, to which no
apocryphal flavor is attached; s. §20, n. 4.
" Cf. Zimmern, KAT 530/.
'' For this document, first published by Spiegelberg and commented upon by him
and E. Meyer, and for the similar Egyptian literature sec now the admirable dis-
cussion by C. C. McCown, 'Hebrew and Egyptian Apocalyptic Literature,' Har-
vard Theol. Rev., 1925, 357-411.
78 INTRODUCTION
(360 B.C.) ; up to his time the series of Egyptian kings is presented
by name; but after Tachos the history is sketched in ambiguous
allusions to the subsequent kings and to the dominion of the
Persians and the Greeks, after which there is to be a national
restoration with the glorification of the Law, i.e., the Egyptian
religion. The parallelism particularly with Dan. lo-ii is evi'
dent; here the alleged writer of the 6th cent, presents the series
of the ostensibly future Persian and Greek kings in a veiled way,
but entirely intelligible to one possessing the key of history.
The Visions of Dan. appear then to belong to a definite genre of
religious literature exemplified very clearly in Egypt in the 3d
cent., although the phenomenon of Apocalyptic there as in Israel
is of much older origin.
§20. THE THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK AND ITS PLACE IN JEWISH
RELIGION.
In its contributions to Apocalyptic, Eschatology, etc., the bk.
of Dan. erjoys a sovereign place in O.T. theology. At the same
time, as the connecting hinge between the Heb. Canon and later
Apocalyptic, the bk. serves as an introduction to the later Juda-
istic literature, with the result that it has been exhaustively
handled from every angle. It seems therefore unnecessary to
repeat much of the detail of what has been so well and thor-
oughly said and it suffices to confine this Section to a reasoned
presentation of the theology of the bk. that will help fix it in its
genetic and chronological relations. ^
The bk. belongs as a whole to the category of Apocalyptic,
which itself is a process out of Prophecy. The term itself does
not express a distinction from Prophecy, for the latter equally
'reveals' the things known only to God.^ And it is difficult to
' Among recent comm. Dr. has an exceptionally full and lucid treatment of the
theology of the bk., pp. Lxxvi-xcviii; and Behrmann's treatment, pp. xxii-xxvi, de-
serves notice for its compactness and independence of judgment. In addition to
standard Diet, articles and O.T. Theologies {n.b. Stade-Bertholet and Konig) an(J
the Introductions to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, there may be noted par-
ticularly the works of Volz, Bousset, Charles, Wicks, Meyer {Ursprung, 2, cc. 2,
4, 6), Foakes Jackson (i, 126 Jf.) and the well-balanced and sympathetic Introduc-
tion to the subject by Porter (Messages); also the treatments by Bousset and Charles
in the Introductions to their comm. on the Apocalypse of John.
2 ' A-KOv-oiXu^ic, appears first with a theological sense in Judaistic bks. in the N.T.,
although it is used of the telling of human secrets Ecclus. 22^^, 42'. But the vbs.
ivaxaXuTCTstv and a-o-/.. are used respectively by (& and 0 to translate nSj, e.g.,
§20. THE THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK jg
draw any hard-and-fast line between Prophecy and Apocal>ptic,
for we find in many prophetic oracles of the O.T., especially those
of uncertain date and authorship, a process leading up to the
more definite characteristics that stamp our bk. and others of
its class.2 Ezekiel has a full-blown Apocal>^tic, both in his Gog
and Magog prophecy, cc. 38/., and in his prospect of the physi-
cal remaking of the Holy Land, cc. 47 /. From that time on we
have an increasing stream of such apocalyptic prophecy, e.g.,
Joel, Zech., Is. 24-27.'*
The feature that in general distinguishes later Apocalyptic
from earlier Prophecy so called consists in the transcendent ele-
ment. As we move down through this literature there more and
more appears the sharp division between this world and another
world, or, as it is put in Dan., between the kingdoms of this
world and the Kingdom of God. It comes to be no longer, as in
the Ezekielian Apocalyptic, a provincial matter of this earth, the
setting off of a Holy State and People which the rest of the world
dare not touch. But the antithesis now covers the whole world;
it is man's organized empire as against God's. And the several
parabolic schemes of Dan. picture this antithesis in ever sharper
terms until at last there is the incarnation of this worldly defiance
of God in one atheistic person. The rupture between the divine
regime and the empire of man has grown wider and wider, until
as in the days before the Flood there is required a divine inter-
ference to restore the Rule of God.
It is in this respect that Apocal}-ptic differs from Prophecy, in
the ever increasing accent laid upon the necessity which will in-
volve not merely the political and military triumph of God, of
2". The Syr. equivalent noun is gclydna. The technical terms of Apocalyptic appear
in Dan.: ?n (Pers.), 'mystery'; NnpTi', 'depths' (c/. Bab. nUnelfu, 'wisdom');
Nn.-DC, 'hidden things.' n occurs in BSir. 8'', 12", but only in the sense of a
private secret; it looks as if the word only secondarily obtained its technical mng.
For similar antique use of nVj cf. 'having the eyes uncovered' of the seer Nu. 24*,
and a revelation 'in the ears of the prophet Is. 22".
2 Even the element of definite timed prophecies, comparable to the Weeks and
Days in Dan., appears earlier, e.g., not only the disputed 70 weeks of Jeremiah, but
also the Isaianic oracle. Is. y'** cj. 8^; also Jeremiah's prediction of the death of Hana-
niah, 28'«f-.
* Critics have erred in too rigorously adjudging Apocalyptic as late, and Gressmann
and Gunkel are right in trying to correct the balance. The antique Blessings of
Jacob, Moses and Balaam are true Apocalypses. We should rather say that Apoca-
lyptic is the revival of very ancient oracle-forms, with consequently a domestic his-
tory within the Heb. religion.
8o INTRODUCTION
his people or his Messiah, upon the earth, as in the elder escha-
tology, but also an absolute change in the conditions of this
world, such as can effect a perfect theatre for the divine King-
dom. And the development of the world's history toward the
creation of a single world-wide empire only the more accentuated
the contrast between human and divine ideals. Hence Apocalyp-
tic becomes a theological philosophy of history, differing from
the elder philosophy of the Historians as well as the Prophets
of the O.T. in its far greater sophistication, purchased through
bitter experience. It has reached the mental resolution that the
empire of man cannot save itself, nor be saved by natural cause
and effect, that even the Holy People cannot save themselves by
their own heroism, but that God alone can set things right which
have gone so far awry. In the elder Prophecy God was conceived
as using the units of this world one against the other to effect his
sovereign purposes for the world. Isaiah could interpret Assyria
as God's chastising instrument and Jeremiah and the Rhapso-
dist of the Exile regarded Pagan kings as God's Servants and
Messiahs. But these were casual explanations that were ever
frustrated. That kind of optimism died out after the Exile.
There was no Jewish reaction to Alexander's triumphs. Indeed,
under Hellenism, and even earlier under the late Persian em-
pire, a new disturbing factor had arisen outside of the sphere of
politics, namely in the more crucial field of society and civiliza-
tion. As Judaism withdrew into itself, realizing that it was not
merely one of the many religions of the earth but the True Re-
ligion, so much the more it brought upon itself the hatred of its
neighbors for its unsociability and 'inhumanity,' the same
charges as later made against the Christians. The sense of this
acute opposition appears in the two stories of persecution for re-
ligion's sake, Dan. 3. 6, which are paralleled by the romances of
'anti-Semitic' passion in Esther and Judith, all which stories
antedate the Antiochian persecution.
Comparative Jewish literature shows that the development of
Apocalyptic, thus defined and described, does not appear until
well down in the Hellenistic period. Indeed, there is nothing ap-
proaching its definition until we reach Dan. and the primitive
parts of Enoch and the Sibylline Oracles in the 2d cent. It will
be argued in §21 that Dan. 1-6 is earlier than cc. 7-12, i.e., of
the 3d cent. But for the earlier portion, in c. 2 the theme of the
§20. THE THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK 8l
ever degenerating series of world monarchies is already worked
out, and the moral deduction of their necessary annihilation is
presented in the Stone which is to grind them in pieces. But
there is absent the bitterness of antagonism that appears in the
development of the same theme in cc. 7-12; the actual Atheist
sitting in high places vowing the destruction of the Religion has
not yet appeared in the person of Antiochus. Thus it can be ob-
served that Apocalyptic had its slow process, connecting legiti-
mately with elder Prophecy, on the other hand preparing for
the crucial issue which the sense of the People of the Religion
foreboded.^
The characteristics of this later Apocalyptic, in which Dan.
leads the way, are closely interknit. They may be presented as
follows: The transcendental character of the Deity; his operation
through intermediate spiritual agencies, e.g., the 'humanlike'
Gabriel who acts as his viceroy and also as medium of inspira-
tion; the transfer of the stage of history to the heavenly places
in the archetypal contests between the Princes of the Nations,
of Persia and Greece, of Israel in the person of Michael ; the lim-
ited dualism which allows a long and weary struggle between
the cause of God and the evil opposition in heaven as in earth;
a theological determinism which regards all history as foreor-
dained, a copy stamped from the drama already enacted above,
involving the exact calculation of secular years and days; and
then the logical consecjuence that all this exactly enacted drama
could be communicated to a seer living long before the culmina-
tion of events, under orders to close and seal the book of revela-
tion which has been given him 'until the time of the end,' then
to be opened and read in proof of the divine ordering of events
in explanation of the delay of the times and for the assurance of
the saints through this guarantee of the divine determinism that
the dawn will soon break out of the darkness.^
These characteristics have in general their roots in the elder
Heb. religion. The transcendentalism of later Judaism was a
' The writer believes that Apocalyptic is not an 'Abart' but a legitimate develop-
ment of Prophecy. In this he agrees in general with Charles. The stress of the
moral and religious issue of this later age broke down the inadequate reasoning of
the Prophets that the right triumphs in this world as it is. The bk. of Job is the
earliest protest against the prophetic euda;monism.
*0n this 'apocryphal' characteristic s. §19, g.
6
82 INTRODUCTION
necessary result of the vast broadening of the Jew's perspective of
nature and human society. It is far more difficult, speaking phil-
osophically, to realize the nearness of God in a large world than
in a small one. Indeed, every higher religion is a composition,
not very static, between notions of transcendentalism and im-
manence. Transcendentalism had set in in Judaism long before
the 2d cent., as the contrast of the two Stories of Creation in the
opening of the Bible shows. And this view of a more distant God
involved logically the postulation of intermediate agencies. God
rules the political world as the Pers. monarch did his provinces
by almost autonomous satraps, the Princes, and similarly the
world of nature, as appears in the late Psalms and in the Bene-
dicite, through the spirits of nature, which are not altogether per-
sonifications. Such notions stand simply for what modern the-
ology blandly calls secondary causes. In regard to the Princes of
the nations we have an ancient theologumenon going back to
the Elim or Bene Elohim who constituted God's court, among
whom he distributed his powers as viceroys in the different parts
of the world; so in the Song of Moses, Dt. 32^- ^, ace. to the
doubtless original text of (S. These beings he used as spiritual
and poUtical agents in the world, e.g., Eze. 9. 10, Zech. xf., Job
I. 2, etc. One advance appears in Dan. beyond the earlier lit-
erature of the Heb. canon, we obtain personal names for two of
these celestial personages, Gabriel and Michael; yet the earlier
bk. of Tobit knows also of Raphael (the el of healing), 'one of
the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and
go in before the glory of the Holy One,' 12'^, i.e., an elaborate
doctrine with the notion of angelic mediation.
There is a pronounced moral dualism in the bk., but it is dis-
tinctly limited. It presents the conflict between the ingrained
evil of the kingdoms of this world and the divine imperimn. This
has its archetype in the heavens, where a primal conflict is being
waged among the divine satraps, wherein the divine viceroy
Gabriel can count only upon the loyalty of Michael the Prince
of Israel. But this conflict of spiritual powers has its thoroughly
Biblical antecedents. The transgression of the Sons of God,
Gen. 6, indicates the primitiveness of this notion in Hebrew cir-
cles; notions of the conflicts of purpose in the heavenly courts,
of the imperfection of the divine courtiers, appear in Job, and
had become crystallized in Scripture by the poetical allusions to
§20. THE THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK 83
the ancient myths of the Dragon, Rahab, Leviathan, etc. We
recall that this explanation of the origin of sin became a domi-
nant one in certain Jewish circles. Our bk. is in line with that
development in seeking a transcendental explanation of sin and
evil; this belonged to the growing pains of a reasoned moral the-
ology. In any ethical monotheism there comes a stage when the
thinker realizes, and truly, that the evil of the world is not at-
tributable to man alone; it is too stupendous a factor to be de-
duced from man's conscience of sin. The complete step to a
principled dualism was made by Zoroastrianism. But in com-
parison with that the dualism of Dan. is of modest proportions.
There is here no speculation on the origin of evil, the Princes
are not regarded as fallen angels; the bk. is a pathetic but not
hopeless commentary on the ancient discovery that man's
thought is altogether evil (Gen. 6, Jer., passim), and that the
divine impermm must ultimately crush this rebellious antithesis
to its will. And it is significant that no Prince of Evil is devised,
a Satan or a Belial, for which notion there were good Scriptural
antecedents, and the earlier existence of which is attested by
Tobit with its fiend, the Pers. Asmodaeus, 3^•^^ The bk is con-
cerned with actual human history, and its arch-fiend is an athe-
istic king who within a brief space will meet his doom.'^ Alto-
gether Dan. takes a very sober position in the elaborate dualistic
development which was in the air of the Judaism of its day.
Determinism is a far more definite factor in the theology of
the bk. than elsewhere in the O.T. But it must not be offhand
adjudged a foreign importation. Monotheism easily spells de-
terminism, witness Augustinianism, Calvinism, Muslim fatalism.
The prophetical books which the seer consulted, 9^, gave a Scrip-
tural basis to this idea. The most un-Biblical expression of the
notion is found in c. 4, where Neb.'s fate is fixed 'by the decree
of the Watchers, by the word of the Holy Ones,' v.^^^^^ But
this exceptional statement, which has its Biblical prototype in
the 'we' of the divine council, e.g., Gen. i-'', may in part, at
least, be attributed ta the true dramatic coloring of the story;
the Pagan king is addressed in the kind of language his sages
' It is therefore incorrect to speak of a Danielic Antichrist, except in so far as
Antiochus became the Scriptural core of such later speculations. This historical lim-
itation of the theme of evil absolutely distinguishes our bk. from Pers. dualism, the
Parsee literature in fact having no historical sense.
84 INTRODUCTION
might have indulged in.^ But this faint trace of fatahsm is fugi-
tive: when Neb. comes to himself and recognizes the one God,
he is forgiven and restored, whereas repentance has no place in
fatalism. Judaism possessed the saving salt of a personal religion
rooted in the faith in a Living God, and it never was corrupted by
philosophical logic. The prayers of Daniel in cc. 2. 9 are a cor-
rective to any such deductions for the theology of the bk.*
There is, finally, one unique contribution to Biblical eschatol-
ogy, namely the assertion of the resurrection of 'many' from
their graves, 'some to everlasting life and some to shame, to
everlasting abhorrence,' 12^ There is nothing approximating
this clear-cut notion outside of the late apocalyptic document,
Is. 24-27, where we read (26'^): 'May Thy dead live, may my
dead bodies arise ! [Response] Awake and sing, ye that dwell in
the dust, for Thy dew is as the dew of light [?], and the earth
shall bring to life the shades.' What is poetry there has become
dogma here, and the resurrection involves a moral judgment,
so that some of the wicked are included (with reminiscence of
Is. 66^'*). But there remains the limitation of the resurrection to
some only of either party. And the sphere of this resurrection
is evidently this world. Outside of that doctrine the eschatology
of the bk. is most meagre. The only other real eschatological
feature appears in the vision of the heavenly Assize in c. 7.
There, it is true, a judgment scene in heaven is depicted: but
God's people are represented only symbolically by the 'like of a
man,' just as the heathen kingdoms are figured by monstrous
beasts. And the consummation of the judgment is the donation
to the Saints of the Highest 'of the kingdoms under the whole
earth,' i.e., God's kingdom is to be established on earth in the
hands of his Saints. Here is the usual Biblical nationalistic and
secular eschatology without further development; the writer's
contribution is literary, not dogmatic. Noticeable is the lack of
a Messianic figure, although the figure of the 'Son of Man' in
c. 7 promptly lent itself to the formulation of a heavenly Mes-
siah. Finally it is to be observed that this hope of the resurrec-
tion is typical of the individualism of later Judaism; salvation
^ This dramatic presentation of the Pagan atmosphere is a notable feature of the
Stories.
' Jewish scholars have rightly rebelled against such one-sided misinterpretations.
See the fine retort by Montefiore, 'The Spirit of Judaism,' in Foakes Jackson, i, 35 ff.
§20. THE THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK 85
is no longer for all Israel after the flesh; the Saints compose the
ecclesia in ecdesia.
In this review there appears little that is otherwise than genu-
ine development of the older Bible religion. Without doubt
there was a quickening of Jewish theology from without, for the
religions of the ancient world were passing through identical
changes in close contact with one another, and the sympathy
of experience must have favored interchanges. The tendency
toward monotheism, the problems involved in a moral rule of
the universe and in the fate of the individual, even scientific
speculations, these factors are found working from Persia to
Egypt and Greece in the West. But the bk. of Dan. remains
essentially Jewish, and in this respect differs from most of the
later apocalyptic literature, which is generally marked by a
crass eclecticism. The first six cc. present a background of
Babylonian heathenism, which still survived under the Persian,
Greek and Parthian dominions. Some would indeed have it
that there is a heavy deposit of Bab. myth and lore in Dan., e.g.,
Gunkel, Schopjung u. Chaos, but such views depend upon many
assumptions; s. Comm. to c. 7. But the bk. is a standing protest
against Babylonism.^"
The influence of Parsism, the religion of Zoroaster, upon the
theology and literature of Judaism in this period, with the in-
clusion of Dan., is stoutly championed by many. The notion
was taken up speculatively by scholars of the i8th cent., Ber-
tholdt was under its sway, Kohut and others argued for it, and
so particularly, Bousset, s. his c. 25, 'Das religionsgeschichtl.
Problem.' Most recently E. Meyer has appeared as a rigorous
champion of this influence upon Jewish theology in general and
the bk. of Dan. in particular; s. his cc. 4. 6 and pp. 174-199.
This position is based upon the major premise of his enthusiastic
admiration for the work of Zoroaster as ' the first personality to
enter the history of religion with creative worth' (p. 58), while
he makes him the real founder of a cosmic monotheism vs. the
Jewish particularism of a provincial god (<:/. p. 73). But the
whole question of that influence in the comparison of religions
is sorely complicated and rendered most uncertain by the doubts
as to the age of the Parsee documents. In the discussion of the
" See Meyer's arguments against the postulation of such influence, pp. Si JJ. Of
course he is swayed by his pro-Persian penchant.
86 INTRODUCTION
Four Monarchies in the Comm. after c. 2 the writer has pre-
sented the differences of views of scholars as to the age of the
documents and the rise of formulated Parsee orthodoxy. The
shaft let down in the discussion of that one theme makes him
sceptical; he feels that the sources of the Pers. religion are oper-
ated with in as uncritical a way as if in the O.T. a critic should
accept J and P indifferently for the Mosaic age.
The above presentation of the theology of the bk. shows that
it contains no principled dualism. The doctrine of the resurrec-
tion breaks forth very naturally in our bk. as born of an emer-
gency, and yet taking its place in a genetic catena of growing be-
lief toward such a necessary dogma. Moreover there is nothing
cosmic in the belief there presented; some of the righteous, some
of the wicked, of Israel alone, will arise in their bodies for judg-
ment. In the matter of the Four Monarchies Daniel thinks, as
has been above remarked, historically, not theologically; four
ages may have been given him by some cosmic, numerical
scheme (the Greeks had it), but if so he is adapting it to a clear
historical order of four actual empires.'^ The Ancient of Days,
remarks Meyer, 'is none other than Ahuramazda' (p. 199). But
do not all people think naively of the Deity as 'der Alte' — a
magnified Sheich ? The Greeks so depicted their chief god Zeus
on their coins. Whether mythical traits may not, indirectly
perhaps, have come in from Persia (where others think of Baby-
lon) may be an open question; e.g., the river of fire under the
throne of the Ancient of Days, as Meyer claims (pp. 166, 199),
and yet that fire is not represented as a means of purgation as
in Parsism, nor is fire a monopoly of the Parsee apparatus, cf.
Is. 30^^. For the much-discussed 'Son of Man' a Pers. origin is
offered, by Bousset in the Parsee 'Urmensch' (p. 407), by Meyer,
very cavalierly, in a combination of Sraosha the Genius of reli-
gion and the Parsee savior Saoshyant (p. 199). But in Dan. 7
the Son of Man is a symbol which forthwith disappears. There
has been noted above, §8, b, the very slow and small impress
that the Pers. language made upon the Semitic idioms; we have
to postulate equal delay in the spread of Parsee influence. It is
more apparent in the N.T. than in the O.T., still more evident
'^ Meyer thinks, p. i8g, that a Median empire were absurd, because there was
none; yet the author deliberately introduces the Median Darius between Belsh. and
Cyrus.
§20. THE THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK 87
in the Rabbinic literature; that is, its influence was late, not
early. ^^
For the Jewish praxis of religion the bk. has its historic value:
n.h. the punctilious observance of the food laws, i^^-; alms and
good works, 4'^; the three times of prayer 6" '^°\ prayer by run-
ning water, 8^, and in general the place of prayer in piety, 2^'' ^■
(in contrast to the arts of the magicians). The long prayer in
c. 9 is an early liturgical specimen, and there are brief liturgical
Benedictions, 2-"^-, 3^3 (43), 43^. (34f.)^ 6"'-«>f-. Self-mortifica-
tion is practised in hope of a vision, lo^ Repentance is a char-
acteristic of piety, and is accepted from Pagans, 4-'* '"^ of whom
the works of the Law are not required. Judaism is not a pros-
elytizing religion; the Pagan confession of the True God is
sufficient, as in the cases of Neb. and Darius. Cc. 1-6 reflect
the life of pious Jews in the heathen environment of Baby-
lonia.
Behrmann holds (p. xxv) that the bk. is a product of the
Essene development of the Chasidic type of religion; but too
long a lapse exists between the bk. and our first sources for
Essenism to pass judgment. On the other hand, cc. 7-12 are
an authentic monument of primitive Chasidism, the 'Ao-iSaToi
of I Mac. 2''2, 713. Our bk. represents the principled pacifistic
wing of the party. In 11^'' there is a solitary reference to Judas'
enterprise, ' when they shall stumble, they shall be helped with
a little help ' ; but there follows immediate criticism of the move-
ment for its worldly complications, 'many shall join themselves
unto them in intrigue.' The writer was nearer the primitive type
of the party which preferred death to fighting on the Sabbath
(i Mac. i"*^), and he rejoices in the present martyrdoms in view
of the prize that is set before them, ii^^- ^^ very much in the
spirit of the early Christians. Not by militant means shall the
tyrant be overthrown, but 'he shall be broken without hand,'
i.e., without visible agency, 8^^ while the Saints shall inherit the
Kingdom not by their might but by gift of the Highest, 7".
'^ For this distinction s. Scheftelowitz, Die dtpers. Religion u. d. Judcntum, ig20.
88 INTRODUCTION
§21. THE PROBLEM OF THE UNITY OF THE BOOK AND OF
THE TWO LANGUAGES,
a. The two hooks, the Stories and the Visions.'^
The criticism of the unity of the bk. began in the 17 th cent,
with the observation of the distinction of languages, the Aram,
and Heb.; Spinoza discovered two documents, cc. 1-7 and 8-12,
referring the latter to the undoubted authorship of Dan., and
confessing ignorance as to the origin of the former. The distinc-
tion between the Stories and the Visions was first made by Sir
Isaac Newton: " The bk. of Dan. is a collection of papers written
at several times. The six last chapters contain Prophecies writ-
ten at several times by Dan. himself; the sLx first are a collection
of historical papers written by other authors"; and cc. i. 5. 6
were written after his death.- Eichhorn in his EinleUung^, §615,
while denying the authenticity of the whole bk., followed the
distinction between the Stories and Visions, but aligned the
Heb. preface c. i with cc. 7 f. J. D. Michaelis first originated
a fragmentary hypothesis, holding that Dan. consists of ' several
separate pieces,' any one of which may be rejected as historical
without prejudice to the others {Or. n. exeg. Bibliothek, i (1771),
190). And Bertholet in his comm., 1806, proceeded to a diagno-
sis of nine different sources. Thus the possibilities of critical
analysis were early sounded.
But a critical distinction on the basis of diversity of language
is now generally denied. The extreme positions taken respec-
tively by the defenders and the impugners of the historicity of
Dan. have induced the great majority of critics to assign the
' Apart from the relevant sections in the comm. and Introductions, there are
monographs by Meinhold, Beitrdgc zur Erkldrung d. Biiches Daniel, Heft I, Dan. 2-6,
1888 (rev. by Budde, TLZ 18S8, no. 26); von Gall, Die Einheitlichkeit d. Buches
Dan., i8qs; Barton, 'The Composition of the Bk. of Dan.,' JBL 1898, 62-86 {d.
Marti, p. x); H. Preiswerk, Der Sprachwechsel im Buche Dan. (Berne Diss.), 1902
(rev. by Mein., TLZ 1904, 353); G. Holscher, 'Die Entstehung d. B. Dan.,' TSK
192 1, 1 13-138. An early defence of the unity of the bk. was made by Bleek, 'tjber
Verfasser u. Zweck des B. Dan.,' Thcol. Zcitsch., 3 (1822), 171, noticed in these mon-
ographs.
2 For these reS. s. Mein., pp. i /., vGall, pp. i /. Spinoza's brief comment is found
in his Traclatus theologico-polilicus, ed. 1674, c. 10, p. 189; Newton's in his Observa-
tions upon the Prophecies of Dan. and the Apocalypse of St. John, ed. 1732, p. 10 =
Whitla's ed., p. 145. Von Gall also notices Beausobre, Remarques stir le Nouveau
Testament, 1742, p. 70, agreeing with Newton and drawing distinction between the
ist and the 3d pers. in the two parts.
§2 1 A. THE TWO BOOKS 89
bk. as a whole to either the 6th or the 2d cent., with as a rule
little or no discussion on part of the comm. of the possibility of
composite origin; indeed most ignore the problem.^
Before discussing the various views which have been proposed
the writer will state his positive opinion. The bk. falls into two
obvious Hterary portions, cc. 1-6 the Stories, and cc. 7-12 the
Visions. C. 1-2^=* is absolutely necessary as introduction to the
following Stories, and it is difficult to see how scholars, e.g., Eich-
horn, Mein., distinguish it as later.* C. 7 is pure apocalypse, like
cc. 8_^., and it is fallacious to appeal to c. 2 as also apocalyptic,
for that story tells of a heathen's dream and its interpretation
by the hero of the Story, as in the tale of Joseph and Pharaoh.
Further, it must be positively denied, as earlier conservative
comm., and now Mein., Holscher, have rightly insisted, that
Neb. and Darius are types of the infamous Antiochus, or that
the trials of the confessors in the bk. represent the Mace, martyr-
doms.^ They do stand for the fact that Anti-Semitism (in the
modern sense) is much older than the Mace, age, and was not
confined to the Syrian empire. Our Stories follow the doubtless
true historical theme of underhand efforts of ofiicials and the
jealous populace to embroil the Jews with the government on
the score of their religion; but these Stories, like Est., correctly
show that the imperial administrations refused to take action
against the Jews, the instigators of those sporadic, underhand
persecutions being represented as 'hoist with their own petard.'
Neb. and Darius stand forth as amiable, religious-minded mon-
archs. The miraculous deliverances of the Confessors portray
the truly remarkable fact that the Jews under the successive
Pagan empires down to the Roman found their rights providen-
tially maintained by the imperial government. Only in the case
' E.g., Dr., in his comm., with only a brief paragraph on the subject in LOT 514.
Von Gall presents an extensive argument for the unity of the bk., rejecting only the
Prayer in c. 9 as an interpolation. Konig, in his Einleit., suggests that cc. 1-7 were
composed in 168, cc. 8-12 in 165.
< But Mein. must be credited for the distinction of the pre-Maccabajan (cc. 2-6)
and Mace. (cc. 7-8) sections, even if, as vGall insists, some of his argumentation is
fallacious. Strack, in his Einleit.^- *, proposed the pre-Macc. origin of cc. 1-7.
' Bevan gives up the case for the unity of the bk. on this score in his very frank
admission, p. 23: "It is however necessary to guard against a possible misconcep-
tion. Though the author of Dan. has everywhere the circumstances of his own time
in view, we cannot regard Neb. and Belsh., still less Darius the Mede, simply as
portraits of Ant. Epiph. The author is contending not against Ant. personally,
but against the heathenism of which Ant. was the champion."
90 INTRODUCTION
of Belsh. is there condemnation of the monarch, but here the
story is following popular Bab. tradition.
There is a further induction from the Stories which has not
been drawn by others except those who hold that the whole bk.
belongs to the Babylonia of the 6th cent., namely that cc. i-6
are of Bab. provenance. Corroboration of this position is given
by the fact that almost all the Akk. and Pers. words appear in
cc. 1-6.^ Nor are we in the position to maintain that the Aram,
of the bk. is the Western dialect; s. §7, n. 5. Further, the his-
torical background of these cc. is Babylonian. Again, their
sumptuous barbaric scenery is obviously not that of Palestine;
one need only compare the arid scenery of the later cc. And the
interest in traditional heroes of the Bab. exile must belong to the
Golah in Babylonia. Critics naturally assign the bk. of Tobit to
an 'Assyrian' origin, and that of Judith as naturally to a Pal-
estinian, while with equal logic Est. should be located in Persia.
Finally, as has been recognized by some, the conflict between
i", 'Dan. continued {i.e., remained where he was) until the first
year of king Cyrus,' and the datum of the third year of that
king, with the locality given as the Tigris (iqI- ■*), is cleared up:
the implication of the first bk., cc. 1-6, is that Dan. and his
faithful companions returned home at once upon Cyrus' proc-
lamation of release. And actually in the Chronicler's lists of re-
turned exiles we find a Mishael, Azariah, and Hananiah, Neh.
g4. 3. 24 along with a Daniel, 10^.
b. The problem of the two languages.
This problem may be considered here, as the boundaries of
the two languages approximate the distinction between the two
bks., cc. 1-6 and 7-12. Dalman's solution, in which he has been
followed, evidently independently, by Torrey, is the only one
which recommends itself to the present writer. Dalman, after
postulating those two bks., proceeds: the redactor must first
have turned the preface, c. i, into Heb., and then translated the
Heb. c. 7 into Aram., and so have bonded the two into one
• Paton's reasoning for the Palestinian origin of Est. in his comm., p. 64, is not
obvious: "It is a plausible suggestion that the author was a Persian who had come
to live in Judaea."
§2 IB. THE PROBLEM OF THE TWO LANGUAGES 91
whole; and so exactly Torrey.^ This change into the Holy
Tongue would have faciUtated recognition of the bk. as sacred
and eligible for the Canon, while dramatically enough the Aram,
could be allowed to stand with the citation of the Chaldaeans'
response to the king, 2*, and so on.^ A variant suggestion may
be made as to the language of c. 7. Granting that it belongs in-
tegrally with the following cc, their author, who was deliber-
ately depending upon the elder bk. of Dan., may have continued
its language in his first composition, and subsequently have re-
verted to Heb. as the more suitable tongue for divine revelation,
the use of which would have been appropriate to the enthusiasm
of the Mace, uprising. ^ But see sub-sect, (c) for another possible
precision of c. 7.
Other hypotheses advanced for this change in language are
most diverse. ^"^ The simplest view, on the assumption that we
possess the bk. in its original linguistic form, is that the bilingual
composer passed easily from his Heb. introduction into the
Aram, of the citation 2^^- and then continued in the vernacular;
the phenomenon would then be similar to the Aram, section in
Ezr., beginning at 4^ with an official document. But this theory"
does not explain why c. 7 continues the Aram., and the change
to Heb. is made with c. 8.
A favored theory is one broached first by Lenormant (as cited
by Bevan and Haupt) and followed by Bevan (p. 27), vGall
(p. 122), Haupt (at 2^^ in Kamp., SBOT), Prince (p. 13) and
' Dalman, Worte Jesu, 1898, 11; Torrey, Notes, I, 249. Holscher, who appears to
be ignorant of those scholars' position, and Preiswerk maintain also that the preface
is a reversion into Heb. He and Torrey find evidence of an Aram, original, but both
admit that this evidence is not conclusive.
' This does not involve the absurdity that it was thought even by a late redactor
that this vernacular Aram, was the 'language of the Chaldeans,' i"*.
' However, Preiswerk (pp. 77-91) makes a strong argument for c. 7 as translation
from Heb., alleging not only Hebraisms, but more convincingly showing that it can
be easily reverted into Heb. as its parallel c. 2 hardly can be so treated, while also
c. I is an easy subject for reversion into Aram. The authors of the pertinent mono-
graphs have noted the dialectic distinctions between this c. and cc. 2-6: the sole use
of Ithpeel and Ithpaal vs. Hithp. in the earlier cc. (where however Ithp. 3", 4'^, 6')
and the use of nt< (but once iSn v. ') vs. iSn in cc. 2-6. The large number of
Hofals is also noticeable.
'° See Charles' review of the discussion, pp. xix-xxvi.
" So, e.g., Behr., p. ii, Kamp., EB i, 1005, with the indorsement by Dr. as 'rela-
tively best,' p. xxii. Ryssel, TLZ 1895, S^'o. offered a theory of a progressive com-
position by one author: cc. 1-7 in Aram., then cc. 8-12 in Heb., upon which he
began reverting into Heb., breaking off however with the citation in 2*.
92 INTRODUCTIOlSi
Barton (p. 65) that "a portion of the Heb. text having been
lost, a scribe filled up the gap by borrowing from the Aram, ver-
sion" (which already existed), so Bevan, citing Antiochus' sys-
tematic attempt to destroy the Law. But this hypothesis stum-
bles on the fact that Aram, begins neatly at the appropriate
point.
The view of a Heb. original for the whole bk. is maintained by
Riessler, §§3. 4, and by Jahn at length, the latter reverting the
whole of d into Heb. in order to recover the alleged original.
But s. §11 on this perverted appreciation of the text of (U, and
the conclusive detailed criticism of Riessler by Preiswerk, pp.
68-77.
Just the opposite view was advancea oy Huet (d. 1721) in his
Demonstratio evangclica, 472 (cited by Bert., p. 51): the whole
bk. was composed in Aram, and then translated into Heb.; in
the Mace, troubles the Heb. bk. was in large part lost and the
lacunae filled up from the orig. Aram. This view has been re-
vived by Buhl ('Daniel,' PRE^ 451) and accepted by Marti and
Charles (//. cc), and summarily by Wright, p. 46. But Marti's
linguistic argument from the 'Aramaisms' in the present Heb.
is most meagre.
c. Further divisive theories.
The suggestion that the bk. is a compilation of so many odd
compositions was first made by J. D. Michaelis, who regarded
it as compiled of 'abgesonderte Stucke' {Or. u. exeg. Bibliothek,
I (1771), 190). Bertholet (pp. 49^/.) found nine separate pieces
by as many different hands. Similarly Lagarde {GGA 1891, 508
Jff.) considered the bk. a compilation of disconnected documents,
and most recently Meyer {Ur sprung, 2, 184) expresses the opin-
ion that "the bk. is composed of very different parts and has
behind it a long history." But such positions, indicating a bank-
ruptcy of criticism, have not found applause. It will be conve-
nient to consider the two parts, cc. 1-6 and 7-12, separately in
the search for their origins.
i) In the Stories there appears a distinction between those con-
cerning Dan. and that of the Three Confessors c. 3, while the
preface, c. i, may be taken as a welding of the Daniel-cycle with
that extraneous tale; this is the more obvious in that in c. 3
§2IC. FURTHER DIVISIVE THEORIES 93
Dan. is totally absent, so that commentators have been non-
plussed in explaining the absence of the hero of the bk. from
that ecumenical scene. This inconcinnity is typical of many
others that have been pointed out. But such phenomena can be
explained on the hypothesis that the narrator did not invent his
theme here or in the other Stories, but was dependent upon exist-
ing tales and traditions. C. 3, which in its form may be regarded
as a counterpart to the Story of the Three Pages in i Esd.,
doubtless has a traditional background, with the motif of an
Image that was to be worshipped (for which an historical basis
can be found), while the fiery trial of the Confessors may be a
popular amplification of the actual penalty inflicted upon re-
bellious Jews ace. to Jer. 29^^, whom popular tradition turned
into saints; s. Comm. In c. 4 we have the otherwise vouched-for
madness of Neb., which would have afforded a most likely point
d'appiii for moralization from the point of view of the True
Religion. C. 5 contains particularly definite historical tradition;
the fate of the last scion of the Bab. dynasty fitted in well with
the expected theodicy upon Babylon, while the theme of Belsh.'s
impiety (in contrast with the nobility of his 'father' Neb.) fol-
lows the popular Bab. condemnation of the house of Nabonidus.
In fact 6^ (5^°) with its exact datum about Darius can hardly
otherwise be explained than as an extract from a written native
document. C. 6 may be more particularly a free invention of the
author, dependent indeed upon c. 3 and upon current martyr-
motifs (likely enough in actual practice), and yet wholly fresh
and original in its composition. Still more is the Story of Neb.'s
dream, c. 2, the author's own independent work, dependent per-
haps upon current themes of the Ages of the World, but worked
up into an amazingly dramatic composition. Daniel may al-
ready have become hero of current Jewish story (e.g., in the
Belsh. episode), and the author of the whole would therefore
have possessed some skeletons of narrative to which he would
have naturally adhered. Such stories would naturally have been
composed and published at different times, and this artless
method of composition, without a purpose of an ultimate inte-
gral book, would sufiiciently explain the numerous inconsisten-
cies.'^
" See Holschcr, p. 115, for evidence of unity in cc. 1-6 from vocabulary and dic-
tion.
94 INTRODUCTION
Bert, found no less than five different writers in these Stories
(cc. I. 2. 3. 4. 5-6), with most arbitrary assignment of their
provenance, geographical as well as historical. Barton (s. note i)
is the only recent scholar who has attempted an elaborate reduc-
tion of the bk. into a number of distinct sources. Regarding it
as practically Mace, in age, he discovers three original contribu-
tors (s. table, p. 81): A cc. 2. 4. 5. 7. 8; B cc. 9. 6 (the latter pos-
terior); C cc. 10-12; and c. 3 as 'possibly from yet another
hand,' although related to A; a redactor collected the various
writings, prefixed a preface, c. i, and contributed an epilogue,
12^ '^•j along with verses and phrases intruded through the bk.
A is Babylonian in culture and environment, B similarly Jewish,
and C Persian. Barton's position as to the practical unity of
time for the components of the bk. disagrees entirely with the
view adopted above for the major distinction between cc. 1-6
and 7-12; and it must be claimed that the difference between
Story and Vision is far more obvious than any other marks of
disparateness. Barton assumes compositions of so many vari-
ous cultures; he does not go so far as to say that the authors
lived in so many different lands (as does Bert.); but if they were
so different, even leaving out of question their habitats, how did
they all happen on the same theme, and this within the few
years of the Mace, uprising, and how were their compositions all
collected into one within so short a time ? It can hardly be held
that the series of Babylonian and Medo-Persian kings offers
clews of critical distinction, as the episodes simply follow the
sequence of dynasties in the 6th cent, as understood by Jewish
historiography, and if we admit composition of the bk. in the
Hellenistic age, the background is the later complex of the sev-
eral civilizations.
2) The question of the unity of cc. 7-12 is more difficult. For
the romances of cc. 1-6 we can attribute contradictions to the
varieties of underlying traditions. But cc. 7-12 are apocalyptic,
hence subjective compositions, and we possess no psychological
standards whereby to determine the possibilities of variety in
the one composer or to probe how far more than one is required.
Barton correctly remarks (p. 78) that every one of the important
apocalypses known is composite, unless Dan. be an exception.
Yet as the actual Daniel-Apocalypse consists of only six chap-
ters and must have arisen within a very few years, we have to
§ 2IC. FURTHER DIVISIVE THEORIES 95
be chary in pressing a fragmentary hypothesis too far. Barton
finds in these cc. three main composers. Quite conservative
scholars, Zockler, Wright, have desired to detach c. 11 from the
original composition. And it has been assumed by many but
chiefly from the accident of language, that c. 7 belongs with cc.
1-6. ]\Iost recently Meyer has expressed the opinion that the
'prophecies' of Dan. ofifer 'several doublets and parallel treat-
ments of the same subject from quite different historical points
of view' (p. 1 88). Accordingly, cc. 11 and g appear as distinct
compositions (I.e.), while cc. 2. 4. 7. 8 constitute a separate
corpus with distinct Parsee characteristics (pp. 189 _^.).
Sellin (Int., 233 /.) would combine c. 7 with the pre-Macc. cc.
1-6, and proposes that c. 7 has been expanded under the later
Mace, point of view by the intrusion of direct references to the
hateful Antiochus in the judgment scene; he would accordingly
delete as unoriginal vv. *• ^°-'^'^- ^^f-. Holscher follows suit (pp.
119/.), omits as a halting addition 'and it had ten horns,' v. ^,
and then deletes vv. *• "''• ^°-''^- ^^f-; consequently he attributes
c. 7, itself an appendix ('Anhang') to cc. 1-6, to the 3d cent.
Holscher's arguments from the logic and language of the chap,
are not at all conclusive; s. above, n. 9, for Preiswerk's demon-
stration of its philological difference from the preceding cc. But
it must be admitted, as Gunkel has shown, that c. 7 stands out
uniquely in the bk. with its mythological background and
visional scenery; the Beasts and the Throne appear as quite dif-
ferent conceptions from the historical 'parables' of the Beasts
in c. 8 (as also of the Tree in c. 2), and there is certainly a descent
in poetic conception from c. 7 in the following cc.^^ The present
writer is therefore inclined to leave it an open question whether
c. 7 is a distinct composition, a forerunner of the apocalypses in
the following cc, even without deletion of vv. which would re-
late it to the Mace. age. Its linguistic distinction from subse-
quent cc. might then be explained. However, the literary and
psychological problem must be weighed, whether one and the
same writer may not have developed from the vision in c. 7 and
culminated in the veiled historical midrash of c. 11. Almost all
" The reaction against the extreme of Pauline criticism should warn against too
easily seeking explanation of variety in divisive hypotheses for our bk. And for cc.
7 (or 8)-i2 we are shut up on any critical theory to a very brief term of years for
room for literary accretions.
96 INTRODUCTION
Students agree that cc. 8-12 are from the same hand. Yet in
these there is a noticeable variety; c. 8 has its symboHsm (which
Meyer beUeves to be the explication of c. 7 by the same author),
this disappears in c. 9, an angelic announcement taking its
place, while the substance of the final vision is absolutely un-
picturesque. Yet the prosaic character of these cc. is broken by
the long and fervent prayer in c. 9, and by the vision of the Man
in c. 10 which is told with psychological verisimilitude. Cer-
tainly for cc. 8-12 {cf. Holscher), and it may be added for c. 7 as
well {cf. vGall), although here we are dealing with a different
language, no clear linguistic arguments can be adduced against
their unity.^*
d. The dating of the two sections.
i) Cc. 1-6, according to the argument above, are pre-Macca-
baean, composed in Babylonia: they may be roughly assigned to
the 3d cent., to an age not earlier than the division of Alexander's
empire by the Diadochi. More precisely we may not speak; s.
Note at end of c. 2 for the ancient view of Polychronius, followed
by Grot., Bert., Torrey, Holscher, that the 'mingling of the seed
of men,' 2^^, refers to the marriage of Berenice, 247 B.C. The
collection contains a series of stories based on Jewish and Bab.
traditions, which were gradually written and finally compiled in
one book. There is no reason to dispute the assumption of one
literary hand for the whole.
2) Cc. 7-12 belong to the first years of the Mace, uprising,
168-165 B.C., the four Visions to be regarded as composed seria-
tim.^^ In them the temple is pictured as profaned, but its res-
toration is expected, along with the cataclysmic destruction of
the tyrant. This is also the milieu of the last Vision, in which
there is a passing reference to the militant and seemingly insig-
" For extreme views of the origin of the book or of its sections may be noted that
of E Havet, Le christianisme et ses origines, vol. 3 (1878), 304 X, suggesting that
the second half belongs to the age of Herod; and that of Lagarde, in his review of
Havet {GGA i8gi, 497-520), attributing cc. 7. 9-12 to 69 a.d. Cf. also Hertlein, Der
Daniel der Rdmerzeit, igo8, assuming Roman age for final form of cc. 2-7, also his
Menschensohnjrage im lelzien Stadium, 1911 (rev. by Volz, TLZ 1909, 357 and 1912,
69).
" For the possible exception of c. 7 as distinct from what precedes and follows, s.
above [c\; but this hypothesis depends upon excision of passages which obviously
refer to Ant.
§2 ID. THE DATING OF THE TWO SECTIONS 97
nificant Maccabees (ii^''), while the cUmax is expected in a final
great battle in the Holy Land, when the tyrant shall be over-
thrown by divine operation. That is, the Visions were composed
well before the retaking of the temple and its purification, which
latter event occurred Chislev (about December) 25, 165, accord-
ing to the record just three years to the day after its profana-
tion.'^
But the Visions contain what purport to be exact calculations
of the time of devastation. In 7" = 12^ this period is to last for
3^ years. In addition there is a more specific calculation by
days, 8", ' 2300 evenings, mornings,' i.e., 2300 matin and vesper
sacrifices = 1150 days {v. ad loc.)." Comm. have naturally at-
tempted to relate these 11 50 days to the 3^^ years: but the lat-
ter figure, at 360 days, = 1260, at 365 days, = 1278. On the
other hand the 11 50 days would approximate the three years
of the actual profanation ace. to i Mac, i.e., at 365 days to a
year 11 50 = 3 years +55 days; at 360 days 11 50 = 3 years -|-
70 days. A way out of attempting any solution is offered by
Gunkel, Schopfung u. Chaos, 266-270, who regards the 3^^ in c. 7
as a mystical, mythological number. But for a people which
reckoned both days and years in sevens (in the popular calendar
as well, because of the years of Release) there need have been
nothing ultra-significant in the figure. We calculate by decades,
and so speak of half-decades (decennium, quinquennium), and the
comparative import of the latter would be that of brevity. Simi-
larly seven years might imply a long or full period, 3^ an ab-
breviated one. And the following historical basis for such an
expectation may be observed as possible. If the high priest
Onias' death be placed at 171 B.C. (s. Schiirer, 3, 195), about
half a septennium would have elapsed by 168; and as the erro-
neous chronology, followed by the author, would have termi-
nated Jeremiah's 70 Weeks, understood as 490 years, three years
later, it would have been natural to balance one half-septennium
" Ace. to I Mac. I " the temple was profaned on Chislev 15 (168), but it is generally
recognized that this is error for ' 25,' to be corrected in agreement with the state-
ments of 4'-- ^ {cf. 2 Mac. 10') as to the exact three years. There appears now to be
general agreement as to the dates 168, 165; s. Schiirer, GJV vol. i, §4, Meyer,
Ursprmig, 2, i5g. 2og. Josephus, in stating that the profanation lasted for ^]^ years
{B. J. iii, 1,1) makes accommodation with Dan. It is noteworthy that i Mac. made
no such accommodation, a testimony to its chronological reliability.
" The ' 1290 days' and ' 1335 days' of 12"-"' iv. ad loc.) are successive later inser-
tions, due to the retardation of the term of 1150 days.
7
98 INTRODUCTION
against the other. Even if we allow that c. 7 is entirely distinct
in thought and authorship from c. 8, we have still to regard the
author of the latter as interpreting the 3>^-year datum of the
former, qualifying it for some reason of his own, but there still
remains the question of his 11 50 days. It can be equated neither
with the 3^ years nor with the recorded three years of the
profanation. The latter fact excludes the hypothesis of a vati-
cinium post eventum, and indeed the whole bk. is evidently an-
terior to the Mace, success. If post eventum, then 8^* must be
regarded as a later addition, which no critic has claimed; but
even then there would remain the question as to the term of the
1 150 days, which in that case must have meant something. ^^
The result of this argumentation is that the 3^ years is a
round figure, and the 11 50 days an exact calculation based on
terms wholly obscure to us; neither of the calculations was ex-
actly fulfilled, hence they both must have been devised ante
eventum. In the rough the expectation was fulfilled— in briefer
time indeed, in three years, shorter than the 1150 days by 55.
This deduction may be satisfactory neither to the theologian
nor to the historian. The latter naturally disowns the element
of prediction in history, while the modern theologian deprecates
it in prophecy (but cj. §20) and would admit it still less in our
bk. However we may explain the fact, the majority of scholars
who maintain the Mace, origin of cc. 7-12 regard them as com-
posed before the triumph of the Maccabees in 165, and hence
implicitly, if not explicitly, admit the historical fulfilment of
their expectations. So Kuenen, Einleitung, §§88. 89 (as written
before Judas' defeat of Lysias); Wellhausen, Isr. u.jild. Gesch.*,
256, n. 2; Schiirer, 3, 256; Kamp., EB 1, 1013. And so almost
all recent comm., exc. Behr. at 8", who agrees with Cornill for
a post eventum date, as does Meyer, p. 186. And some recent
comm., following Stuart, Zockler, al., find here 'genuine predic-
tion' of the Mace, success, e.g., Dr., p. Ixvii, Charles, at 8^''. It
may be remarked that predictions of seers have often had their
" For the history of the interpretation of the 70 Weeks s. Note at end of c. g.
Cornill, Die Siebzig Jahru'ocheti Daniels, 21-26, has made a very learned argument
based on certain chronological determinations to the end of defining the 1150 days;
assuming that the figure must be post eventum, he dates back its starting-point to
Tishri (October) 168, when, he argues. Ant. issued his decree for the establishment
of one religion. But as subsequent scholars have insisted, the starting-point is obvi-
ously the actual profanation in Chislev, and Comill's position has met with no favor.
§2 IE. LOSSES AND ADDITIONS TO THE BOOK 99
effect on events, as in the case of Jeanne d'Arc; and so these
forecasts of our bk. may have nerved the Mace, heroes to their
illustrious triumph in 165 at the end of the ' 70 Weeks.'
e. Losses and additions to the original book.
For the Greek and Latin ecclesiastical tradition which regards
the Apocryphal Additions as integral to the bk. and for modern
views which would salvage some part of the episode between the
prayer of Azarias and the Benedicite, s. §4. For criticism of the
position held by a very few scholars that (g offers a fuller and
better text and that its actually midrashic expansions should be
honored, s. §11.
In regard to supplements, the most extensive addition that
has been alleged, namely, by vGall, otherwise a rigorous cham-
pion of the unity of the bk., is the Prayer in c. 9; this opinion is
rejected in the Comm. On the other hand, the Comm. follows
Gunkel in excising 12"- 1- as later, although very early, attempts
at rectifying the number of predicted Days; this criticism re-
moves one of the greatest difficulties.
Otherwise the changes adopted are few, many not being more
than glosses of a few words or doublets, the latter an interesting
phenomenon of early variation. Certain passages have been
objected to as secondary 'joints,' but if the writer of the Stories
used various traditional materials, these 'joints' may be attrib-
uted to him as well as to another hand. In general the diction
of the bk. is what German would call 'sprode' ('splay'), and
we may not apply too fine a standard of logic and literature.
The principal excisions from the text adopted or allowed as
possible in the Comm., barring occasional single words, are
(c/. the list of glosses, etc., accepted by Marti, p. x, and Charles,
p. xxxi) :
i^, vnSx r\>2. 8-, 'and I saw in the vision,'
2'«, iVj; (?). 8», nsnSxi.
228-29^ doublet, v.=' secondary. 8'-, last two verbs.
242.43tt^ a doublet. 8'^'', a gloss of items.
4-, 'and visions of my head.' qS?^ mrc"' rvinj.
4'°, greater part doublet of v.'^. io=»- =', a doublet.
6^ 01 ^h•y Sdi, doublet. ii'", a gloss.
7*, a few words. ii'*, containing a poss. doublet.
7", om. after 'I was seeing.' ■12"- '^ two successive glosses.
lOO INTRODUCTION
§2 2. AN APPRECIATION OF THE LITERARY AND RELIGIOUS
CHARACTER OF THE BOOK.
In view of the peculiar genre of Apocalyptic its literary aspect
cannot easily be distinguished from its spiritual content. To
some extent this is also true of the Stories in Dan., for as in the
Visions we find here the elements of intentional art and fiction.
But the two must be treated as separate compositions of differ-
ent authors and times.
a. The Stories.
These stories have hardly been sufficiently appreciated as lit-
erature in the commentaries and the histories of Biblical letters;
this in consequence of the devotion of almost all students to the
polemic involved in the Higher Criticism of the bk. The writer
would briefly express his growing admiration for these religious
tales as examples of the story-telling art. Dan. has its ancestry
in the classical Heb. literature, and also joins hands with an al-
most perished story-literature, that of the Aramaic. The latter
survives only in the mutilated Ahikar Romance and the Story
of the Three Pages in i Esd., but these are testimony to a well-
established and artistically developed branch of romantic moral-
izing letters. The latter are Wisdom stories addressed to the
more cultured ranks of society; those in Dan. are religious tales
composed for the edification of the rank and file of the Jewish
faithful. But they are admirable as examples of the short story;
each one has its definite theme, and each is composed with nota-
ble dramatic art. Also this art is not monotonous in the choice
of subjects nor in the development of the plot. The most strik-
ing and original of the compositions is the figure of the Image in
c. 2, which deserves to be regarded as a notable creation, a
veritable Frankenstein monster. The highly colored but som-
bre scene of Belshazzar's Feast, c. 5, a notable historical ro-
mance, comes next in power. Equally dramatic is the story -of
the discipline of Nebuchadnezzar, c. 4; the fall of human ar-
rogance has never been better sketched in a few strokes. The
stories of the Three Confessors, c. 3, and Daniel in the Lions'
Den, c. 6, are more strictly hagiological ; but they celebrate
brave men of faith, and if the deus ex machina appears to solve
the impasse of the right, we have to remember that from the
§2 2A. THE STORIES lOI
Greek drama down a Providence has ever been invoked to ef-
fect the triumph of the good, for every great drama is a moral
theme and so ultimately religious, whether in the background
looms a Nemesis or the Living God. Withal the depiction of
the characters, the weak point in Oriental romance, is made
briefly indeed but with accuracy. Daniel, humble in character
but self-possessed and dignified before kings, the Confessors,
more shadowy saints but immortal for their defiance to the
king, 'If our God can save us . . . but if not' — the several dis-
tinct characters of the three kings, all these stand forth as in-
dividuals. Even the minor dramatis personcB, the royal oihcers
in cc. I. 2, the Queen-Mother in c. 5, the artful conspirators in
c. 6, are all appropriately limned. The stories are plainly, sim-
ply, compactly told; yet they are not artless, rather inspired
by a withal natural and cultivated art, knnstvoll therefore, and
it is a misunderstanding of what constitutes religious literature
when apologists and critics ignore or depreciate the literary form
of these stories.
In §20 the Theology of the Book has been treated. Actually
of more pertinent importance is the religion of the bk., particu-
larly for cc. 1-6. On the historical side we see the Jews of the
Golah, no longer hanging their harps on the willows, but bravely
taking their place in the world and proving themselves the
equals and superiors of their Pagan associates, not by reason of
their race or human excellences, but through their constancy of
character founded on faith and trust in God. They exercise
themselves naturally and dutifully in the rites of their religion,
while on the negative side they abstain from 'the forbidden
things,' whether these be contaminated foods or false objects of
worship. The bk. was written, it is often said, for the encourage-
ment of the community; but it is equally an expression of the
life actually lived by Jews who were 'the salt of the earth' at
the end of the Old Dispensation, the men who preserved for later
ages the illumination of the Lawgivers and Prophets. While
they guarded that treasure, often 'cabined, cribbed, confined,'
as we may think, they had, like every responsible age of religion,
their own contribution to make. They faced a problem far more
difficult, complex, apparently hopeless, than confronted an
Isaiah or Jeremiah. In the Hellenistic age God's world had be-
come a vast, unified, articulated Cosmos, in the Johannine sense,
I02 INTRODUCTION
tremendously interesting, intellectual, artistic, beautiful, but also
cruel and beastly, religious in the sense of superstitious, or else
sceptical and atheistic, godless in sum. Supermen ramped over
the stage, self-styled gods whom nations did worship to; the
only worldly hope of escape from any one of these was in the
usurpation of another like him. To this condition our bk. made
answer, but not by a new theology; the bk. is founded four-
square on the centuries-old belief that ' God is king, be the earth
never so unquiet.' But its contribution to religion lies in its
formulation of faith 'in the Kingdom of God,' that men should
'know that the Highest rules in the kingdom of men,' 422(19).!
To this there is added the corollary, arising from the logic of faith
rather than of intellect, of God's necessary vindication of his
cause in the world. This may take place in the way of human
catastrophes, as in the judgments upon Nebuchadnezzar and
Belshazzar. Or else the godlessness of the world drives the faith
and patience of the saints to the breaking-point, and the tran-
scendental action of God is demanded; this theme appears in
c. 2, where the successive kingdoms of the world are represented
as breaking down in a moment before the 'Stone cut without
hands.' In this scene there is the kernel of the Apocalyptic of
the later chapters, the reason why an apocalyptic series could
be composed as a supplement to the Stories.
h. The Visions.
Literary appreciation of this material is more difficult. ^ The
vision in c. 7 rises to a picturesque grandeur, due to the assimi-
lation of ancient mythical elements in part, which however are
freely and originally handled. The following visions are prosaic
and rather arid, broken only by the more lively personal inter-
ludes of the Prayer in c. 9 and the overwhelming vision to the
seer in c. 10, along with the concluding word of comfort at the
end of c. 12. Indeed the symbolical disappears in the midst of
the vision in c. 8, and after that there are only spoken oracles.
1 CJ. Driver's excellent review of this theme, pp. Ixxxv-xc. The 'ethical character'
of Apocalyptic is presented by Charles, pp. xvi-xix, but Dan. is religious primarily
rather than ethical.
^ For literature s. §20, njte i, to which should be added Gunkel's treatment of
the mythological elements i:i Apocalyptic, and particularly in Dan. 7, Schopfung u.
Chaos, 323-335-
§22B. THE VISIONS 103
We feel an increasing ' De prof undis ' motif in these visions : they
are the reflex of the bitter stress of the times and move with a
heavy-footed indignation. On the one hand, there is the horror
of things as they are, with no hope in the world as it is; on the
other, a grim determination of faith that God will interfere.
And in this respect the faith was prophetic and the Religion
was saved, although not in the terms of the prediction, as is
always the case with both Prophecy and Apocalyptic.
There is a problem in these Visions which has concerned all
students of Apocalyptic. How far have we in them genuine
vision, how much, if not all, is artificial? Answer is obtained
largely according to the various attitudes of students toward
theological inspiration. C. 7 may be, as claimed by many, a
learned composite of mythological motifs; c. 11, according to
Bousset and others, smacks of the student's study with its cor-
rect historical sequence. The present writer acknowledges that
there is a predominant element of the intellectual and of the arti-
ficial in a certain sense; there is deliberate use of the facts of
historical knowledge and of elaborated symbols. But this is art
of the same kind as appears in Dante or in Bunyan's Pilgrim's
Progre:;s ; it is primarily literary art. And this includes the arti-
fice of ascribing the visions to an ancient Daniel, in which respect
the Visions follow the Stories and an ancient tradition of that
kind of literature.^ In this characteristic of artistic creation
composed for written Hterature ('the Book,' 12''), Apocalyptic
differs from the elder Prophecy, which was oral and more spon-
taneous, only subsequently and in part committed to writing.
Distinctly literary Prophecy appears first in Ezekiel, himself an
apocalyptist; in the Second Isaiah we have a litterateur's compo-
sition, and this technically literary characteristic appears in all
the subsequent Prophets.
On the other hand, the intensity and gravity of the theme
produced a mental exaltation which at least by the composer
was interpreted as true ecstasy or vision. He did not distinguish
between his own materials and art and the illumination which
came to him in the process of absorption in the quest of revela-
' Charles has again and again insisted that this artifice was necessary in order to
procure a hearing after the Prophetic Canon was closed; and Bousset is inclined to
admit this motive (OJfenbarung, 14). At the same time the literary mode of anonym-
ity and then pseudonymity had long ago set in. Cf. §19, g.
104 INTRODUCTION
tion. One feels a genuineness, subjectively speaking, in the vi-
sions of the Apocalypse and 2 Esdras, even as in Paul's ascent
to the third heaven; and the same impression is given by the
record of the visionary phenomenon in c. 10. In all these three
bks. there is discovered a genuine personal touch which appears
to reveal actual spiritual experience. At 10^ we learn of the
practice of prayer and self-mortification in order to obtain illu-
mination even as in 2 Esd. ; and this spiritual discipline along
with the resultant experiences has ever been native to the mys-
tic's life. Apocalyptic will never be sympathetically appreciated
until we bring it under the category of the poet and the seer.
Psychologically literary and religious inspiration have very much
in common, and the intellectual and artistic elements may not
be discounted in religious inspiration.^ Our modern rationalism
does not easily fancy Apocalyptic, but before casting it aside
we should make an honest effort to appreciate it as genuine lit-
erature and as genuine religion. To be sure, a criticism that
first of all will appreciate, will reserve to itself the right of dis-
crimination; it will distinguish between the higher and the lower,
the true and the false, for it must be borne in mind that mystical
absorption in seeking the truth and the will of the Divine easily
involves illusion. As Prophecy produced its exaggerations until
at last the whole order of the Prophets fell into disrepute, so
Apocalyptic had its rise and fall. But it is not just to condemn
any one book for the faults of all the others. Dan. is the classical
apocalypse of the O.T.; with all its peculiar literary art and its
mystical practice of religion, it remains true to Judaism, and,
more than this, it develops the latter legitimately in translating
it into transcendental terms. Similarly the Church adopted only
one of the products of its many prophets into its Canon, the
Apocalypse of John. One such book in each Canon is sufficient,
perhaps, but the two deserve their place in the proportions of the
True Religion. Each visualized for its generation, in days of
greatest stress for believers, the Kingdom of God as above all
and to come on earth, and inspired a faith and comfort that was
not disappointed.
■• See the admirable Presidential Address by Prof. C. R. Bowen in JBL 1925, i JJ.,
'Why Eschatology ? ' On the literary characteristic of Apocalyptic see the writer's
paper, The Education of the Seer of the Apocalypse, to appear in JBL 1926.
§23- REVIEW OP THE LITERATURE ON DANIEL 105
§23. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON DANIEL.
In the Comm. at the end of cc. 2, 9, 11 are given sketches of
the history of exegesis of certain outstanding themes of the bk. ;
the reader is directed thither for more expHcit statement. The
following is a summary review.^
For early Jewish interpretation we are thrown back upon the
N.T. and Josephus, Philo omitting all ref. to the bk. Jos. speaks
of Dan. in the highest terms as one of " the greatest of the Proph-
ets ,. . for he not only prophesied of future events, as did
other prophets, but he also determined the time of their accom-
plishment" {A J X, II, 7): and so 'Dan. the prophet,' Mt. 24^^
(but not in the parallel Mk. 13^). Jos. interpreted the Fourth
Kingdom as of Rome (although finding Ant. in the little horn
of c. 8), but 'thought it not proper to relate the meaning of the
Stone,' doubtless fearing offence to Rome, ib. and 10, 4. Policy
thus kept him from expounding the bk. more fully, to our loss.
In the Talmud Dan. is spoken of as weightier than 'all the
wise men of the peoples,' Yoma 77a. For Talmudic and other
Rabb. references see Hamburger, RE i, 224: in them he is pre-
sented in the highest terms as a saint and an example, but the
allusions are of personal, not theological interest. The Mediaeval
Jewish opinion appears to have been less favorable to Dan., this
on the score of the technical distinction of the bk. from the
'Prophets,' and also probably because of the Messianic inter-
pretation given to it by the Church. Both Maimonides, d. 1204
(Moreh Nebochim, 2, 41), and Kimhi, d. 1240 (Pref. to the Pss.),^
distinguished between Prophecy and the Holy Spirit, valuing
the former as far higher because it dispossessed the recipient of
his natural faculties, while the latter is but an illumination, and
Kimhi notes that Dan. was inferior to Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the
other Prophets in that he could not 'maintain strength' (10^)
when he awoke from his dreams.
The great Jewish commentators all interpreted the bk.:
Saadia, 892-941; Jephet, c. 1000; 'Rashi' (Solomon b. Isaac),
' C/. esp. Bcrtholdt, pp. 156-162; Rosenmiiller, pp. 38-51; Zockler, Prcf., §§5. 12,
with the fullest bibliography; and the admirable presentation in briei by Behrmann,
pp. xliv-xlix. Knabenbauer's survey, pp. 57-64, is valuable for its inclusion o:" the
medix-val and later Catholic literature. The Bibliographies in Wilson and Bout-
flower are useful for presentation of recent archaeological discussion.
' See C. B. Michaelis, pp. 33 JJ.
Io6 INTRODUCTION
d. 1 105; Aben Ezra (Abraham b. Meir b. Ezra; s. JE s.v. 'Ibn
Ezra'),d. 1 167; Isaac Abrabanel, d. 1508 (first printed ed. 1497);
Joseph b. Yahya, c. 1559. Of these Saadia's comm. has not yet
been pubHshed. The ' Saadia' who accompanies Rashi and Aben
Ezra since the Bomberg and Buxtorf Bibles (the texts followed
in this Comm. are those in Mikraoth Gedoloth) has long been
recognized as a much later composition and can only be cited as
Pseudo-Saadia; but Aben Ezra frequently quotes Saadia's comm.
and Jephet polemicizes against it.^ In the later Jewish exegesis
there appears to have been a reaction toward the Mess, inter-
pretation of Dan. (s. Note, end of c. 9). Of this development
Abrabanel is an example in his work on Dan., on which remarks
L. Ginzberg, JE i, 128: "He controverts both the Christian
exegesis and the Jewish rationalism. ... In opposition to the
Talmud and all later rabbinic tradition he counts Dan. among
the prophets — but therein only agreeing with the current Chris-
tian interpretation. He is impelled to this by the fact that
Daniel furnishes the foundation for his Mess, theory." Jephet
is valuable as representing the Karaite exegesis; his comm. has
been published in the Arab, with Eng. tr. by Margoliouth, 1889.
His observations are often acute and exhibit an ancient line of
tradition; but cf. Margoliouth's judgment upon him as a com-
mentator, p. viii. In the Comm. constant use has been made of
Jephet, Rashi, Aben Ezra, with reference to Pseudo-Saadia.*
In addition to the commentators the Jewish lexicographers are
valuable: the elemental work of Ibn Janah, c. 1050 (which has
been consulted for the Heb. in the Comm.), and the Artich of
Nathan b. Yechiel of the 12th cent., which with the labors of
Elias Levita lies at the base of subsequent lexicography.^ The
immense debt of the Prot. commentation and vernacular Bibles
to the Jewish commentaries is evident at every step in the
exegesis of Dan.
^ On Saadia's comm. on Dan. s. Malter, Saadia Gaon, 1921, 325/., and for Pseudo-
Saadia H. Spiegel, Saadia al-Fajjumi's arab. Danielversion, 1906, 13/., dating it, at
end of the 12th cent, as of North African origin. For Saadia's Arab. tr. of Dan. s.
§10, e.
* Rashi was translated by Breithaupt, 1713, and b. Yahya by I'Empereur, 1663
(the latter comm. I have not seen). A F. Galle has published selections from the
comm. of 'Saadia, Aben-Ezra, Rashi, etc.,' iqoo, the 'Saadia' being the late commen-
tary. Bibliography of other later Jewish comm. is given by Rosenmiiller, pp. 38-40.
' The text of Ibn Janah's Book of Hcb. Roots followed is that by A. Neubauer,
1875. The Aruch complelum has been published by A. Kohut, 1878 seq.
§23- REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON DANIEL 107
In the Church the first commentator was Hippolytus of Rome,
whose 'On Daniel/ written c. 202 a.d., has been pubhshed in full
by Bonwetsch and Achelis; s. §10, /, §12, a.^ The work is ar-
dently hortatory, expectant of the Parousia, but its historical
exegesis is sane and valuable. Origen's comm. has been lost
but for 'a brief extract of his notes' (Salmon, DCB 4, 11). The
Gr. tradition was carried on by Chrysostom (in homiletic man-
ner), Polychronius the brother of Theodore of Mopsuestia, and
Theodoret, the two latter representing the Antiochian school of
exegesis. Polychronius' work, preserved only fragmentarily,^ is,
on account of its objective, historical point of view, the most
fascinating of all the Patristic literature on Dan. Hipp., Polych.
and Theodt. have been particularly consulted for this Comm.
The Syriac-speaking Church is represented by its great Father,
Aphrem (Ephrem, Ephraim) of the 4th cent., whose comm. on
Dan. is a notable work. A commentary by Theodore of Mop-
suestia, also translated into Syr., is now lost; s. DCB 4, 940;
Baumstark, Gesch. d. syr. Lit., 103.
The prince of the commentators is Jerome. His work gains in
value as it is primarily an apology against the Neo-Platonic
Porphyry's attack upon the historicity of Dan., claiming that it
was Maccabaean. This polemic purpose appears in the opening
words of the Pref. to the comm.* Jerome has done the service
of preserving Porphyry's argument in very full form, often in
citation, and the polemic has caused him to compose a very
careful work. His comm. is intrinsically valuable for its con-
stant dependence upon the tradition of the rabbis under whom
he studied, and the work is a monument to the earliest stages of
Jewish exegesis, as appears from its frequent agreement with the
Mediaeval representatives of the latter. Of Porphyry's work we
know nothing further. His position as to the date of Dan. has
been vindicated by most of modern scholarship.
Of the Mediaeval commentaries may be noticed those of Al-
bertus Magnus and Nicolas de Lyra. The In Danielem postillae
' See §12, n. 2, for monographs on Hipp, as commentator.
' Published by A. Mai in vol. i of his Scriptorum veterum nova collectio, 1825. Mai
also adds a catena of annotations {Commcnlarii variorum) on Dan. by other Gr.
writers, Ammonius, Apollinaris, ct al.
• He then notes that Eusebius, .Xpollinaris, Methodius had written apologies
against this attack of Porphyry's, extracts Irom which are preservedonly in Mai's
catena, s. note above.
Io8 INTRODUCTION
attributed to Thomas Aquinas (Paris, 1640) is not recognized as
genuine by the editor of the sumptuous Leonine edition, Rome,
1882 seq. ; s. vol. i, p. xcii. Of the Roman Cathohc commenta-
tors after the Reformation many are cited in Pole's Synopsis
criticoruni, e.g., Pereira, Maldonat; for the 17th and i8th cen-
turies, e.g., Sanctius, Cornelius a Lapide and Calmet; we note
also the merits of de Maitres and Bianchini, s. §10, a (i). Re-
cent Roman commentators of importance are d'Envieu, 1888-
1891, and Knabenbauer, 1891. The former work, in three vols.,
is an extremely apologetic and polemic treatment as against
radical criticism.
The Protestant Reformation produced a flood of learned anno-
tations and commentaries upon Dan. as upon all the Scriptures.
The writer has depended for his knowledge of these great schol-
ars upon the Critici sacri, London, 1660, and Pole's Synopsis
criticorum. They include, besides Luther, whose great contribu-
tion was his Bible translation, such names as Calvin, who dedi-
cated characteristically brilliant lectures to Dan., S. Miinster
(whose influence on the English Version was very great), Geier,
the illustrious Grotius (in some respects the father of the mod-
ern interpretation of Dan., and the first to introduce at length
the parallels from Classical letters). For the i8th cent, may be
particularly noticed C. B. Michaelis, Wm. Lowth and Venema,
along with the scholarly apparatus of J. D. Michaelis in his ed.
of the Heb. Bible.
Meanwhile a line of radical interpretation had started in the
17th and early i8th centuries, denying in part or in whole the
authenticity of the bk. and its traditional age. The partial criti-
cisms of Spinoza and Sir Isaac Newton (s. §21, a) were devel-
oped by Marsham, Collins, Corrodi and others in the i8th cent.
(s. Note at end of c. 9, §5) and precipitated the fuUy formulated
theory of the late, pseudepigraphic character of the whole book,
presented by Eichhorn, the father of modern Biblical Introduc-
tion, and by Bertholdt (1806), the first commentator at length
on these lines. Porphyry now came into his own. Bertholdt was
followed, but with tempering of his rationalism and extrava-
gances, by RosenmiiUer (1832), von Lengerke (1835), Maurer
(1838), Hitzig (1850 — indulging in Persian origins), Ewald
(1868). This radical position was however warmly contested,
with the support of many doughty theologians, as Hengstenberg
§23- REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON DANIEL 109
(1831), C. H. Auberlen (1854), Pusey (1864), Havernick (1832 —
he and von Lengerke are rich in allusions to Classical literature) ;
Stuart of Andover (1850 — the first American philological com-
mentary on Dan., an exemplary work); Keil (1867 — the extreme
of the apologetic position); Kliefoth, Kranichfeld (both 1868 —
excellent commentaries); Zockler (1870 — a very sound commen-
tary, with full bibliography, and the latest Protestant work with
exposition of the elder interpretations).
In the '8o's a fresh stimulus was given to the study of Dan. in
its philological phase by Kautzsch's Grammar, and especially
on the archaeological side by the Assyriological discoveries. But
most of the formal comm. (exceptions noted §19, n. i) accept
the radical position: Meinhold (1899); Bevan (1892 — admirable
for philological acumen and freshness); Behrmann (1894 — with
very independent criticism); the American Prince (1899 — stress-
ing the Assyriological point of view); Driver (1900 — the fullest
of recent commentaries, only limited as based on the Eng. text) ;
Marti (1901 — all too brief) ; Charles (in the New-Century Bible) ;
also A. Lambert (a brief Heb. comm.). To these should be
added the series of select notes on the bk. by Graetz, 1871;
Torrey, 1909 and 1923 (s. Bibliography); and Ehrlich in his
Randglossen, 1914. For critical presentation of the text Kamp-
hausen in Haupt's SBOT, 1896, and Lohr in Kittel's Bible, 1906,
should be consulted : the former with admirably cautious treat-
ment, the latter far more radical, in general following Marti's
criticism.
Archseology has, however, inspired a considerable revival of
the defence of the authenticity of the bk., with many extensive
monographs, e.g., those of Wright, Wilson and Boutflower,
which have been noticed at length in §19 (for literature see there,
note i); and that Section exhibits the reaction toward recogni-
tion of a far greater amount of historical tradition in the bk. than
the elder criticism had allowed — a position maintained in this
Comm.
A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL.
I. THE HISTORIES.
CHAPTER 1. THE EDUCATION OF DANIEL AND
HIS THREE COMPANIONS.
(i) 1. 2. The deportation to Babylon. (2) 3-7. The educa-
tion of Daniel and his three companions in the Chaldaean sci-
ences. (3) 8-17. Their piety. (4) 18-21. Their singular wis-
dom approved by Nebuchadnezzar.
1. 2. With this datum of a reduction of Jerusalem by Neb. in
the 3d year of Jehoiakim and the deportation of the latter and
his court to Babylon, the narrator as briefly as possible links
up his story with traditional events of the last days of the
national life. There is no historical corroboration of such an
event in the 3d year of Jehoiakim, at which date indeed Neb.
could only be called 'King' byprolepsis. Our prime authority,
2 Ki. 23^^-24^, assigns an ii-year reign to Jeh., recording that
'Neb. king of Bab. came up and Jeh. became his servant three
years; then he turned and rebelled against him'; and the Lord
sent against him bands of Chaldaeans, Syrians, Moabites, Am-
monites, to destroy Judah. But Jeh. did not survive the catas-
trophe; 'he slept with his fathers.' His son Jehoiachin capitu-
lated to Neb. in person after a siege, having reigned three
months. There ensued the despoliation of the temple and the
deportation of the royal family and upper classes to Babylon.
Also Jeremiah informs us with particular fulness about this
period. The 4th year of Jeh. is ec^uated with the ist year of
Neb., 26^ cf. 46-, ace. to which the latter's defeat of Necho at
Karkemish occurred in the 4th year; and c. 36 details the his-
tory of the writing and the fate of the first edition of the bk.
for the 4th and 5th years, while the elegy on Jeh. in c. 22 knows
of no such catastrophe happening in that king's reign. But a
further development of the history appears in 2 Ch. 36^"*, viz.,
that, without definition of date, Neb. came up against Jeh. and
bound him in brass fetters 'to bring him to Bab.'; for this the
variant and probably earlier text of i Esd. i^* reads 'and led
him to Bab.,' i.e., in3''^T'1 for 'l3''^n^. As was recognized by
8 "3
114 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
vLeng. and is maintained by most recent comm., this datum of
Ch. has been combined with the 'three years' of Jeh.'s submis-
sion to Neb. in 2 Ki. 24^; ergo his captivity happened at the end
of the 3-year term. This gradual midrashic expansion ignores
the valuable data of Jer. The close dependence of Dan. upon
Ch. appears in the almost exact equivalence of our v.^ with
2 Ch. 36^ 'Neb. also carried some of the vessels of the house
of the Lord to Bab., and put them in his temple at Bab.,' an
identity which has actually affected the subsequent history of
the text of Dan. and the Grr. (v. inf.). A rational motive for
the shoving back of the date of the captivity to Jeh.'s 3d year
may be found in the probable desire to obtain the fulfilment of
the exact 70 years of the Exile, 2 Ch. 36" = Jer. 25^1 '•; so
Curtis, Chron., ad loc, cf. Mein. But exact calculations are not
to be attributed to our author but to tradition.
Support of this captivity of the 3d year has been claimed from
Gr. sources; e.g., by Heng., Authentie, S^ff-, ^nd so modern apol-
ogists, Wright, Dan. and His Prophecies, c. 3, §1, Wilson,
Skidies, c. 4. One unnoticed Jewish legendary parallel is found
in Polyhistor, cited by Eus., Praep. ev., xi, 39 (from the Jewish
historian Eupolemus, s. Freudenthal, Alex. Polyhistor, 16); after
teUing that King Jonachim had set up a golden image of Baal,
the extract narrates how Neb. made a victorious campaign
through Palestine, captured Jerusalem, took Jonachim alive, and
carried off to Babylon the gold in the temple along with silver
and bronze; this 'Jonachim' appears to be Johoiakim, but there
is possible confusion with Jehoiachin. More important is the
testimony of Berossus as cited by Jos., AJ x, 11, i = C. Ap., i,
19: Neb. was ordered by his father to chastise the rebellious
satraps of Egj'pt, Syria and Phoenicia, which task he completed,
annexing these lands to Babylonia (an anachronism indeed as
far as Egypt is concerned). Then hearing of his father's de-
cease, he set out on a forced march across the desert to receive
the crown, and ordered the captives, Jews, Phoenicians, Syrians
and Egyptians, to be sent on, and these he colonized in Baby-
lonia. This statement is arranged anachronistically by Jos.,
who makes it follow another extract from Berossus telling of
Neb.'s capture of Jerusalem and its destruction by fire, i.e., the
event of 586. But in the former passage there is no reference
to a capture of Jerusalem or captivity of Jehoiakim. Operations
I IIS
of Neb. in Syria-Palestine in the 4th year may correspond with
the datum of Chaldaean and other troops that attacked Judah
ace. to 2 Ki. 24'. Jos. by no means draws the conclusions of
modern apologists. Ace. to AJ x, 6, i, after the battle of Kar-
kemish Neb. "took all Syria as far as Pelusium except Judsea."
In the same chap. Jos. records that later, at the end of Jeh.'s
reign. Neb. came against the latter, took Jerusalem, slew Jeh.,
and had his body cast outside of the walls (itself a perversion
of history, dependent upon 'the burial of an ass' that was to
be Jeh.'s fate ace. to Jer. 22). As an example of Jos.'s absolute
unreliabiUty at times it may be noted that he makes Dan. and
his friends captives of the captivity of 586, x, 10, i, deliberately
ignoring the datum of Dan. that they were taken captive in 606;
i.e., Jos. is no witness for apologetic on this point.
Commentators have been ever embarrassed over this 3d year.
Ra. makes the 3d year the last of the three years of revolt, Jeh.
'dying under Neb.'s hand'; and so AEz., PsSa., Jeph. The
Christian tradition following the unfortunate identification by
(^ of the names Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin as 'IcoaKei/x (2 Ki,
23^^24) blundered through the royal succession of this age.
Mt. ii°f- identifies the two under 'lexovLa<i^ despite Jerome's
argument against Porphyry that two kings are required here.
Hipp., i, 2, §§3. 6, is in utter confusion as to the series of kings
and their names; in §6 he identifies the three years with the
three months' reign of Jehoiachin. Jer. gives to both kings the
one and the same name loacim, but is obscure as to his deduc-
tions. The early Prot. comm. were equally troubled, proposing
many of the exegetical devices since attempted; e.g., Grot, sug-
gested that eight years of Jeh.'s reign were discounted because
his captive brother Jehoahaz was still alive for that term. The
Cath. Maid, and the Prot. CBMich. fall back upon the Jewish
identification of the three years with the term of Jeh.'s revolt.
Heng. maintained the unvarnished credibility of the datum,
followed by many; their arguments are most completely stated
by Klief., pp. 49-69, and Keil, pp. 46-56. Of the points made
may be noted: Berossus' statement (made to imply a reduction
of Jerusalem); a prolepsis in Neb.'s title as king (cf. Wibon,
c. 5); denial that S3 means 'arrived at' but rather 'started to
go' (so Kran., Keil, Knab., as particularly correct if the writer
were in Babylon); insistence that Jeh. was only taken prisoner,
Il6 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
not removed to Bab. All other recent comm. reject the his-
toricity of the datum, with exception of Behr., who holds to the
taking of Jerusalem on Berossus' testimony without further
elaboration. All secular historians, Rawlinson, Meyer, Winck-
ler, Rogers, ignore or condemn the datum. For the Winckler
theory that Jeh.'s 3d and 4th years may have coincided in part
with Neb.'s ist year s. the chronological table given by Dr.,
p. xlix.
In V.2 the narrator assumes the capture of the city and pro-
ceeds to detail its two chief consequences for the subsequent
history: the captivity of the Jewish king, which prepares us for
the appearance of youths 'of the royal family,' v.*, and the
desecration of the sacred vessels by Belshazzar, c. 5; however,
the V. is but a duplicate of 2 Ch. 36^ ^■. But the clumsy condition
of the V. in ^ = 0 has been recognized by all comm. If the
accusative in 'he brought them' refers both to the king and the
vessels, there arises the absurdity that the captives were brought
into the king's temple; if it refers to the vessels alone (so (^ 0
avrd^ U ea), then there follows the repetition that they were
'brought into the treasure-house of his god.' But orig. (g reveals
an elder condition of text than 1^, which relieves the problem.
On Hexaplaric testimony 'the house of his god' in v.* was not
read by (^ (s. Note); the Hexaplaric insertion in (S is taken
bodily from 0, producing an awkwardness in the text as revised.
The insertion of 'in the house of his god' in our ^ was prob.
due to the interpretation of 'them' as neuter, with the VSS,
along with reminiscence of 2 Ch. 36^, 'and he put them in his
temple in Bab.' This induction from (^ agrees with the elision
of the phrase by Dr., Mar., Lohr, Ehr., Cha. Pr. (and so Maid.)
preserves the text by supposing that the questionable phrase
refers to a triumphal presentation in the temple; but this lux-
urious note is out of place. Behr. without any textual authority
would delete the whole of v.''. Hitz., Mein. interpret VH^S iT'i
as 'the land of his god,' and cjt. Hos. 8^, 9'^ While the Jewish
comm. admitted the captivity of Jehoiakim and against the
VSS correctly regarded the obj. as including the captives, some
of the apologetic school of the 19th cent., e.g., Hav., Keil, Zock.
(so also Rosen., vLeng.), confined the obj. to the vessels alone
so as to avoid the deportation of Jeh. to Bab. There still remains
a certain inconcinnity; 'them' must imply Jeh. and his family
l'-' 117
and entourage; but the implication is so clear that it is not nec-
essary with Ew., Ehr., to suppose that some phrase expressing
the large circle has fallen out.
The initial sentence in v.^, 'the Lord (Adonai, on which s.
Note) gave into his hands' is a statement of the divine Provi-
dence ordering the tragedy. 'The house of God' stands in the
Chronicler (cf. inf. 5^) for the earlier 'house of Yhwh.' 'Shinar'
is archaizing, despite Mar., as it is in Is. 11", Zech. 5"; it is well
chosen as denoting the land of the arch-rebel Nimrod, Gen. iqI",
and of the Tower of Babel, which is the antithesis of the theme
of Dan. In v.*' the disposition of the sacred vessels is briefly
recorded; they were placed in the treasure-house of Neb.'s god.
The sing. mng. of D''^^^< is to be preferred with 0 ^ H; but (S
understood it as pi. with the nice word eldcoXetov. The former
view is supported by 4^ where ' Belteshazzar ' is interpreted by
Neb. as 'according to the name of my god,' obviously, Bel, cf.
Bel and the Dragon, v.^ The later Paganism was henotheistic.
□TI^X JT^J means 'god-house,' so Ju. 1 7 ^, and either ' Gotteshaus '
or ' Gotterhaus.' Every temple had its treasure-chamber, the
sacred things of even a conquered religion being still holy; hence
Belsh.'s act in c. 5 was a sacrilege even to Pagan eyes. Cf. the
similar account of the deposit of these vessels in 2 Ch. 36^, Ezr.
5'*. The plundering of these stores of booty was a constant aim
of conquerors. Aph. Syr.'s view, followed by Theodt., Hav., al.,
that Neb. desired to honor the vessels of God by bringing them
into the presence of his gods is a vagary, answered for the Jewish
mind by Ra.: he brought them there 'to praise his false gods.'
1. njiya] For the gen. construction s. GK §134, o. — vh'y] Many
MSS defective. — mDSn] A formation of ancient Heb. usage, e.g., Nu. 24',
I Sa. 20", I Ki. 2", along with ^}^'0'?, also moSni?, which comes to
predominate under Aram, influence in the Hagiographa and NHeb.
For the vocal swa h cf. nn^;', but nnna i Sa. 20'". The term is not
otiose with the following 'king,' as <8 feels; it refers to the royal era, the
first year of which began in Assyria and Babylonia with the first New
Year's day after the accession. — no] As noted above, some comm. in-
sist that this vb. can mean the inception of the action; e.g., Gen. 45",
Jon. i^ But it seems absurd to hold that this very curt passage made a
distinction between the moments of starting and arrival. — ■lXNJ^^nJ]
Otherwise in Dan. li-jiDnj, e.g., 3', or nxj-i33j, e.g., i"; ill desired
to use the fullest spelling at the first occurrence of the word. The
Il8 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
correct form, li'smDO:, is found only in Ezc. and sections of Jer.
(also here in Ken. 245), strangely enough failing here, if Dan. be a con-
temporary document. For the Gr. forms s. BDB, GB, and Schrader,
ZPT 1881, 6igff.; the forms with -w- for -r- are found only in the Jewish
tradition (Berossus in Eus. has -n-, but after the Eusebian spelling).
For the frequent division of the word into two parts in many Mss, so
also here, ixnj nDi3j, see Elias Levita, Masorclh ha-masoreth, ed.
Ginsburg, p. 210, Ginsburg, Int., 200 ff. — "^23] For ^^ before a liquid in
place of -^ cf. SnoV '^^?• ■>?"!, etc. — dSs'it'] M insists on this
Kre perpehium except in the Aram, sections, where aSa'n^. — ixm] Rt.
lis: s. GK §72, t. — 2. ■>jin] Many mss nin>, Ken. 245 •'Jin mn\ Jahn
restores here mn^, but, except in the Prayer, c. 9 and its introduc-
tion v.^, the bk. always uses Din':'Nn, and presumably this was read
originally here. But the identification of the deity was required and
this was fixed by the Kre "'Jin, which then entered into the text. Simi-
lar indifference as between mni and D^^'^N appears in later Jewish
literature, e.g., the Targums, where the abbreviation of nin^ is used
for the Bibl. D^nSx; so also in BSira, cf. the equivalents for xuptos in
Smend's Index. — r^-ipti] nxp = kasawat (s. Bev., GK §95, n, and other
reff. in GB), cf. np, nn {vs. BDB to be listed under rt. njj); = He-
braized nn'i"', e.g. 1 Ki. 6^^, and parallel to nsp, between which and this
word confusion occurs (s. GB s.vv.). The word is partitive here (other-
wise at v.^, as at Neh. 7'°, and like nxii i Ki. 12" (s. Burney, ad loc),
and has the same use in 2^ (Aram.). The partitive use of r^'ip^a is com-
mon in the Talmud, s. Jastrow, s.v. The corresponding word in 2 Ch.
36' is the simple p. — -\';yz^\ The earlier identification with mat sumiri,
'land of Sumer,' South Babylonia (so e.g., Pr.) is now largely doubted;
s. GB s.v. But to the Jews it meant Babylonia, as <& reads here and
Zech. s". The Jewish terms for Babylonia are 'land of Babel,' Jer. si'",
'land of Chaldees,' Eze. 12", or 'Chaldsa' (anno), Is. 48=0.— vnSx no]
It has been observed above that this phrase was not in orig. (& nor
probably in orig. ^. Origen interpolated from 0 dq olxov xou Osou y..
TK axeuT); in (S*^, but not in <&^; there is prefixed to this the doublet gloss
from 0 zlq Y^v Ilevaap. Note how the interpolation disturbs the syntax
of <&. ai'^DH PNi was indeed in 05's Heb. text, but it was omitted as
the previous object 'them' was understood by (& to refer to the vessels.
As it stands, rnSx ri:i is locative. If the rdg. of B Q* owou be accepted
as 0's, then Shinar was regarded by 0 as the name of the temple; but all
other representatives of 0 have otxov, expanded in Hexapl. texts into
et<; (ttov) oty.ov. — TiiN P"'3] Such a depositary in the temple at Jerusalem,
I Ki. 7*'; also read isi.v for ixv at Zech. 13'. The term = Akk. bit nisirti.
For derivations of ixin s. GB; but poss. nusdr>u{n)sdr>d?dr. Strangely
enough A Q* 23 om. OTjaaupou — by haplog. with Ocou auxou .? — OS's
I^'^ 119
(ixTjpefffaxo otuxa Iv t(7) eJSwXefw auxou = i Esd. 2', a proof of the identity
of the translator.
3-7. The education of the youths. 3. The king orders 'his
Chief Eunuch' to introduce into the court certain high-born
youths of the Jewish captives in order to educate them as royal
pages, in Hne for such promotion as their abiUties might deserve.
Throughout history this has been the honorable destiny of aris-
tocratic captives; it was doubtless the lot of the family of
Jehoiachin, 2 Ki. 25"^-, as evidenced in the favor shown to
Zerubbabel, whom i Esd. 3^ treats as similarly a royal page,
veavLCTKOf^ even as the Grr. here at v.* designate these young
men. The Chief Eunuch is simply the majordomo; it is not
necessary to draw the conclusion that the youths were made
eunuchs, as Jos. hints: "he made some of them eunuchs," nor
to combine the ref., after Theodt., with the alleged fulfilment of
Is. 39^ The Pers. heir apparent was brought up by eunuchs; s.
art. by A. V. W. Jackson, cited below at v.^ But the notion in
Jos.'s mind had its corroboration in many cases, e.g., without
doubt, Nehemiah; cf. the condition represented by Is. 56^^-
Jewish tradition agreed with Jos., as Jer. indicates, and was con-
tinued in Targ. Est. 4^ where the eunuch Hatak is identified
with Dan., larchi ad loc, Epiph., De vita proph., x (these pas-
sages cited by vLeng., p. xcvii). But AEz. denies that the three
youths were eunuchs: they were not to stand before women
but before the king, while that condition would be a blemish
contradicting v."*, involving a diminution of mental ability. The
understanding of v.*^ depends upon the number and kinds of
classes to be distinguished. (& and 0, each with an exegetical
plus making the first class definitely of the Jewish captivity,
distinguish three classes: Israelites, members of the royal family,
and nobles, the latter two classes being by implication Baby-
lonian. But the objective of the story is the fate of the Jewish
captives solely. Jeph., CBMich. find three classes: (i) 'ex filiis
Israel promiscuae sortis'; (2) royalty; (3) nobles; but this ar-
rangement is not orderly. 'Israel' is appHed to the laity in
contrast to the Levites, as indeed AEz. understands 'Israel'
here; but the distinction is not used as between secular classes,
with exception of possible appeal to Hos. 5'. It is best, there-
lore, ace. to a Sem. usage, and following Jun. and Trem., Bert.,
I20 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Behr., Mar., al., to regard the 2d and 3d conj. as correlative, i.e.,
'Israelites, both of the seed royal and of the nobles.' The use
of the Pers. word CJ^mS for Jewish gentlemen is not contra-
dictory; it may represent actual courtly use, or be affectation of
a high-sounding term, like our 'grandees'; so Ra. capitally inter-
prets, D''D3"n 'duces,' and Sa. 'patriarchs,' a Syr. Church title.
Jos. at once assumes that the youths of the story were of the
royal family 'of Zedekiah,' and so Theodt.; so constant later
Jewish tradition, s. Hamburger, RE i, 'Daniel,' at end. But
this is as much surmise as the notion that Dan. was a priest, (S
Bell.
4. The persons to be selected were boys, i.e., of teachable age,
of perfect physique and comeliness, with mental powers ap-
proved by their primary education, so that they were wholly
competent to take their part in the king's court. The stress lies,
as naturally in a Jewish story, on the intellectual training. The
three phrases used of the youths' mental qualifications are sim-
ply accumulative and do not permit analysis into distinct men-
tal functions; it is therefore difficult to give a satisfactory trans-
lation of the Sem. rhetorical idiom (s. Note). It is a question
whether the three ppls. are to be understood as futuritive (cf.
GK §116, d) with some comm., or as qualities already acquired,
with others. Grot, thinks of their education in the Law, the
wisdom of Solomon, etc., but Jeph. properly denies that the
king had any use for that sort of wisdom. But it is best with
the Jewish comm. (so Sa. very positively in his tr.), to refer the
ppls. to the past, of the preliminary humanistic education. The
mng. of 'letters and language of (ancient) Chaldsea' has been
made clear only since the discoveries in Assyriology, which were
only slowly applied by the comm. to the elucidation of the
phrase. Keil (1869) first among the comm. noted the possibility
of understanding by it the language of the cuneiform script, and
Knab. and Pr. still more positively insisted on the identification,
followed by their successors, exc. Mein. There must have ex-
isted a wide-spread popular tradition of the ancient hieroglyphic
language (lepo'ypd/xixaTa) that had descended as the medium of
the Chaldasan sages; its monuments with its cabalistic script
were still in the public eye. Pliny names three cities famous at
a late date for their ' Chaldaean learning,' Hist, nat., vi, 30, Baby-
lon, Warka, Hipparene; cf. Strabo, xvi, i; and for the late sur-
I^"^ 121
vival of the cuneiform languages s. Int., §19,/. The parallel to
the letters and wisdom of the Chaldaeans is found in 'all the
wisdom of the Egyptians' in which Moses was educated, Acts
7^^, a common midrashic notion. As in the latter case reference
was not to the vulgar Egyptian of the day, but to the hiero-
glyphic language, so the tradition here concerns not the Bab.
vernacular of later times, but the mysterious language of the
past surviving only among adepts. Had the writer meant Ara-
maic he would doubtless have said so; but there would have
been no point in his insisting on a culture in that tongue. So
Nicolaus of Damascus reports (Miiller, Fragm. hist, gr., frag. 67),
that "Cyrus was versed in the wisdom of the Magi," as well as
trained in the arts of a gentleman. The query concerning the
identity of this Chaldaean language is an ancient one. The most
ancient interpretation (Jos. speaks only of the wisdom of the
Chaldaeans, not of the language) identifies it with the Aram,
dialect, which is taken up at 2^; Jer. in his Pref. to Dan. calls
this language chaldaicus sermo ; and so in Pref. to Kings he iden-
tifies the Syrian and Chaldaic tongues. However, in his comm.
here he discusses Philo's opinion that Heb. was the same as
Chaldee, as Abraham came from Chaldaea; but he inclines to the
opinion of others that Abraham knew two languages. This iden-
tification was Jewish, appearing prob. in the Talmud (s. Dalm.,
Gramm., p. 3), and was held by AEz., who interprets the Chal-
daean language and the Aram, as the tongue of the king. Until
the rise of Assyriology this view remained the prevailing one.
Jeph.'s comment on this assembhng of cultured men at the
royal court is pertinent: "The king's object was twofold: to
gratify his fancy for men of knowledge; and to be able to boast
that in his court are the greatest men of the world." Elder
comm., e.g., Rosen., Hav., illustrate from a similar practice at
the Sublime Porte. The royal court of letters played its part in
ancient antiquity as well as in later civilizations; the Epistle of
Aristeas represents the Jewish tradition of Ptolemy II's intel-
lectual coterie of scholars; the Story of Ahikar proved how val-
uable the trained thinker was to the king in his political emer-
gencies. It became a later problem how far Daniel and his
friends practised these heathen arts of the Chaldaeans. Chrys.
argues that no blame lies in learning but only in the use, and
Geier similarly holds that we must distinguish between theory
122 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
and practice, that a knowledge of magic is useful in order to
counteract it. Calv. more positively decides that Dan. would
have made short work with any superstitions just as he did with
the unclean foods. But the story stands for the readiness of the
Jews to accept secular education, as all through their history,
without despite to their religion; cf. the story of Joseph.
5. As cadet members of the court the youths were taken on
the budget of the royal menage and given a stated assignment
of food and drink from the royal commissariat. A technical Pers.
term is used of this gratuity, = 'assignment, appropriation,' and
while the elder tr. 'portion' (AV JV) rests primarily on an
erroneous Jewish etymology, it is more accurate than ' dainties '
(RVV) or 'delicacies' (Dr.), although by implication such fare
must have been of superior quality. The Gr. fellow derivative,
7roTi73a?t9, was used of honorific gifts from the royal table. Also
the gift of the 'royal wine' {cf. Est. i^), the indispensable drink
of the Persians, is specified. Dr. eft. for these honorary gifts of
food, Gen. 43'^, 2 Sa. 11*, 2 Ki. 25^". But the Pers. court far ex-
ceeded all its predecessors in lavish entertainment, and both
Est. and the Gr. writers report the tradition of the opulence of
the feast and of the regular support of innumerable guests at
the royal table — a proof that the Pers. customs are in mind, not
the Bab., as Hengst. argues, p. 335; s. Rawlinson, SGM 'The
Fifth Monarchy,' c. 3. The youths were to be given the normal
three years of training ace. to the Pers. system. See vLeng. at
v."* for the Gr. notices on the education of the Pers. youth; ace.
to Plato, Alcibiades I, 121, the higher education began in the
14th year, and Xenophon, Cyrop., i, 2, assigns a limit above this
at the 1 6th or 17th year. This triennium has its origin in the
Avesta (SBE'^ 4, 311 _ff.): "How long a time of a year's length
shall a student go to a master of spiritual learning ? For a period
of three springtides (years) he shall gird himself with the holy
education"; s. A. V. W. Jackson's excellent article on 'Pers. Edu-
cation ' in Enc. of Education, which gathers all the material on
the subject and fully illustrates our story. Much later in the
old Pers. territory a three years' course was the vogue in the
famous Nestorian school at Nisibis; s. Baumstark, Gesch. d. syr.
Literatur, 114; Labourt, Le christianisme dans V empire perse,
297-
6. The four heroes of the following Stories are now introduced.
I^'^ 123
They are said to belong to the preferred tribe of Judah; were
they of royal blood, as later tradition claimed (s. at v.'), this
would have been noted. A failure in historic verisimilitude ap-
pears in the absence of patronymics. The four names occur pre-
dominantly or solely in late bks. of the O.T. ; all four appear in
Neh. On Daniel s. Int., §2 and Note inf. 7. The Chief Eunuch
signifies the adoption of these aliens into the court by giving
them native names, which naturally contain elements of the
Bab. religion. This change of name was a requisite for members
of the court, and has its Bibl. precedent, as AEz. notes, in the
change of Joseph's name (c/. Dr., DB ii, 7736: Erman, Life in
Anc. Egypt, p. 517). We have so to explain the names of Zerub-
babel, Shenassar and Sheshbassar, who were prob. brought up
in the royal court. In any case there appears to have been but
small objection on the part of Jews to the adoption of heathen
names; Esther and Mordecai have their parallels in the papyri
and in all Jewish literature. This tendency long preceded the
subtle Hellenization of the 2d cent. Indeed the Jews, except
possibly in periods of reaction {e.g., at present Jews returning to
Palestine are adopting Heb. names), have never stickled at for-
eign names, even those with heathenish implications: see Zunz,
'Die Namen der Juden,' in Gesanimelte Abhandlungen, vol. 2. In
Dan.'s cognomen Beltesa§§ar the Akk. word is evident as
Baldtsu-usur, ' Protect-his-lif e ! ' (or with some, Baldt-sar-iisur,
'Protect-the-life-of-the-Prince!'). Strangely enough Jewish tra-
dition has vocalized this so as to insert the name 'Bel,' to agree
with 4^^^\ ace. to which Dan. was named after Neb.'s god, i.e.,
Bel. If the writer meant to include 'Bel,' then he did not know
how to analyze Bab. names. But there are other traditions of
the vocalization of the name; so ^ with Belttsdsdr, i.e., as com-
pounded with Belit, the paredros of Bel (but based on the Gr.,
not the Sem. spelling, which requires /, not /). The Grr., which
U followed, identified the name with that of King Belsa§§ar, ren-
dering both with BaXracrap. The three other names are dis-
guised. The third doubtless stands for original 'Abed-Nebo,'
'Servant of Nebo'; Sadrak is prob. perversion of Marduk;
Mesak has not been explained. The outlandish heathen names
of Babylonia were sardonically played upon by the Jewish tradi-
tion. The theophoric elements Marduk and (his father) Nebo
are characteristic of the later Bab. religion: s. Jastrow, Rel. Bab.
124 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
u. Ass., I, c. 14. In the Apocryphon in c. 3 these Pagan names
are discarded.
3. -iDN-'i] lEN in the mostly late mng. 'command,* as in Arab. —
tiDi^N] Despite Cheyne's gratuitous condemnation of the word, EB
S.V., and the comparison or identification with rjorx Gen 10' (Hitz.,
Cheyne), following unconsciously Jos.'s precedent with his 'Aaxti:vT)<;
AJ X, 10, 2, the name occurs as ijddn in an incantation text from
Nippur published by Myhrman in the Hilprecht Anniversary Volume,
345, 346, republished in my Aram. Incant. Texts, 145. With the name
should be compared Aspazanda in Clay, BE x, p. 41. For elder views s.
Rosen., vLeng., the latter with Rodiger's suggestion of Pers. aspa-ndsd,
'horse-nose.' Justi, Iran. Namenbuch, 46, connects with Syr. aSpiza,
Mand. sapinza, 'post-station,' NPers. siphanj, which can mean 'guest.'
See Nestle, Marg., 38, with a possible ancestry from Lat. hospitium ( ! ).
Prof. A. V. W. Jackson and Dr. Gehman have kindly examined the
word for me and report no satisfactory results. <&'s 'A^teaSpt is due
to identification of this officer with isSsn, v.", q.v. for the derivation
of 'Ap. from nsSnn. g> A^paz, Lu. 'Aaxocafvi]. — vDno ai] Correctly
the Grr., 'his chief eunuch,' i.e., chamberlain. For various titles in the
Oriental court compounded with rob s. Meissner, Bab. u. Ass., i, 31;
these compounds spread in the WSem. world, s. Lidz., NE 366. Aq.
pedantically, ' teacher of the eunuchs.' This title appears also 2 Ki. 18",
Jer. 39'- ", and in C/5ii, no. 38 (687 B.C.); cf. Phoen. onaiDai ('exalted
chief eunuch'?), Lidz., I.e., Cooke, NSI no. 21. Sarts appears in Akk.,
Del., Hwb., 694, and Jastrow has demonstrated the same mng. for
iarien in the Ass. Law Code, JAOS 41, 18. Haupt, JBL 1916, 321,
explains 'D as a Safel of Di, 'with the testicles mashed.' But Winckler,
Jensen, al., prefer to find in 'D ia reii, ' Vorgesetzter,' s. GB, Manitius,
ZA 24, 109, n. I. The phenomenon of high military officers bearing the
title appears to have raised doubts whether it meant primarily 'eunuch.'
But it is easier to think of the latter word developing into the mng. of
an official title than vice versa. Ancient evidence points to the use of
'eunuch' as of a royal minister, and in Test. Joseph, 7, the eunuch
Potiphar is not only married but has children. (On the other hand.
Burton records that the actual eunuchs in Mekka have wives.) Further,
eunuchs often distinguished themselves both in political and mihtary
affairs. Apart from the probable case of Nehemiah, I note what 01m-
stead says, Hist, of Ass., 153, of Daiian-Ashur, Shalmaneser's great
vizier, remarking that a large proportion of highest officers, many of
the military commanders, etc., on the testimony of the reliefs were
eunuchs, and that "there is good reason to believe that D.-A. was
one of these unfortunates." A general, Bagoas, of Ochus' expedition
I^"'^ 125
against Syria was a eunuch (Schiirer, GJV 3, 233, n. 22). Several such
cases may be cited from Byzantine history, e.g., the illustrious com-
mander Narses. — N-'inS] 'To introduce,' not 'to bring' from Judah, with
CBMich. — h{<-\Z'> ijan] The theocratic name of the people is em-
ployed (Hitz.) after the prevailing use of the Chronicler, unlike Neh.'s
Memoirs and Est., where 'Jews' is used (s. Torrey, Composition, 35, for
these terms in Chr.); all the Twelve Tribes are ideally included. At v.®
the selected youths are described as of Judah. 05 inserts '[of the sons]
Td)v n£YtffT(4v(ov [of Israel],' and 0 xfiz a{xtAaX(oa(a<;. Blud., p. 51,
suggests a primitive ni:' = <S || ■'2;:' = 0. But \iej. in(S (also i Esd. I'O
appears to be an attempt to obtain a grading in the three classes.
Megistani became the official designation of Parthian grandees (Sueto-
nius, Calig., v, Tacitus, Ami., xv, 27, cf. Mommsen, Rom. Gesch., 5,
343/.), and possibly t. ji-ey. is a doublet to IxtXixTuv = Pers. D^cmsn.
0's X. alx- is an insertion from 2", and may be exegetical, as v.- speaks
only of the captivity of the king. — 'on pi . . . jjitDi] The conjs. are
correlative, 'both . . . and,' with Jun.-Trem., Bert., al; cf. f, 8^',
Gen. 36-*, Ju. 6* (other cases BDB 253a, GB 1896). Some mss om. i 1°.
A similar usage in Syr., Nold., SO §340, Duval, OS §387, b. — 131'?::^ >-\t]
= 2 Ki. 25", etc. — DT.mij] Est. i', 6't; = OPers. fratama, 'fore-
most'; the etymology first proposed by Anquetil de Perron and
von Bohlen (s. Rosen.), anticipated by Jun., Geier, at., in compar-
ing Gr. words of similar origin. See Lexx. and Paton, also Tisdall,
JQR 4, 97. 0 transliterates: (& e-ictXixTtov, 'selected.' Aq. in his
first ed. (s. Field, i, p. xxiv seqq.) had ace. to Jer. exXExxtiv, but in
the second xupdtwov, and so IB lyrannos. Similarly 0 for ii-<-\2-\:> 3=- '
xup. (AsyiiXot (interpolated in (S), and so 4'' = in3in. xupavvo? ap-
pears elsewhere in (B as tr. of 3nj. ]n, and also of petty princes, Job
42"", 2 Mac. 5*. This is doubtless a Pal. reminiscence of Philistine
pD = xupavvoq, which word actually appears in Targ., Nj-n-% as
equivalent for JID, e.g., Ju. f; in Targ. Is. 34' = i^3.s. Also the Syr.
Clemens Romaniis, p. 24, 1. 24 (ed. Lagarde) uses this word for the Heb.
Judges in contrast with kings. Aq. thus interpreted the word with a
correspondent Pal. term. Sym., xwv IlipOwv 'Parthians,' so g>, Chrys.
= Theodt., irap6ivou<; by error. Cf. s^ima Targ. Est. i', Targ. II
Est. 6', ed. Lagarde, = DT.-nfl. The anonymous 'Hebrew Interpre-
ter' tr. euyevwv, and Jos. euyeveaxdxoui;, i-S-, thinking of Jewish
nobles. The word came down from Pers. court language and appar-
ently survived as designation of nobles. Cf. a Pers. title of like origin,
l-in-iD, of Waidarnag at Yeb, APO pap. i, I. 5, and the title ni^.i-^d
on Gr. coins of Persia, s. Hill, Gr. Coins of Arabia, Mesopotamia and
Persia, p. clxiv seq.; that is, these titles survived to a late date.
4. ::i-iS^] Grr. vsavfaxou;, as of the Three Pages, i Esd. 3* " ; below
126 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
0 uses TCotiSapia. Similarly Arab, ghiildm means page. — aiNc] Exc.
here and Jer. 31' iJl"<^ always air:. It is best with Torrey, Notes, II, 229,
to regard this form as a conflate spelling of did and nciAp 'anything,'
and so to hold them apart. See Lexx. for proposed derivations: the two
as identical, Dixc = 'spot' (so most recently BL 528, s), or as distinct
words, which is far preferable. For noixa {cf. Akk. indefinites, mamma,
mumma, etc.), cf. Arab, mahma, 'whatever' < ma-hu-ma (s. de Sacy,
Gram, arabe", i, 195) = Heb. ma-{h)u-ma ; this derivation avoids the
objection on ground of accent lying against Ges.'s derivation {Thes.)
as from nni nn. Jewish lexicography is uncertain, Jastr. 5.t». Die; but
the Jewish comm. here as 'blemish,' and so Sa. in his tr. C6 0 imitate
the word d;xwu.ou?. Blud. has assembled several such cases of ^'s asso-
nantal renderings, e.g., 1"" <pt>>6ao{poi = O^'iJi'N, 10' >^a'^Tca:B£s = ''T'bS;
cf. Dr., Te.xt of Sam.-, at 5*. — hnid >3i::] Not archaistic, vs. Behr., Dr.;
the expression is frequent in Est., e.g., i".— 'J1 diS^d:;'^] The comm. try
their hand at obtaining exact specifications and a logical order in these
three phrases, e.g., Hitz., but many confess it cannot be urged too far
(e.g., CBMich., vLeng.). But it is best with Behr. to regard the phrases
as superlatives, or rather cumulatives. Cf. njo man v.^", and the
synonymity of these rts. in 2^'. The terms here are reversed inf. v.'^
Sem. diction abounds in the heaping of adjectival clauses to produce
not an analytic but a single effect; e.g., frequently in the Arab, philo-
sophic tract published by Dieterici, Thier u. Mensch. — t\-;-\ "i;n>] Cognate
accusative, = njo V'T' 2-^—^15] An Aramaism in form as well as in
origin, s. Kautzsch, Aramaismen, 51; = 'knowledge,' e.g., 2 Ch. i'""-;
in Ecc. 10-° understood by many as 'seat of thought, mind,' but the
parallelism here demands an objective gen. Later jjnjD = 'Gnosis' in
the particular field of the Mandasan sect; cf. Akk. mudu, epithet of
Enmeduranki and a priestly title, s. KAT 533, n. 9, p. 591; Jastrow,
Rel. Bah. u. Ass., 2, 55. 148. But 0 uses Yvwatq here for nyi.— no] =
'ability'; summing up the virtues Usted, and referring to the youths'
ability to carry themselves worthily in the royal presence. — isj'S] Tech-
nical term for attendance on the royal court; so, more fully, -|- ^Jfl*?
iScn, vv. '• ", cf. I Sa. 16--, etc.; and so of the servitors of Deity: of
the priests, Dt. 10*; of the prophet, i Ki. 17^, cf. ' standing in the divine
council,' Jer. 23^'; of the angels, inf. 7'°, Lu. i". Cf. APO pap. 49, 1. 9,
and pap. 51, 1. 13. Cf. Akk. nazdzii ina pan, s. GB s.v. 2, d. — SD\n] In
Akk. 'palace,' as here, but in the WSem. field most commonly of the
god's temple, and so generally in O.T. So Aq., Sym. here, ev vatp, pos-
sibly preserved in OrC ivdy-ziov, error for Iv vaep; cf. VSS at 4'. The
same use as here appears in the Ahikar papp. Later usage reduced the
word to the sense of 'mansion': s. Mandaic text in my Aram, hicant.
Texts, no. 38, 1. 2, and the word survives in the same sense in the
I^''^ 127
Arab, of the Lebanon. — aisSSi]. The infin. depends upon nnfoi v.'. —
noD] Correctly (6 Q YpdiAfiaTa, 19 HUeras, i.e., 'literature' (so Moff.), not
'learning,' EVY. This abstract use of the word appears at i^', Is.
2giiKr.i3_ -pjig same use of the word in Syr., e.g., Jn. 7" (= Ypx^txara),
Acts 7-^; also Ep. Mar Serapion, in Cureton, Spkilegium, 43, 1. 9. Ori-
gen tr. idd nnp Ju. i" by tc^Xk; ypaiJLpLdiTwv. Aq. unfortunately Pt^Xtov.
In NHeb. rrisp, nn^cp = 'letters,' 'mathematics.' The noun is paired
with the following \yyh as a const. This construction is not so
'rare' as GK §128, a, n. i, holds, asserting that the present case and
nyT Is. 11'' can be treated as 'ein absolut stehender Genetiv' — what-
ever that may mean. Other cases are to be found in Gen. 14^°, Ju. i*,
and freq. in Est., e.g., i'- 1*, 9^^, esp. 'script and tongue,' i^-, etc. Behr.
cites the Jewish coin legend amnTi iani t^•x-\. The same use appears
constantly in BAram., e.g., 5^- ^, 6'^, Ezr. 4'^, 5*, etc.; and in Sachau's
pap. no. 1, 1. 23. In Syr. the paired construct is rare, Nold., SG §209 A,
citing but one case; it is occasional in Mand., Nold., MG p. 309. In
Arab, it is occasional in early poetry, frequent in later prose writers,
Wright, Gr., 2, p. 201. In general the usage is proper where things
go in pairs, as here. The accent on "laD is divisive, and so CBMich.
argues for the distinction of 'letters and the Chald. tongue'; so appar-
ently (&, but not 0. But Sa. tr. definitely, 'the script of the Chaldseans
and their tongue.' — anro |V^S] 'The language of Chaldaea,' so the
force of the anarthrous 'j; cf. a\i"'Sfl = 'Philistia,' etc., and the several
Gentilic pis. in Gen. 10" f-. A Chaldasan district and tribe still survived
on the Persian Gulf in Strabo's day, xvi, i, 6.
5. pm] 'Assigned,' in sense of numerical distribution; as here, v.";
in v." of assignment of a command. Cf. Kautzsch, Aramaismen, 108.
The ELal in similar use Is. 65'=, Ps. 147''. — icva cp 131] = Jer. 52'* of
the portion assigned to Jehoiachin by Evil-Merodach; so of the duty of
the ministers of the temple, i Ch. 16". — ja-no] Also inf. and 11^',
This separation into two words has prevailing Mass. authority and is
accepted by Bar, Gin. (s. their notes, the ancient Hilleli Cod. treating
it as one word), but not by Mich., Kit. Kamp. notes that as one word 3
should not have dage's, eft. OJriiJ 3'*. The separation was due to a popu-
lar etymology, as though ."13 = Heb. 'portion,' an etymology not known
to the ancients. Ra. says that the word means cooked food in contrast
to raw, AEz. interprets J2 from the erroneous J2 Eze. 2$'. Sa. also tr.
with two words, 'bread and condiment ('udm).' C5 paraphrases cor-
rectly, 'an allowance (exOscts, cf. Blud., p. 35, n. 5) from the king's
house'; 0 apparently connects with Aram, xmno and tr. xpaxsl^a; 10
excellently annonam. The word is OPers. pat'baga (= Sansk. prati-
hhaga), 'portion,' taken into Syr. as nj3"Jd (so here in W), and into Gr.
as TcoTt^al^is. For its definition s. Athenaeus, xi, c. 109, ace. to whom
128 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
it included certain honorific gifts; in Syr. = 'dainties,' s. PSmith. The
identification with xoxt^. was made by Grot, and Castellus. — rniyn]
Sing., cj. v.'" and s. GK §93, ss, cj. i Sa. 19*; possible other cases GK
§124 k. AEz. interprets the pi. of the various wines at the different
seasons. — oSnjSi] For the loose syntax of the infin. cj. the exact
parallel Gen. 42^'. The infin. may depend by a zeugma of mngs. on pM
{cj. 2^* NiainS ijc), or be a case of the loose construction of the infin.
with S equivalent to a finite: e.g., Am. 8^ and BAram. inj. 2'* '', 5**;
s. GK §114, p, Dr., Tenses, §206; cj. Eng., 'and so to.' There is no
need with Mar., Lohr, to reverse the two halves of the v., aligning 'jSi
with Ni^nS and didSSi. Ehr. cancels the first half as superfluous; but
the apparently minor point of the cuisine is the hinge of the story.
The vb. means, not 'nourish' with 0 "B EVV Dr., al., but 'educate,'
with CS S» CBMich., al., Moff. It means 'bring up' physically, e.g., Is. i^,
and then intellectually, e.g., 2 Ki. 10^, and so = Syr. N^n Pael, e.g., Acts
22', and terbitd 'education.' — a.isps] = 'at their end,' as vv.^^- '', after
the more common sense, not 'some of them' by reason of the masc.
suff., so (&. (AEz. offers both constructions; Sa. definitely tr. as here.)
Such inconcinnity of agreement appears freq. in Heb., e.g., inj. 8', and
s. GK §135, o, Diehl, Das Pronomen pers. snf., Giessen, 1895, and for
the Aram, dialects, Kau., §53, Anm. a. b, and Nold., MG §147. — nc/""]
The infin. construction is resolved into the finite with reason as a change
of subj. is involved; CBMich. cjt. Is. 32^ Cj. the Arab, subjunct. with
ja, Wright, Gr., 2, p. 30. Dr., Tenses, p. 139, n. i, cites this as a case
'in inferior prose,' but hardly with justice. For similar usage in Aram,
s. at yi".
6. ''Hii] Gin. notes a Sehir (s. his Int., p. 187) rn^i. For sing. vb. with
pi. subj. s. GK §145, o. p. In BAram. the present construction appears
in Ezr. s'- '• ', and is frequent in Syr., Nold., SG §322. — onj] = 'among
them,' so e.g., Ex. 14^'. ®'s paraphrase makes the identification of Judah
as one of the tribes of Israel. — "^x.^J";] = Eze. 14*- -", 28' Kt. Snji, of
the traditional sage; also a son of David, i Ch. 3', and a priest, Ezr. S'',
Neh. 10'. The name is also Akk., Ddnilu, and Sab., Palm., Nab., s.
Lexx.; also of an angel, Enoch 69^. There is no reason to doubt the
mng. *E1 has judged'; the name is taken from tradition, not invented
for this bk. Geiger, Urschrijl, 296, Gin., Int., 397, think of the Mass.
pointing as intentionally obscuring the sacred element el; but it is
phonetically correct. — n>jjn] See Lexx.; it appears in Akk. transcrip-
tion as Hananiyama and on an Aram, docket from Nippur, ijjn; also
in Sachau's papp.; in Jewish inscriptions, Lidz., NE 278, Eph. 2, 72; in
Tobit, 5", and in N.T.— Ss^'^d] Name of a cousin of Moses, Ex. 6^,
and of a person in Neh. 8^ Delitzsch (in Bar, p. xi) interprets, ' who is
what God is?'; so BDB and most modern comm.; Hommel, Anc. Heb.
I^''^ 129
Tradition, 300, 'who is a god?' (but Hwb., 'wer ist der der Gott ist?'),
and eft. Sn3"io as Hitz. had done, deriving element c from r\yy 'be like.'
But Schrader rightly refutes such an etymology, COT 2, 106; Methugael
is not similar. The name = ':'n>:5"'5 with /D = 'salvation,' as in the
Moab. name y^D; cf. SNyanx > '?x3-\x Hos. 10", Sn;;.-it\ And so, I find,
Torrey, Notes, I, 257, decides. — nnij?] An ancient name, common in
the later age; also in the papp.; s. Lexx. 1^ has conj. before this last
name, 0 supplies it to the last three names; (S has asyndeton through-
out, and is prob. original; s. at v.^°. The order of the last three names
is alphabetical. Some Gr. Mss, also (S^, place Azarias before Mishael,
probably in consequence of the central position taken by the former in
3"f-. — 7. mcty . . . Di:'"'i] Cf. 2 Ki. 17^*, Neh. 9"; otherwise the phrase
appears only in BAram. (5'-), Syr., NHeb., JAram.; c/. Jastr., 5.». did.
There is no reason with Scheftelowitz, Arisches im A.T., 64, to hold
that the phrase is due to Pers. influence. — acM 2°] C8> © 13 om.; it is
superfluous and may have come in from v.^. — "'?^1^'?.?] In 10' (not all
mss) ixsyNaSj. The name prob. = Bald{su-u§ur (with Akk. 5 > Heb. s),
cf. Schrader, COT ad loc, BDB; but GB prefers Baldl-sar-u^ur, but
hardly with reason appealing to the Gr. form; Professor Clay has in-
formed me that this derivation 'is not possible.' Delitzsch, in Bar, p. ix,
thinks that the name has been abbreviated from Bel-haldtsu-u^ur, which
would then explain 4^(^>. None of these suggested names actually oc-
curs in Akk. Wilson, p. 30, assumes Bel-li(-iar-upir, 'Bel protect the
hostage of the king,' but without warrant. The testimony of the VSS
is against M's doubling of the j, which may represent the original pe-
nultimate accentuation (appearing actually in some cursives). The ele-
ment usur is variously vocalized, e.g., i?f><ic. The Grr. identified this
name with ' Belshazzar,' hence for both BaXxotaap; A Bapxaaap is due to
Coptic exchange of liquids, cf. Aixtpaap v.". — Tnc] This and the fol-
lowing itVD were analyzed by Del. in Bar, p. xii, as containing the Su-
merian element aku, 'moon god,' approved by Schrader (for 'C alone)
and by Kon., Hwb. Lenormant, Jensen suggested identification with
the Elamite god Sutruk {EB 4420). It is most reasonable to conclude
with Zimmern, KAT 2g6, Jahn, that ''^, like iiDj, 2 Ki. ig" (so for the
latter Cheyne earlier), is an intentional perversion of ^^^c, 'Marduk.'
For such a n. pr. cf. the Aram, docket name 1t\d in CIS ii, no. 68, and
cf. Jehu, Hadad, etc. — ^^''^] K. Kohler, on these names, ZA 1889, 46-
51, and Winckler, Altor. Forsch., 3, 56/., suggested a perversion of T'^'i^t
cipher for Babel, Jer. 25^° (Grot, had made the comparison). Again
Marduk may be contained in the word. The spelling of these names
in Gr. mss with -x appears to be Origenian. — uj lay] Again the ele-
ments separated by M against the orig. use; at 3^' nuj 12';. The
first element very common in late names, BibUcal and cpigraphical, s.
9
130 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Lexx., Sachau, APO Index, Lidz., NE 332/. It is pointed here Aramaic-
wise; so MS 51 alone A^sSvayw = Lu. uj is doubtless disguise of 12 j;
so Sa. (cited by AEz., who holds it to be without proof). Nebo is a
common element in late WSem. names; s. Sachau, Lidz., ll.cc. i2i-\2-;
is found in Syr., Cureton, Anc. Syr. Doc, text, p. 14. Ace. to Kon.,
Lgb., 2, 465, Ruzicka, ' Konsonantische Dissimilation,' BA 6, Heft 4, p.
126, Bergstr., Gr. §20, c, the change is one of phonetic dissimilation.
But it is far more likely an intentional perversion to avoid an idolatrous
name, as in the preceding names, and cf. Timnath-serah, Jos. 19*" and
Sukkoth-benoth, 2 Ki. 17^° (see my note, JBL 31, 141). Winckler, I.e.,
calls attention to the combination of these names in Jos.'s report of a
letter of Darius to the Samaritan officials, AJ xi, 4, 9, in which occur
Sadrakes, Ananias, and Bo^tjIov, i.e., Ba^uXwv, = itftt' = -[CD (?).
8-17. The test of piety demanded by Daniel. 8. Dan. made
up his mind not to defile himself with the heathen foods, and
proffered his petition to the Chief Eunuch that he might be ex-
cused; the sequel shows that he was also speaking for his com-
panions. VLeng. first exhibited at length the motives for this
abstention: the scruples against meats sacrificed 'with the blood'
(so PsSa.) and probably et8co\66vra^ Acts 15^^, and against
wine as generally graced with a religious libation {cf. i Cor. 10^') >
while at least the later law was peculiarly rigorous against the
defilement of drinkables and their vessels. Jos. gives a parallel
in his anecdote of the pious Jews in whose cause he went to
Rome, who lived only on figs and nuts, Life, §3. So Judas and
his company preferred to live in the mountains like wild beasts
and to eat grasses to escape pollution, 2 Mac. 5". The scruple is
finer than that exhibited in i Mac. i^- '^•j etc., where Jews resisted
the compulsory eating of taboo foods. We may rather compare
the pious practice of Tobit, who abstained from eating the food
of the Gentiles, Tob. i^°^-, and of Esther, who ace. to a Gr.
addition to Est. 4 (13^*) pleaded to God that she had not eaten
of Haman's table or honored the king's symposium or drunk
wine of oblations. The story of Judith first illustrates the prac-
tice of a Jew carrying a wallet ('mjpa = N.T. ko^lvo'^^ the
cophinus of the satirists) to avoid contamination from unclean
foods, Jud. 10^, etc. The extreme of this principle is summed up
in Jub. 22^*^, 'Separate thyself from the nations and eat not with
them ' ; with which cf. and contrast the story of Peter in Acts 10.
For this Jewish regulation of life s. Schiirer, GJV 2, 91 ff. It is
I«-17 131
accordingly quite out of question to compare Esther's fasting,
Est. 4", or to suppose that Dan.'s action was tinged with
asceticism (so Whiston to Jos., I.e., Aph. Syr., Albert Magnus,
Knab.), or was symptomatic of early Essenism (so Behr., p. xxv),
or to rationalize with Jos. and Calv. and to think of a puritanic
discipline of body and mind. Issue must be taken with vLeng.,
al., that this feature implies the Mace, puritanism; cf. Tobit,
while the practice was logically based on the Law; cf. Eze. pas-
sim, Is. 52", Zech. 14^1, etc. 9. 10. Divine grace prompted the
official to a sympathetic reply. Jewish romance always repre-
sents its heroes as on good terms with officialdom, cf. Esther,
the story of Joseph the Tobiade in Jos., A J xii, 4, etc., a feature
which had its corroboration in actual history, e.g., the cases of
Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Jews of the Elephantine
garrison. But the official deprecated the request on the ground
that the physical condition of the youths would suffer, for which
the king would hold him responsible. A capital penalty is not
involved in the caution he feels; the final phrase means that
they would bring the responsibility on him, s. Note. The king's
suspicions would be aroused when he 'saw their faces (appear-
ance) out of sorts in comparison with the youths of their own
age' (not 'of their sort,' with AV).
11-16. Dan. then appeals privately to a lower official, the
'warden,' as the Heb. word means, who was charged with the
care of the youths and their diet. With the exception of (B and
Jos. and of a few moderns who have a penchant for ®'s text,
the tradition has rightly distinguished between this official and
the Chief Eunuch. But the question as to the word hatnmelsar
lies between the interpretations as of a proper name, so 0^11 AV
RVVmg, and of a title, as the article proves; but it is doubtless
the latter, and the Akk. or Aram, original can be recovered by
help of the vocalizations preserved in ^ Lu. T^, and the transla-
tions of A and Sa. ; s. Note. An underling might grant the boon
without fear of discovery. Dan. lays a wager of faith with the
warden on the issue of the test to judge of their physical condi-
tion. A bit of Oriental color is added by the Grr. in translating,
'he was taking to himself,' avaLpov/j,evo<;^ i.e., enjoying the
' graft ' of the arrangement, and this notion is followed by S* B
Sa. and the Jewish comm. The latter are inclined to press the
miracle; Jeph. thinks that the Creator must have put something
132 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
extra into the food and water. Mar. rationalizes; better Grot.,
who while he recalls a Gr. line to the effect that 'a fat belly-
does not make a fine mind,' insists that here where beauty was
concerned the work of God is evident. But the test was above
all a miracle of faith with its complement in the divine help;
Jer. notes that Dan. even fixed the time; and Theodt. holds that
this incident is one of many proving that nothing is stronger
than faith. Cf. the story of Joseph in Test. Jos. 3^, who ' fasted
for seven years and appeared to the Egyptians as one living
delicately, for they that fast for God's sake receive beauty of
face,' and on the other hand deliberately ate of the poisoned
food without harm, c. 6. The 'pulse' of v.^^ doubtless included
grains, e.g., the parched grains so common a food in the Orient;
s. Note for variety of specifications of the word. In v.^^ tr. 'as
thou seest fit,' not 'as thou seest [us]' EW. In v.^^ not their
faces were fatter (AV), but their persons, so RW JV,
17. In the process of the 3-years course of education the ex-
cellence of the Jewish youths was demonstrated. All four ac-
credited themselves in letters and philosophy ('learning and
wisdom,' AV), while Dan. distinguished himself in the 'under-
standing,' i.e., power of interpretation, of visions and dreams.
This faculty may have been exhibited in competition with the
other students, for the training of the sages was especially di-
rected toward these recondite mysteries (s. at 2^ for the several
classes of Wise Men). Dan.'s specialty in visions and dreams
does not belong to the highest category of revelation, that of
prophecy; the Prophets had long since passed away, i Mac. 4^®,
and the highest business of the Jewish sage was the interpreta-
tion of their oracles, cf. Dan. (f and Ecclus. 39^: 'He will seek
out the wisdom of all the ancients and will be occupied with
prophecies.' Dreams and visions belonged to a lower and often
deceptive form of revelation, cf. Jer. 23, a fact recognized in
Ecclus. 34^^-. But in competition with Pagan interpreters of
those phenomena (of whose power in those arts there was no
doubt) pious and spiritually cultivated Jews might gain their
laurels. Joseph was the classic instance in antiquity; and now
*a Daniel is come to judgment' with the arts of the Chaldasans,
who also, ace. to Diodorus Siculus, ii, 29, were adepts in dreams.
The color of the story is true to the stress laid by the Bab. cul-
ture upon dreams, and is evidence, like the magical papyri and
the Classical writings on dreams and omens, for the continu-
ance of the ' Chaldaean wisdom ' long after the disappearance of
the Bab. empire. For the part played by dreams s. Int. to c. 2.
8. ^2h Sj? D'^''i] = 'made up his mind,' so Mai. 2^; cf. Acts 5*, 19'^
(similarly Pesh.). The phrase is not identical with 2^ Sy av:^ atiimadver-
tere, e.g., Is. 47'. — kS its'x] Exc. Gen. 11^, Ex. 20^, late, = jd = Aram.
nS n; s. Kon., Syn. 574, GK §157. — S^jri''] Snj late = Syr., softened
from ^yy, Mar. cfL 2jjn > axn; in Priest Code nd;^. Sym.'s ixccSivOt) (Field)
supported by the glosses to 36 233. — tr'pjii] Primarily 'seek demand,'
later in weakened sense 'ask'; v.^" 'ask a question.' — 9. jnii] This
may be understood as a case of waiv-consec. where the sequence is not
historical but that of order of ideas, cf. Dr., Tenses, §§75. 76; and so
AV Moff. But rather the sequence is historical; upon the request of
the strange youth God inspired the official with favor toward him. —
D-'cnnS . . . ]nii] The phrase but without ion i Ki. 8^°, Ps. 106", Neh.
i" {cf. 2 Ch. 30'), and APO i, 1. 2, and Test. Jos. 2', e[<; ofxTtp[j.ou<;;
the same with ion alone lies behind Judith lo*, eJ? x&piv. A similar
construction in Gen. 43", and note Test. Jos. 2', where in x<4p'v x. lAoptptjv
orig. ij?i was read ini. The sentiments are made concrete in their
object, cf. Hos. 9'° DanxD. — aicm] The vocalization is abnormal; we
expect '^'''?'?1, s. Kon., Lgb., 2, p. 34, 'eine durch Kiirze abweichende
Wortgestalt,' eft. p. 467, av^-^, etc.— 10. ns'? ib-n] = Aram. hdS n Ezr.
7-', Syr. NcSi, so & here; = nnStr Song i'. Similar Aramaisms Jon. i'- *,
Ecc. 1^2, cf. Dr., LOT 475, note. — aioyr] Ehr. prefers the verbal adj.
1i'4 as in I Ki. 20"; but the pointing is corroborated by Gen. 40', Pr. 19''.
The rt. = 'disturb,' e.g., of the sea, Jon. i^*; then as here and Gen. 40°
(whence the word is taken) mentally 'disturbed, upset, out of sorts,'
passing into the idea of anger, e.g., Pr. 19^-. Correctly 0 axuOpwicof,
'melancholy,' as (& Gen. 40', Lu. 27", esp. Mt. 6'', also as result of fast-
ing. (6 ii.oLTsxpa\i.\iiva, 'perplexed.' — p] = 'in comparison with'; cf.
Arab. 'an. — odSjd, Kit. ddSud] Cf. Bar's and Gin.'s notes. Sj from rt.
Si J II SSj = 'circle, generation' {cf. in); so in Sam. (e.g., Targ. Gen.
17'), NHeb., where iS^j p = 'his contemporary,' s. Jastr.,and Buxtorf,as
of one born under the same star; hence not an Arabism, vs. Jahn. Arab.
jil is used in the same way; Rosen, eft. Hariri, Assemblies, 4, p. 35, ed. de
Sacy, ma' a jilatika wajiratika, 'with your contemporaries and neigh-
bors.' C/. Syr., 'sons of one's years,' g* here and at Gal. i'*. 0&B cor-
rectly translate; ^'s auvxpecpoji-lvoui; a conjecture, the addition xwv
deXXoyevdiv not in (S^, a gloss to the word. Sa. tr. correctly, and AEz.
notes the word as late Heb. — 'Ji nna-'n] Lit. 'condemn my head to the
king.' The rt. is Aram, rather than Heb.; the noun ^m Eze. 18' is
doubtful (^n3n is read by Wellhausen, Dr., at i Sa. 22-); the rt. appears
134 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
in BSira, Aram, papp., NHeb., s. GB; also in Zad. Fr., p. 3, 1. 10. The
phrase is transliterated literally by OH; (8 'I will run the risk of my
head'; & 'the king will cut off my head.' So in this rigorous sense the
comm. generally. But cf. the Syr. mesdm here's, 'penalty,' not necessarily
capital, e.g., Acts 4^^; cf. the expression to 'put one's way on his head,'
I Ki. 8'-, Eze. 9^°. The phrase is curt for 'put (the responsibility) on my
head'; cf. Sus. v.^', eil'eucjcxt efs t9)v aeauxoO x£(paX-f)v, i.e., 'to your own
condemnation.' And so Sa. interprets, 'you will bring it down upon my
head.' — 11. is'l'nri] 0 by misreading A[xeXaaS = iC at i'^; Or? (appar-
ently orig. OrC, e.g., 106 at v.'O AjAsXaap = A Apiepaap by Coptic ex-
change of liquids, cf. BapTtzaap v.'; Lu. AtJisXXaaap; & is^ja (so Ambro-
sian and Urmia texts vs. Walton and Lee isicc) ; A has the same tradi-
tion miindsir, s. Gehman, p. 339; B Malasar. Thus Lu. & U A agree in
a similar vocalization vs. M. Schrader, COT, and Delitzsch (in Ear,
p. xi) proposed derivation from Akk. massar, 'watch,' e.g., massar habi,
'sentry of the gate.' This clew is corroborated by & menaisar (Paiel ppl. ?)
and A mundsir, 'keeper.' As this is supported by the vocalization of
Lu. and 19, I suggest a Pael ppl., menassar, with differentiation of 7t
into I in proximity with m; cf. n-'DSvir Song 7I = d^diw, nSon Eze. 1=^
prob. = pnn; and n.b. EvefAaaaap Tob. i*^ = Salmaneser, and vice versa,
Herodotus' Lahynnetos for Nabonidos. The word is then an old Akk.
or Aram, term for a 'guard'; the rt. in OAram., Lidz., NE p. 325. The
ancients treated the word as a n.pr. But Sa. and Ibn Janah (p. 355)
recognized it as hazdn or hdzin, 'treasurer,' and so the Jewish comm.;
and the early Prot. comm. mostly followed the Jews. For various at-
tempts at interpretation s. CBMich., Rosen., Hitz., Keil. Lenormant
suggested amel-ussur, 'treasurer.' But Mar., Cheyne (EB 3018), Jahn,
Cha. prefer the rdg. of (B> AptsaSpt, with which (^ had replaced the
Ashpenaz of v.'. If (S be right, then 0 is to be corrected in both
places. But such identification ignores a clever moment in the story,
the appeal to a lower servant. In matter of fact the phrase in (S repre-
sents the actual text of ^ : 'cn = AptsaSpi, "iti'x = tw, hjd = avotosi/-
GsvTt, 'on -)'y = ap^teuv. Accordingly Ap. is to be explained from /cn,
viz.: the two final consonants = eaSpt, as normally in such forms (e.g.,
EaSp3((;); the labial m became b, the /, weak in Coptic, disappeared.
The change arose through the oral transmission of the story under
Eg\T3tian influence, with the result of evolving a good Heb. name.
Josephus also identifies the two officials, but rdg. Ashpenaz (Aschanes)
in v.', then substituting this name here for 'cn. It is possible that
A^teaSpt in both places is subsequent to Jos. — 12. dj] ^6'^e (= Aq.)
Soz.(;j.affov, so v.". — miry] In Dan. as in the Chronicler the numeral
stands as often after as before the noun. The lo-day period, like the
week or our fortnight, was a common expression for a few days; like
i'-^' 135
the 7-day week it had its own term, mcy, cj. Gen. 24" and Acts 25*,
'8 days or 10.' There is an allusion to these 10 days of trial in Rev. 2'°,
and ace. to Jewish tradition Abraham had 10 temptations, Jub. 19^ (s.
Cha.'s note to i7'')> Pirke Aboth 5, 4 (s. Taylor, ad loc), and likewise
Joseph, Test. Jos. 2'. — urfi] For indef. subj. cj. GK §144, f. g; not
necessarily an 'Aramaism' (Behr.). — 3"'PI.] Cj. '>y\l 'what is sown,'
i.e., seedling, vegetable. Lev. 11", Is. 6i'i; for the forms s. Lexx. In v."
a^'jiinr is used = Syr. zar'on, Talm. zer'on, the Aram, equivalent. For
variety of forms of the same word in Dan. s. Behr., p. iii, who ascribes
it to carelessness, so Kamp., but per con. Mar. objects. Prob. the com-
mon word of later use has intruded itself into the second place (or was
it in the Aram, original in both places?). The Soferim have allowed
both forms to stand as recognized varieties of reading; cj. Bostrom,
Alternative Rdgs. in the Heb. oj the Bks. oj Samuel, Rock Island, 1918,
p. 19. ^ offxptct (-|- XT)!; yT]?, adopted by OrP Lu.) 'pulse' (EVV), so Jew-
ish comm., who include berries, etc.; Sa. 'grains.' 0 axspyLd-iwv as from
O'J;']!; B legiimina, which Dr. prefers. Jos. has 'pulse and dates'; cj. the
diet of figs and nuts recorded for certain Jews in his Lijc, c. 3. Ace. to
Krauss, Talm. Archdologie, i, 115, aij>ni means beans and the like;
but Low, JE 3, 332, cites Kilaim ii, 3, where the word includes turnips,
onions, etc. AEz. has a long discussion of the word at v.", evidently a
moot point. G. F. Moore, in Harv. Theol. Rev., 17, 358, n. 176, remarks:
"The reason for the specification of 'pulse' is perhaps that, being dry,
it did not contract uncleanness from contact with unclean hands," and
gives reff.
13. u^N-^c] Also MSS liN-i::; sing, like foil, nxi:; and as at v.^^ with
sing, vb.; (5 sing. vs. 0 H, cj. EW; the pi. vb. is due to the two subjects.
— HNnn] For -^(s. Bar) in place of normal -^; cj. Kon., Lgb. i, p. 531,
GK §75, hh. No explanation can be given of the vowel, exc. poss. as
an Aramaism (so BL p. 425). The vb. means ' see fit, have opinion,' and
so C6, JHMich., Behr., al., apparently Ra.; so the ppl. Est. 2' and freq. in
NHeb.; cj. ntn iuj. 3I'. — 14. nrn -^^^'^] 'In regard to this matter'; O
om., but (6 corroborates, rdg. •;vz'^^ as !:7"'i. — 15. -i:;'3 \xn3] Con-
striictio ad sensum, Hav.; it depends upon the pi. suff. So Sa., who in-
serts 'their bodies [were fatter],' and RVV JV; H makes the
phrase adjectival to 'faces' = AV. 0 tr. correctly but ungrammati-
cally, wpaaGfjaav al eESiat dyaOal /.. faxupol (B A 106; Q al. caxupai)
Talc; aap^fv, which is substantiated by ffiw^b ip^i jortes, which clever
amendment appears also independently in Lu. aOxol bxupof. (& fj
e^it; Tou aa);j.otxos, where 'i^iq (= Lat. habitus) represents an interpre-
tation as though T'-ii, which is found in BSir 16" = 'creation,' in NHeb.
'creation, constitution.' — Vd] 0 om. — 16. i^'^i ''Hm] Not necessarily
Aram, usage, vs. vLeng.; it appears in Heb., but early only rarely, Dr.,
136 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Tenses, § 135 (5). For dvatpouixevoq a gloss in T)^^^ XaiiSivwv (Aq. ?).
— 17. Snijii . . . □nS\ni] The prefixing of the subjects emphasizes
them and mutually contrasts them; e.g., 2 Ki. 17'', and cf. Dr., Tenses,
§160, Obs. — dpjjj-in] = Eze. i'°; the same form for 7 in 2 Sa. 21'; a case
of this form in BAram., inf. 3"', q.v. The opening phrase is variously
rendered by the Gr. VSS and revisions; H et illis quailuor pueris agrees
closest with Lu. — Sd^'hi yiD] The same phrase as here used adverbially,
Jer. 3'' '?i3cni nyi. For the abs. infin. as noun cf. tapttri Is. 32"; cf. the
freq. substantival use of Afel infin. in Aram., e.g., Dalman, Gr. §34. —
nc3m idd] S. at v.*. Iff here, not at v.'', follows Aq., in omni libra.
N.h. Berossus' note of Oannes' instruction of the Babylonians, Ypa',i.-
tidiTwv v.. [xaOTipLaTwv x. tex'^wv xavxoSaxwv eixiveipfav (Eus., Chron. I, ed.
Schoene, p. 14).— '^ V^^] So 9=', 11", Neh. 8''-; Sa. as active, 'he (God)
distinguished Dan.' — ptn] The word for 'vision' in Dan.; mostly late,
cf. nirn, pitn. The word is used collectively (& properly as pi.), so
Hos. 12"; cf. Aram. Nvn, 2'', the use of -\dd v.^ and rh•hr^ nSn. — In this
V. <S has been glossed: by the plus x. ippovTjatv from ©; at the end by the
plus X. ev Ti(x<sTi ao9ta = ncDH. Also a primitive error pTjixaxt has been
corrected by the plus opa[i,aTt.
18-21. Acc. to w.i*- " at the end of the 3-year term the Chief
Eunuch introduced the corps of young alumni to the king, who
by personal inquisition found Dan. and his three comrades su-
perior to all the rest. The result was that they were given com-
missions in the court ('stood before the king')- The practical
use of such sages appears in the art of the wise Ahikar in unrid-
dling the riddles of the king's competitors, and a somewhat simi-
lar function is that of Dan. in 5^^ In addition to the classical
case of Joseph, we find the bk. of Tobit making Ahikar a nephew
of the pious Tobit; Ben Sirach expresses the pathetic desire to
'serve among great men and to appear before him who rules,'
Ecclus. 39^ In the cosmopolitan character of those empires a
wise Jew might reasonably have adorned the court of a great
king, with no questions asked as to his religion. Later Jewish
tradition boasted of the cosmopolitan learning of Hillel: "There
was no wisdom, no language he knew not," and so of Jochanan
b. Zakkai (Bousset, Rel. d. Jud., 190).
20 reinforces the king's findings in v.^^ by telling how in all
subsequent issues he found the answers and advice of these Jew-
ish courtiers 'ten times preferable' to those of their colleagues.
Hitz., ignoring this new moment, thinks that the narrator re-
turns to v.i^'' in order to detail the degree and the points of their
137
superiority. Mar., followed by Jahn, Cha., repeats Hitz., hold-
ing that the v. is a disturbing anticipation of c. 2; hence it
should be elided, along with v.^i (v. inf.). But such criticism
would wreck any naively told story. Kings are forgetful as well
as ungrateful, a fact illustrated in the story of Mordecai. A
similar inconsequence is found in the compilation of the story
of Belsh.'s feast with the earlier cc. The 'magicians and en-
chanters,' Jiartiimmim, 'aSMptm, who are distinguished in com-
parison with the Jewish youths, are inclusive terms, the one
representing the Egyptian magic (so the first word is used in
the Egyptian stories. Gen. 418, Ex. 8^ etc.), and the other the
Bab. magic, where a correct Bab. term is used, dsipu. They are
not to be treated as having technical mng. ; the writer has no
special knowledge of the elaborate development of those castes.
(B cleverly rationalizes these two classes into 'sophists and
philosophers' (with an alliterative word-play, s. Note at v.'*);
Jer. makes apology: "discunt ergo ea mente doctrinam Chal-
daeorum qua et Moyses omnem sapientiam Aegyptiorum di-
dicerat"; similarly JHMich.: "magos, non qua praestigiis et
fascino deditos, sed qua philosophos ac naturae scrutatores et
sapientes." B has truer equivalents, iTracoiOoi (= '"in also
Ex. 7", etc.), 'enchanters,' and f^dyot (outside of Dan. only in
Aq., Sym., e.g., Aq. Dt. 18" = niS); similarly B arioli et magi.
Sa. tr. 'wise men and astronomers'; so Ibn Janah for ''^^. Ra.
understands the two terms as of necromancers who used the
bones of the dead, and astronomers; AEz. explains both as of
physicians and dream-interpreters.
21. 'And Daniel continued [when and how he was — colloquial
Eng., 'remained on'] until the first year of King Cyrus.' The
implication is that he was vouchsafed the joy of the release
under Cyrus, and possibly that he like other faithful Jews re-
turned home upon that glorious event. Such a return was under-
stood by one form of Midrashic tradition, s. Hamburger, RE i,
225. The contradiction with lo^, ace. to which Dan. had a
vision in Cyrus' 3d year, in the Far Orient, is removed by the
critical distinction of cc. 1-6 and 7-12 as distinct books; s.
§21, a. This removes the arguments made by Mar., Jahn, Cha.
against the originality of the v. The editor of the whole bk., or
composer of cc. 7-12, did not observe the clash between the
dates (recognized however by (5 which reads 'first year' at lo^).
138 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
To overcome the contradiction and for the interpretation of the
vb. 'continued' various exegetical expedients have been devised:
he remained in honor, AEz. : or, in the king's gate, Hitz. ; or, in
prophecy, Stu.; or, in Babylon, so Jer. at 6^, CBMich. holding
that he was then removed or exiled to Media. The Heb. vb.
rrri 'to be,' in the sense as translated here, 'continued,' is fully
corroborated, as noted by Hiiv., al. The tr. of GV Mofif. 'lived'
has the implication that Dan. died thereupon.
18. itt'N] Not '(the days) which' with RVV JV, but with a general
relative sense, as 'at the end of the time that the king ordered them
to be introduced'; so 1& AV. — DXiaM] >Faw-consec. after time-deter-
mination, s. Dr., Tenses, §127; cf. v.^°. The obj. of the vb. is the whole
college of pages, the Sem. syntax being loose in defining antecedents. —
'<ish] 35 232 evtiictov = ^'^^^^ in conspectit., the orig. rdg. of 0 vs. pre-
vailing svcivxtov. — 20. 121^3] 35 148 Tcav gri'^a, prob. = orig. Or^. —
nji3 nD3n] The const, relation is broken by the VSS (also Sa.) with
'and,' which Mar., Ehr. demand. The parallelisms presented by Behr.,
ip3 3"ij; 8'\ 1DJ7 TDiN 12^, etc., are not pertinent. The const, relation
may be cumulative, as in the series of constructs Is. 28^, but that is
poetical syntax. JHMich. considers the case 'emphatica constructio
synonymorum,' eft. ipSn njD Ps. 16*, xr.:' 'San 31'. The latter case and
>nNan \v; Ps. 32^ CBMich. regards along with this as superlatives. Hitz.
interprets as '(practical) wisdom of the (higher) intelligence'; Kamp.,
and Dr. as 'wisdom determined or regulated by understanding.' — cpa]
Classical Heb. might prefer the impf., but the aorist is justified by Sd;
cj. an Arab, example from Tabari, given by Reckendorf, Arab. Syntax,
§7. — HIT" miry] Reduplicative, as e.g., Gen. 43'^; ti is also used to
express a fraction, e.g., Gen. 47'^; s. GB. BAram. has another expression,
3''. For the use often' in comparison cf. Gen. 31', Ecc. 7''. — D^cann]
Outside of Dan. used only of Egj'ptian magicians. Gen. 41', etc. Its
origin is obscure; as from "jnn 'inscribe' so BDB, Kon., Hwb.; others
eft. Arab, hartmn, 'snout,' hence 'leader,' e.g., hardtimu 'l-^aumi, 'lead-
ers of the people,' cf. 'anif, 'that which is in front'; or the 'snufl3er' (s.
GB) who speaks through his nose. Boissier, PSBA 35, 189, has attempt-
ed a Sumerian derivation. — aiflirNn] The asyndeton is revised in a few
MSS and all VSS, except IC'^^'' incantatores magos ; IC must have followed
orig. ©, which then corroborates 1^. Asyndeton is common in BAram.
and has often to be restored in ll^ on authority of Grr. This kaitdl form
only in the Heb. of Dan.; in the Aram. II^n (2'°). It = Akk. asipii
{asipu?) 'exorciser,' for whose functions s. Jastrow, Rel. Bah. u. Ass.,
Index, S.V., KAT 589. The Akk. ppl. form was retained in BAram.,
but the secondary nom. opificium was developed in Heb., similar to the
CHAPTER 2, PREFACE I 39
Syr. 'dsopd (s. KAT 590). 0 exaotSof for 'in represents rather 'cn,
and [Aiyot = 'in. For the earliest use of [lijoq in Gr. s. Meyer, Ur-
sprimg, 2, 74, n. 74. (S 'sophists and philosophers,' and CDsn is used
indifferently for one or the other, 2'-- ", etc., Ex. 7"; cf. Hatch, Influ-
ence of Gr. Ideas, loi; and so Jos. uses 'sophists' of the Pharisees. —
So 2°] Om. by E^vzt, and OrC, an early variant in 0. At end of the v.
(35 has a considerable addition, in part parallel to first part; cf. the similar
additions in Grr. to 3^". — 21. inM] Despite the objection of comm.,
this use of rrrn, 'remained, continued,' is found elsewhere. The present
phrase is exactly duplicated in Jer. i'; cf. Ruth i- Dtr vnii, 'they remained
there.' Cf. the translation-Greek of Test. Joseph, 11% 'we were with
him three months'; and with Bert, the use of laiA^v = l^w(ji.ev, Acts 17-',
while Ehr. eft. the Talm. use of nin = 'Kve,' e.g., Baba b. i^a. The
Pesh. freq. tr. (j-^vstv by Nin, e.g., Jn. i'^- '""'is, 2^-. — njj] Geier notes
that this prep, does not exclude the remoter future, eft. Ps. iio^ 112'.
— itiid] Also Mss •kJ'io and so Ezr. i^^-.
CHAPTER 2. NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM AND
ITS INTERPRETATION BY DANIEL.
(i) 1-16. Neb. is disturbed by a dream, and demands of his
wise men its interpretation, confounding their artifices in ad-
vance by requiring first the statement of the dream, 2-11; on
their confession of inabiUty before so extraordinary a request,
he issues order for their summary execution, which is respited
on Dan.'s plea, 14-16. (2) 17-23. Dan. and his friends pray
for illumination, and the desired revelation is vouchsafed to
Dan., who offers a confession of praise. (3) 24-45. He asks
that he be taken in before Neb. to interpret the dream, 24;
after the initial colloquy with the king, 25-28, Dan. relates the
dream, 29-35, and then interprets it, 36-45. (4) 46-49. Neb.
pays divine honors to Dan. and makes confession of his God;
he advances Dan. to great dignity in his realm, in which honors
the friends share.
For the notable part played by royal dreams in ancient his-
tory reference may be made, for the Mesopotamian field, to
Jastrow, Rel. Bab. u. Ass., 2, 954^., who cites cases extending
from Gudea to Asshurbanapal and Nabonidus. Among these
the most similar to the present dream is that of Gudea's; he saw
a man whose figure reached from earth to heaven, on his head a
crown, etc. (s. Thureau-Dangin, Les inscriptions de Sumer et
I40 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
d'Akkad, 141, Gudea cylinder A, col. iv). Similarly the Pharaoh's
dream in the Joseph story, of which the present narrative is
reminiscent, has its parallels in the Egyptian literature, e.g., in
a dream of Merneptah's in which he "saw a statue of Ptah
standing before him ... it was like the height of (?) . . .";
also in the dream of Tanutamon.^ Comm., e.g. Dr., eft. the
symbolical dreams recorded by Herodotus, i, 107 /. 209, iii. 30.
124, vii, 19, mostly dreams of or concerning Persian monarchs,
Cyrus, Cambyses, Xerxes, for the interpretation of which the
dream-interpreters of the Magi (ot ovupoirokot roiv (xdycov)
were consulted. More particularly for the Saga concerning
Neb.'s visions we may refer to c. 4; as there so also here we may
adduce the testimony of the well-informed Abydenos (2d cent.
B.C.?), contained in Eus., Praep. evan. ix, 41, according to which
Neb. had an oracle from an unknown god of the calamity to
come upon his people. Neb.'s visions appear to belong to a
cycle of legend on which our writer has drawn. Bevan, p, 65,
n. I, eft. a similar royal dream related in Hisam's Life of Mo-
hammad, which "appears to have been borrowed in part from
Daniel, while in other respects it diverges." Our story has a
literary parallel in Alexander's dream of the Jewish high priest,
in Jos. A J xi, 8, 5. For the spiritually inferior character of
dreams, which serve however to exhibit the superior illumina-
tion of God's saints, and for the extent of dependence upon the
Joseph story, see Note at end of the chap.
1-16. Nebuchadnezzar's dream. 1. The contradiction of the
datum of the second year of the reign of Neb. with the three
years of schooling that intervened after the deportation of the
captives, c. i, has given perennial concern to comm. It was
early seen that some other era must be postulated than that
based on i^ So Jos., AJ x, 10, 3, identifies the year with the
second year after the sacking of Egypt; this view is accepted by
Jer., on the authority of the Jews and citing Jos.; so Polych.,
and Jeph., who calculates that it was the 3 2d year of his reign ( ! ).
Ra., AEz. make it the second year after the conquest of Jerusa-
lem in 586. Modern apologetic has generally taken refuge in
postulating a double reckoning for Neb.'s reign; in i^ he was still
coregent with his father Nabopolassar, here he is sole monarch;
'Breasted, Anc. Records of Egypt, vol. 3, no. 582, vol. 4, no. 922, and cf. his
History of Egypt, pp. 468, 558; s. also Mallon, Orientalia, 3 (Rome, 1921), pp. 70/.
2^ 141
so comm. from CBMich. to Behr. Knab. and Dr. call attention
to the post-dating practice in reckoning royal years in Baby-
lonia, so that the extra year would be the uncounted accession
year of Neb. — yielding, to be sure, only 'academic years.' Oth-
ers have proposed, following Ew., to revise the date, rdg. 'the
1 2th year,' and this has been accepted by Lenormant, Kamp.,
Pr., Mar., Jahn; cf. the similar omission in Jos. 24^^. Knab.
suggests that numeral letters were used, y^, the 'ten' being lost;
but the papyri show that numeral letters were not used. It
would be simpler to read T\'^ 'six' for DTiti^, and the writer sees
that Torrey has already made this suggestion. Notes, II, 228.
There are, however, cases where 'two' has been used to fill
out a lacuna, e.g., i Sa. 13S ' Saul was . . . years old when he
began to reign and two years he reigned over Israel'; cf. also
the datum of 'two years before the earthquake,' Am. i^ First
an attempt may have been made to introduce a 'year,' and this
was subsequently filled out with 'year two.' In that case the
date would be secondary. If it is original and there is intention
in it, the point might be that it was in his second year, the year
after Karkemish, that Neb. became lord of the world; so AEz.,
but dating from 586. Of course there may be simple disagree-
ment with the three years of c. i, that detail with the introduc-
tory chap, being on the whole secondary to this story. The
writer was not wholly dependent upon Biblical traditions of
history, as will appear in the subsequent stories.
In this second year Neb. had a dream-experience (so the pi.
niD^n) ; he was agitated in mind (the vb. indicates repeated
strokes), and his sleep broke [or, went] from him, with EW; GV,
*dass er aufwachte.' Comparing 6^^ this tr. appears to be in-
trinsically correct, and with all varieties of interpretation of the
difficult vb. has been followed by most VSS and comm. Aq. and
^ alone of the former express the obvious Heb., 'his sleep was
upon him,' i.e., he fell asleep again. This would imply that he
forgot the dream, a feature that has been erroneously read into
VV.3- ^ For interpretation of the vb. s. the Note.
1. The initial conj. 1 is corroborated by (& Ot^, other VSS om.; it is
the only case of a story in Dan. beginning with 'and.' mss 62 147 begin
the chap, with i^^ — The repeated 'Neb.' is represented in (& by para-
phrase. The first instance is omitted by Ken. 117, 0 ffi, restored by
142 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
OrP-c Lu.; it is required by the date formula. — nio^n] PI. here and
v.°, sing. V.', and so 05. The VSS and inner variants in 0 variously in-
troduce the sing. The simplification from pi. to sing, is more likely than
the reverse process, unless we agree with Ehr. that ni is dittograph of
the following two letters. The pi. is indefinite, of a dream-state, cf. i",
the definition of the single dream appearing in v.'; cf. 'visions of my
head,' 4', 7^ — oyonni] For the accent s. Kon., Lgh., i, 271; v.' Nif. is
used = Gen. 41*; 1^ has thus included both the earher and the later use
of stems. The Grr. have experimented with various vbs; B conterritus
est = Aq., whose rdg. can be restored from Gen. 41', xaTsxTuprj. —
vSj? nn'Hj] ^ 0 ey^vsTo ax' otuToG, so with variant vbs. Lu., Sym. ( = 36'°8)
= U; Aq. literally ex' auxdv = &. Hence there is no suspicion of vari-
ants to ^, except in the Gr. prep, ax which appears to be interpretative.
A too simple emendation to suggest is pSjjd. With the usual mng. of
n\T the phrase can only mean 'his sleep was upon him'; and so Jun.,
'when his sleep was upon him,' and Jeph., Calv., 'and sleep came upon
him,' i.e., he fell asleep again. DeDieu, dEnv. treat the prep, as adver-
sative, contra eum, i.e., aduersus ei et molestus. CBMich. appears to
have inaugurated a fresh and favorite understanding of the vb., as
expressing completion of being and so its termination; he paraphrases,
"somnus confectus erat ac esse desierat super eo." VLeng. follows Ges.,
'der Schlaf war dahin fiir ihn,' with n\nj in sense of 'fertig, voriiber
sein,' 'was all over with him' = Eng. tr. of Zock., with vhy as dative,
as at 6"; so Dr., defining the vb. by actum est, but insisting, after Keil,
that ^n be taken in its common psychological sense, e.g., Ps. 42*, 'I pour
out my soul upon me.' But parallelisms with Eng. and German idioms
are not at all conclusive. Dissatisfaction is expressed by some; Ehr.
proposes a vb. ■inj (= Arab.) 'forbid,' and Behr., Mar., Jahn, Cha. too
easily revise the text by rdg. ^f^:, eft. 6''. Grot. tr. 'his dream,' with
the implication that it had passed from Neb.'s mind, and Haupt renews
this suggestion on the basis of Akk. hittu 'dream' and tr. 'his dream
weighed upon him ' ; objection to which is that then we have two words
for 'dream' in the same period. Another way out of the difficulty rec-
ommends itself to the writer, following Ra., who eft. Eze. 7-^, and Hav.,
namely to find the rare vb. ^'i^ 'fall' (identical historically with n>n),
and so 'sleep fell away for me.' With this cf. the repeated •'Piin: at
8", II with •'PD^nj, 'I was sick,' where the former can mean 'I collapsed';
V. ad loc.
2. 3. Neb. bids the attendance of his wise men 'to tell {i.e.,
interpret) to him his dream,' not only as Pharaoh did in Gen.
41, but also as v^^as the universal custom in such royal perplexi-
ties. In the Bab. world there were several classes of adepts who
2^- ^ 143
stood at the service of the king, to obtain for him oracles and
to interpret dreams and omens; s. Jastrow, Rel. Bab. u. Ass.,
c. 19, 'Das Orakelwesen ' ; KAT 604 f.\ and in detail R. C.
Thompson, The Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nine-
veh and Babylon, igoo. For the Persians there existed similarly
the Magian dream-interpreters named by Herodotus, v. siip. In
this passage to the two classes named at i^°, the magicians and
the enchanters, two others are added, the sorcerers and the
Chaldaeans. The fourfold listing indicates the levy of the whole
fraternity on this occasion. The profession denoted by the sor-
cerers, D''£tl'3, is condemned through the O.T. as representing
black magic, e.g., Ex. 22^^, or in figurative scenes of immoral
seduction, e.g.. Is. 47 ^ The Akk. has the same vocabulary for
the evil sorcerer, esp. the witch, kassapu, kassaptu; kispu, 'be-
witchment,' etc.; s. Tallqvist, Die ass. Beschworungsserie Maqltl,
15, KAT I.e. No scruple is felt at relating Dan. with this as
well as with the other less obnoxious classes (although the sor-
cerers do not again appear) ; of. 2^^, 4^, 5", in which passages he
appears as dean of the whole fraternity. But it is to be observed
that later the rt. ksp was weakened, until in the Syrian Church
it came to be used of prayer. For the term 'Chaldaeans' s. Int.,
§19,/. In this passage and elsewhere in the bk. the several
classes of diviners are listed with no technical or exact sense, as
the variability of the lists shows. Dr. presents the following
table of these:
1-° magicians, enchanters.
2- magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, Chaldaeans.
2'° any magician, enchanter, Chaldasan.
2*' wise men, enchanters, magicians, diviners.
4*'^' magicians, enchanters, Chaldaeans, diviners.
5'' enchanters, Chaldaeans, diviners.
5" magicians, enchanters, Chaldaeans, diviners.
5'* wise men, enchanters.
Various classes of Bab. soothsayers are similarly enumerated
in Sib. Or., 3, 218^.; and so also 'magicians, astrologers and
soothsayers' in some VSS of the Ahikar Legend, s. Conybeare,
etc.. Story of Ahikar, p. Iviii.
2. NipS] & ■K(xkiaxi, Lu. Q al. xaXlaaxe. — 0 follows (S in rendering
the classes of adepts: £icaotSo{, [xiyoi, (pap^axof, %aXSafot, but avoids
144 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
the latter's literal error in construing the last term as gen. to the pre-
ceding ones. — TijnS] Classical Heb. would prefer i;?dS with inf.; s. GK
§114 p. For the mng. 'tell,' 'interpret' cf. Gen. 41^^; of interpretation of
a riddle Ju. 14^^ etc. — 3. \nDSn mSn] We may compare the interesting
dream fragment in CIS ii, no. 137, B, 1. i, nnn oSn iSn ijjd; this also
illuminates 4', q.v. — 'Ji nj'ijni] The VSS render freely this psychologi-
cal phrase.
4. The several classes of wise men are summed up in the
comprehensive term ' Chaldaeans ' ; so also below. Both 'magi-
cians,' 4^, and 'wise men,' e.g., v.*^, are similarly used. These
are said to have responded to the king 'in Aramaic,' so JV cor-
rectly; (5 (Tvpiari, H syriace, = AV 'in Syriack,' RV 'in the
Syrian language.' Through combination of this datum and !■*
'Chaldaic' came into Christian use, first in a gloss to C5 2'^^, and
then in Jer., e.g., Praef. in Dan., 'chaldaicus sermo'; so GV 'auf
Chaldaisch'; and 'Heb. and Chaldee' were the current names
for the O.T. languages into the latter half of the 19th cent.
For the various translation names of the Aramaic dialects s.
Dalm., Gr., pp. i f. Oppert first suggested {Elements de la gram-
maire assyrienne, i860 — s. Haupt in Kamp. for bibliography,
and Nestle, Marg., 39) that TT'DIS 'in Aramaic' is a gloss, a
marginal note indicating the change of language; he has been
followed by Knab., Bev., Haupt (vs. Kamp.), Pr., Mar., Cha.,
and this view appears preferable. For arguments for originaUty
see dEnv., pp. 127 ff., Behr., Kamp. For the introduction here
of Aramaic s. §21, b. Against Oppert's view, accepted by his
followers in this point, that JT'ISIX is equally to be elided in
Ezr. 4^, see Meyer, Entstehung d. Judentums, 1 7 f. — O king, live
forever. Cf., along with the same formula in Heb., but in the 3d
pers., I Ki. i^^; Neh. 2^, the common Akk. formula, e.g., 'May
Nebo and Marduk give long days and everlasting years unto
X my lord' (cited by Pr. from BA i, p. 239). Zock. eft. similar
forms of address to kings and magnates: Judt. 12*, ' May thy soul
live'; ^lian, Varia historia, i, 31, BaatXev 'Apra^ep^-rj^ Bl ala)vo<;
fiaaiXevoL^-^ Q. Curtius, vi, 5, 'Tu rex (Alexander) perpetua fe-
licitate floreas'; and the phrase was current in the later Pers.
empires.
4. n-'GiN] So pointed 2 Ki. 18-', Is. 36", Ezr. 4', in sense of aramaice,
but with gentilic mng. always •'DIn. (so one MS here, Bar). As Nold.
2^ 145
remarks, SG p. 80, note, the second vowel is artificial, formed as though
from 'ardm, not the orig. 'aram or 'arm. (On Akk. forms of the name s.
Schiffer, Die Aramder, 14.) The same word occurs in APA pap. K, 11. 4.
6, where it is similarly adverbial, nimx . . . Nipc. Staerk in his small
edition rightly notes this as a case of the Aram. (Syr.) adverbial form,
and that it should be pointed 'armdyit; another case of this adverbial
form I note is n^Jisn APO pap. i, 1. 5, s. also Note on vz'i-\ri 6^ M
points here Hebrew- wise. Sa. tr. 'in Nabataean.' Haupt thinks that a
preceding ncNM has been suppressed here. — Tii^j;] I.e., 'abdaik, for
which 5^r. here and in similar cases almost universally 'abddk ; s. Kau.,
§53, Anm. b, and for similar variations in later Aram., Dalm., Gr., p. 109,
cf. Nold., MG §141. — Nitre] = 0 H; 4MSS nniyc = (S + auxou = OrPc
Lu. & U. This uncertainty persists through the chap, and without uni-
formity in the several authorities. In the papyri the emphatic is always
in N, which Jewish scribes often arbitrarily replaced with n; then the
reverse process also took place, n for n. The phenomena are primitive,
as the VSS show. — xinj, Bar ninj] Final n for ■"/? vbs. is supported
without exception by Sachau's papp., s. his statistics, p. 271. Both ^^r-
and ^^r are read (the latter as in pause (?), s. Kau., §47, g, 3, a), the
latter preferred by Bar, s. his text at vv.'- '^*. Mar., Gr. §65, c, has
rightly recognized that the Pa. pointing is erroneous: the Haf. frequently
occurs, e.g., v.^, and our pointing as Pa. (the usage in Syr.) has arisen
in those cases where preform, n was suppressed. Torrey, Notes, I, 253,
regards this emendation as preposterous: but M is wont to distinguish
forms arbitrarily after the varieties in Kt.
5. The king responded, The thing is certain with me, so JV; vs.
AV RVV, 'The thing is gone from me' (RWmg, 'The word is
gone forth from me'); GV, 'Es ist mir en tf alien.' The mng. of
the sentence depends upon the debatable K"tT^^, which has been
interpreted both as adj. and vb. The eldest interpretation is
that of the Grr., airearrj^ followed by their daughter VSS, B,
and countenanced by some Jewish comm.; one tradition of M.
enforces it by pointing the word to give it the appearance of a
vb. But the explanation of the word as a vb., both as to root
and form, is most dubious. The other interpretation, correctly
adopted by JV is that of ^, followed by some Jewish comm.:
'The thing, matter, is sure on my part.' The word in question,
an adj., is now generally recognized as of Pers. origin. The
phrase is thus equivalent to «n^J2 S'D^::'' 6^^ and nmn |lDi
DTI^S DyiD Gen. 41". The king's alternative is that if they
do not tell both dream and interpretation, Ye shall be cut in pieces
10
146 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
and your houses he made ruins (so rather than a dunghill). In
such a story as this it is not necessary to debate whether the
barbarous order is another proof of the falsity of the history,
with Bert., or not, as others hold, citing cases of similar Oriental
despotism, so dEnv. at length, with instances stretching down
to the English Protestants and the French Terror. In qua ro-
mance, the item has true flavor, and we may recall, as possibly
the narrator did, the wholesale massacre of the Magi by Darius I,
resulting in their almost complete extermination (Her., iii, 79).
The king is simply represented as demanding with grim humor
that they satisfy his curiosity on his own terms and imposing
the common penalty for disobedience to the royal command.
The penalty is that of destruction of person and property; cf.
Ezr. 6"- '^^. The drastic character of the Assyrian-Babylonian
punishments is gruesomely represented in the Assyrian bas-
reliefs, and detailed in the codes of Babylonia and Assyria. For
the recently discovered Assyrian Code s. Jastrow, JAOS 192 1,
pp. I f., and for a summary p. 7; for the dismemberment of
enemies, Beatrice A. Brooks, A Contribution to the Study of the
Moral Practices of Certain Social Groups in Ancient Mesopotamia,
Lpzg., 1921, pp. 14 jf. The present severity is not, with Heng.
{Authentic, 36), a proof of the Babylonian atmosphere of the
book. As Hav. rightly holds, the practice of dismemberment
was 'wide-spread in the whole Orient,' and he illustrates from the
practice of the Hebrews, Persians, Greeks and Romans. For
this penalty we have evidence from the age of the Maccabees
and the history of Herod {v. inf.). As to the treatment of the
criminals' property in this instance, it is a question whether,
with the majority opinion, their houses were to be made 'a
dunghill,' i.e., ultimately a public privy, or were to be destroyed.
For Oriental custom the former interpretation can be abundantly
illustrated, as, e.g., in the profanation of the Baal temple, 2 Ki.
10". Hav. adduces many instances from Oriental history in
which a sacred building was thus profaned by edict, e.g., Abu
'1-Fida's account of Omar's covering the Holy Places in Jerusa-
lem with dung, whence the current satirical perversion of the
Church al-Kiydmah (the Resurrection) into al-Kumdmah (dung).
But this is not the most ancient interpretation nor the sole tra-
dition of Jewish comm. In its form the dubious word '^{M is
obviously Akk., and it is to be related to a common Akk. root,
2^ 147
'to destroy.' The bodies of the refractory wise men were to be
dismembered their houses pulled down.
5. (^Lu.lS pref. 'and,' against usage, cf. vv.'- i", 3»- 1«.— "J.3i] Nold.,
GGA 1884, p. 1021, appears to have been the first to suggest that this
should be pointed as perf., ^^'i ; this is substantiated by the pi. phrase
|ii::n'1 u;* five times in cc. 2. 3, only once ]ncNi ]'y; ^-*. The suggestion
is followed by Behr., Kamp., Mar., Lohr, Ehr. The same idiom is
abundant in early Syr., Curetonian and Peshitto VSS, Bardesanes,
Aphraates, etc., but is not particularly noticed in the Syr. grammars;
Kau., §76, d, is inadequate. However Torrey, Notes, I, 264/., puts in a
caveat against text emendations, and indeed both constructions appear
in classical Syr. — ncxi] = (6, ignored by 0 (B Q Hipp" al. 21), suppUed
by OrP; this amendment inserted by Lu. after XaXSafot?. — Nnro Kt.,
""^If? Kr.] So generally but inconsequently in iSl in treatment of gen-
tilics, s. Kau., §11, i, b. The weakening of 1 to n is EAram. One object
in writing the Kr. form may have been to distinguish between the
otherwise identical sing, and pi., conveniently distinguished in Syr. by
a diacritical point. — nn?c] But snSn v.*. In the papyri the emph. st. is
always in n — ; the fem. is in n — , with exception of a very few cases; s.
APO 264 /. This evidence would indicate that the confusion of dis-
tinction between s and n in 1^ is not original. For the statistics of «
and n respectively for the emph. and fem. endings in BAram. s. Powell,
Siipp. Hebr., pp. 8 ff. These show that the rules of the papyri are pre-
dominantly followed. It has not been noticed by Powell and others
that equivalence of N and n existed in certain late Jewish writings, and
in cases the dominance of n where Aram, use would demand n, e.g., the
Samaritan Aram, dialect and Jewish magical texts from Babylonia as
well as from Palestine. For similar variations of spelling in v/S roots s.
at 2'- 16.— f<ll?< Mich., Str., Kit., ^11'? Bar] Also v.^. The latter point-
ing as ppl. (hardly Hebraism for 3d sing, fem.) is due to alleged deriva-
tion from a root nrN = Sin, 'go.' So 0 die' eiioO d-Kioirj = (S v.* (lacuna
here) H Ra., Jeph. Such a root appears in Talm. (in one case of 'escap-
ing the memory'), but the text of the cases is uncertain, Stn appearing
often as a variant (s. Talm. lexx.), so that iin was probably manufac-
tured from the Bibl. word. Its occurrence in Syr., PSmith, col. 105,
would have the same origin. Withal a ppl. (attempted in Biir's pointing)
is not pertinent for a preterite. While i may be philologically exchange-
able with S, yet our bk. otherwise knows only StN; see Kau., p. 63. For
survey of early views s. CBMich. Of later philologists Hitz. compared
Arab, wasada, 'be firm'; Fried. Del. suggested an Akk. etymology,
which has been generally rejected. But there exists another ancient
tradition of interpretation, which goes back to ft, translating the word
148 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
by ^arrir, 'sure.' Also it is found in Talm. in sense of 'determined,
decreed,' and this mng. is given by AEz. Sa. tr., 'the matter is in
earnest with me.' Nold., in a communication to Schrader, COT ad loc,
diagnosed the word as Pers. azdd (anticipated by Hitz. in his compari-
son of 02c?d). Andreas, in Lidz. ,£/)/(., 2, 214, n. 2 (also in Mar.'s Glossary)
precises the word as Mid. Pers. azd, 'news.' This is in the way of inter-
pretation of irN as found in Euting's Strassburg Pap3Tus (repeated in
APO p. 26, AP no. 27). In B, I. 3 is read -i3yn> nrx jn, which Euting
translates, 'si certium factum erit [a iudicibus].' As a component it
appears in nsitN, APO pap. 5, 11. 5. 7, where Sachau tr. 'Bekannt-
macher.' Torrey, Notes, I, p. 253, objects against Andreas that neither
in Dan. nor in the Strassburg Pap. can (x)"iin mean 'news,' but only
'sure,' in which he is right. His treatment of the present form as adj.
fem. is, however, open to objection. The opinion of Scheftelowitz, cited
with approval by Kon., Ewb., that the word comes from Pers. azda,
'gegangen,' is now upset by the papyri. Cf. NnumN Dan. 3^ '•. Nobilius,
cited by Field, notes a reading 'of the Syrian,' dtxax? tie. The argument
of some that ^^9 is incongruous with Nold.'s derivation is fallacious;
JO 'on side of,' is common in spatial relations, s. BDB p. 5786, and is
so used psychologically Nu. 32^^, Job 4^^; in Mand. and NSyr. in<aj?
s. Nold., MG p. 193. — ••Jjiynnn] V.' ■'j:j;iinn, similarly 4'. In the
papyri is a case of the spelling plene njmpi, APO no. 73, 1. 18, p. 223.
For H > u in the sharpened syllable cf. Arab. Energ. pi. yaktulunna. —
n-jro] = (& OrPC Lu. Hipp'« & B; nt^q mss Ken., deR. = ©.— pann]
For the Pers. word, early domesticated in Aram, dialects s. Lexx. Of
VSS & alone understands the phrase, 0 st? dxw>v(av easoGe (so also
386) = ■)!_ (^^ correctly at 3"^ StayLEXtaOTjoexat, here xapaSstY(xaTca6i^-
aeaGs, 'be made an example of,' as rdg. I^'PI''"" = xap4:Sety[Aa.
For the phrase cf. 2 Mac. i'^ \i.i\-f] xotTjffavTsq, Jos. AJ xv, 8, 4 pLsXiail
lizkhyxzc, (of Herod's penalties). — P3"'n3] = gyr. as well as Ileb. pi.
Kau.'s condemnation of the dag. f. as a 'Hebraism' is unintelligible.
Mar., Gr. §8, c, and Brock, VG §123 Anm., prefer to regard the dag. as
abnormal lene not forte ; cf. Kon., Lgh., 2, 55, BL §19, d. — :]}] Also
3^' = iSu Ezr. 6". The common interpretation is 'dunghill,' and for
such a penalty cf. 2 Ki. lo^^; so Ra., R. Joshua in AEz., Eng. VSS, all
recent comm. Support for this is the alleged NiTiSu in Targum II to
Est. 8'^ (cited by Paton ad loc, p. 279), but this is a quotation of our
passage and is of no authority. The alleged abstract ending is hardly
suitable for such a concrete mng., and the Rabb. mng. of the root, 'be
repulsive,' is not conclusive. The eldest interpretation is that of (&,
avaXT)(f>OT)asTo» u[X(I)v xa uxapxovra e{<; -zh Pa(jt>v[x.6v (=1 Esd. 6") =
3^' ST)iJ.£uOT)ffSTac = Ezr. 6'^ xh xax' k\Lk TC0[if)6i^aeTat[ (where iSij, not iVu,
was read, and -i understood as mihi), i.e., confiscation. Jeph. fol-
lows this interpretation, 'will be confiscate to the sultan,' evidently
2^-^^ 149
comparing Arab, ndla 'present gift, possess'; and so Sa., 'booty.' Tor-
rey, ZA 26, 80, has followed the same clew with similar translation; he
discovers the rt. Vij in Phoen. in the Tabnit Inscr., 1. 7. The present
writer prefers the ancient interpretation of 0 StapxayifjaovTac = jiDttTi^ >Sij
(in place of this Q 228 simply zic, SiapxaYTiv)= ^, and so AEz.
This might be supported by Jensen's identification with a supposed
Akk. root nawdlu ruin, KB 6, i, p. 363, accepted by the Lexx. But it
is preferable to identify it directly with the common Akk. root nabdlu,
'destroy.' Then the final vowel can be explained as the Akk. case end-
ing and the word is a sheer borrowing; it should accordingly be accented
mil'e!, nabdlu/i. The same is true of ''''^'"'■f Kt., 'V*"'7 '^r. Ezr. 7=".—
jiDU'n''] "Yhe grammarians of the Syr. regard such an Etpee! as primarily
Ettafal. But as BAram. had not acquired the Ettafal, it is best to re-
gard this as a proper Etpeel development. Against the present vocaliza-
tion the expected i-vowel appears in Vl^''. 4', and as APO pap. 53, 1. 2,
offers DiBTii, it is most probable that here and in °'^!^\ Ezr. 4-^ the vocali-
zation should be I'"2^9"'-, etc., as in Syr.; absence of the vowel consonant
induced the other pointing.
6-9. Neb. balances his threat with the promise of royal lar-
gesse and honor if the wise men succeed in telling the dream as
well as the interpretation. The latter, v.^, repeat their request
in a somewhat more respectful tone, but, w.®- ^, the king breaks
out in exasperation at them; they are only seeking a respite be-
cause they realize the capital danger they are in; they hope for
some way out of the dilemma if time be given, either by con-
cocting some false and base reply, or counting on delay to annul
their emergency. He repeats his demand; otherwise the one in-
exorable sentence remains for them all. V.^*" is to be read in
the same period with v.' (ignored by most translations, correctly
JV) : because ye know thai the decree has gone forth that if, etc.
10. 11. The wise men make one more appeal: no monarch,
however potent, ever made such a demand on any class of
adepts; such knowledge is confined to superhuman beings. Cf.
Hesiod (ed. Teubner, 1902, frag. 169, p. 183), MaVrt? S'ouSei';
icTTLV eTri')(6ov[oiv avOpcairwv "Ocrrt? av eiSeiT] Zr]v6<; voov
ai,yLO)(^oto. 12. The king vouchsafes no answer but issues his
edict, which is put in the hands of the Provost Marshal of the
court for execution (cf. v.^^). 13. Dan. and his compatriots are
equally sought for destruction along with the rest of the frater-
nity. It was not to be a Sicilian Vespers but a formal execution
150 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
under the proper officials and in the appointed place, hence the
first purpose of the officials was to assemble the condemned.
Despite one line of interpretation, represented by © and H, exe-
cution of the order had not begun when Dan. received notice of
the sentence.
6. '13J3J] 0 Swpia? = H, Orc Swplav, S> 'wealth'; (S tr. 'aji pnc
by SifiotTo: TCavxoTToia (finding njna?). It is generally recognized as
some technical name for gifts. Andreas in Mar., Gr.^, compared MPers.
fiibhez i-dz), leaving na — unexplained; but he is cited by Lidz., Eph.,
2, 226, as denying that he can explain it from the Iranian. Tisdall, JQR
3, 168, claims an error for Pers. nibaztta {cf. (S's rdg.). The word has
been taken into the Targums, s. Jastr., s.v. A word i^j occurs in the
Sam. (Targ. Lev. 16*") = Snu, which Cowley supposes to be taken
from Arab, nabada ; but it appears frequently in PalSyr. = y.Xf]po<;,
and Schulthess's random suggestion (Lex.) of identification with Syr.
N.iXfl. HDD 'lot' from rt. ysi deserves approval; for yd: > t3j cf. Nold.,
MG §§47. 48. It is found in Mand., Euting, Qolasta, no. xliii = Lidz.,
Mand. Liturgien, p. 76, in sense of 'pieces' of the liturgy. And finally
it has appeared in the papp., APA pap. L, 1. 6 (s. Cowley's note, AP),
but with the apparent sense of 'quittance,' and Perles relates it to our
BibUcal word, OLZ 15, 219. But it is strange that the extraordinary
form of our word, if in error, should be included in the variant form at
S'^ ^not3J, q.v. — "'Dip jc] = Heb. ■'Jdd, a term of indirection for the
royal person. — I^',] The two current interpretations of the word are
instanced from antiquity: (i) 'but,' 0dRa., Jeph., JV; (2) 'therefore,'
(gs H Sa., AV RVV. The former = Id he7i = Syr. 'did, Arab. 'Hid, 'if
not'; it appears inf. vv."- '°, 3*^ 6"- *• ", Ezr. 5'^, also in the papyri, etc.
Meaning (2), which later vanished from Aram., appears in the Teima
Inscr., CIS ii, no. 113 (Lidz., NE p. 447, Cooke, NSI p. 195) 11. 8. 10 and
in Heb. in Ru. i" bis (questioned by some). This meaning is demanded
here, v.^ 4^*. For the proposed explanations of lahen, 'therefore,' see
the Lexx. and grammars, and especially Torrey's survey and criticism,
Notes, I, pp. 255 ff. Noldeke's and Stade's view that it = la-hinna {cf.
Arab., ob haec) he properly subjects to the condemnation that in
Aram, we should expect le, not Id; he holds to the view that the word
is the same in both cases and that "the use of this compound covered
more shades of meaning in western Aramaic than elsewhere, extending
through the whole series: 'unless, except, but, only, however, then,
accordingly, therefore.' " But he does not explain how this extraordi-
nary expansion took place. Retaining his principle, we may regard
lahen as from Id 'not,' and hen 'behold,' used interrogatively, 'is it
not, lo?' That is, the two uses developed from the two nmgs. of hen as
26-13 j^j
'behold' and (secondarily) 'if.' The compound in the latter sense pre-
dominated and ultimately suppressed the other sense 'therefore.' —
7. nrjr] For the const, fem. used adverbially in Aram, dialects s.
Nold., MG p. 20I, SG p. 96; similarly '^l'^ 6''. — icx^] Change from
impv. of V.' expresses appropriate humility; <S, followed by Lu., reverts
to the impv.— '"ITS, also mss Niro] Read as ^T-^^ by 0 OrPC Lu. ^ "U.
8. ^V^,] See at v.^ — 3'x^ p] 'Of a surety'; the adj. also v.*^, 3^^, 6".
Cf. arp p v.*'. — pj2r pnjs mr;] (5 0 xatpbv u[ieiq l^ayopiil^sTe; cf.
Col. 4', -ubv y.otipbv i^oLyoga'C,6[j.eyoi = Eph. s''. §> here 'you ask for
time,' Syr. to the Epp. 'buying your opportunity' {kersa <Y.xip6q).
Since Geier the distinction between the use in Dan. and in Paul has
been observed; in the latter in sense of making the most of time or
opportunity ('going into the market and buying up time'), = emere
tempus (Cicero, Verres, i, 3, and so here SI H tempus rcdimere); in Dan.
in sense of 'gaining time,' i.e., respite (dEnv.). Paul's use does not bind
the interpretation here, as S> correctly saw. — ^?i'?:^?] M apparently as
though 'all because,' and so still Kon., Uii'b., p. 598, Lgh., ii, 2, §339 r,
'ganz entsprechend.' Luzzatto, Gr. §123, first correctly diagnosed the
vocable as = '^?C:T-t > • -C;:?- — For the shifting of the vowel cf. Syr.
lul}dam < le -\- kudam, and lukbal, but with suff. le^uhleh. Luzz. cfl.
no;; ih EccI. 5^^ = JAram; the distinction into two words may have
been induced by a number of Rabb. phrases, e.g., !51 ;, quanta magis,
n.^ ^?, tiihilominiis tamen, etc., s. Buxt., Lex., 1045. Mar. alone of the
comm. notes the revision but does not revise his text accordingly.
Torrey, Notes, I, p. 256, objects to regarding ffl's division as 'erroneous';
but there is no evidence of such division in the VSS, and the later ten-
dency was to split up long vocables; see on 'Nebuchadnezzar' i^ For
the accumulation of preps, s. Kon., Zg5.,ii, i, §112, 6. For the form ^fez^Je/
Bev. proposes original diminutive ^ubail = Arab, kubaila, and eft. Syr.
tehel a.s <tuhaita (against this position Brock., VG 1, §137, Anm. 3).
Similar instances are found in Reckendorf, Arab. Syntax, p. 221. —
n Sop So] With VSS 'because'; Bev. eft. Aram, njo in n SopS {CIS ii, no.
164, 1. 2); so usual mng. of the phrase, or 'according as,' vv.^^- ", ex-
cept 5^^, where = 'despite.'
9. p n] The Grr., B understand as introducing a new period: siiv
or i&v ouv, si ergo, and so most comm. g» ]H-^, 'that if,' = Sa., Ra., cor-
rectly diagnosed the syntax as continuing the period from v.' ; this in-
terpretation was renewed by Klief. and followed by Dr., Mar., Cha., JV.
— JOPT N^n mn] So g» literally = Or? ev laxi Siyfxa u[j.(I)v = Lu. = B
una est de nobis sententia, = Jewish comm. The Grr. fell down here.
(S has apparently a doublet. 0 has olSa (finding j?T' in pom?) and
proceeds, oxt JjTiixa iJ/euSdc;, v.-ik. The Pers. word means primarily 'law,
judgment, sentence.' The rival rendering, based on a secondary mng.
152 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
of the word, 'one is your purpose,' is vigorously defended by vLeng.,
after predecessors. The word has the secondary mng. of 'personal
judgment' in Syr., but there is no reason to abandon the constant Bibl.
mng., e.g., v.". — rnn] 'One and only,' cf. Song 6', injv n\t phn. — ^?P?.
Kau.'s supplementary note, Gr. p. 175, that this word is prob. a noun,
is borne out by Targ. '^'?"1?, 'he.' Similarly nn-'n:* is nominal (fem. =
neut.), with Behr., GB.— tinjDtn Kt.] This may be Haf. I^J'?','?, so Str.,
or Etpa. with assimilation of tz = zz as in Heb.; Kr., with MSS, I'"^Jp.Un
Bar, or f'^^P']','? Gin. The form without assimilation is correct in S3T.
The Aram, corresponds to Nif. of Heb. i;7\ — •J-\:i<^] For the impf. of
result, as in Heb. and Arab., cf. Kau., §102. — 10. in^s] So Mich., Str.,
Gin., Kit.; "iPN Bar, on Mass. authority; but the papyri have tiin. —
^'7^'?'] Orig. yabeUd, with holding of 2d rad.; so with Barth, Nh., §93,
a, vs. Kau., §59, i, b, as from base haUH; however cf. Heb. ^^V-
Syr. yabld occurs in the same secondary sense of 'the earth,' e.g., i Mac.
8'-. — ndSd nSc] The ace, as very often in BAram., precedes the
vb. in a relative clause; cf. Akk. syntax. The point is not noticed
in Kau. and Mar. — ■?^''] Kenn. cites 3MSS S3'', 3MSS Si3>. In 5^*
Sam his, where l^^r. • "^O; in 3-' -T- Sdv is prob. to be corrected as
a Hebraism (in papp. only S31, etc.), to be corrected with Kautzsch,
Mar., Lohr. The form is defended by Behr., Powell, Supp. Hebr.,
§65, Torrey, Notes, I, 256. But it is likely that there was meant
here the ppl. ■?', as at v." {cf. mss ^'t), so Syr. me'skah. — IvP]
This belongs to a class of nouns which, not consistently, exhibit
the Heb. segholate formation. They are: (i) found in abs. not in const.
m- D!;n. nj.vp). p.p; (2) in abs. and const. ^2'^; (3) abs. ^^.% const, l'^?;
(4) with variant forms in abs. and const., OJ??? abs. and const., also
OV.^ const.; o„? abs. and const., also °.,? const.; (5) const, alone ""^U.
Also note t^.?l?. In the case of a>'a we find the two forms in the same
v., Ezr. 6l^ ^)^, =>:"^, and ^T^ W?, with Nold., LCB 1896,' 305, a
purely scribal distinction; the Heb. form is more appropriate to the
divine decree! For dVx, const. °vv appears in 3^'^- of the image, but
°-? in "■niijjx dSx 3^' of the king's face, again apparently an artificial
distinction. It may be observed that most of these nouns are also good
Hebrew. Kau., §54, i, is inclined to the view that these segholate forms
are Hebraisms. Nold. denies this, ZDMG 22, 475, and so Powell, §52.
— □•'Sci 3T ^SD So] Read with M's punctuation and JV the two last
words as adj's. to the first, i.e., 'no puissant monarch.' <& 'every king
and every dynast'; 0 'every great king and ruler.' Sym. finds three
classes, 'any king or great one or authoritative,' and is followed by
Grot., AV RW (latter with mg. giving first interpretation). — ']VH^
>nB'ji] The conjs. are supported by (g Or^ & B; © om. 'and' 1°; Orc
Lu. om. 'and' 1° and 2°. For the idiomatic asvndeton construction cf.
26-13 j^3
i-^ The vocalization HV^^" is assured, but ppl. 1^'J>' is expected = Akk.
dsipii. The customary Hsting of it under katal is impossible, and com-
parison with BAram. ■'?9 is illegitimate. N.b., the Aram, represents
the Akk. word, while the Heb. Tf^ (s. at i-°) offers an Aram, formation.
11. nn^p''] 'Heavy,' (5 0 ^apuq H grauis, i.e., 'difficult,' so JV. AEz.
eft. Ps. 49^ D'^J'DJ ina i|-]M 'too difficult is their ransoming'; Behr.
cjl. Ps. 139'^. AV RVV have 'a rare thing,' a sense found in Syr., not
appropriate here. (5 has pczpuc (doublet from 0) xal sxcSo^oi;. Poss.
in APO pap. 54, 1. i, •'H m^pi jnSwxS ^n; we should tr., 'even for God
it is too difficult.' — njm^] The correct Afel form; s. at v.*. — pnSs] It
is possible that 'n is sing, in sense, 'God'; cf. the divine epithet ]^:v^';
7", etc.; the pi. pron. suff. following is then due to grammatical attrac-
tion, even as Heb. aTiSs is often construed with pi. vb. In the papyri the
pi. N^n^N is found construed with a sing, vb., e.g., APO pap. 56, 1. i, and
so in the subsequent text pnSs = 'God'; this point is recognized by
Lidz., Eph., 3, 255, Epstein, ZATW 32, 145; the former rightly notes
that the history of the use is not of Jewish origin. See further Notes at
3''- "S 5'^- For the very ancient use of the pi. for the sing., going back
to Akk. ildni, s. Hehn, Die bibl. u. bah. GoUesidee, 1913, c. 4, and for the
pertinent cases in the papyri his Nachtrdge, pp. 395 /. For the transla-
tion of APO pap. 56, 1. I see my note OLZ 191 2, 536. Here (& expresses
by a sing., aYyeXoc;, cf. 3''-', and so the Jewish comm. interpret. —
pn-nc] With the original vowel; also iin 4--, etc.; cf. Powell, p. 34. —
xitt'3] For the contrast of flesh with the divine, spiritual, cf. Gen. 6',
Is. 31', etc. The N.T. idea of aap^ is founded on that of the O.T. in John
as well as in Paul. — >mn^N] Ace. to Kau., §67, 8, the suffix is 'pleonastic,'
but it is frequent in Syr. and usual or demanded there in certain com-
binations, e.g., when subj. precedes; s. Nold., SG §303. — 12. hot Sap Sa]
0 t6t£ = &; H quo aiidito ; (6 paraphrases {cf. v.^°) oOev oux IvSIx^txi
yev^aOott xaOaxep oVet; Or^ xaxevav-ut toutou affixed to the gloss from
plus of (&, which also appears in Lu. Cf. the VSS at v.^. — Dja] 'Was
angry,' = S* EVV. The root is found in Targ. Yer., etc., with the adj.
D^j3, and is supported by Sam. d:d, Targ. to Dt. 32^' (Hitz., Mar.).
0 ev Ou;X(T) = B, i.e., as Dj -(- 2, in consequence ignoring the conj. in idni,
in this following (&. This is the interpretation of Ra., AEz. (not of Sa.),
1?T3, who eft. Targ. Gen. 40^ pDDj = ^ aisyr, followed by Behr.,
and by Pr. comparing Akk. nasdsu, also a Heb. root. In addition to the
support for verbal dj3 and the difficulty of treatment of it as nominal,
DDj means 'be sick, grieve' in all dialects, never 'be angry.' — main'?]
Bar alone NiainS; after the papp. the former correct. — 13. '^Hf.^]
Uniquely for expected ^P^h—Q xb S6y|j.a e^^XOsv = Lu. 2^.—V^''^.PPi^]
Bar alone V'^?.~^. The former is corroborated by the Pa. v.-^ Cor-
rect accordingly the following i?apnn to Etpa. Cf. the variant forms of
ftf jano 3' and 3^'. The ppl. is gerundive, 'were to be killed,' ef. Kau.,
154 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
§76, 3, Mar., Gr. §102, e. d recognized this; 0 tr. by impf. The
gerundive interpretation is accepted by Sa., EVV Bert., al., and recent
comm. For the similar use of ppl. pass, in Syr. s. Duval, GS §331, d,
Nold., SG §278, A. So also in Bibl. Gr., Acts 2*' 1. aw^^otAevou? = salu-
andos. The ppl. with 'and' replaces the usual Sem. impf.-juss. of pur-
pose; cf. Kau., §102, and below at v.'' for similar use of inf. Exactly
the same construction is found in the Gr. of Acts 15-'. — ^'y'^] Imper-
sonal = pass. cf. vv.'^- ^°, etc., especially 4-, and Kau., §96, i, c. The
same use appears in Akk., viz. in the Assyrian Law Code, s. Jastrow,
JAOS 41, 14, n. 27; and in N.T., e.g., Jn. 12'^, Lu. 12-°, Rev. 12^ etc.;
also a favorite construction in Mishna, s. Bev. at v.'". Behr. eft. the
use of this vb. in Targ. Jon. i^*, NijnN'? n^^ ndSx, 'the ship was going
to be broken' (Heb. ^}'i'^), so customarily in NSyr., Nold; Gram. d.
neusyr. Sprache, p. 295; Ehrl. adds to this argument with passages from
Talm., and interpreting cpj, Gen. 43^° similarly. But the primary mng.
is adequate here, and we may compare Tob. i" Ixtyvouq oxi ^TQTouixat
dicoGaveiv, which corroborates Mar.'s suggestion that the Peil ^>!? might
be understood here.
14. 15. Dan. displayed his good 'sense and prudence,' a char-
acteristic of the Biblical saints, by taking the matter up directly
with the Chief Executioner or Provost-Marshal Arioch, whose
name belongs to the Jewish literary tradition. He inquires the
cause of the 'peremptory' decree. It is not explained why Dan.
was not present in the audience before the king; but a good
story does not explain every detail. 16. The difficulty of this v.,
felt by some translators, d^ Lu., and prob. to be corrected ace.
to 0 ^, has been adequately recognized among the comm. by
Ehr. alone. How did Dan. enter the king's presence without
official intervention {cf. the story in Est.), especially since sub-
sequently, vv.^*-^^, he requires the aid of Arioch to present him
to the king? Hav. supposes that Arioch presented him duly
on this occasion; but now rather than later the terms of the
etiquette are desiderated, while these terms in v.^^ are much
belated. Now 0 and ^ ignore 1 ^y 'went in and,' and it is
plausible that the omission represents the original text; the re-
quest for delay could have been transmitted by Arioch. Or with
Ehr., making that omission and rdg. nJD 'of him,' for ^'zh'l^ JD
'of the king,' the respite may have been granted informally by
Arioch. Sa. meets the difficulty with a paraphrase: 'D. caused
(tasabbaba) that he asked.' However ® read l|. The respite is
asked by Dan. with the engagement that he would satisfy the
214-16 ,55
king with the interpretation of his dream. He exhibits the same
calm assurance as in cc. i. 6.
14. f.l**?] For sjTicope of « s. Kau., §ii, 3, b, and Powell, p. 30.
For fiN cj. Heb. '!^ = '?; Syr. hdiden, and den (which through attrac-
tion to Gr. Ss became postpositive), mn is now found in OAram., s.
Lidz., Altaram. Urk., 11. For combination with a cf. Heb. nra, used of
time, Est. 2". jns and ]n»s3 express a new moment or change of
subj., Mar., Gr. §131. — 'Ji 3\->n] Cf. Heb. a'li'n 'answer.' The follow-
ing aces, are cognate; cf. Pr. 26'^, oya ^a-'^'D. Tr., 'he made a well-
counselled and prudent answer.' The varied use of ayo in BAram. (s.
Lexx.) is due to Akk. usage. — ^i?Z] For the vowel e s. Kau., p. 105,
Barth, Nb., §92, Brock., VG i, §140, Nold., AIG §94, Powell, p. 39. —
imx] Also the name of the king of EUasar, Gen. 14'; explained by
Del., Schr. as Sum. tri-akii, 'servant of Moon'; this derivation is char-
acterized by Zimmern, KAT 367, as 'ausserst unsicher.' In any case
the name was not used in Nebuchadnezzar's age (Sayce, DB s.v.) and it
was evidently borrowed from ancient Uterature, even as Arioch appears
as king of Elam in Judt. i^ — fcna-J 2t] So of a Bab. official, 2 Ki. 25^,
etc. = '::n tj- of an Eg>'ptian, Gen. 37'*. The root means primarily
'slay,' secondarily, in Arab., 'cook,' cf. ^'^'^ i Sa. g-^'. Since W. R.
Smith, OTJC^ 262 = Religion of the Semites^, p. 396, comm. (Dr., Mar.,
Cha., BDB GB) have accepted his derivation of the term as going back
to its sacrificial idea; the 'sacrificers,' as a distinguished class, became
the king's bodyguard. But it appears absurd that a priestly caste
should have become a civil poUce. 'Executioners' ('butchers') is simple
and appropriate enough here; s. Pr., citing use of the root in Akk. =
'execute,' and so Kon., Hii'h. This corps were the lictors (so here &
ddhse), whose frequent enough business was the infliction of capital
punishment. The Kapidshi Pasha was the chief executioner of the
Porte (Bert.). The official then was the provost-marshal of the court.
Such may have been the official named in Gen. 37'^, although there (§
and Josephus, as here ^ 0, tr. dtpxiixaysipoi;, 'chief cook.' AEz. sensibly
remarks that this mng. was impossible in Pharaoh's court, since the
Egj'ptians did not slaughter. Josephus here, AJ x, 10, 3, entitles the
officer as the one over the king's bodyguards ((jwiia-roipjXocxsi;) ; EVV
'chief of the guard' is very sensible. — ^^ '""^f^] With disjunctive ac-
cent, vs. v.", etc.
15. iinsS n-Ni njy] 0 om., supplied from <S by OrC Lu. This may
be one of 0's frequent abbreviations avoiding superfluous phrases; but
& also omits it along with the following n^Sd n x'jiS'i', equally ignored
by orig. (S. Prob. various forms of ^ were current. fJJ construes ^'2^^'^
as appositive to ivin, and so Sym. U EVV, all comm. But the vocative
156 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
construction, as in ©, is far more in place, the other being otiose. — njj?]
As in Heb. = 'respond to circumstances' as well as to word; cf. vP, i^.
A capital parallel occurs in APO pap. 49, 1. 15; cj. Eng. 'answer' =
'correspond,' of inanimate things. For use in N.T. s. Dalman, Worte
Jesu^, p. 19. — Nm] 0 yvwyiiQ, Q by error avoiita, 233"e ^ouXt). — '''?|^lL"?]
= ^?m 3" (Gin. notes rdg. of HUleli Codex ^^xnnD). (g .^txpo)?, 0
dtvxi5T)g, the latter = Syr. use of isn, 'be shameless.' But, despite Dr.'s
argument for this mng., here {"urgent is not strong enough"), the word
in the two passages requires the sense 'hasty, peremptory,' corroborated
by the Arab, hasaba, 'festinare' (Freytag) and 'etwas ungestiim bean-
spruchen' (Wahrmund); and so, more correctly, CS in 3^^ T^TCSiyev,
0 uxspfffx^s'^- III Talm. the root means also 'be energetic' Criticism
from Dan. that the sentence was shameless, or harsh (Bev., Dr.), or
cruel (Jer.), would not have helped save his neck. Correctly AEz.
nn\-ic, AV 'hasty,' RW 'urgent'; best JV 'peremptory.'— 16. 1 Sy]
© (B Q 26 88 147) # om. The 'critical' texts ignore this important
traditional variation of 0. (H^ om. 'Daniel.' — X3?D p] Lu. + [x- ^a-
aiXia] 'Aptwx, apparently a gloss to give a reasonable subject to 'asked.'
— ayz] Many mss n-;2, as is invariably the rule for v/7 vbs. in the pa-
pyri; in this case the spelling with n has by far predominated over
that with ."I. — pt] For the word s. at v.-'. — nMnn-'i] For the resolution
into an infinitival, gerundive clause cf. vv.'^- -", 5'*, and for similar
construction in Heb. v. sup. i^; here, 'and the interpretation would be
shown.' See Torrey, Notes, I, p. 257, on the construction; he eft. the
same construction in Syr., Nold., SG p. 216.
17-23. The revelation to Daniel. Dan. summons his friends
to supplications before God that they, as well as the other wise
men, may not perish. To the simple datum of prayer, v.'^, for
the divine mercy (^ adds the element of fasting (cf. a similar
supplement in late texts of Mk. g^^). Omission of reference to
fasting, which was included in all important acts of devotion (e.g.,
10', Est. 4) is due to the shortness of time, the few hours of a
night, in which the Jewish saints kept up their vigils. Prejudice
accordingly marks Hav.'s criticism of (B. The desired revelation
is vouchsafed to Dan., v.^^, but its contents are dramatically re-
served for the climax of the story. It comes by night, as again
in c. 7, but in a 'vision,' not in a dream, the lower means of com-
munication to the Pagan. The intimate scene of the spiritual
life of these heroes is concluded, by both natural and liturgical
propriety, with a hymn of praise in which Dan. 'blesses God.'
20-23. The hymn of praise put in Dan.'s mouth is a fine ex-
217-23 j^^
ample of liturgical construction; it is an original composition,
entirely to the point of the story, and is hardly to be charac-
terized, with Mar., as 'aus liturgischen Formeln bestehend.'
The four vv. are severally tristich, tetrastich, tristich,' tetrastich
(Mar., Cha.). The tristich, 2x2x2, is a resolution of the
double 3-beat measure S"^ 3- O^ these metrical sections s. Int.,
§9. 20. The saint praises the Name of God, i.e., God in his
self-revelation, for his omniscience and omnipotence, attributes
revealed in human history, v.^^ His power is exhibited in his
providence over 'times and seasons,' Moff., 'epochs and eras,'
and in his sovereign determination of all political changes. In
this expression lies a challenge to the fatalism of the Bab. astral
religion, a feature which in its influence long survived in the
Graeco-Roman world. (See C. Fichtner-Jeremias, 'Der Schick-
salsglaube bei den Babyloniern,' MVAG 1922, pt. 2; Cumont,
Les religions orientales dans le paganisme remain, c. 7, and for a
lively impression of its conflict with the Bible religion, Barde-
sanes' Laws of the Countries, properly a Dialogue on Fate.) The
divine knowledge is proved by the occasional revelations God
vouchsafes to 'sages and gnostics.' These glimpses of his pre-
science in human affairs reveal the fact that with him ' the light
is lodged,' v.", for him there is no darkness at all. There is a
progress in the crescendo of 'deep things' (problems), 'hidden
things' (mysteries), sheer 'darkness,' with their contradiction in
the light which has its home with God. The motive of the light
belongs to a poetic field common to Semitic religion; cf. Ps. 104^,
Is. 10", and, quite parallel to our passage, Ps. 36^°, ' in thy light
do we see light.' Comm. have compared here the somewhat
converse idea in i Tim. 6^^ of God 'dwelling in the unapproach-
able light.' The thought of 'the light' has hardly waxed to the
extent of a ' Philosophem ' with Bert., yet with Hitz. we may
compare Wis. 7^^, where Wisdom is 'the effulgence from ever-
lasting light.' It is not surprising then to find 'the light' of this
V. interpreted Messianically. In Midrash Echah, fol. 36, col. 2,
Wilna ed., are given several 'names of the Messiah,' concluding
with the dictum: "His name is the Light, as it is said (Dan. 2"),
The light dwelleth with him." An interesting collection of simi-
lar Messianic interpretations of 'light' is to be found in Pesikta
R. at Is. 60*, ed. Friedmann, pp. 161 ^. The connections with
the Johannine theme of the Light are obvious. For this theme
158 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
s. in general Volz, Jiid. Esch., 328. 24. Change occurs to the
2d pers. in the language of more personal prayer; it uses the
intimate phrase, ' God of my fathers,' a term of ancient origin
but especially common in Chron. Dan. praises God for the
present particular revelation of his wisdom and might in which
he has granted him to share. Yet he credits his associates with
the power of prayer, " ut et arrogantiam fugiat, ne solus impe-
trasse uideatur et agat gratias quod mysterium somnii solus
audierit" (Jer.).
18. n>'3dS] For the inf. s. at v.". — pcn-i] (S vrjaxefav x. Slriatv x.
Ttiiwp(av; Behr. eft. (&^'s rendering of last term by mesdni berisd, by
which he would understand ' castigatio,' so Mar. 'Kasteiung.' But it
must be taken in one of its classical senses, 'vindication, help,' as Hav.
has noted, citing Her., iii, 148, EupTjasxat xtjAwpfav. Then the first two
terms appear to have been glossed in from 9'. — s^air nSx] -|- 7 times in
Dan., 4 times in Ezr., 6 times in papyri of APO, = Heb. QiDtrn inSs,
13 times in Ch., Ezr., Neh., Jon.; cf. Tob. 10'-, Judt. 5^', 6^^ ii^^ Only
post-exilic except Gen. 24', where <S 'God of h. and G. of earth' = 24'.
As an equivalent of ps'^ S>':3 (for whose antiquity s. the writer's re-
marks, JBL 1909, pp. 67/.), the term was disowned in Israel's religion,
but was revived after the Exile, when it became the title by which the
Pers. government recognized the Jewish God. The correctness of this
title in 'Cyrus's edict,' Ezr. i, has been brilliantly demonstrated by the
papyri. The title did not arise under the influence of the Pers. religion,
but the existent Aram, term became in the use of the Pers. chancellery
a remarkable recognition of the essential content of the Jewish religion.
It was generally used by the Jews only in external correspondence, and
finally fell into disfavor again as too similar to Zeus Ouranios, etc.;
hence CS here b xogioq h otlnc-coq. — 01 iNir a-;] Not exclusive, Dan.
and his friends alone to be excepted from the penalty, but they as well
as the other wise men; cf. v-*. — 19. Ni?n] See Kau., §56, 6, b, Mar.,
Gr. §83, c. — Nn] Pers. word, only in c. 2 and 6^; also in BSira 8'', 12",
— ^'?.^.] Also ^'^;!, v.5»; cf. ^T, Ezr. 4"; s. Kau., §29, §47, g (g). For the
Peil form s. at 3-°.
20. ^Jv?!?.] So always except 4" ninS. The change of the doubtlessly
orig. form r'^^n-' to sinS is an arbitra-y expedient to disguise not merely
a spelling but a pronunciation which was that of the Unspeakable
Name Yhwh. For arguments for this position s. Mein., Bev., p. 35
(with citation of use in Talm., etc.), Dr., Tenses, §204, Obs. i (with
extensive bibliography). Mar., Gr. §65, Str., Or. §16, m. Brock., VG i,
p. 565. The arguments are: i) The use of pref. h, common in EAram.
dialects, indifferently as impf. and juss. (Talmud, Mandaic, s. Nold.,
2^^'^^ 159
MG §i66), appears only in this vb. in BAram., and invariably so, not
only in juss. 2) The papyri have always nin^, never nin'^- this consti-
tutes a demonstration of fact against the plausible philological theories
of the defenders of n-[nh. 3) It is instanced only rarely in late WAram.,
viz., in jussives, s. Dal., Gr. §61, i. The defensive is accepted by Kau.,
Gr. p. 79, apparently by Powell, Supp. Hebr., p. 41, and is stoutly main-
tained by Kon. in his article, 'Das 1-JaqtuI im Semitischen,' ZDMG 51
(1897), pp. 330-337. The one plausible argument for support of the
authenticity of the form is derived from a Zenjirii inscription. In the
Hadad Inscr. (Lidz., NE p. 440, Cooke, NSI no. 61) occur apparently
four or five impf . and juss. forms with /-preformative (cf. Cooke, p. 169).
To these cases is now to be added another, in the Aram, ostrakon letter
of Asshurbanapal's reign, published by Lidz., Altaram. Urk., 1. 8. The
same pref. // is found in several cases in an Akk. text published by
Clay, A Heb. Deluge Story, New Haven, 1922; the cases, summarized by
Clay, pp. 19/., he regards as further proof of his theory of an underlying
'Amorite' base to the text. But the Zenjirii testimony is wrongly ad-
duced as Aramaic; the early Zenj. monuments are Hebrew, a point not
sufficiently recognized, and so with the alleged 'Amoritism' of Clay's
document. Even in the ostrakon Lidz. indicates a Canaanism in the
same line; he speaks of "eine Koine, die stark durch das Kanaanaische
beeinfiusst war." As belonging to the Heb. sphere the cases are rather
comparable with the 'periphrastic future' of the inf. with S; s. Dr.,
Tenses, §204. Accordingly these cases are not WAram. particularly;
the most that can be said for the illegitimate ninS is that its introduc-
tion was favored by certain formations, even if we may have not to
argue to EAram. editing. — ^'^ • >< ''"' ^^'i'] For the anticipative pronomi-
nal sufl. s. Kau., §81, e, and cf. Nold., SG §205, C. For the construction
in the papyri s. APO p. 266. In 'blessed is the Name of God,' 'the
Name' has become the surrogate for the actual vocable of the divine
name, irmsDn own (on which s. Arnold, JBL 1905, 107 ff.). For this
usage s. the O.T. Theologies, e.g., Schultz, AlU. Theologie^, 401^., the dic-
tionary articles, especially the bibliography in OB s.v. or, at end; also
Hommel, Ayicient Heb. Tradition, 87/., 99^., and for late usage the
writer's Aram. Incantation Texts, 56 ff. — '^v'???] = Heb. formation =
JAram. and Mand., where sncDin exists along with Syr. Nnno^n; s. Nold.,
MG p. 105. — vsmiij] For H in closed syll. s. Kau., §9, 4, c, cf. Nold.,
SG §42. In Gr. tradition of 0 Q alone correctly Suvapm;, all others by
corruption auveatc; (the same error again in Lu. MSS at v.^^ and at
Job 22- CS). ffiwng sapientia et iiirtus et intellectus, i.e., Suva;xt(; was read
as the second term with Q, later intellectus = auveatg was glossed in
to conform with later B text. Or^ Lu. revise by doublet gloss, -J) aoipfa
■/.. ■?) cuveats x. "?) fay.u?. In a paper in Expositor, Sept., 1921, p. 214,
'Anent Dr. Rendel Harris's "Testimonies,"' I have noted that i Cor.
l6o A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
1^* Xptffxbv ©sou Suvccniv v.. ©sou aocpfav is based on the original Gr. of
Dan. The same combination appears in Job 1 2". — '^^ "'"!] Oddly enough
the current grammars (e.g., Kau., §21), Lexx. and comm. (exc. Mar.)
ignore or misinterpret this phrase; e.g., after Zock., Mein., nis an em-
phatic repetition of preceding n, and so GB, referring to the redundant
use of de in Syr. Or n is taken as = quia with Jer., so EVV 'for.' But
CBMich. recognized its true character, as exactly the later Aram.
niSii, etc., possessive pron., suus; s. Dalm., Gr. §18, 4, and Nold., SG
§69. The combination is found in the 7th cent. Nerab Inscr., I, 1. 14,
in a Cilician inscription published by the writer in JAOS 1907, pp. 164
ff.; in the Nabataean, and frequently in the papyri, s. APO p. 263,
where the two words at times appear written as one (so here some Heb.
Mss). Translate 'whose are wisdom and power.'
21. nj^tid] Cf. foil. m;;nD. — N-'jcn X'-ji;-] Grr. xcttpous /.. XP'^^o"?
(and so generally the same equivalents elsewhere) ; Jj^ng tempora (but
Cassiodorus on Ps. loi gives orig. 31, Icmpora et saecula); ^zabne we'ed-
ddne {i.e., reversing the terms; the same phrase in Clem. Rom., ed. La-
garde, p. 19, 1. 22 = nnjJiD Gen. i"); U tempora et aetates ; EVV 'times
and seasons,' which terms Dr., Cha. would reverse. For the same com-
bination, with reverse order, cf. 7'-, Eccl. 3^ In Acts i' and i Th. 5'
Xpovot X. xaipof is reminiscent of Dan. In the combination the words
are synonymous; cf. our proverb 'Time and tide wait for no man'; also
jni m Est. i". N.h. nj-i>'2 3^ = njdi na 3'. For xatp6q = xP'^vo(; s.
Thayer, Lex. 319a. If pi be of Pers. origin (s. Scheftelowitz, Arisches
im A.T., 81) from zrvan, which is most questionable {cf. BDB GB
KAT 649, n. 5, arguing for Akk. origin), then it would have meant orig-
inally 'time' in the abstract sense. — Dipnn . . . m^jnc] 0 exchanges,
on ground that appointment precedes dismissal; Or? restores correct
order. Against °M'""2 cf. ^''P.^., (all examples given by Kau., p. 74,
Powell, p. 40) ; but i is demanded in all forms, vs. Powell. Where the
vowel-letter was not written e was used, and subsequently the spellings
were confused. — njo lyii] = nyi ^11 i*.
22. NnpiDjj] A word of Gnostic connotation; cf. Job 12--. The related
Akk. ntmeku = 'wisdom'; Ea is bel nimeki, etc. (Del., Hwh., p. 89).
Cf. the 'depths,' paSiQ, of God, i Cor. 2^*', i Clem. 40^; of Satan, Rev.
2"*; and Bathos became a Gnostic figure. — NmnDc] Pa. pass, ppl.; 0 ex-
cellently dtxdxpucpa. — ^9] = n no v."', Ezr. 6^; for absence of dag. in
following letter, true to Aram, use, s. note in Bar. — ^J^'^C!] = Syr.
he'Siokd; on the form s. Nold., MG §101. — nt'hj Kt., ^y^^ ^t. and
mss] The latter form common in J Aram (= Heb. •^'i^? Job 3'') is pre-
ferred by Nold., LCB 1896, 703. Mein., Bev., Behr., Kamp. prefer Kt.
which = Syr. and PalSyr. nahhird, generally adjectival, but also nominal
as 'luminary,' also 'light,' e.g., Aphraates, Dem., vi, i. 2, ed. Parisot, col.
249, 1. 21, col. 256, 1. I, etc. The form is corroborated by the abstract
•ninj ju. 14^ and the change from Kt. to ^^r. is historically more likely.
Contrariwise Torrey, Notes, II, 230, who thinks of an artificial com-
bination with n>nj. — *<Tf] Pass, ppl., 'ungirt,' then 'lodged,' i.e., 'at
home.' There is no reason with de Goeje, note to Strack's text, to pre-
fer act. ppl. Cf. NHeb. "■nB', and the pass. ppl. similarly often in Syr.,
e.g., Aphraates, Dem., vi, 11, sub fin., "the sun's light is lodged in the
earth." CS [icap auxw] xaxiluoiq, i.e., 'solution,' cf. 2 Mac. 8", 'disso-
lution,' and inf. 5^^- i' the vb. = 'solve riddles.'
23. '''?^3N] So edd. exc. Bar. "'O'^^^, on sUght authority.— '•T i°] Bet-
ter personal, 'who,' with EW than conjunctive, 'because,' with Grr.,
B.— ^f:";, IMS Str. ?— ] So only nflpn 4'^ nSeiyn 522, otherwise "— . The
papyri do not indicate the final vowel in 2d pers. sing, masc, nor in
njN 'thou.' It is reasonable to hold that OAram. pronounced the vowel
and that the occasional expression of it, e.g., v.*^ nniin, and nnjN, re-
tains the earlier pronunciation, while our present form is late; so Kamp.,
rdg. ? — . — ]';d] S. Torrey, JBL 16 (1897), 166^., for the true interpre-
tation of the form, and Lexx.; also in forms '"".^V.? and i^?.?, the two former
in the papyri. Scheftelowitz, Arisches im AT, p. 88, in attempting a
Pers. etymology (a caution in this line!) was still ignorant, 1901, of
Torrey's derivation. — "'^QJ'ti'^] In Syr. -tdn{i) ; here Heb. influence?
V. inf. Njnjj-iin. — Nrj?a] 05 iikibicx, i.e., as ppl., ^^^^^ '?.?. — nha]
B A Q al. opajxa (=11 uisuni), ancient error for pTi[i.a, which 33 91 148
228 have.— ^^^li'ii^ So Bar, Gin.; Mich., Kit. "^9— ; Str. "JO—] For
the seglwl, sole for this form, s. Kau., §37, 2, a. Bev. notes that in the
Bab. punctuation -ana (or -end), never -ana, is used, and eft. Merx,
Chrestomathia targumica, 12. CS 0 independently took the sufF. for the
sing., [lot, which Torrey, Notes, II, 230, prefers.
2A-45. Dan.'s introduction to the king and the relation of
the dream and its interpretation. 24-30. The proffer of the di-
vine revelation.
24. Dan. seeks Arioch, asks him to hold up the order of exe-
cution, and requests audience of the king. For the required
Oriental etiquette, cf. Est. 4" (s. Paton ad loc); Hav. adduces
Her., iii, 118. 140 for the Pers. custom, and Meissner illustrates
it for Assyria, Bab. u. Ass., i, 70. The present statement is proof
that Dan. did not have an earlier audience, vs. v.^^ 25. Arioch
goes to the king, 'in haste,' as at 3^^ so EVV, perhaps more ex-
actly with Behr., in excitement. There appears to be an incon-
cinnity in the terms of Arioch's introduction with i^*^-, yet the
formal introduction was obligatory, and royal minds are easily
forgetful of 'college professors.' 26. The parenthetical addition
II
1 62 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
of Dan.'s surname Belteshazzar, while possibly a gloss {cf. i Esd.
4^^, but per contra the constant 'Simon surnamed Peter' in Jn.),
is a proper literary bond with c. i (so vLeng.), giving the name
under which the sage was presented. 27. Dan. gives all the
glory to God in response to the king's inquiry as to his ability,
after Joseph's example, Gen. 41*, and denies the power of human
wisdom in the premises, as equally, v.^°, any virtue of his own.
The humility of Joseph and Dan. is capitally depicted as sprung
from reverence before God without fear of man, although cour-
tesy to the latter is not ignored. Paul in i Cor. 2 develops the
idea of the heavenly wisdom in a similar way, with indeed a
reminiscence of v.^" iq-v.). 28. That there is a God in heaven,
as against man-made gods and deified men, is the supreme
theme of the book, even as it is the cardinal principle of the
Bible, e.g., Ps. 11*. For the end of days, so correctly JV, vs. AV
RVV the latter days, cf. Dr.'s excellent note: "An expression
which occurs fourteen times in the O.T., and which always de-
notes the closing period of the future so far as it falls within the
range of view of the writer using it. The sense expressed by it
is thus relative, not absolute, varying with the context. . . .
Here, as the sequel shows, it is similarly the period of the estab-
lishment of the Divine Kingdom, which is principally denoted
by it."
28. 29. There is an extraordinary duplication of thought and
phrase as between these vv. In both appears ' the Revealer of
mysteries,' and there are the parallelisms: 'what shall be at the
end of days,' v.^* || 'what shall be after this,' v.^^, and 'the
visions of thy head upon thy bed,' v.^* || 'thy thoughts upon
thy bed,' v.". These phenomena are best to be explained — not
on a sheer theory of interpolations, so Mar., but as actual
ancient duplicates, which may go back to the earliest editions
of the book. Probably with the secondary form, v.^^, should be
combined v.^°, the statement of Dan.'s humility, which over-
looked motive may have incited a fresh essay at the passage.
Similarly Lohr regards v." as an addition. Jahn (cf. L'ohr)
argues from a lacuna in (B^, v.", to a late interpolation of this
passage; but he ignores the witness of ($^ to the originality of
the passage. 30. For the contrast between any possible wisdom
in Dan. and the sole ground of the revelation which lies in the
purpose of God, Hav. eft. Gal. i"; the contrast is rightly ex-
pressed by Hitz., 'nicht durch eine Weisheit, die in mir ware,'
cf. EW, 'any wisdom.'
24. n:T Sap So] Best 'accordingly.' The VSS have much trouble
with this phrase and tr. most variously. — "'j) 2°] Idiomatic use of the
prep.; cf. Arab, dahala 'alafuldti, 'he went to one in his house,' Wright,
Gr. 2, p. 168.— 'js] Cf. i\— Stn] Ken. 118 <B 0 B om.; iomss om. hy
1° supra. Either simplification is possible, so Cha. The vb.Sy could
have arisen by dittograph of the prep., so Mar. in his comm., Lohr, Tor-
rey. Notes, II, p. 257. But the VSS defend Sy as against StK, and argu-
ment cannot be based on superfluity in Aram, diction. — ■ ?*] Now found
in OAram., in the Hadad Inscr., 11. 22, etc., the ZKR Inscr., the papp.
— ^^i?A?] The variants ^J^y^) cited by Gin., and ''^Ti'.p, cited by Bar, are
Hebraizing; s. Kau., §46. — nib'd] <& gxaaxa; did it read wmnN, 'riddle,'
and understand it as the numeral ? So also v.^'.
25. nSn^.-in] The rt. in Pr., Ch., Est., along with original sense of
'dismay,' has also that of 'hurry,' and so here, 3^S 6^°, and NHeb. — S^jn]
For nasal dissimilation in Aram, dialects, s. Kau., §11, 4, b; Nold., MG
§68; Dalm., Gr. §71, 4. The phenomenon is still more pronounced in
the papp., s. the nouns listed APO 262, and for the forms of this vb.
.4P Index. — nn^tt^n] As against Kau.'s suggestion (p. 174) that the Hafel
here is properly Peal s. Bev.; the Haf. also in the papp. For the vocali-
zation, which is primitive, s. Kau., §40, 4; so the similar ferns.,
niDN. m't'jnn. nnD.-iirn.— it 2° Bar, Str.] Gin., Kit. om.— ^1^^] Also in the
papp.; a back formation from the gentilic nin^, as Hitz. recognized; cf.
Brock., VG i, 398, Wright, Arab. Gr. i, §251.-26. hdc >-i] (g adds
XaXSataxf. — Snj] Rt. used along with hy, also in the papp. — 27. fD>3n]
Asyndeton, s. i^"; for the classes of wise men, s. 2^. — jnu] Primary
mng. of 1TJ = 'cut,' e.g., 2^, then 'decree,' Job 2"^^, Est. 2', and
so ^"V-.] inf. 4"- '^\ a divine 'decree,' as in Rabbinic, and Syr. geztrtd
= 'fate.' Hence the generally accepted mng., '(fate-)determiners,' i.e.,
astrologers, so JV, vs. AV RV 'soothsayers.' (S 0 = HI simply translit-
erate, Ya!;apTjvo( (unique to Dan.?). But there is another tradition of
the word: Sym. had OuTi?, 'sacrificers,' H aruspices (Jer. citing in his
comm. Sym.'s 0ut(4c;, which he says = -fjxaToaxdxouq, cf. the interesting
scholium in Field at 4*) ; and this is supported by W. R. Smith, Journal
of Philology, 13 (1885), 281, citing from Bar Bahlul's dictionary the
equivalence of Syr. kdsomd with Arab, jazzdr, ' slaughterer.' We may
then have in this word the Aram, term (also taken over into the Gr.)
for the Bab. diviner of liver omens. — r^T] 0 om. — through homoiot.
in Sem. copy? Lu. cleverly restores without disturbing construction of
0 by Buvaixt?; also found in Clem. Alex., Strom., i, 4 (ed. Potter, i, 330).
28. nnnx] A borrowing from the Heb.?; otherwise BAram. has
164 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
HID. C/. Akk. ina ahrat timi, s. Del., Hwb., 45. — A considerable passage
omitted by (§'^ is preserved in (gs; it was known to both Jer. and Lu.
It contains the plus, '0 king, Hve forever.' — i^'nt] For the psychology
cf. Franz Delitzsch, System of Biblical Psychology, 300: "It is the only
trace of the reference of spiritual-psychical events to the head." But
the head is referred to as the seat of vision, so Mar., so also Ehr., who
eft. Ecc. 2", 'the eyes of a wise man are in his head,' a comparison
made long ago by Jer. Hav. well says: "Nach einer poetischer An-
schauung des Traumes umschwebt derselbe gleichsam das Haupt," etc.,
and eft. II., ii. 20, of the dream god standing 'over the head' of Aga-
memnon; so xxiii, 68, etc. — xin nj-i] Sing, by attraction to following
sing, subject-matter; cf. Nah. 5'^, Est. 4''. Incongruence of pron. is
exemplified in the papyri, e.g., APO pap. 15, 1. 2 xia'j nnDC njr.
29. '^?^^' Kt., '??^' l^T.] So always in M; in OAram., inscriptions and
papyri, always pjn, but doubtless = 'anta; s. on mn^ at v.^', and Kau.,
§18, Anm. For the absolute construction cf. v.'-, i^', 5*- **; similarly in
the papyri, e.g., APA pap. B, 1. 8 njx in^j ('n as caret), 'my house,' and
for Heb. usage, s. GK §135, 2. — T'JV>?-i]'t = Syr. re'ydn, 'thought.'
The development of Syr. N>'n is from that of 'pleasure,' = Arab, radiya,
to 'purpose,' and so to 'thought'; s. Brock., Lex., s.v. The Heb. phi-
lologists dispute whether Heb. ^-1. Ps. 139 ^ ^"'j'"', Ecc. i'^ etc., r'>',1
Ecc. i^^, etc., hail from root rdy, so Lagarde, Nold., BDB (sub III n;?"\);
or from nyi 'shepherd,' so Barth, Kau., Aramaismen, 81, GB, Kon.,
Hwb. Legitimately rdy = Heb. nxi, which actually exists. But the
Heb. words in question are late and are to be explained as direct bor-
rowing from Aram. Our word is with M. to be closely construed with
13Dw'D S;", 'thy thoughts (whilst lying) on thy bed,' so Klief. The elder
comm. dispute over the exact mng. of '-\, without much necessity in the
simple Sem. psychology; it includes the king's cogitations (Pr. 'specu-
lations') as well as the vision. — lao-'D Sy] & laV h};, 'thy heart,' follow-
ing a common Heb. phrase, e.g., 2 Ki. 12^ frequent in N.T., iva^ot^vetv
(s. Lexx. s.v.) k%\ 1. xapSbv, and so in Syr. N.T.; also 2 Esd. 3^ (ad-
duced by Cha. here), "conturbatus sum super cubili meo recumbens et
cogitationes meae ascendebant super cor meum." Bert, argued for the
originality of d's rdg. and is followed by Cha. (without reference to
S>). The relative clause 'ji n ns is epexegetical to Tiv^ji. — ip*"?] For
similar stative forms s. Kau., §25, e. JHMich. properly cites Lat.
oboriri; with this idea in mind apparently B paraphrases, cogiiare
coepisti. — n nc] An indefinite relative, = Heb. ni nn often, also
Arab, and Aram. mddd. — nnx] This prep, in sing, form appears in
OAram. monuments and papyri; it was later replaced by inx^, found
also v.", etc. — 30. ''%] S. at v.'° — ^mon Vy] Also 4"; in the papyri
laiSp, APO pap. II, 1. 3, etc.; also in Heb., nai Sy Ecc. 3'^ etc. —
liynin^] For the impersonal use s. at v.^'; it appropriately here veils
2^^ 165
the mysterious agency. 05 ev yvwaet, error for Yva yvw(; (so Aq.). — l^^S]
The triradical form in BAram. and the papyri, also in PalSyr.
31-45. The dream and its interpretation. For discussion of
the symbolism, s. Note at end of the chap. 31 . The v. reads very
Umpingly as usually translated and interpreted. Both 0 and ^
have simpler forms; nevertheless, (S contains all the elements of
1|. The almost universal construction of the v., following M's
punctuation, appears thus in JV: 'Thou, O king, sawest, and
behold a great image. This image which was mighty, and whose
brightness was surpassing, stood before thee; and the appear-
ance thereof was terrible.' But the relatives in the second sen-
tence are not in ^, and that sentence is manifestly circumstan-
tial, parenthetical, as Hitz., Zock., Torrey alone, apparently,
have noted; further, 'lo' ('behold') is generally construed with
a ppl. {e.g., 7^ and cases cited inf.). Tr.: Thou, O king, sawest,
and lo, A great image . . . standing before thee. For the interior
clauses Torrey, Notes, I, pp. 257/., has best solved the awkward
condition of 1^ by following <$, i.e., placing N"»Jtt' (JV as adj.,
'great') as adv. (as adj. it means 'much') after the subsequent
^1 ( JV ' mighty ') . The resultant is : Thou, 0 king, sawest and lo :
an image — that image was very great, and its splendor extraordi-
nary— standing before thee. For a similar lengthy period of.
■38_
31. ^\•'^7\ nrn] N.b. the genuine Aram, use of the ppl. with vb. 'to be,'
expressing continuance of action, also postpositive order of vb.; s. Kau.,
§76, f, cf. Nold., SG §277. For similar Heb. usage s. Dr., Tenses, §135,
4; Aram, influence is obvious in late O.T. use. For 'thou sawest and
behold,' cf. f, Gen. 41", Zech. I^ 2\ Rev. 14S etc.; also the frequent
elSov in Rev.— 1^=:'.] 4'- ", 7« = ^"^^ 7-- '■ '■ '• '\ Cf. OAram. iSn CIS
ii, no. 137, A, 1. I, B, 1. 4; on an ostrakon, APA M, b = Lidz., Eph., 2,
229^.; also in Lidzbarski's ostrakon, Altaram. Urk., 1. 9. Opinions differ
sharply as to origin and relations of the two particles. nN may be ex-
plained as 'ein versttimmelter Imperativ vom Stamme hn-i," so Kau.,
§67, 6; the prothetic vowel is common in Syr., particularly in impvs.,
s. Nold., 5G §51; but the root early disappeared in Aram., being repre-
sented in BAram. only by '•l. For iSk Pr. suggested relation with Akk. hi
'verily'; Behr. eft. the Rabb. particles "'l^/ '"^.Q and =t>^: = o, so Dal.,
Gr., pp. 221, 234, citmg dialectic Aram, forms; Lidz. denies identity of
the two particles (I.e.), treating iSn as ^■^.. 'is it not?' Their identity
of use in Dan. is beyond question. — ai pT ndSx k^js* ■^r\ dSx] Of the Grr.
Or^ alone = il^, si-z.wv |x(a [-|- [xsYiX-rj < ©] tioXXt), •?) efy.wv zY-elvq [itjiXi],
*
1 66 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
on which Lu. depends for second clause; B = i^; 0 [= H] e!xo)v \i(x
[Ley&Xt] f) eJxwv; Q* 26 om. 15 st/,. sx. = Cypr., Tei/., ii, 17, ecce imago
nimis magna; Sym., xotl t)v uq ivSTctiis dq, (xiya? 6 ivSptdeq, i.e. = 0.
For (S's text s. Coram. & has abbreviated form, n21 in nd'^x and con-
tinuing n^nt nrr 2t3T; it may once have read 3a 2-\, i.e., our xij^i" 21. —
d'?x] OAram. in the Nerab Inscr. of a carved design, then of a 'statue,'
so in Akk., of a god-image (Pr.); = Arab, ^anam 'idol,' as Jeph. tr. it;
Sym., avopti? = "^ statua. — in] Practically indef. art., so 4'°, 6^- '', Ezr.
4'; so occasionally nnx in Heb., e.g., 8'- '' (s. Lexx.); similarly ti? in
Hellenistic Gr. — J5"!] 7-"- 2' = iste, rather than with Kau., ille, Lexx,
'this.' For formation, dek -\- n, cf. Bev.; for -n as in nji, pnn, s. Nold.,
MG p. 86, n. 3. The form is unique in Aram., which developed a great
variety of pronominal forms; cf. ddt, APO no. 71 (p. 218) nhSjt dotS
'to that company.' This form may answer Ehr.'s argument against
|3T because of its common gender, he analyzing our pron. into I? ''"1,
i.e., *das so beschaffene Bild.' The demon, pron. in BAram. and the
papp. can precede or follow the noun, Kau., §90, also in Syr., Nold., SG
§226. — ^r.'] (S Tcpiaotj^ti;, i.e., rdg. ny-^ and tr. foil. r\y-\ similarly; 0
follows (S in the first case, but in the second 5paai<;. For 0 auiTj? Q
has etxovo? auTT)g = Cypr., eiiis imaginis ; Maternus, ipsius im.; i.e.,
the omission in 0 has been glossed in. B [statura] sublimis, i.e., as from
rt. an. The word in same use 4^'; in pi. of the color of the face, 5', etc.,
7". The word, prob. = Akk. ztmu, 'Erscheinung, Gesichtsausdruck '
(Del., Hwb. S.V., KA T 649), means primarily the light effect of an object,
its 'shine, sheen,' secondarily 'glory,' as in Syr. AEz. eft. the month
name Ziv. Cf. Haupt on equivalence of Akk. Idnu ' aspect ' and Arab.
laun 'color,' JAOS 37, 253. Nold. has claimed a Pers. origin, MGp. xxxi,
GGA 1884, 1022.— -iTi>] AV RVV 'excellent,' i.e., 'excelling'; s. Dr.,
and his Add. Note, p. 32, on the use of this old English word in the
Bible; better JV 'surpassing,' Behr. 'ausserordentlich,' 'extraordinary.'
— '^n] I.e., ra'u>raiu (c/. tt'Ni) >riii; s. Bev., Brock., VG i, p. 293.
32. 33. The details of the Image. The Image is blocked out
in five parts, the last two of which have a common element,
hence to be regarded as possessing a certain unity. Each part
is composed of a separate substance; these substances are ar-
ranged in order of value, gold down to clay, in parallelism with
the hierarchy of the members of the body, from the head, the
seat of dignity, to the humblest limbs, the legs and feet. The
head is of fine gold; the chest (lit. 'breasts') of silver ;i the abdo-
' Cf. Herodotus' account of the golden statue of Bel at Babylon; s. Note at end
of chap, and Int. to c. 3. Compare the statues of gold and silver recorded by Pliny,
Hist, nat., xxxiv, 18.
232. 33 j57
men and the hips of brass, more exactly bronze;^ the legs of iron
and the feet 'partly of iron, partly of clay-fabric' The word for
legs is generally used of the upper leg, the thighs (so (g crKekr))-^
if so used here then ' the feet ' would include the lower leg, even
as the word is used in the description of Goliath's armor, i Sa,
17®, or euphemistically of the whole leg, e.g., Is. y^*'. But it is
preferable to take 'the feet' in the natural sense and the pre-
ceding term as meaning the whole leg. 0 understands by 'the
legs' the lower legs, Kvrj/iaL. Only in the interpretation, vv.^^'-,
is mention made of the toes, probably a later addition {v. ad loc).
The one stumbling-block in the description of this fine work of
artifice is the word translated 'clay.' The word (CjDn hasap),
which appears with phonetic modifications in all Sem. stocks exc.
Heb., invariably means a formed pottery object, whether a com-
plete vessel or its fragments, i.e., potsherds. And so the ancient
VSS universally render the word: Grr. ocrTpdiavov^ H variously,
here fidilis (from H, also w.^"- «), testa (vv.^^- "i. 43. 45)^ And so
S> with the same word, as also Sa. with its Arab, equivalent
hazaf. Modern VSS and almost all comm. ignore this mng. and
render by ' clay.' But the raw material is denoted in v.^^ by S^tD
(EVV 'miry [clay],' RWmg 'earthenware'), while ClDn is iden-
tical with 'potter's ware' (rather 'pottery ware') at v.^S where
EW have 'potter's clay.' No more than in the case of the
wrought iron can we think of raw clay daubed on the statue,
and yet so Behr. defines 'clay,' ' abblatternder Thon oder
Schiefer,' similarly dEnv. as of raw clay; nor of a conglomeration
of potsherds. Menodius (in Pole) thinks of an iron ore with
clay admixture. The comm. generally fight shy of an explana-
tion, but correctly CBMich. : ferreos et testaceos, and so vLeng.
We have to think of tile work entering into the composition of
the figure, applied, as it actually was, in the way of decoration,
but then in caricature regarded as shoddy work replacing the
essential iron structure; the element was doubtless true to archi-
tectural forms of the age. There is no question about the use of
tile work in ancient Babylonian architecture ; we have the terra-
cotta reliefs in Greek art, the tiling of Saracenic art, while the
tile-covered towers of modern Persia are witness to this ancient
mode of construction. We might even think of the porcelain
- For the lavish use of bronze in Babylonia cf. Her., i, i8i, ' the bronze-gated tem-
ple of Bel,' and in general s. Meissner, Bab. u. Ass., i, 265 _ff.
1 68 A COMMENTAHY ON DANIEL
towers of China. How far such work may have entered into the
composition of statues we do not know. Chryselephantine
images were known in late Assyrian as well as in Greek art,
while the extremely ancient art of the inlaying of enamels in
metal may have induced the similar use of applied tiles. The
caricature of the picture lies in the application of this fragile
form of art to the weakest section of the statue, enhancing its
decoration but replacing the structural elements.^
32. xdSs Nin] The VSS variously render the pron. Ehr. rightly re-
jects Behr.'s construction, 'dies ist das Bild,' for which rt:T would be
used. Nor is Mar. right, 'es, das Bild.' For the indifferent position of
the prons. s. at v.^^ — ::ni 1^] n not at all 'vertritt zugleich die Copula,'
with Behr.; nor does it merely replace the construct. The particle re-
tains its primitive mng. as a demonstrative relative; so frequently in
Syr., s. Nold., SG §209, where he speaks of 'die grossere Selbstandigkeit
des de, eigentUch einesDemonstrativ-(Relativ-)Pronomens ('dervon');'
e.g., among hisexx. D•^^■^n n>2-\, 'those of Herod's party.' It corresponds
to Arab, du, surviving in classical Arab, only in conventional use, s.
Wright,Gr.,i,§8i. It has a parallel in Heb., e.g., nja- nn-i:';? n?,z.c.,* a mat-
ter of 20 years,' s. my note JBL 1924, 227. In the papyri both this con-
struction, TIN' T (n as caret) and the appositive use, ii'nj, are found in
one line, APO pap. i, 1. 12. Inf. v. 38 Nam n ntrNi is rather in line with
the usual Syr. constructions of two definites in const, relation. — aa]
(g xpTJffToO = BV 88 148 OrP h" (hs 'pure') = Cypr. bonum; al.
xaOapoO; 51 [auro] stiaui. For 'good gold' cf. Gen. 2^-, etc. — ••nnn] The
plene writing with 1 is correct (rarely transgressed, e.g., 5*, Ezr. 6'- ",
7")) as the papyri show, in which age it was then still pronounced -anhi.
>nnn is dual, so Schulthess, ZATW 22, 163, and is to be added to
Kau.'s list, §51, I, in addition to priNn and rJ"'J' (?") with Mar., Gr.
§69, and imDJN 2*^, q.v.; also note %nij,'D inf. 0 has early error: •'nnn
read as ^7\^•^>, which was revised by an early doublet, al '/zlgs-q xal
Tb axfjeot; = E. Or? adds the sufl. to the second term, -)- [ffTT)6o<;]
auTfjs, and so hereafter consistently with i^, and Lu. follows Or? in this
but not consistently. — inijjc] So °''3'.'? of the abdomen. Song 5"; prob.
also a dual, and so pointed in NHeb., s. Jastr., s.v. — 33. jinjc Kt., pnjn
Kr, and mss]. So also vv.^'- *''. OAram. was careless of grammatical
agreement, s. Kau., §98, 2 and APO p. 273, §10. 3; hence Kt. may well
' For the Mesopotamian art in tiles s. Koldewey, Das wieder erstehende Babylon,
40 Jf. (with illustrations in color), Meissner, op. cit., 275 ff. For a terra-cotta relief
at Sardes s. Shear, AJA 1023, 131 ff., and for Etruscan terra-cotta 'antefixes' D. M.
Robinson, ib., 1 f. 1 note in Bedjan's Syriac text of Mar Jaballaha, p. 137, 1. 6, a
'dome plated with green tiling,' NDXn,
234. 35 j5g
be original. In the papyri the suff. masc. is p , the suff. fem. is non-
existent but would not be distinguished in spelling; s. further Haupt's
note in Kamp. The terms mean that the feet were partly iron, partly
clay (not distributive, as among the toes), and the point is to be borne
in mind in the interpretation of v.*^. — HOn] See Comm., and consult
Lexx. for philology; add Frankel, Lehnworter, 169. Nold., ZDMG 40,
730, asserts that here the word is used of the raw clay; this is denied by
Schwally, ih., 52, 140.
34. 35. The second and final scene of the drama is the col-
lapse of the Image, smitten on its feet by a Stone quarried with-
out human agency; not a trace is left even of the substances
which composed the proud creation, while the Stone expands
into a Mountain which fills the whole earth. Only here is given
the faintest indication of some background, an origin for the
Stone; the detail is filled out subsequently in the explication,
v.*^, that it was quarried out of the mountain, if the item be origi-
nal there. The item has intruded itself here falsely in most early
texts of VSS, but not in 0 ^. For the Messianic exegesis of
these w. s. Note at end of the chap. More poetical, as more
natural, is the prophecy in Is. 11', 'The earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea ' ; the ' hyper-
bole' (Zock.) of the rock filling the whole earth is due to that
reminiscence.
34. n ^;I] Cf. 7*. n;j here as in Heb. poetry, 'used to mark not an
absolute clause, but an epoch or turning-point,' as Ps. iio^ (BDB 725a);
cf. the similar use of Arab. hata{y). — '^?,^'^'^] I.e., hitgazdrat, retaining
orig. accent, and then vocalized in Heb. fashion; so npin inf., munx v.",
mnx 510, nnDntfn 5"; s. Kau., §30, 2, Powell, Supp. Hebr., p. 48. —
]?.^] 'Rare in Syr.' (Behr.), but frequent in the papp. For the vocalization
V. sup., I'^'C v.^". All Grr. have plus [XtOos] ss opous = B, or the same
prefixed by Lu., exc. OrP V 233 Hipp^^ = ffiwng = g.. This plus in 0
is an intrusion from ®, for 0 has in v.*^ dxb opou?, and Lu.'s placing
of the plus here follows order in v.■'^ Kamp rightly refuses to accept
the addition, against Houbigant, Jahn, Ehr., Cha. This is a good in-
stance of the fallacy of citing B offhand as 'Theod.,' as do those comm.
and Lohr (who accepts the emendation here 'probabiliter'). The wit-
ness of Jos., A J X, 10, 4, alleged by Cha., is precarious, as he compresses
the story. — nS n] = 'that-of-not,' s. at v.''; the same in Syr., = JAram.
nSs', i.e., 'without'; Heb. n':'^,'^ n'-.— nno] So Mich., Str., Kit., and
properly, after Syr. vocalization; Bar, Gin. ^^^ (the same conditions in
lyo A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
v.^^). For the variant traditions of such forms s. Kau., §47, p. 78. —
np.lD] Cf. Mi. 4", Is. 41'* f-, Mt. 3'-; a frequent figure of the divine judg-
ment.— iio"i] Only in Dan.; in Ezr. and papyri ion, papp. also on. For
-n V. sup. pi v."; Earth, Die Pronotninalbildung in den sem. Sprachen,
1913, 18, relates to Eth. 'emuntii,. ^ auTa, B Q h^* sJ? xiXoq, al. (if
HP, be correct) auxoCi? elq zh xiXoq. This doublet rdg. appears in &
'[ground] them well (22),' and had entered the Theod. texts before
time of 21, where we have cotnminuit eos usque adfinem, Iran., or comtn.
cos minutalim, Cypr., Maternus; cf. A ' very finely.' As © misunderstood
pnn v.^^ as jian = xXfjeoi;, we must charge him with a similar lapse
here, as supposing a form of Dcn, cf. Jos. 3'^ ''°''^, <& li^q zlc, ib xiXoi;,
and Dt. 31-*- '" °?'? ""^j 05 eU x^Xo?. The ace. may have been sponta-
neously restored.
35. ^Pl] The vocalization demands a rt. pn || to rt. pp^ in npin, but
with intrans.-pass. mng., 'broke down'; so Kau., §46, 3, a, and Kon.,
Hwb., giving both rts., which also appear in Rabb., where ppi only in
derivative stems. BDB, GB, Mar., Gr. §66, c, prefer to find the one root
PPi for both, but then abnormal vocalization here; we should expect
PI, cf. PI Dt. 9"^ For assimilation of these parallel themes, cf. GK
§67, r, §72, dd.— ^iq?] = Targ. Ps. 2"-. Heb. ">??? Ezr. 2", Ecc. ii«,
etc. — NDDH ^Srifl] 5MSS Ken. nddhi 'id, at least an interpretative rdg.;
(B = ^, @ reverses order, xb osr. h g(5; Or^c reverts to ^. Cha.
adapts 0's order, but the oldest testimony is against this order, which
is due to a rational rearrangement; s. at v.". Cf. Kamp.'s very sensible
note: "Even in passages where the readings of the Versions yield a bet-
ter sense (as e.g. in vv.'^- *^ in the order of the metals), it is hard to de-
cide whether C& 0 with their smoother reading present the original text,
or whether we must rather attribute some slight roughnesses to the
author." He cfl. 5* 'gold, silver,' with 5" 'silver, gold.' — ''1^!] Aram,
would demand the vocalization hawau. — 1I/] (6 dxupou 'chaff,' 0
r.oviopx6s ' dust ' ; Cypr. conflate, palea aut piduis (obvious gloss !) . Cf.
Hos. 13'. — ''"^•1^.] For derivation (?) s. Lexx. Lidz., Altaram. Urk., 16,
finds a month piN, 'Tennenmonat' in his ostrakon. I refer to my note
on certain secondary intensive formations in the Semitic, in JAOS,
1926, pp. 56-58, for a discussion of BAram. tin, ipy, ids and numerous
nouns, esp. in the Aram., where doubling has been induced by a foil,
liquid; this vs. the universal view of them as orig. intensive formations.
— Nnn] With masc. vb.; this may be a case of incongruence of gender
agreement, cf. Kau., 98, 2, a, and s. at v.''; cf. 3", 4' Kt. In Heb. 't is
predominantly fem. (GB p. 748b), and so in Syr., where even the Holy
Spirit was primarily fem. Here for Nnn pen 0 (B h^*) xb xXfjGo? xoO
xvsijtJ.axo<;, i.e., rdg. T^iH, s. at v.'^; §• is dependent on 0, 'and took them
away a mighty wind.' Other 0 mss the same -\- [e^T^psv] auxd: (Lu.
auxouq). — "'"^1 Tr. 'no trace was found of them,' with Behr., who eft.
236. 37 j.^j
Arab, 'atar; cf. also use of nt^N as 'monument' in the Panammu Inscr.,
1. i8 (Lidz., NE p. 442, Cooke NSI no. 62), and so possibly in SArab.,
Hommel, Chrestomathie, 121. For the phrase cf. Ps. 103'*; it is cited in
Rev. 20'' = 0. 0om. prec. So, Or^has. — '^T}.] Soedd., exc. Str., Kamp.,
Mar. = ^X^..; s. at v.'^ — ivjS] Grr. opo?, exc. Q V Lu. + mss ziq Spo?.
— ^^j^.] So edd., exc. Bar '"^^iP. Kau.'s initial statement, §47, that
vbs. N"S and n//S have been fully assimilated, is to be corrected by his
subsequent note, (g), that in this vb. and hn^i-j.-id Ezr. 4^^ the strong
formation is intended. The retention of k is corroborated by the papyri,
where we find so treated (s. APO p. 270) xnn. n-::c. n-J'j, n-\p, nyz'; and
there are traces of this survival in Syr., s. Duval, GS §214, Nold., SG
§172. So here = orig. ^^ .,'^. (S Ixaxa^e, i.e., rdg. pn;:, as v.'^ Hermas,
Sim. ix, 2, I, gives an original rendering of the passage: 8Xov Tbv x6atJiov
Xwpfjaat.
36-45. The interpretation of the dream. 36. Dan.'s pi. we
will say has been a moot problem. Ra. interprets, 'I and His
Wisdom' {cf. Acts 15^*), supplementing with the remark that
"this is the way of good manners," "1DID ']"n; JHMich. "sc.
ego et per me Deus; uel ego cum sociis meis." Ace. to CBMich.
the Jews ( ?) and Socinians, wishing to forestall Trinitarian exege-
sis, applied the pi. to Dan. himself, ' auctoritatis ac honoris
caussa,' cited by Mein., who prefers, with Behr., the reference
to Dan.'s colleagues. The pi. approximates the deferential 'we'
with Ra. in its impersonality, but is best compared with Paul's
'we' {e.g., I Cor. i^), used with a certain humility; the present
message was not Dan.'s own. 37. Thou, O king, king of kings :
The rhetoric of the passage has been generally overlooked since
H, Tu rex regiim es, = AV RW. But 'king of kings' is apposi-
tive to 'king'; the balance of the v. and v.^^" are a parenthesis,
the affirmation being made in v.^*'': Thoti art the head of gold.
So rightly the Grr., ^; the rhetoric was ignored bycomm. until
Hitz., followed by some successors and JV. For Dan.'s courtesy
cf. Jer. : " Absque uitio ueritate sociata blanditur ut regi." ' King
of kings' was, and still remains, the correct Pers. title for the
monarch; applied to Neb. in Eze. 26^, and = Akk. Sar larrdni,
but 'not the customary Bab. form of address' (Pr.). It appears
in the Achaemenide inscriptions, and so in Ezr. 7^^ The title
was also borne by princes of Armenia, the Bosporan kingdom
and Palymra, s. Deissmann, New Light from the Ancient East,
368. The Seleucides were known as 'lords of kings,' D''D^D jlX,
172 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
e.g., inscr. from Umm el-'Awamid, CIS i, no. 7; the Aram,
equivalent below in v.^^
36. Add to Swete's apparatus: (S^ -[_ [^, xpiatv] auxou. — 37.
-\h . . . n] Not 'for ... to thee,' e.g., AV RVV, following incorrect
syntax of prec. words, but 'to whom,' JV; so 0. — ^^P^] Also 4". Behr.
alone objects to the universal treatment of 'n as synonymous with
i<Dpr\. His interpretation, ignored subsequently, connects it with Arab.
liazana, and derives the idea of 'riches.' For the dubious relations of ''^,
s. GB, p. 248. But a suggestion is to be had from the use of the vb. in
7**- -", 'take in possession,' and in particular from the papyri, where, in
Peal and Hafel, it has a technical legal mng., possibly of fief-tenancy;
s. Sachau's note in APO to pap. 5, 1. 6, where he suggests a likeness be-
tween this 'possession' and the later /.X-rjpoux''':- So in JAram. nodhn =
'possession,' and Sa., cited here by AEz., tr., nSnj pidSd 'an inherited
kingdom.' Syr. confines itself to the mng. 'be strong.' In the present
passage then the king holds his fief under God, and we gain a pregnant
climax: royalty, possession, might, honor. — i<Dpr^] In Nab. 'Vollmacht,'
Lidz., NE 387. 0 treats the last three nouns as adjectives to PstatXefav,
# NJDn as adj.; (S has five nouns, 1. apxfjv being doublet to paa. Zock.
eft. the identical terms in the doxology of the Lord's Prayer, Mt. 6";
ef. the similar ascription to the Son of Man below, 7^^.
38. The construction has given trouble since antiquity; e.g.,
the following varieties of interpretation: JDMich., '(et quae
sunt) in omni loco in quo habitant,' etc.; AV RVV 'and where-
soever the children of men dwell, the beasts, etc., he has given
into thy hand,' so apparently the punctuation of M, accepted
without comment by mod. Eng. comm.; Mein., 'alles, was da
lebt' {h^^ as ' Gesammtbegriff/ not as spatial), but ]"'^^<"I has
not the idea of abstract existence; JV, following the most com-
mon interpretation, after (^, 'wheresoever the children of men,
the beasts, etc., dwell, he hath given them into thy hand,' so
Behr., who, after Bert, and with Mar., recognizes an anacoluthon
here: "well dem Verfasser schon am Anfang des V. "ItD^^n
vorschwebte." The difficulty of [b^]2 was early recognized by
^ H and Heb. mss, and Bert, suggests its elision. Following the
early testimony of (^ 0, we may omit initial 'and,' and read,
wheresoever dwell the childreit of men, along with 0, as continua-
tion of v. 37. The first item then is Neb.'s imperium over men,
wherever they are to be found, the second his empire over all
living things, the third is the summary, 'over them all has he
2^* 173
empowered thee.' As an alternative to this shght correction,
with some authority and interpretations, there is Torrey's sug-
gestion, Notes, I, 258, that pIST 'illustrates the use of the in-
definite 3d pers. pL' with subject unexpressed, and so the
phrase exactly = (g eV irdar) ttj oUov/xevrj. But the first con-
struction gives a better climax. The beasts of the field ( = Heb.
mtiTI HTI, e.g., Gen. 2^^, etc.), properly the wild animals, and
the equally heefowl of heaven (cf. Gen. i^"- ^°), are reminiscence
of Jer. 27^ = 28^^ where ' the wild beasts' are made to serve Neb.
The idea is hyperbolic, not absurd; Neb. as the type and crown
of Man has been invested by God with man's charter of do-
minion over all living creatures, Gen. i-^, Ps. 8. An ancient addi-
tion to (g, 'and the fishes of the sea,' glossed into most & mss (it
does not appear in the citation of our v. in Judt. ii''), is equally
not absurd in view of Gen. i, Ps. 8, against Mar. The dominion
of man over the wild life was strikingly exhibited in the sports
and menageries of the ancient monarchs, who even like Tiglath-
pileser I evinced their prowess over the monsters of the deep
(cf. Haupt, AJSL 23, 253 _^., OLZ 1907, 263). Cf. the satire in
Bar. 3^^, 'Where are the rulers of the nations and those who
lorded it over the beasts of the earth, those who played with
the fowl of heaven?' Also the royal menageries {e.g., the lions'
den, c. 6) were symbolical of the monarch's world-power. With
pertinence dEnv, cites Ass. inscriptions detailing the tributes
of wild and strange beasts and recalls the bas-reliefs depicting
them.i In general, it is not necessary to explain away the ex-
travagance of Dan.'s attribution of universal dominion to Neb.
DEnv. makes a correct archaeological point that the Ass. kings
claimed such imperium; he cites the title 'king of the four
quarters,' and passages like that in the Taylor Prism, col. 12-13,
'Asshur has elevated my soldiers over every habitation in the
regions.' But it is equally unnecessary to be as serious as dEnv.
in his claim that Neb. "could regard himself suzerain of the
emperors of China" (ii, i, p. 167), or "of the lands in the north
of Europe" (p. 169). It is sufficient to note that this universal
sovereignty is attributed to Neb. in Jer. 27^, and is assumed in
Cyrus' edict, Ezr. i-.
' For the royal hunts and menageries of the Ass. kings s. Meissner, 'Assyrische
Jagden' in D. alte Orient, 13, pt. 2 (191 1), and, more summarily, in his Bab. u. Ass., i,
73 If-', for the similar amusements of the Pers. monarchs, s. Rawlinson, SGM 'The
Fifth Monarchy,' c. 3, the classical rcff. in notes 439 #.
174 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
38. Soai] ($ 0 om., conj., 0 construing with v.". — n Sdj] (6 para-
phrases, 'in all the world (o!/.ouiJLeV|n) of (ano, i.e., ^i2 asp?) men
and wild beasts, etc., he has given under thy hands to rule all'; 0 ev
icavxl Toiry; #B as n ""O (= Ken. i8o 651), & rdg. n nn« voy and TS a
broken construction, et omnia in quibiis habitant filii hominum et (& also
a conj.) besiiae agri iiolucres quoque coeli dedit in manu tua. iH appar.
construes n;:'jj< . . S^ji as a sentence. For the phrase cf. Jos. i' (cf.
v.^'), = Targ. inN S33, Pr. 17^; it may be a Hebraism. — jnNi] Kt.,
nil Kr.] So generally exc. N^cxp Kt. and Kr. 7^^; cf. Kau., §45, 3, i,
§11, I, and Kamp. Nold. in his review of Kau. eft. the Arab, represen-
tation of y with hanizah. In Sachau's papp. I find for parallels only
pD^s and pp. — N^Da*] (5+ 'and the fishes of the sea,' which has in-
truded into 0 texts exc. B Q Or^ 229 h'^*. — yjStt'n] 0 xaTlaxTjas ae;
Aq. (Q&Smg) B have lost as by haplog. — Nin h.-ijn] For the copulative
use of Nin s. Kau., §87, Nold., SG §311. — nc'N-i] 5MSS Ken. properly
N^Ni. There is no reason with some comm. to read ^''^^'^. — N3m]
CBMich. eft. the obscure namn used of Babylon Is. 14^ by Jewish tra-
dition 'golden city' {cf. JV), and Jer. 51', where Babylon is a golden
chalice in the Lord's hand; but the coincidences are accidental.
39. After thee [lit. in thy place] shall stand another kingdom
lower than thou. The traditional interpretation, e.g., VSS, EW,
of the vb. is 'shall rise up'; but the same vb. in v.^*, used with
the eternal Kingdom, is universally translated 'shall stand,' and
this mng. is preferable throughout; there is nothing mobile in
the scene. The expected designation ' of silver ' is added by Or<^
Lu. and in mss. of U exc. Cod. Amiatinus; the author instead
has used the term 'lower than thou.' The expression 'lower
than thou,' EVV 'inferior to thee,' signifies a lower degree of
dignity, etc. ; but the epithet is not to be confined to the Second
Kingdom, for each one of the Kingdoms is equally lower than its
predecessor. Hence it is beside the point to argue why this com-
parison is made here particularly : whether it is a moral inferior-
ity (Zock.), or lack of unity (Keil), or of ecumenicity (Klief.),
all which views are impossible historically on the hypothesis
that the Second Kingdom is Persia. Bev.'s explanation that ','of
the Median empire next to nothing was known in the time of
the author" is the most plausible. But the degradation in-
creases with each kingdom one 'below' the other.
39. lina] So the later Aram, spelling of the prep., = -iPK-f- 3; in 7*- "
i35 is uncertain between in3 and nnxa. The prep, is not found in the
2^° 175
papyri. For its meaning 'in place (track) of,' so actually here, not
'after,' s. at v.''. — 'I™] With an ancient fern, ending ^ < aj/ ; for such
forms cj. Nold., MG §124 and p. 154; SG §83; and for Arab, nouns in
-ay Wright, Gr. i, p. 179, also 'uhra{y), our very form. In Heb. cf. niy
= mtr 'Sarah.' (S om. HXXr) by hapl. with eXa-cTwv; as a marginal gloss
it has slipped into v.". — njjiN Kt., >'"!*?; Kr.] Kt. is right historically;
the form is an old ace. in -a, to be accented on the penult, used adver-
bially. Cf. ii^V 6', and n'^3 v." (q.v.). These cases correct Kau.'s denial
of such forms in BAram., §49. For Heb. s. GK §90, 2. The l^r. may
be influenced by the later i!'\. Ra., AEz. take the word as adj., =
^r^f, and so Bert., Behr., al. Buxt. appears to have been the first to
recognize it as an adv., s. Lex. s.v., 'inferius infra te,' the explanation of
the adverbial form being first given by Hav. — nti^'Sp Kt., nNn>Sn Kr.]
See Kau., §11, i, b. The change of ■> to n induced change of n to n . —
nnN 2°] Redundant, = 'yet another'; cf. 7^; 0 om.
40. The V. is difficult with its redundancy, which is surprising
in this compact narrative. It may be translated: And a fourth
kingdom [so correctly the Grr., EVV erroneously 'the fourth']
there shall be, strong as iron, according as iron crushes and smashes
wholly ; and like iron which breaks, all these things will it crush
and break (so with Torrey, disregarding m's punctuation, fol-
lowed by EVV). But the VSS all offer shorter forms of text:
(H, discounting the Hexaplaric plusses, omits 'like iron' 1°, 'and
smashes,' and 'like iron which breaks.' ® also om. the last-
named clause, rdg. simply oyrco? 'so' (= j^?). Despite the
Hexaplaric amendments, which restore the triple 'iron,' the
quantum of (g has not been brought up to ^. With 0 agree
^ H, although this agreement does not necessarily add weight.
Or^ restores 'the iron' 3°, not the following 'which breaks.'
The critical presumption against ' like the iron which breaks ' is
accordingly strong, and while Torrey, Notes, I, 258, has done
the best to save the whole v. by his repunctuation, he has not
made its rhetoric much more sensible. It is best with Mar.
(text — in comm. he suggests that the orig. ended with 'wholly'),
Lohr, Jahn, Cha., to omit these words; read then for the final
sentence: and all these things will it crush and break. Kamp.
erroneously argues against Mar. that (^ read the words omitted.
Cha. also would omit 'all these things' (j"»^X ^3) as 'not found
in 0 H g>'; but '^n = 0 iravra^ while the eldest witness (g has
irav hevhpov, which is simply a misreading of 1^ as ]^''« h'2.
176 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
40. Wn] Used in later Aram, of the smith's hammer (correct Behr.
here!), so JDMich., Supplemenlum. no. 876; JV 'beateth down,' AV
RW 'subdueth' = U domat. — ^?-'] For explanation of the mil' el ac-
cent as indicating primarily an adverbial form (so always where nSs
occurs, 4' ^*- ^^ Ezr. 5^ and frequently in the papyri), s. the writer's
article, 'Adverbial kulla in Biblical Aramaic and Hebrew,' JAOS 43,
391.— W."JP] See Kau., §39 for the Mass. principle in the heightened a,
cj. ^"^P v.^*. The variation of stem is a further proof of the secondary
character of this clause. — '>'^^\ <tirro', s. Kau., §46, 3, a. — At end of
v. (6 + X. aeiffOTjaeirat xaaa -f) ytj. Cha. accepts 'the whole earth,' rdg.,
'so shall it break in pieces and crush the whole earth,' and eft. 7^',
Nyis h^ Saxni, also of the Fourth Kingdom; similarly Jahn. Blud. sug-
gests, p. 63, that the plus represents original n>'i>< P"^^. But actually
the clause is composed of two glosses on words ignored by orig. (g;
aetaO-rjjsxat = yvnn, read as cvin, which rt. = ceUiv in O.T.; i) yii =
y^^1, read as yivs; Tcaaa may be reminiscence of 7^.
41-44, As in v^°, so here is an unnecessary repetition of
phrases, and to a greater extent. The idea of the 'mixture' of
the two elements is fully insisted on in v.", being reinforced in
v^i^. It is taken up again in v.^ with specific reference to the
'toes of the feet,' while the first sentence of v.^^ repeats v.*^*'.
Jahn and Lohr have noticed this insipid repetitiousness. The
former recognizes w.^^- ■*' as a doublet: they "scheinen mir von
spaterer Ausdeutung des Bildes ausgegangen zu sein. Von Zehen
war bei der urspriinglichen Schilderung des Bildes keine Rede;
sie sind eingesetzt, um Eisen und Ton besser zu teilen zu konnen.
Von v.^- sind die Zehen auch in v.*^ eingedrungen." Lohr regards
HH pDlf i<1, v.*S and w.^^. 43^ ^g < probable additions ' (at which
view Torrey, Notes, I, 259, n. 2, exclaims). As to 'and the toes,'
v.", he and Jahn might have claimed the authority of orig. (g,
which ignores it. With these critics the writer agrees as to v.''^;
it is a thoroughgoing doublet to v."; n.b., xna^J |D|| nS'^pH,
nH'^^fi II n"l''3ri. The item of the toes suggested itself as an
extra satirical touch, and from this v. 'and the toes' in-
truded into v.^^ Further, the first sentence in v.*^ is identical
with the last sentence in v.^^, viz., ' (because) that thou sawest
the iron mixed with the tile-work of clay.' It looks as if after
the insertion of v.^ the construction of the period was taken
up again by the repetition of v.^^''. Omit then ' and the toes ' in
Y.*^^ and read on from v.^^'', According as thou sawest the iron
241-44 j^y
mixed with the tile-work of day, v/^^, they shall be mingling them-
selves in human seed, etc. Further, Mar.,Lohr regard SJ^tO [f]Dn]
EW 'miry [clay],' vv/'- *^ as secondary on basis of its
omission by 0; but (| has it in both cases, rw Trr^Xivcp oarpaKO)^
and it is to be observed that 0 with equal arbitrariness omitted
nnS n [ClDPl] 'potter's,' v.^^ The KJ'^D has its rhetorical point;
in last analysis that potter's work is but mud; for a similar
ironic resolution cf. Is. y^- ®. In the secondary v.^^ a new mo-
ment is added to v^^, in the distinction of two parts of the king-
dom, one strong, the other 'brittle' (so with marg. of AV RW,
rather than the usual 'broken'); these two parts would presum-
ably be the Ptolemaic and Seleucide empires. This interpreta-
tion is then reflected back by comm. {e.g., Dr.) to v.*^, and such
a division read into it. But in v.^^ the word usually translated
'divided' (ni'^^fi, s. Note) means rather 'diverse, composite,'
and this is borne out by what follows: it [the whole] will have
some [partake] of the strength [stockiness] of iron. Also in v.^^ the
prima facie interpretation of the opening words is : and the toes
of the feet — some of them iron, and some of them tiling, a very
strained item, hardly agreeing with v.'', although this distinc-
tion among the toes has been accepted by a number of comm.,
s. Note at end of chap. This fact is obscured in EW by ' the
toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay.' The same
trouble was then introduced into v.*^ by the interpolation of
'and the toes,' and indeed Sa. definitely tr. there accordingly:
'some of the members of it shall be clay, some of them iron.'
Altogether ' the toes ' have complicated both figure and diction.
43. The subject of the participial vbs. in v.'' is attributed by
most comm. to ' these kings,' v.'**, by prolepsis, and the subject-
matter found in the intermarriages of the Seleucides and Ptole-
mies. For this question reference is made to Note at end of the
chap., where, it is argued, after Jewish comm. and Keil, that the
mingling of races is intended. The implied subject in such a
participial construction is of course impersonal. 44. These kings :
hardly a succession of monarchs or kingdoms but a contempo-
raneous number of regimes. There is no practical difference be-
tween a 'kingdom' and its 'king,' for the latter is the symbol
and incarnation of the former; the practical identity of the two
nouns is obvious in the text and VSS of c. ii. We may agree
with Dalman, Worte Jesu, 75 _ff., that in the O.T. (Dalm. adds,
12
178 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
in the Jewish Uterature in general) ri^^D is a 'sovereignty'
(' Konigsregiment '), never ' kingdom ' (' Konigreich '). However,
the Last Kingdom replaces the first Four in the dream, and is,
in the idea of the scene, spatially bound as are its predecessors;
the Mountain fills the whole earth, is not a spiritual Kingdom
of Heaven. Since the early VSS, as well as in the tradition of
l!|, uncertainty has existed whether there should be read 'the
kingdom [to another people shall not be left],' so AV JV; or,
'the sovereignty thereof,' so GV RW Dr. (AVmg, 'the king-
dom thereof) after B, which is based on the actual Kethib, but
against M- In the latter case the pron. might refer to 'a king-
dom' as antecedent, producing the awkward combination, 'the
kingdom's kingdom' (Keil), or better to 'God,' i.e., 'his king-
dom'; but M is best with the abstract 'the kingdom,' i.e., 'sov-
ereignty.'
41. n i°] For similar construction in Syr. s. Nold., SG §366, C. —
Nn;7axNi] Orig. 05 cm.; s. Comm. — jinja bis] For partitive use of 10 f/.
BDB 580b, and for Syr. Nold., SG §249, C. Here not 'some of them,'
etc., as I Ch. 9^^ but 'one part of them . . . another part,' correctly
interpreted by pxp 1:3 v.*-. — "^i??] For treatment as 710m. opificum and
vocalization s. Kau., §59, i, d. (6 for 'd n 5cepctiJ.c/.oO; 0 om.; Or? evi-
dently xspafxewi;. The word is universally taken as 'potter'; cf. Heb.
nx>n ion, 'potter's clay,' for the fabric '"ti iSd. But the syntax of n
with two indefinite nouns requires th^t 'o refer to the stuff, cf. 2r[-\ n
v.'-, else why not Nins fiDn as in Heb.? Accordingly I am inclined to
regard 'fl as potter's 'clay,' comparing fahhdr, equally 'potter' (ace.
to Nold., MG p. 120, n. 2 of Aram, formation and origin), and potter's
'vlay,' e.^., Koran, 55, 13; and so (^ under tood the word. — i|'s order
'clay, iron' is supported by(S 0, reversed by Lu. = order in v.^; cf. at
v.^''. — nji'^fl] Following Buxt., citing Rabb. use, Klief., Ehr. correctly
remarks: "'fl heisst nicht geteilt oder zerstiickelt, sondern ... in
seinen Teilen verschieden." — ninn] So only here, v.", 4^*, otherwise
Ninn. — Nnasj] In usual Aram, use 'plant, shoot,' and so 0 ptXT)<; = &,
Aq., Sym. ipuTou = U plantario. But rather with comm. the word =
'strength' (e.g., AEz. ns ), or better 'firmness,' Dr., JV. Cf. Eng. 'stick,
stock' > 'stocky,' etc. The prec. ]d is partitive, 'some of the firmness,'
Kran., Behr. — N'J''t3] Cf. Heb. ta^ta and s. GB suh !3''a for discussion of
derivations; n.h. Haupt, JBL 26, 32: "Heb. U''t3 = Assyr. tltu stands
for tintu with partial assimilation of the fem. n as in Syr. nob'^ archer
for NniT'p." Bert re ards 'q ion as pleonasm, eft. i^n a^a Ps. 40'; Kon.,
Hwb. s.v. non, as a superlative expression; Torrey, Notes, I, 259,
2^^ 179
an 'an inferior, miry sort of day'; for a different interpretation s.
Comm. — 42. nsp p] The same noun in Heb., i-, but here with differ-
ent partitive mng., 'in part'; Schwally, cited in GB, draws attention
to NHeb. nxpc, 'partly,' Jastr., p. 832.— n^iin] Correctly AV RVV
'brittle,' c/. mng. of rir-'D v.".— 43. n 1° Kt., ■'■^i^^r.] Kt. = 0 (also
Iren.). ^^ 5(-at 2°, a gloss intended to precede oux eaovrat. — 3i;'C,
|''2-i>'.i2] Hitz. notes the nice difference between the two stems: "Sie
sind durch auss re Macht zusammengefugt, aber sie selbst verbinden
sich nicht mit ein nder"; similarly in Syr., Nold., SG §278, A. — ;""\t3
KZ'in] (S interprctatively, dq yiveaiv dvepwicwv. Cf. Jer. 31^*, 'I will
sow .he house of Israel . . . with seed of man and seed of beast,' i.e.,
by natural generation; here, ace. to Klief., et al., in contrast with divine
action. — "'"'.?~^'1, Bar '"'? ^^] = Palm, n T'n; recognized as one word
by th,^ VSS, and a case of false Mass. division, cf. Sap S3, v.'; for origin
s. Lex.x. & as prep., n'^?-id i^n. — 44. X''3':'S] = (S 0 &; OrC paotXetcLv =
B. — pjN] As adjectival only here. — Sann.-i] = 6", 7'*; primarily of
inner corruption. — '^^i^Sc] Many mss n — , so (S aux-r) •?) ^aa. = S>; 0
read as •^T — (= 3 mss nin — ), so Iren., B. Keil prefers ^^- — , and so
Lattey argues, Biblica, 4, 91/. — p3n;:'n] <S i&oT) = p2Z'r. — H?"'] For the
vocalization s. Kau., §45, p. 74; Powell, p. 40. The rt. in Aram, as in
Heb. = 'come to an end.' But 0 Xtxp-Tjaei = Iren. uentilabit, 'will
winnow'; correctly Plav., "er dachte wohl an das Heb. derivatum nmo
der Sturm." The same vb. appears in Jesus' reminiscence of this pas-
sage, Mt. 21" = Lu. 20^': b xsawv erl xhv Xi'Oov toutov auv6Xota6T;ij£-:3i-
£9' ov S' (2v TCtrn XixpiTjae; a'jT6v ('this stone' refers to Jesus' previous
citation of Ps. 118"). The doubt concerning the mng. of Xtxyiav
there (s. N.T. Lexx., e.g., Preuschen actually forging a new mng.,
'zermalmen,' followed by Deissmann, Bible Studies, 225) collapses;
the passage is a verbal citation, and that of a 'Theodotionic' transla-
tion; s. Int., §13. — r^a] Gin., Kit.; Bar jSn, also 6'; this pi. form only
in Dan., not in the papyri. 0 om. (5 om. prec. S3.
45a. The seer concludes his climax of the Eternal Kingdom
which is to destroy ' all these kingdoms ' by recurring to its sym-
bol, the Stone: Just as thou sawest that a stone was hewn from the
mountain without hands ; and he gathers up all the elements of
the vision in his miniature of the final catastrophe, how it
crushed the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold. Here
the interpretation ends, v.'' being the asseveration of the truth
of the whole vision. The relation of v." with v.^^ appears clearly
in the Greek translations, but is ignored by the unfortunate
Mass. verse-division, followed by the punctuation of the B edd.,
and by the EVV. The true relation was recognized by GV, fol-
l8o A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
lowed by CBMich., et al., and all recent comm. exc. dEnv.,
Knab., Dr., Cha. In this v. we learn for the first time of the
origin of the quarried Stone, it was hewn out of the mountain
(generic, mountain mass), an item which is to be taken, with
Behr., as 'eine Ausmalung des Bildes,' unless indeed it is to be
rejected, with Kamp., as an early intrusion, for the Stone itself
becomes a great mountain filling the whole earth.
A5b is the signature to the revelation; Dan. has delivered
God's interpretation, not his own; therefore the dream and its
explication are true and reliable, in contrast to ' the lying word '
the king feared from the mouth of the adepts, v.^. For such con-
firmations of visions cf. below 8^^, ii^, 12^, and the example was
followed by later apocalyptic writings, e.g., Rev. 19^, 21^, 22*.
45. mtjnx] But v.^^ 'jnn. In the reflexive formations with / in
BAram. cases with hit predominate over those with 'z7; s. Powell, p. 15,
for the statistics. There are almost no exx. in OAram. inscriptions
{n.b. UNjnn in the Zenjirli Building Inscr.); in Sachau's papyri only-
two cases, vxans, pinrN. Ace. to Kau., §23, i, Anm., 'it, with Arab.,
is original in Aram., and the cases with hit are to be regarded as Hebra-
isms; also s. Brock., VG 1, p. 531. — l|'s order 'iron, brass, clay,' etc. = &,
other VSS 'clay, iron, brass'; cf. the orders above, vv.'^"-. Was nddh
supplementary and inserted carelessly? — 31 hSn] Exactly, * Great God,'
so Grr., b dehq i^i^aq = EW, Kran., Keil, dEnv., Mein., Pr., Jahn;
cf. Heb. ainSx, Aram. ]>^'''\p pn?x 4^, etc., 'holy Deity,' also Ps. 48',
31 iSd = Miyxc, BxsCksdq of the Pers. kings; v. sup. at v.". The argu-
ment of Behr., al., for the indefinite 'a great god,' is hardly seemly to
Dan.'s unswerving religion. In Ezr. 5' the articulated n'3t nhSn. — I?'"!!?]
Pass. ppl. of Haf.; an orig. formation with ha-, which survives in Syr.
in this vb.; for other survivals in Aram, dialects s. Brock., VG i, p. 525;
it is hardly a borrowing from Heb. (Bev.), as nhudti appears in the
Atikar papyri. Bert. eft. Ecclus. 46'* Tziaxhq ipiasox; = BSira, hnii jsnj
(of Samuel); 48^ xtaxb? ev 6p4asc = iJVina jDNjn (of Isaiah). Correctly,
as with gerundive mng., Grr. xtax-Q.
46-49. Neb. honors Dan. and his God, and prefers Dan. and
the Three Friends. There can be no question but that Neb. in-
tended divine honors to Dan. in the true spirit of Paganism.
The first critic of our book. Porphyry, took exception to this
datum, as Jer. cites here; the latter rejoins with reference to the
worship done to Paul and Barnabas at Lycaonia. But, at v.^^,
Jer. cites a parallel instance from Jos., AJ xi, 8, 5, how when
24^-47 l8l
Alexander approached Jerusalem and the high priest came out
to meet him invested with the pontifical robes and the golden
plate on which was engraved the name of God, the conqueror
'worshipped the Name/ and then greeted the high priest. This
bit of the Alexander saga may well have been known to our
writer, although he is not so careful in distinguishing between
the two phases of the monarch's reverence. Bert's view that
only civic honors were offered to Dan. (eft. the honors tendered
to Alexander on his entry into Babylon), is contradicted by
the sacrificial terms in which they are expressed; cf. (g and &,
but Aq. and Sym. avoided the technical mng. of minhah.
Comm. generally dismiss this evasion of interpretation. Others
suppose that Dan. must have, implicitly, deprecated the di-
vine honors, so CBMich., Knab., after earher comm. Truer to
the story is Klief.'s view of Dan.'s 'das heidnische Verfahren
passiv gewahren lassen.' Best Bevan: "We need not stop to
inquire whether a strict monotheist would suffer himself to be
thus worshipped, for the whole description is ideal — Neb. at the
feet of Dan. represents the Gentile power humbled before Israel
{cf. Is. 49^^, 60")." Jer. is right in substance: "Non tam Da-
nielem quam in Daniele adorat Deum"; which is inspired by
Josephus' report of Alexander's reply to Parmenio, who twitted
him for adoring the high priest of the Jews: "I did not adore
him but the God who hath honored him with his priesthood."
47. The king's confession of Dan.'s God as God of gods (s. Note)
and Lord of kings, is the real climax of the story. Given the
story, there is no reason for cavil at the Pagan king's confession,
for a polytheist can always take on new gods, the monotheist
never.
46. •'niDJX Sj?] The noun, also in the papp., is a dual, cf. Nold., GGA
1884, 1019, against Kau., §55, 4. (S + xa[j.a^ an exegetical plus. —
ijd] Chap. 3 of worship of gods; in APO pap. 32, 1. 3, n-ijdd = the
deified place of worship ( = Arab, masjid ' mosque ') ; but 'D is used of
prostration before a man in the papyri, viz. of Ahikar before Esarhad-
don, pap. 47, 1. 13, so that the contention (e.g., by Dr., who cfi. Targ.
use) that the vb. does not imply a divine object is correct. — nnjn] The
word is used in the papyri (APO papp. i. 3) of (bloodless) sacrifice at
the Jewish temple at Elephantine. — pnn'-j] As here by itself Ezr. 6'°;
in Heb. always nhu nn = AV 'sweet savour,' i.e., of incense. For
these two terms (& Oucfa? x. aiuovSii;, 0 [xavaa (so the most MSS, vs. B
l82 A COMl^IENTARY ON DANIEL
al. iiavvot, but in Gr. O.T. B generally prefers former) xal eutoSfac; (al.
euwSiov); ace. to (gsmg Aq. Swpa (better as more literal 36^8 Swpov),
euwSfaq; Sym., Bwpa xotl Oprjaxefa?. 'Gift' for 'D is an evasion. —
njDjS] Prop, 'libate' (JDMich) = 0 axsiaott, (B xot^aott (< axsljoti?);
so <8 Job 42* the former = nS;? Hif. Both liquid and incense offerings
were poured or dropped. 'J may be epexegetical to 'd, and the phrase
have been current. For the frequency in Bab. rites of bloodless offer-
ings, with terms corresponding to the present ones, s. KA T 595/., 599/.
For Pers. custom of offering sacrifices to kings as representatives of
Ormuzd s. Curtius, viii, 5. — 47. a-z'p p] Cf. a''X> jn v.^ — pnSx nSx
paSn Nim] Correctly RV JV ' God of gods and Lord of lords,' vs. AV 'a
God ... a Lord,' etc., which is preferred by Cha. Translation must
depend upon the idiom of the language. In Sem. such a combination
as 'god of gods' is notoriously superlative, = 'most divine'; cf. 'age of
the ages,' 7^', i.e., all eternity, and for Heb. the identical expression as
here, e.g., 10", also 'holy of holies,' etc. The construction can be used
without determination, e.g., d-iSn Sn, 11=^, onay nay 'most slavish,'
Gen. g^^; s. GK §133, i; anglice, 'God among gods.' N.h., ans' -\z' 8^
For ^sSd nid cf. Heb. D^nKn >jnN, Dt. 10". For the Pers. equivalent
V. sup. at V.''. The clause is literally rendered by <8 ©; but OrC (A Q al.)
+ [Osoi; Oswv X. xupto?] xwv xup{(i)v x. ^aatXsui; [twv ^a?.], = (& 4'*
and a reminiscence of the Christ's title. Rev. 19'*. Cf. Enoch 9^ 'Lord
of lords, God of gods. King of kings, and God of the ages,' and a similar
phrase in i Tim. 6'^ — nic] Gin., Str. (ed. 5), Kit.; Bar, Kamp. (with-
out notice of variant) mc; the former approved by all Aram, spelling;
the latter induced by the parallel nSj (Behr.).
48. 49. There is an historical problem here, as to which Por-
phyry was the first to inquire, cynically, why the good Jew Dan.
did not refuse the Pagan king's honors; Jer. pertinently replies
by citing the instances of Joseph and Mordecai. It cannot be
denied that in the matter of political preference a stranger
might receive the highest honors from an Oriental despot. As
to Dan.'s civic position we know of such provinces as Babel,
Sippar, etc., governed by a prefect, Mkkanaku, s. Meissner,
Bab. u. Ass., i, 121; in the Pers. period the term would have
meant the whole of Mesopotamia, s. Meyer, GA 3, i, §29; for
the Greek period the subdivisions were smaller, the Seleucide
empire containing 72 provinces ace. to App., De reb. syr., 62, and
s. at 6^^ The point of Dan.'s primacy over 'all the wise men of
> S. Torrey's interesting discussion, Notes, I, 259, and now at length 'Medina and
Polis,' Harv. Theol. Ren., Oct., IQ23, on the question when nria 'province' passed
into the mng. 'city.' 0's translation here by x^?* stands correctly for the earlier
use, as also (S, ' over the business of Babylonia.'
24«-^9 183
Babylon' has been stressed by those who deny the historical
character of Dan., at least since vLeng. {q.v. on 2^). That comm.
presents the argument from the closed character of the Magian
caste as known from Classical sources (cf. more fully Rawlin-
son, SGM The Third Monarchy, c. 3), while if the Bab. circum-
stances are to be insisted upon, the equally sacerdotal and highly
technical status of the Bab. religious castes constitutes an equally
insurmountable historical objection. See, e.g., Jastrow, Civiliza-
tion of Bab. ajid Ass., c. 5, esp. pp. 271^.; KAT sSgff. Further,
Dan. cannot be conceived of as primate over their superstitious
rites. The most extensive apology for this feature of the story
appears in dEnv., pp. 182-191. In controversion of such an
argument, 4^ bluntly entitles Dan. 'chief of the magicians,'
S*'!2l2"in 21- But if the historical truth of the story must be
dismissed, the problem that remains is how the Jewish story-
teller could conceive of his hero functioning in so ambiguous
a position. However, we possess sufficient parallels for this
self -stultifying view in contemporary Jewish literature; e.g.,
the early Jewish midrashists Eupolemus and Artapanus, as well
as the exuberant midrashic material presented by Jos., espe-
cially in his C. A p., in which literature the fathers, Abraham,
Moses, etc., not only appear as the first wise men but even as
the founders of heathen cults.- The Biblical narrator is by no
means guilty of the extravagances of those writers, but inno-
cently accepts a common theme of hagiology without pursuing
or even recognizing its ultimate absurdity. The theme has its
actual Biblical precedent in the example of Joseph, who married
a daughter of the high priest of Heliopolis, and who according
to later story became 'an adept in all the wisdom of the Egv-p-
tians,' Acts 7--.
A minor problem is the question of the relation of Dan. and
his three friends and their respective offices. This is relieved by
recognition of the final sentence as a nominal clause, Dan. being
in the King's Gate (s. Note), and of the mng. of the latter phrase
as the royal chancellery. He was in the cabinet, while his friends
were subordinate officers in their several bailiwicks. More seri-
ous is the question whether v.^^ is redactional to prepare for c. 3 ;
so Hitz., Barton (JBL 1898, 62 /.), Jahn, Lohr (dubiously),
while the hypothesis is denied by Mar. If the v. be a subse-
' See Schiirer, GJV 3, 468 Jf., and for convenient presentation of the less-known
texts, Steams, Fragments Jrom Grmco-J ewish Writings, Chicago, 1908.
184 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
quent redactional joint with a view to c. 3, it is clumsy enough,
for it should have informed us why Dan. was absent from that
scene. There is good reason, indeed, to hold that c. 3 is based
on an independent story (s. Int., §21, c), but the composer of
cc. 1-6 has cleverly led up to it by introducing the heroes of
that scene as Dan.'s comrades and worthy in the development
of the present story to share in his honors.
48. l?!^"^] For the reduplicated stem, used only in the pi., s. Kau.,
§59, 4; the development into mng. 'magnates,' e.g., 4'', as in Syr. —
nanc] Primarily a judicial district. II as pL, onincs provincias, so iMS
de R.; Gr.ve^. (^ renders 's S3 by xpiytiaxa, from v.".— na?-^;!] For the
appar. zeugmatic use cf. ]r:■<^ 1^. nnn hy may have been a nominal
phrase, cf, Ninj nay 'Transpotamia,' xipctv xou 'lopSdvou = Ylepciioc;
also the Gr. ol i%\ l^ouatwv, 3-^, etc., and n.b. the title of Mazdai, ap-
pearing in coins of Tarsus (G. F. Hill, Catalogue of Greek Coins of Ly-
caonia, etc., 170/.), snnj lay hy n nro. — pjja 2-\] 'Chief prefect'; for
'D s. Lexx.; originally of civil ofEcers, but later of Jewish temple adju-
tants, e.g., 7\WT:n po Jer. 52=* = Targ. N'jhd po, s. Buxtorf, Lex. s.v.;
also of a novice in the Mandaan clergy. © Sym. have been misled by
the usual use of the word and tr. by 'satraps,' 'generals,' and so &. — 49.
ijm . . . N>'a] Hardly a peculiar idiom, with Mar., Gr. §130, c; for
the purpose is expressed in terms of result, cf. Ps. 21 ^ — NnT>3j;] 'Ser-
vice,' as in our 'public, civil service,' = 'administration,' = Heb.
hdnSd. Hav. cfl. use of Arab, 'amila and its derivatives. Cf. xbv i%\
Twv xpaytitixwv 2 Mac. 3', etc.; so also a Pergamon inscr.. Holm,
Griech. Gesch., iv, 167. — uj nayi] 01 © asyndeton. — xaSa^Jina] Cor-
rectly the Grr., (& iv xfj PotatXr/.fi aCiX^, 0 Iv xfj otuA^ -uoO '^aaCki^c,; and
AEz. notes that it was a high position, for there sat the judges, etc.,
as he had observed in regard to Mordecai's position ace. to Est. 3^
iSnn -\yv2. Accordingly, it is strange indeed that this frequent term in
Est. (6 times) is abused by the comm., Paton et al., as though, e.g., the
royal gate was M.'s 'favorite haunt,' as 'a man of leisure,' or that he
was a money-changer who had placed his table there (Haupt). Bert,
and others think of the office of the palace prefect. But as early as one of
Pole's authorities, and then by Schultens, Animad., 311, and others, it
was recognized that 'gate' is a common Oriental term for royal offices,
chancellery; cf. Arab, bdb, Turkish 'Sublime Porte.' Hav. eft. the
identical terminology in Gr. for the Pers. usage, al 'kuXcxi (e.g., Her.,
iii, 120) and al Oupat (Xen., Cyrop., viii, i, 6); cf. also Appian, Syr., 145,
ol xipl t9)v txu'kriy. The same use is now found in the papp., APO pap.
52, 1. 13, of Ahikar, the king's prime minister, 'whom I established in
the gate of the palace.' Cf. 'stand in the royal palace,' iS
CHAPTER 2, NOTE ON INTERPRETATION 1 85
NOTE ON THE SYMBOLISM OF THE IMAGE AND ITS
INTERPRETATION.
For argument for the identification of the Four Kingdoms here and in
the Visions with Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece, s. Int., §19, c. That the
Stories were an earlier production than the Visions does not militate against
this common identification throughout the present bk. With the Diadochi,
especially under the Syrian empire, the essential rottenness of the Fourth
Kingdom was evident to spiritual eyesight even in the 3d century.
Apart from a striking sentence in Dr., p. 17, commentators and writers
on the history of Hebrew literature have in general hardly done justice to
the grandly conceived and artistic symbolism of the Image. On the one
hand, apologists have been too much concerned to appropriate it as a pro-
phetic chart of the destinies of the world and to seek in every detail reve-
lation and exact fulfilment. On the other hand, the 'higher critics' have
been engrossed in countering their opponents, and too often, in their zeal
to prove the errors or the inauthenticity of the book, have insisted on its
literary characteristic as of has age and in so far inferior to the productions
of the classical, i.e., Prophetic literature. If lineaments of 'lower age' are
evident in this conception, yet its simplicity, its magnificence of proportion,
its originality, deserve their right valuation. ^
The originality of the 'vision' is not diminished by its evident reminis-
cences of the story of Joseph.^ The setting of the stage is indeed the same:
the Pagan king's dream which defies the arts of his Pagan wise men; the
interpretation vouchsafed by the one God through a sage saint; the result
of the interpretation, the royal recognition of the true God and the honoring
of his servants who have relieved the royal anxiety. But unless we are to
fault every epic and every drama for imitative dependence upon classic
predecessors, the writer agrees fully with Behr.'s assertion: "Von einer Nach-
bildung der Josephgeschichte kann weder hier noch sonst die Rede sein, wenn
auch der mit derselben wohlbekannte Verfasser begreiflicher Weise unwill-
kiirlich an dieselbe erinnert." ^ There is also the identical humanity in both
stories: here as there the revelation 'to save much Hfe'; here as there the
humility and courtesy of the interpreter, as also the high-minded confession
by the royal despot of the truth of the revelation, accompanied with his
'This against Meyer's opinion, Ursprung, 2, 186, that in the Daniel stories
"grosseren poetischen Werth hat nur die Geschichte von Belsazar."
^ For literary reminiscences cj. v.' with Gen. 41*; vv.^- '- with Gen. v.', cf. v.^'; v.'"
with Gen. 40', 41'°.
' Discussion of this subject is in place when we note vLeng.'s sharply contrasted
opinion, p. 35: "Die ganze Erziihlung von dem Traum und dessen Deutung [ist]
sowohl in Ansehen der ganzen Anlagc als in einzelnen Ausdriicken, der Erzahlung
der Genesis (41) vom Traume des Pharao und dessen Deutung durch den Joseph
nachgeahmt."
1 86 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
munificence toward his God-sent benefactors. But such human themes be-
long to the humanity of the true Israel.
For the apparatus of the Pagan king's dream there is a common Biblical
background; not only in the Joseph story but equally elsewhere, in the
dreams of heathen magnates, Abimelech and Laban (Gen. 20', 31-^, and of
the Midianite soldier (Ju. 7"). It was a lower form of revelation, parallel to
the divine administration in Balaam's 'enchantments in the wilderness.'
This lower and always subsidiary character of the dream appears clearly in
the Biblical treatment of the modus operandi of revelation; and criticism of
the dream has its classic expression in Jer. 23 ^^ ^ •. That this story was influ-
enced by that common, cosmopolitan genre of literature (c/. the dreams of
royalty, s. Int. to this chap.) is not to its discredit. The story-telling art
included cosmopolitan Jewry among its clients.
In regard to the Image, or with JHMich., the Colossus, we discover, so
far as our literary sources go, an entirely original piece of symbolism^. It
differs from the symbols of the earlier literature, for these like the Lord's
parables are taken from nature or human society. For an historically parallel
allegory we may compare Ezekiel's symbolism of the great eagle and the
cedar of Lebanon, standing for Neb. and Israel, c. 17; but this, as also the
overdrawn parables of Oholah and Oholibah, c. 23, are drawn from natural
life. We may rather adduce the bizarre symbols of Zechariah, influenced,
as is commonly recognized, by the Babylonian culture and art. And equally
here is a conception drawn from the monuments of the ancient world. ^ The
fame of the Egyptian Colossi must have spread over the world. Herodotus
knew of a golden statue of Bel existing in his day twelve cubits high, and
the story must have left its impression on local tradition.* Even the di-
verse composition of the Image had its parallels in ancient art (v. sup.
atv.'^). The effulgence, zlw, of the Image was true to the colorful art of
the age.
The Image stands alone without scenery or background. Only subse-
quently, with more reflection, are we told that it was cut 'out of a mountain'
(s. at v.^0- I^ut naturalism is obvious in the collapse of the Image when
smitten on its shoddy feet. The grim grandeur required no more scenery
than did the torture of Prometheus with the solitary crag.
The conception of the figure is composed of two elements, to which the
poet-artist hews strictly. It is, first, the artificial figure of a human body;
^ I have not been able to find, upon inquiry, any similar figure in the Classical
literature. The nearest conception would be the Platonic comparison of the
different grades of society with the head, chest, abdomen, etc. The closest ap-
proach in literature is the monster created by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's
Frankenstein.
^ Bert, notes that this suggestion was made by Herder in his ' Persepolitanische
Briefe' (in Zur Philosophic u. Geschichle), no. 7, beginning.
'Her., i, 183. For this background in fact and fiction, s. Int. to c. 3 bearing on
Neb.'s Golden Image.
CHAPTER 2, NOTE ON INTERPRETATION 1 87
and, secondly, it is composed of a series of metals of decreasing value. The
metallic character of the Image deliberately stamps it as artificial and but
heightens the truth of the symbol. For it is the man-made and hand-made
construction of the kingdom of this world that the narrator would portray.
The figure stands there stiff and stark, the product of human law and
convention at their best and truest, but a lifeless creation. Over against
this appears the mobile, supernaturally moving stone, coming how and
whence none knows, which, as is true of the cosmic forces, crumples up that
proud and complacent work of human art. The stone itself remains within
the sphere of the inorganic, and so far is dramatically true. That is a drama
of a different picture in c. 7 with the Beasts and the Man; but the stone is
as pertinent here as the Man there.'
Both these ideas, that of the human figure with its members and that of
the series of metals, must be taken in their naturalness and simplicity. It is
in offence to true interpretation that most commentators have carried the
exegesis off into all kinds of mare's nests. Hence, for instance, we may not
make too much of the hierarchy of the succeeding members; for naturally
each of the members is successively 'lower,' the corresponding metal then
indicating its actual quality. But commentators have pursued the details
of the figure to the finest extreme, even lugging in the modern science of
anatomy. For example, when we come to the legs, some of the commentators
have found in them an added expression of the characteristic 'divided,' v."
(q.v.), of that Kingdom. CBMich. and others have discovered here the
division of the Roman empire into East and West, and what-not else; and
Cocceius, to bring the figure down to date, finds the distinction between the
ecclesiastical and the civil power of the Holy Roman Empire. Zock. puts it
mildly when he says, "The dual number of the legs is evidently not regarded
by the composer." For the human body has naturally two legs, and we
take it that an image would stand more securely on two legs than on one.
Similarly the toes — their number is not given — are counted up, or rather
counted in; they have been identified with all kinds of tens in history. But
the normal man has ten toes, even if we could work out five Ptolemies and
five Seleucides to suit the very uncertain date of the composition of the
chapter. The narrative appears to lay more stress on the toes, and this
may be due to their representing contemporary history, but here, v.", follow-
ing vv."- *^, we have to read, not 'some of them' bis, i.e., distinguishing the
toes, but 'partly . . . partly.' However, reason has been given above for
regarding the repetitious v.''- as a later insertion.
Likewise, it is fallacious to pursue the symbolism of the metals: e.g., the
gold as symbolic of the splendor of Babylon, or the iron as peculiarly ap-
' Knab. falls short of the intrinsic articulation of the drama in his otherwise per-
tinent comparison: "Compara slatuam hanc mctallis contlatam quae tandem quasi
gluma et puluis tenuis euanescit cum filio hominis in nubibus coeli."
1 88 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
propriate to Rome. For the mixture of the iron and clay we may sample
the pathetic interpretation of Jer., the witness of Rome's collapse: "Pedes
eius et digiti ex parte ferrei et ex parte fictiles sunt, quod hoc tempore mani-
festissime comprobatur. Sicut enim in principio nihil Romano imperio for-
tius et durius fuit, ita in fine rerum nihil imbecilUus, quando et in bellis
ciuihbus et aduersum diuersas gentes aliarum gentium barbarum indige-
mus auxilio" {i.e., the barbarian mercenaries are the clay).'
A very different order of treatment of the series of metals is offered by
modern students of ancient civilization, by comparison with the antique
and wide-spread notion of the succession of four ages, gold, silver, bronze,
iron.' In the Classical world this notion goes back in identical terms to
Hesiod, Works and Days, io6 ff. {cf. Ovid, Metam., i, 89 ff.). In point of
view of geographical proximity the correspondence of the series of metals in
Dan. with the Parsee philosophy of history is still more striking. According
to the Dinkart, there were four periods in the 1,000 years beginning with
Zoroaster, of gold, silver, steel, and a substance mixed with earth. And in
the Bahman-ya§t the prophet sees 'the roots of a tree on which were four
branches, of gold, silver, steel, clay-mixed stuff.' 1° But scholars differ con-
tradictorily in their estimation of the parallelism and of historical priority.
Boklen, Jud.-christliche u. parsische Eschatologie, 1902, p. 85, Bousset, Rel.
des Jiidenkints, 283, 578, n. 3, and most stringently Meyer in his recent work,
Urspnmg u. Anfdnge des Christenthums, 2, ligff., press the Parsee influence."
On the other hand, for denial or minimizing of the theory of Parsee influence
in the Jewish motive, s. Soderblom, La vie future d'apres le Mazdeisme, 1901,
248^.; Scheftelowitz, Die altpersische Religion u. das Judenlum, 1920, Con-
clusion, p. 228. Their objections are primarily based on the chronological
uncertainty of the origin of the Parsee notions.^ Another point of view is
given by Gunkel, Schopfung u. Chaos, ^,7,;^, n. 2, pp. 323^., for treatment of
'Hippolytus' interpretation of the toes (ii, 12) is interesting but vague: elzx
8d:x,TuXot Tioowv, Yva SetxOwatv al xaxa xb [..?..] ST][jt,oxpaT(at (A jxiXXouaac
YfYveaOott.
' So far as I can see, Zock. first among the comm. notes the parallelism.
1" Dinkart, ix, 7, in West, SBE 37, p. 180; Bahman-yast, i, op. cit., 5, p. 191.
"Meyer allows that "die Zertriimmerung durch einen Stein ist natiirlich eine
Erfindung des jiidischen Schriftstellers," p. 191, n. 2. On p. 189 he attempts to cor-
roborate his position that the scheme of the Four is borrowed and displays its
secondary character, by arguing of Dan. that " wirklich geschichtlich deuten vermag
er die Vierzahl nicht, denn er kennt ebenso wie die wirkliche Geschichte nur drei
Reiche, das chaldiiische, das parsische und das griechische"; adding in a note that
"historisch ware eine Mitrechnung des Mederreichs absurd."
'^ The dating of dogmatic Parseeism is not certainly fixed; s. Soderblom, who
brings 'orthodox' Parseeism well down into the Achajmenide age, and prefers to
find Greek rather than directly Persian influence in the Bible; also Lagrange's very
sceptical study, 'La religion des Perses,' RB 1904, i _ff., who would bring Parsee
orthodoxy down into the second century B.C. These disputes among competent
scholars caution the laymen in the subject against hasty assumptions of Parsee
influence.
CHAPTER 2, NOTE ON INTERPRETATION 1 89
Dan. 7, and his Genesis^, 241 jff., finding the four ages in the four Covenants
with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses; and yet another by Zimmern, KAT
633, regarding 'four' as the figure of the cardinal points; these scholars stress
the Babylonian influence. If we have to carry back the 'four' to the Penta-
teuchal theory of the Covenants — in which there is the conception of prog-
ress, not of degeneration — we approach dangerously near the age when it is
a question whether dogmatic Zoroastrianism existed. Since the theme of the
' four ' is found in ancient Babylonia and the sequence of the aeonian metals in
the eldest Greek Hterature, it looks as if we were confronting a cosmopoUtan
idea, not with a direct borrowing." At all events, as far as Hterary influence
is concerned, we find the symbolic four in Zech., in the Four Horses, c. i, and
the Four Smiths, c. 2.'* At all events, we seem to be dealing with a com-
monplace scheme, not with an importation.
Keeping strictly to the figure of the Image, the present writer, as indicated
above, sees no reason for distinguishing the lower limbs as specifically em-
blematic. The legs, no more than the arms, are to be interpreted dually.
And if the reference to the toes be not spurious, at all events they are not
different in character from the feet. The figure of the iron artificially inter-
worked with brittle tiles (s. at v.^') well fits the thought of the tapering off
of the Iron Kingdom into a degenerate and non-consistent polity, whether
we would think of the Graecian or the Roman empire. The characteristic
of this last stage of the world empire lies in the word 'divided,' njiSs v.".
Recent comm. still insist here on the division between the Seleucide and
Ptolemaic kingdoms, e.g., Behr. (who argues that 'd must be defined from
v.'*', where the division between Egypt and Syria is denoted). Dr., Cha.,
but not Mein., Bev. But, as has been noticed ad loc, '3 has also the sense
of inner division, composition of heterogeneous substances. That is, each
leg, each foot, every toe, are severally composed of non-coherent stuffs, all
equally subject to fracture and crumbling. The reference to 'the days of
those kings' is simply true to the facts of contemporary history (on the
theory of the Greek empire, not of the Roman empire, which had a single
head); 'king' or 'kingdom' would have been actually incorrect.
The almost universally accepted interpretation of the ' mingling in human
seed,' i.e., by natural intermarriage, v.*^, is the appUcation to the state mar-
riages between the Seleucides and Ptolemies with their tragic consequences.
The commentary on this history will be found in c. 11, s. at vv.^- ".^^ Such
an historical reference would have bearing upon the date of the first part
" The four-empire theory appears in Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Ant., prooem. 2:
Assyria, Media, Persia, Macedonia, followed by the Romans; and in Claudian, De
laudibus SHlichonis, iii, 163 (vLeng., p. 87).
" N.b. the Seven Men in Eze. 9 /., which have been identified by many since
Kohut with the Amesha Spentas of Parseeism — whose original number, however, was
six! And how did Parsee influence aSect Judaism early in the 6th century?
" This combination is first made by Polychronius, who is summarized by Grotius;
cf. Int., §21, d.
I go A COMMENTARY ON Dvy^flEL
of Dan. Keil, however, who holds to the identity of the Fourth Kingdom
with Rome, but who cannot agree with any of the innumerable explanations
of the royal marriages on assumption of that theory,'^ would think of the
race agglomerations within that empire, denying, very properly, that the
plural 'they shall mingle themselves,' v.^' (v. ad loc), refers necessarily by
prolepsis to the subsequent 'kings,' and treating it impersonally. This con-
tention of Keil's,'' which has good grammatical support, can be as readily
accepted by the supporter of the identity of the Fourth Kingdom with
Greece, for since the day of Alexander in Babylon, when he took Persian
wives and encouraged his generals and soldiers to follow his example,'' there
never was an age in human history, at least till the time of the population
of the New World, in which the fusion of races and cultures took place on
so magnificent and determined a scale, the spirit of which was abhorrent
to Judaism, fo ; it was the revival of the Tower of Babel.
In vv." ^^^ the interpretation of the Stone which destroyed the Image is
given. There can be no question of the catastrophic and complete character
of the ruin wrought by the Stone, and no evasion of the absolute statement
of vv.'^- ^^, ' not a trace was left.' And this finality belongs to the essence
of all apocalyptic prospect of the Last Days. The problem of interpretation
has been sorely wrestled with by those exegetes who see the end not yet
consummated. For example, 'in the days of those kings' is understood as
an historical process, e.g. by CBMich., who finds therein the period of the
Church's gradual growth. And Kran. stoutly holds the defensive, pp. 112/.:
"Zu bemerken ist weiter, dass dem Verfasser die Enlstehung des messiani-
schen Reiches und die vollige Vernichtung der ganzen feindlichen Weltmacht
nicht coincidiren ; dass er beide Momente absolut gleichzeitig gedacht habe,
geht weder aus C. 2 noch aus C. 7." But the labor he spends is futile against
the drastic impression of the immediate collapse of the Colossus and the dis-
appearance of its very elements.
Like the preceding elements, the Stone too is a Kingdom, but one erected
by the God of Heaven, to stand forever, in which there will be no change,
no shifting to other dynast or people, but which will smash all those other
" These range all the way down from the marriages of Caesar, Antony, the Con-
stantines (s. Knab., p. 93) to comparison with the marriages of German emperors,
etc. A similar view is that of Auberlen (Zock., p. 85), who discovers the mingling
of the German and Slavic races with the Roman empire. It has not been observed
that the interpretation accepted here goes back to the Jewish coram., who in-
terpret the item as of racial admixtures: Ra., "they will be joined in affinity with
other peoples"; AEz.: "the Persians will marry the Babylonians, the Sabaeans
the Egyptians"; PsSa.: "Israel intermarried the peoples they dwelt among."
Somewhat differently Jeph., who thinks of the difference between the great Relig-
ions.
"C/. Knab., p. 92: "regnum illud complectitur uarias nationes et gentes quae
inter se quidem commercia atque connubia ineunt."
'8 Some 10,000 followed suit; s. Nicse, Griech. Gesch., i, its f.
CHAPTER 2, NOTE ON INTERPRETATION 191
kingdoms and replace them for ever and ever.'^ The repunctuation for v/^*,
attaching it to v.", gives rhetorical character to the period. The story-teller
leaves his parable with its most striking point vivid to our eyes; similar is
the terse ending of Ps. 1 10.
The sphere of that Kingdom is that of its predecessors, only it possesses
the everlasting endurance of the natural rock. The supernatural feature is
that this Stone becomes a great Mountain. The artifice of men's hands has
been replaced by the earthly type of eternity. It is enough to think of 'the
mountains of God,' Ps. 36^, and 'the everlasting hills,' Hab. 3^; there is no
need to postulate a mythical background like that of the Mountain of God,
e.g., Is. 14^', or with Keil to see a reference to Mount Sion, cfl. Is. 2^, Ps. 50-
(properly denied by Behr.). Only vaguely does the narrator intimate the
emblematic content of the Stone; it is by indirection a People. This
must be primarily Israel, 'the Saints' of 7^^. Josephus' comment is a good
interpretation of Dan.'s vagueness before Neb.: "Dan. did also declare the
meaning of the stone to the king, but I do not think proper to relate it,"
AJ X, 10, 4.
The interpretation of the Stone, in the history of religious exegesis is,
with the exception of one line of rationalistic identification with the Roman
empire,^" universally Messianic, in the broad sense of the term. Exegesis
divides specifically according as the fulfilment is found in the Messiah or
the People, i.e., Israel or the Church. Ra. and AEz. tersely state that the
final Kingdom is that of King Messiah, n'-tt'on ^Sd hidSd. This follows an-
cient exegesis. Tanhuma, 31, 4, on v.'*, 'I saw until,' remarks: "Dan. saw
King Messiah." On v.'^ Pirke Elieser, c. 2, notes: "The ninth king is King
Messiah, who reigns from one end of the world to the other," and "in their
time (of Edom, i.e., Rome) will rise a shoot, the Son of David" (s. Schottgen
for these passages). Jeph. recognizes more varieties of mng. : "It is either
the nation or the Messiah who is of them or of David's seed." For the Jew-
ish interpretation of his day Jer. says: "ludaei et impius Porphyrius male
ad populum referunt Israel, quem in fine saeculorum uolunt esse fortissimura
et omnia regna conterere et regnare in aeternum." In Tanhuma, Ber. 70&
and Bemid. 13 (cited by Dalman, Worle Jesu, 197, n. i) the Stone is inter-
preted as the Messianic Kingdom. We may also note 2 Esd. 13, in which
the Man from the Sea cuts a stone out of a mountain, flies upon it, and
finally stands upon it; it is interpreted as Mount Sion.
Similar duality of interpretation appears in the Church, but the strictly
Messianic interpretation is earliest and most dominant. There is a direct
" Behr., at v.", rightly denies Schiirer's view of the catastrophe that it symbolizes
the overthrow of the Gentiles by Jewish arms. The composition comes from early
Asida;an, not Maccabaian circles.
"So Cosmas Indicopleustes, PG 88, 112, Houbigant (the mountain from which
the Stone was cut is the Palatine, Bibl. Hebr., iv, p. 540, cited by Knab.) and
Grotius.
192 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
citation of this theme of the Stone understood Messianically in a logion of
Jesus, Mt. 2i" = Lu. 20'*, citing verbally a pre-Theodotionic version of v/*
(s. Note above ad loc). This 'stone' is combined in the logion with 'the
stone which the builders rejected,' Ps. 118, the first instance of the accu-
mulation of Messianically interpreted 'stones.' Similar combination of such
texts is found in Jewish comm. here, e.g., PsSa., who cjt. Gen. 49'*, 'the
Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,' and Zech. 4^, 'Who art thou, O great mountain,'
etc. Elsewhere in the N.T. the other 'stones' predominate in exegesis, e.g.,
'the spiritual Stone that followed them,' i Cor. lo^ which had similar treat-
ment at the hand of the Rabbis (s. Schottgen, ad loc). For the Christian con-
fession of Christ as the Stone of prophecy s. Rendel Harris, Teslimonies,
particularly vol. i, p. 18, vol. 2, c. 12. Of the early Fathers, Irenseus, Hip-
polytus (ii, 13), Tertullian, and for the Oriental Church Aphrem, followed
this exegesis.
For the application of the Stone to the Church the earliest instance (over-
looked, except in a remark of Ewald's) is in Hermas, Sim., ix. Here, c. 2,
we read how the Shepherd "showed me in middle of the plain a great white
stone that had come up out of the plain. And the stone was loftier than the
mountains, four-square, so that it could fill the whole earth [the Gr. differs
from our Grr., s. at v.^']- That rock was ancient, having a gate cut out in
it," etc. Later, c. 12, we learn that the gate is the Son of Man, who builds
the Church upon the rock; i.e., the Church is rather identified with the
rock.
For more specific ecclesiastical interpretations we may note the view, ap-
parently not held by modern exegetes, that the Stone cut without hands
represents the Virgin Birth, so Theodoret, Gregory of Nyssa, Aphrem; or
that the history of the Stone represents the humiliation and exaltation of
the Lord, so Hilary (PL 9, 681, cited by Knab.). The problem early arose
as to the delay in the consummation of the Eternal Kingdom; Theodoret
polemicized against those who held that the prophecy was fulfilled in the
moral Kingdom of God already established by Christ; he himself held to the
consummation at the future Parousia of the Lord. Then there was the ques-
tion whether that Kingdom was heavenly or, at least in part, on earth, i.e.,
Chiliastic. The latter theory came notoriously into the actual political field
with the Fifth Monarchy Men of the English Commonwealth, and has had
its Millenarian adherents ever since.-'
'' For these varieties of view s. CBMich. at v."; vLeng., pp. 98 jf.; Kran., pp.
112 J^.; Zock., p. 88; Knab., pp. 97^.
CHAPTER 3, PREFACE 1 93
CHAPTER 3.
THE GOLDEN IMAGE AND THE THREE
CONFESSORS.
(i) 1-7. Neb. erects a golden idol and requires that all his
subjects shall worship it in a great convocation at a given signal
on penalty of a horrible death; his orders are pompously carried
out. (2) 8-12. Information is laid against the three Jews,
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, for their refusal to partici-
pate in the heathen rite. (3) 13-18. Summoned before the
king, the Three persist in the confession of their exclusive religion
and in their readiness to meet death, whether or not their God
will interfere. (4) 19-23. The king in his rage forthwith com-
mands them to be cast into the fiery furnace prepared for those
who disobey, and takes arrogant and absurd precautions that
they shall not escape. They are cast into the furnace, when, (5)
24-30, the king beholds a marvel, the Three alive in the fire,
accompanied by a godlike personage. He summons them forth;
their signal deliverance from all hurt is attested by his court.
The king gives acknowledgment of their God and recognizes His
religion, and promotes the Three in their civic offices.
"The general purpose of this Chapter is perfectly clear — from
beginning to end it is a polemic against the heathen worship
and in particular against idolatry. The Israelite who has to
choose between idolatry and death, should unhesitatingly prefer
the latter" (Bev.). Over against the satirically exaggerated de-
tails of the heathen ceremonial and the king's arrogant defiance
to their God, the simple and unflinching faith of the Confessors
stands in sharp-drawn contrast and at last evokes the homage
of the witnesses.
The archaeological background of a colossal golden image is
found in the Classical authorities. Herodotus reports for the
Babylon of his day (i, 183), 'a great golden statue (dyaXfxa) of
Zeus' in a temple, and also in the same precincts a statue
(dv6pLa<i) 12 cubits high, of gold, along with some interesting
details of its fortunes under Darius and Xerxes. Bert., p. 260,
calls attention to the statement of Diodorus Siculus, ii, 9, con-
cerning the three golden images on the top of the Belus temple,
13
194 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
dedicated to Zeus, Hera and Rhea, the first of which was 40
feet high, weighing 1,000 Babylonian talents. The Rhodian
Colossus of 70 cubits' height is sufficient to satisfy the seeker of
realism in fiction; and if this was a unique object, we may recall
the abundant works of massive proportion which adorned the
Graeco-Roman world. For these costly and stupendous produc-
tions Pliny, Hist, nat., xxxiv, g ff., may be consulted; n.b. his
assertion, §18: " Audaciae innumera sunt exempla. Moles quippe
excogitatas uidemus statuarum, quas colossos uocant, turribus
pares." Also very close to our subject-matter is Nestle's inter-
esting and original note, Marg., 35, on a golden image of Apollo
similar to that of the Olympian Zeus, erected by Antiochus
Epiphanes at Daphnae, as recorded by Ammianus Marcellinus,
xxii, 13, I. Nestle holds that this was the golden image of Jupi-
ter which, ace. to Justin, Hist., xxxix, 2 ('louis aureum simula-
crum infiniti ponderis') the Seleucide Alexander II (128-123)
undertook to loot. He concludes: "Ich denke, mit diesen Noti-
zen, ist die Frage nach dem speziellen Anlass, der zur Erzahlung
vom Kolossalbild Nebukadnezars gefiihrt hat, definitiv beant-
wortet."
But there is also a vague Jewish tradition, equally to the
point, which has not been noticed. Alexander Polyhistor, citing
the Jewish historian Eupolemus (s. Freudenthal, Alex. Polyh.,
1875, p. 16; Schiirer, GJV 3, 474 _^.), as excerpted by Eusebius,
Praep. evan., ix, 39, records (after Gifford's tr.) : "Then Jonachim
[i.e., Jehoiakim]; in his time prophesied Jeremiah the prophet.
He was sent by God and found the Jews sacrificing to a golden
image, the name of which was Bel. And he showed to them the
calamity which was to come. Jonachim then attempted to burn
him alive; but he said that with that fuel they should cook food
for the Babylonians and as prisoners of war should dig the
canals of the Tigris and Euphrates." The legend parallels Dan. 3
not only in the item of the worship of a golden idol but also in
that of the penalty for recalcitrancy; only, the despot is the
Jewish Jehoiakim and the scene Jerusalem. Now as to the date
of Eupolemus, Schiirer (p. 475) argues that he wrote in 158-
157, or shortly thereafter, and probably is to be identified with
the Eupolemus of i Mac. 8^^ 2 Mac. 4". It looks as if he were
following some Jewish legend based on the same theme as that
used by the Danielic narrator and applied to the Babylonian
CHAPTER 3, PREFACE 1 95
despot. Our narrator has then employed an old hagiological
theme, which had its various developments in legend, and ac-
cordingly it is very doubtful whether we may attach the idea of
the Golden Image to any specific event. ^
There is also a Pagan tradition, not noted by the comm.,
which may He at the basis of our theme. Berossus (Miiller,
Fragm. hist, graec, 2, 558, frag. 16, from Clem. Alex., Protr., in
GCS c. 5, p. 49) is paraphrased as follows: "The Persians did
not worship wood and stone with the Greeks, nor the ibis and
ichneumon with the Egyptians. But after some ages they in-
troduced human images, Artaxerxes (II) son of Darius intro-
ducing the custom, for he erected first the statue of Aphro-
dite-Anaitis and gave example for its worship to the Susians,
Ecbatanians, Persians, Bactrians, Damascus, and Sardis."
(See Meyer, GA 3, §78, for further reff., also A. V. W. Jack-
son in ERE, 'Images,' p. 151, but ignoring Berossus' datum.)
This startling innovation may have motived in popular tradi-
tion a story of such an outrageous action as is here attributed
to Neb.
Ace. to Hipp., ii, 15, the idea of such an image was induced
in Neb.'s mind by the vision of c. 2. As to the impersonation of
the image, it has been extensively held, since Hipp., Jer., Chrys.,
that it represented the deified Neb.; so Dr., 'in all probability,'
and dEnv., arguing from the Oriental assimilation of royalty
with Deity. But vLeng. rightly points to v.^* {cf. w.^^- ^*)
against this view, and Jeph. may be followed in regarding the
image as a symbol of allegiance to the empire. Its construction
of gold has also given rise to extensive argument, with charge of
absurdity on one side, e.g., JDMich., with defence based on the
fabulous riches of the East on the other. But Herodotus' state-
ments about the golden idols in Babylon afford sufficient back-
ground. {Cf. Pliny's account of an all-gold image of Anaitis,
which was looted by Antony, Hist, nat., xxxiii, 24.) The gold
consisted in overlaid plates, for which we possess not only abun-
dant Classical evidence, e.g., the %/3i^crea ^oava^ but also that of
the Bible, e.g., Is. 40'^, 41^, Jer. 10^ '^•, and the practically con-
temporary statements of Ep. Jer., vv.''- ^- ^'^, and Bel, v.'; s.
■ For comparison with the gigantic images of Assyria s. Knab., pp. 102 ff.; e.g.,
Ashumasirapal's statement of his erection of an image to Ninib of 'choice stone and
pure gold,' Anttals, ii, 133 {KB 1, 95).
196 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Bert., p. 256, Hav., p. 92. Also the proportions of the 'image/
60 X 6 cubits, have produced extensive treatises, pro and con.
There can be Httle doubt that we are deaUng with some sculp-
tured object presenting human lineaments, and hence a mono-
lith or pyramid, with some, is out of the question. The propor-
tions of the human figure are as 5 or 6 to i, and so the present
proportions appear grotesque. But the term of the original,
salm, can be used of a stele only partly sculptured, e.g., the use
of the word in the Nerab Inscription, where the stone is deco-
rated at the top with the relief of the bust of a human body.
At all events, it is not necessary to charge the narrator with
an obvious absurdity. Of archjeological interest is the expres-
sion of the mathematics in terms of the Bab. sexagesimal sys-
tem, for which there is a parallel in the rod of 6 cubits in
Eze. 40 ^
Jewish tradition doubtless lies behind the penalty of burning
meted out to the recalcitrants. With Bert, we recall the false
prophets Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylonia
'roasted in the fire,' Jer. 29^^; so also Bev., p. 78, and Peters'
note, JBL 15, 109. The later Haggadic development of the
datum of Zedekiah and Ahab is given by Ball in his int. to the
Song of the Three Holy Children in Wace's Apocrypha, 2, 305 _^.;
n.b. also his citation, p. 326, of the passage in Tanhuma, 6, re-
counting how Joshua the high priest was thrown into the fire
along with those false prophets, but was saved unhurt. In the
same line of legend lies the extensive midrash about Abraham
as saved from a furnace of fire {Ur Kasdini = 'fire of the Chal-
daeans'); s. reff. in Dr., p. 35, n. i, and tr. in L. Ginzberg, Leg-
ends of the Jews, 1, 198^. As to the practice of the penalty of
burning, it appears in the Code Hammurabi (e.g., §§25. no),
and is recorded for the treatment of captives in I R 19 (cited by
Miss Brooks, Moral Practices, 20). Is. 30^^ is based upon such
a practice. It could hardly have been practised by the Persian
fire-worshippers. The same penalty is ascribed to the cruelty
of Antiochus Epiphanes in his martyrdom of the mother and
her seven sons, 2 Mac. 7.
In fine, Mar. is right (p. 18) in holding that the author did not
invent the story but drew its materials from popular legends.
It had assumed its form independently of the Danielle cycle
and may well have been incorporated by the compiler or com-
3'"' 197
poser of the latter without much concern as to the whereabouts
of Dan. during the episode. As to the historicity of such a
tyrannous decree, it is impossible to find place for it in any
knowledge we have of the Bab. religion, despite Wilson's argu-
ments, c. 1 6, anent this chap, and c. 6. There may have been
a basis for it under the more fanatical regime of Persia.
1-7. Neb. erects a golden image in the province of Babylon;
he summons all the officials, from highest to lowest rank, to
attend its dedication, and orders that all the various classes of
his subjects present shall prostrate themselves and worship be-
fore it upon a signal given by the attendant orchestra. The
pompous ceremony is forthwith celebrated.
1-3. The valley of Dura in the province of Babylon has not
been certainly identified. But the name (Akk. dUru, ' circuit =
wall = walled place') is common in the geographical nomen-
clature of Mesopotamia, as has been early recognized by Assyri-
ologists, e.g., Schrader, COT 2, 127, and Delitzsch, Parodies,
216, who notes that ace. to IV R 38, 9-1 16 there were three lo-
calities Dura in Babylonia. Possibly Oppert has identified the
name of our place in the river Dura with the near-by Tulul Dura
{tells of D.) in the neighborhood; the river flows into the Euphra-
tes some 6 miles S of Babylon, and the tells are 12 miles SE of
Hillah.i
The completion of the image had consummation in its dedi-
cation, after the manner of ancient Bab. rites; s. Jastrow, Rel.
Bab. u. Ass., 1, 375 f., passim, for specimens of liturgies con-
nected with such rites. ^ To the festival are summoned all the
grandees of the empire, and a list of these classes in order of
precedence is given. A similar list appears in I R 45 ^., which
records that upon the completion of his new residence at Sar-
rukin (after Meissner, Bab. u. Ass., i, 71): "Sargon established
himself in his palace with the princes of all lands, the regents of
his country, the governors, presidents, magnates, honorables
• Oppert, Expedition scientifique en Misopotamie, i, 238 ff., cited at length by
dEnv., pp. 228/. Oppert, followed by Lenormant, dEnv., believed that a massive
square of brick construction found in situ, 14 metres square by 6 high, is the ped-
estal of Ncb.'s image.
'In the matter of local color this dedication ceremony is correct; at the same
time such a ceremony was doubtless universal in antiquity, e.g., the dedication of
Solomon's temple. The dedication was kept up annually as a 'birthday' festival,
as we know for the Jewish usage, and also for the Classical world; s. material on
Roman rites collected by the writer in JBL 29, 33/., and cf. Euseb., Praep. evan., i, 10.
198 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
and senators of Assyria, and instituted a feast." Behr. eft. Esar-
haddon's Zenjirli Inscr., 1. 40, with six titles, ranging from ^arru
to Mpiru. The unquaUfiedly Persian coloring of the story ap-
pears in the five Persian terms of the list, the other two, the
sagans (2) and pehahs (3) alone being Semitic. The satraps
properly lead off, followed by the sagans or lieutenants (to use
a term of the old English county administration), and the
pehahs, or minor governors. We may compare the satrapy of
Abar-nahara, with its subdivision Palestine, and as a segment
of the latter Judah, with its pe^ah, e.g., Nehemiah, Neh. 5", or
Bagoi, APO pap. i, 1. i.' Of the last two terms in the list,
the first, that of the ddtabars, bungled by the Mass. pointing,
has long been explained from the Pers. as 'judges'; the following
and last term, tiftdye, remains unexplained philologically, but it
has been discovered in the Strassburg papyrus associated with
daiydnaiya, ' judges,' and doubtless is a minor judicial title. The
two intermediate terms have not been identified with certainty.
We have to depend upon the Iranologists, who are constantly
baffled over OPers. terms. If this story was composed in the
Greek age, it is interesting, but not strange, that the official
titles of the past empires still prevailed. But they witness to
Persia, not to Neb.'s empire. VLeng.'s criticism is too arbitrary
when he urges that the writer 'heaped together' all sorts of
official terms without concern; per contra, an intelligent grading
appears in the titles so far as we can define them.
3. (g avoided the repetition of the official list, summing them
up in the phrase ' the aforesaid ' ; the lacuna was filled in by the
Hexapla from 0. It is possible that original 0 also avoided the
repetition, and that the list was subsequently filled in. Such
repetition, with which cf. the following fourfold listing of the
orchestral instruments, objectionable to the Classical taste, is
characteristic of Semitic rhetoric.
1. <S pref. a date, I'xouc; 6xTa)xaiSe>t(4Tou; which has been glossed
into all 0 texts, betraying its origin (ignored by Lohr) by the gen. of
time peculiar to (S, 0 using sv with dat.; s. at i', 2'. Appeal to 0 for
originality of the datum cannot therefore be made, vs. Jahn, Blud.
(p. 51). This datum for the end of Jerusalem is taken from Jer. 52",
which disagrees with the '19th year' of 2 Ki. 25' {cf. Jer. 32'). It is
'For the organization of the Pers. empire s. Rawlinson, SGM, 'The Fifth Mon-
archy,' c. 7; Meyer, GA i, §§ 24/.; E. Bevan, House oj Sekucus, i, 325; cf. inf. at 6*.
3^"^ 199
repeated in <S 4I. The addition is dramatic in identifying the date of
Neb.'s impious creation with that of his destruction of the holy city.
(6 has also a long plus after Na^. 6 ^ota., based on Est. i', ascribing to
him administration of all the world ' from India to Ethiopia.' (In <$ texts
of Est. 'to Ethiopia' is lacking, but not in 2i.) The same expression of
geographical extent appears in i Esd. 3'; also the 'satraps, generals,
toparchs' of v.- inf. = i Esd. 3-. — VQ^] For the pi. formation s. Nold.,
SG §81, and GK §87. — '^.'??] Against Ehr., but our form appears in
Syr., e.g., at Eph. 3''. — '""?'] Pause has retained the original vowel, i.e.,
sidt; s. Behr. vs. Kau., Gr. §68, i, Anm. i. — n;'pj] 'a is not found in
Heb. and Aram, outside of Bibl. tradition; in Arab, buk'ah has the
general sense of 'district.' — Nin] = § B Dura; (g by correct interpre-
tation Toij xspt^iXou, vs. 0 AsEipa, i.e., N->n (so Ken. loi). There is no
reason to hold with Bert, that © thought of the Susian AsiQpct = Ptol.,
Geog., vi, 3. 0's transliteration is Aramaizing, and appears in the com-
mon geographical compositive der. In Sank., gib, is given a more exact
location of the place: '^ rj'pa ran •^•; hz'x -inor, but without contribution
to our information. It is not necessary to exchange the geographically
approved 'Dura' for the theory of Wetzstein (Delitzsch, Jesaia^, 701,
cited by Mar.) that the word = zor 'depression,' the local designation
of the valleys of Tigris and Euphrates. Gr.ven tr. xnn by xptjaewc;,
i.e., as = 'pyre'; cf. CS's tr. of nn at Eze. 24^
2. «3Sd'313j] = (S with a plus; 0 om. for brevity's sake. — nSir] The
vb. is used frequently as absolute of sending messages, orders, etc.; the
Gr. rendering d'TioaxiXXetv is similarly used in N.T. The comm. recall
the Pers. posts. — -'J3S7] (g -|- [extauvayayslv] xcivTa -za sOvt) x. (fu'kx<;
X. yXcoaaat;, prob. a gloss to OS's summary x. '6-/\oi<i v.*. — '^'l^ll^'D??,]
'Satraps'; for origin s. Lexx. and cf. Meyer, GA 3, pt. i, pp. 51/. for its
transliterations. In Akk. the word appears first in a list of Sargon's,
satarpanu {cf. Offord, QS 1919, p. 138), and in texts of later date
published by Pognon, J A ii™« Ser., 9, 394, and Clay, Business Docu-
ments of Miirashu Sons of Nippur (no. 2, 1. 6, no. 21, 11. 7. 11, s. list of
personal names under si-ha, p. 38) as ahsadar{a) pan ; in earlier Gr. =
l^eTpd-iTTjt;; in 62 at 6'<^) is found aaipa-Kctq (Aquilanic). (8 exactly
'satraps.' For the variant use of the word in Gr., both exactly and as
of high officers in general, s. the elaborate article by Lehmann-Haupt,
Pauly's RE, 2te Reihe, 3, 82-188; n.b. the extensive use in Gr. O.T.,
^■S-t Ju- 5'; only in Dan., (S and 0, does aax. represent the original. 0
T. uTzifzouq = consules ; the contrast of the two terms is indicative of
the different ages of the trr. — ^\yp] See at 2*'; properly 'prefects, lieu-
tenants'; (S 0 axpotxTjYO'jq, which is used by Polyb. for consul and
praetor. — ^T^T-^] S. Lexx. and further Clay, Origin of Biblical Tradi-
tions, 186, who claims for pihu Amorite origin; <S 0 TO'jcd:pxa<;, a term
of the Ptolemaic administration. — ^'^IJ^"]"!^,] As a Pers. word under-
200 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
stood by Nold., Andreas (in Mar.'s glossary) as 'councillor,' s. Lexx.;
Meyer, Entstehung des Jiidentums, 25, prefers mng. 'Obergeneral.' Sym.
had, ace. to the Syr. gloss in (&^, x. Toii? (JtpxovTaq t. i%\ x. Yvuffswi;,
Field recognizing that yvwati; = 'magic'; i.e., Sym. has interpreted
the word from jnrj 2^'; this is the basis of RVmg 'chief soothsayers.'
(B uxi4tou<;, 0 -fjYou^ivout;. — '*^"^-47i'] EVV 'treasurers,' so Ps-Sa., but
not elder Jewish tradition; accepted by some, e.g., CBMich., Meyer,
op. cit. 23, as perversion of '^H?!-, cf. Ezr. 7-'; others, e.g., Gratz, Bev.,
as corruption of ^^r?!-, e.g., v.^^ 'councillors.' A plausible derivation
is that offered by Tisdall in JQR i, 337, equating with a proposed
gadhd-bar, 'mace-bearer,' comparing modern Pers. ckub-ddr and the
axTjxTouxo? of the Pers. court, Xenophon, Cyrop., vii, 3, 16, etc. The
word may be dittograph of the following xn^m, so Lagarde, Agath-
angelus, 157 (cited by Dr.), who argues from the omission of one of the
titles in C5 0 to the fact of a subsequent dittograph in ^. However,
haplography, or simple abbreviation on the part of C5, followed by 0,
in the indefinite xous ex' e^ouatwv may account for the variation of the
Grr. ^ here StotxifjTac;, i.e., fiscal administrators, as in Polyb., so
Rosenm.; 0 Tupiwou?, for which s. on D'cmc i'; Sym. yotpSap-nvoui;,
and for the following word GapSapTivous, a similarity in support of La-
garde's theory. — '^il^rnj _ pers. ddtabar, 'law-bearer,' 'judge,' in Akk.
databari, Clay, BE 9, p. 28. — '*.'!i;'?0] Found now in a sequence of judi-
cial titles in Euting's Strasbourg Papyrus (s. APO p. 26, AP no. 27) B,
1. 4, N>3rij N\-^D\-i N^n. Then «''J''t = our preceding xnam, and it may
be suggested that our (perverted) Nnaij represents nidcu. Andreas' ex-
planation of the word in Mar.'s Glossary is renounced by him in Eph. 2,
15. Behr., p. ix, and Tisdall, JQR 217 f., suggest a possible ati-pati
'overlord,' but the mng. is too grand for the office. An elder deriva-
tion, e.g., lEmp., CBMich., connected it with the Arab, root giving
fetwah, and tr. 'lawyers,' as in RVVmg.— ^r^"^-? ':''^'r'?' "^^l = 'all the
provincial administrators.' For 1^;?= 1"^;^ v.", etc., i.e., <iu!(dn, cf.
V^P. Ezr. 6- = P,?7 Ezr. 4'^; s. Kau., §6r, 3, a. For -on < -an in Aram.
s. Nold., MG §118, SG §128, B; Barth, iV6., §194, c; Powell, Supp.
Hebr., p. 35. & throws no light on the series of terms. "3 hopelessly
unites nos. 6 and 7 in a phrase. Sym. has all the terms, nos. 5, 6, 7 in
(corrupt) transliteration. There is no consistency in the subsequent
rendering of these titles; s. Blud., pp. 98 ff., for a convenient table of
the renderings. (S's list, 'satraps, generals, toparchs,' appears also 'in
I Esd. 3^ and ib. v.^*, with addition of uxotxot as here. — khd] = ndkd;
for syncope of k cf. ktdS v.'', iddS Ezr. 6'; for similar cases in the papyri,
s. Sachau, APO p. 263. — najn] The root is not otherwise known in
Aram, i
3. V^T--:'^] Also v.", where some mss (so Mich., Str. var.) r'?'J?nDj
Etpeel is to be expected; s. Note on V''^?.~~ 2". — (S avoided the repeti-
3^"^ 20I
tion of the list of ofl&cers of v.^, summarizing, as appears from the Hexa-
plaric marks, in tdxe auvTjxQ'Oaav y,cx.\ SuxTjaav o\ %poyefpoL[X[).ivoi (with
(Rs vs. 0I<^ TcpoffysY.)- The deficit in C6 was supplied by Or. from 0's
tr., as appears from the use of the latter's terms. Or rather it is prob-
able that 0 also avoided the repetition in v.^, and that the present com-
plement with varying order for the first three terms is due to Hexaplaric
insertion. N.b. also evxaivtajAov v.' from 05 vs. 0's £vxo:(v[o: v.^ Like-
wise <S and 0 plus [xupavvot] [xeyiXoi, v.^, seems to represent the inser-
tion of a new rendering of xnaij as Nn^j, seven terms being thus
achieved. The orig. condition of 0 may appear in the plus of A io6,
X. auv-fj^Ofjaczv ol Toxdpx^t [/.. taxTjxetaav]. — The final 'jnj Dipn n is
. given by (S, omitted by 0, supplied by OrC; 62 147 have a double gloss.
The threefold occurrence of this phrase within two vv. is objected to
by Torrey as 'intolerable,' Notes, I, 261, similarly Mar.; but with Kamp.
it is better to follow the evidence of ^ and (5.
4-7. Proclamation is made by the royal herald that at the
fanfare of the orchestra all present, — as expressed in diplomatic
language (Hav.), — all nations, tribes, tongues shall fall down and
worship, while disobedience shall entail death by burning. Un-
like the story of Esther, in which likewise universal edicts are
given, the application of the universally expressed edict could
have had but local effect; tout le monde was there. With great
zest the narrator details the instruments of the orchestra, re-
peating himself in vv.'^- '"• ^^ From his interest in this part of
the scene we have an echo of the impression produced by a
piece of concerted music upon the ancient mind, just such as
the narrator may himself have witnessed at some state pageant.
In matter of fact, ^ and the Grr. slip up in repeating the full
list each time. The list begins with two wind instruments, horn
and pipe, followed by three stringed instruments with the sixth
and last again a wind instrument, over the character of which
there has been great dispute. Of the six instruments two names
are of Semitic origin, another is doubtful (= crafx^vKT})^ and
three of Gr. derivation, the kithara, psaltery, symphony (as the
latter word appears in the Douay VS, following U). The words
are of interest as giving the only solid philological evidence for
the reflection of Hellenic civilization in Dan.; s. Int., §8, c. It
is to be noticed that this description is very cosmopolitan as
compared with the accounts of the temple music in Chron.^
' For the music of the ancient Semitic peoples reference may be made, inter al., to
the articles s.v. 'Music' in DB (by J. Miliar) and EB (by Prince), and to Well-
202 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
The burning fiery furnace of v. 6, etc., must have been similar
to our common lime-kiln, with a perpendicular shaft from the
top and an opening at the bottom for extracting the fused lime;
cj. illustration of such an Oriental tannur or tdb'il7i in Benzinger,
Hebr. Archdologie^, 65, and Haupt's description, AJSL 23, 245.
Hav. notes Chardin's remarks on the existence of similar ovens
in Persia for the execution of criminals {Voyage en Perse, ed.
Langles, 6, c. 18, end, p. 303). The sonorous phrase may have
been, as Bert, suggests, the technical name for this gruesome
instrument of execution.
4. ^'I''"'?] = xTjpu^, Grr., etc.; generally understood as derivation,
along with denom. vb. in Haf., f\2r\ 5=', from xT)puaa£tv. The root is
common in late Aram, dialects; in Mand. nii^nd. Nold., GGA 1884,
1019, doubts the alleged Gr. origin, similarly Mar. The n.pr. nns on
an Aram, seal, CIS ii, no. 86, is not to be compared. For the irregular
equation x. = 3 (not p) GB eft. xpdaxsSov > Targ. Nicons; also n.h,
N3aD, V.*, and "''?"'.?< KpT^xa. For a = t c/. nn = xapaos (= i^'^'^nn?).
and n.h. Phoen. idd = Heb. lar (Lidz., NE 268). The word must have
been an early borrowing. Its form, kdlol, common for tiomen agcntis in
Syr. (Nold., SG §107), is unique in BAram. — Sin^] The phrase = 'call
aloud,' also in 4", 5', cf. Rev. 18-. — xinn>'] For the strong form s. Kau.,
Gr., p. 92, n. I, §55, 5; in Syr. the same, ncd^', along with other cases, s.
Nold., SG §§93. 102. The 'am is the political unit, so (& eOvtj, 0 \<xoL
The basis of the following ntn = 0 9uXa(, the mother-stocks, is found
in Heb. and Arab. The 'tongues' were early distinguished for admin-
istrative us? cf. the milldl of the Arab empire; besides the well-known
use of Aram, m the Ass. chancelleries there was the official recognition
of the languages in the Pers. empire, e.g., the Behistun Inscr. in three
tongues, with its papyrus duplicate in a fourth, the Aram. {APO pap.
61 ff.). (5 sOvT) (-H gloss X,. XM^at) Xao( v.. i-XtJaaxt; 0 Xaci (B 105 141
Xaoti;), ^uXal x. -{XCitzQan, to which Or.P-C Lu. pref. sOvt). The phrase
is repeated in vv.'- '', 5'', 6-*, 7'* {cf. Is. 66'*, Judt. 3'), and occurs in
various forms in Rev. 5', 7^, 13', 14°, 17'^, in several of which cases
the doublet eevT) Xaoc is found. — 5. ^PP-] Primarily the curved 'ram's
horn,' e.g., Jos. 6'^— ><7'i'?i"'F?] So in Syr.; cf. Heb. root, 'hiss, whistle,'
and derivatives; Grr. aupty^, with onomatopoetic equivalence; AV
RVV 'flute,' JV 'pipe.'— Dnn^i Kt., °^^P- Kr.] Kr. = Targ. to Is. 5'"- =
Heb. in ! (so here in Heb. tr. in Ken. 240) ; the vocalization is best
hausen's treatment in the Polychrome Psalms, Eng. tr.; for Babylonia, Meissner,
Bab. u. Ass., 331 ff.; for the Rabb. traditions Biichler, 'Tempelmusik,' arts, in
ZATW, vols. 19. 20; S. Krauss, Tahn. Arch., §§247 J.; Oesterley, The Psalms in
the Jewish Church, cc. 2. 3.
3^-7 203
preserved in Syr. kitdrd, = Gr. xieotpi.;, xiedpa; EVV 'harp.'— ^???']
Also 'D (s. Gins. vs. Bar); = oa;j.^ux.T), a triangular instrument of four
strings with high notes; AV RV 'sackbut,' a sound-equivalent of the
original, but erroneously; s. Dr. for refl. and add Hastings in DB s.v.
'Sackbut'; the sackbut was a wind instrument. Dr., JV 'triagon.' As
to the word Strabo, Geog., x, 3, 17, notes that it is of 'barbarous' origin
along with va^Xa?, etc. — t'lO^??] V.^ jnajao (= Arab, sanfir); =
(J^aXxTjptov, EVV 'psaltery'; s. Dr. on this 'stringed instrument of tri-
angular shape' with the 'sounding board above the strings.' — ^^Aa'pi^]
After Nehardean tradition n — ; v." nijs^D Kt., n^jsiD Kr.; cf. Syr.
^epponia (so Sin. Syr. at Lu. iS^O; au;i.9a)v{ot. In the Pal. Tariff Inscr.,
Lidz., NE pp. 463 ff., Cooke, NSl no. 147, psD thrice = GutJL?covo<;.
"The word, which in Plato and Aristotle has the sense of harmony or
concord, came in later Greek to denote a bagpipe" so Dr., followed by
JV. The first reff. to the symphony as an instrument actually occur in
anecdotes of Antiochus Epiphanes' life, Polyb. xxvi, 10, and xxxi, 4,
cited at length by Dr., according to which in his mad freaks Ant. would
play on or dance to the symphony. But the mng. 'bagpipe' has been
strenuously disputed. In JBL 1904, 180-190, P. Barry, under the
title 'On Luke xv. 25, uufiipcovfa, Bagpipe,' argued for this mng. G. F.
Moore replied, JBL 1905, 166-175, denying the existence of ancient
authority for this tradition. Barry countered in JBL 1908, 99-127.
Some have suggested that the Gr. at'ywv is the original, so a Jewish
interpretation, s. Moore, pp. 167 ff. — Of these musical terms orig. (&
avoided their repetition; & om. throughout the sambyke; 1^ om. the
symphonia v.' (many mss hab.); (gos om. it vv.^- ", and 0 vv.^- ''■ "';
the omissions are doubtless due to carelessness. In 0 it has been restored
by OrC Lu. H has the complete list in v.'. — iji] jr 'ein friih recipirtes
Wort,' Nold., SG 89, cf. Lagarde, Armenische Studien, §749; found in
Bibl. Heb., BSira, and now in the papp., APO pap. 4, 1. 3.
6. I"] So Mich., Str., Gin., Kit. (with philological right); Bar., ??;
s. Bar, and per con. Kau., §22. There may be a Rabb. collusion with
?9 Ex. i6'^ In JAram., while jnd is written, it is so spelled for distinction
from IP, s. Dalm., Gr., p. 71, top. — n p] 'Whosoever'; the same com-
bination in Heb., e.g.. Is. 63'; cf. n nn sup. 2^'. — Ss"'] 0 (B 35 hs") om.,
supplied hy al.—'^'^y''^ f^5] For the anticipative (demonstrative, not ple-
onastic) use of the pron. s. Kau., §88; another use repeats the prep.,
e.g., 5'^, as is common in Syr., s. Nold., SG §222, 2. Similar cases in
Heb., Lev. i3'8, Song s'-—^^^'^-^] mss '^^'^t (s. Str.), also ^W\ Mich.
and Gin. mg. For the moot question of derivation s. Kau., p. 102,
Lexx. One development (as here) has a short vowel (Targ., ChrPal.,
Mand.), but M^ (at v."^) and Arab, give sd^at. It is best derived from
rt. nytt' 'look,' and the form is a fem. ppl., 'the looker,' cf. Germ. ' Augen-
blick.' EVV unfortunately ' in that hour' ; correctly among recent comm.
204 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Mein., Behr., Pr., Mar., 'at that moment,' which mng. is required at
4''. VLeng., following Buxt., noted the right mng., eft. Targ. r\yv =
Heb. yji, e.g., Ex. t,^,^ = exactly inf. 4'^ The same use is found in
Syr., e.g., Mk. i" = eiieuq, and in Arab. The same erroneous view of
the Gr. equivalent in the N.T. appears in the EVV, etc. — nijS] Also
MSS uV Gin. mg., but s. Bar's note; ij2 7'^ is to be otherwise explained.
Cf. the Nab. r):r:> n\i 'within it,' Lidz., NE 248. Kau., p. 99, and GB
suggest 'graphic n'; rather then it would represent the ace. ending, s.
on n'^>' 6'. But it is best, with Nold., GGA 1884, 102 1, comparing Heb.
NU and Arab, jiwd, to regard n as radical. In the papp. 1J3 is found,
used only adverbially, 'herein, herewith,' s. APA ,\ 1. 15, note. — ]inN]
Akk. word, like the synonyms iiD>ii:n; s. Lexx. and Haupt, AJSL 23,
245. The suff. in n'^inV v.'' vouches for 'h as masc; the agreement here
of the fem. adj. Nmp'' is then with the second component of the const,
complex, Nil:, e.g., a similar case in Heb., Ex. 26", and s. in general
GK §146, I. However, in v." x-nj is masc; v. ad loc. — 7. n^] 5^°, 6"- '^t
= papp. MO = Heb. irNo = the common Syr. had. — ]-hoi . . . pj!D'^']
'As soon as they were hearing, they were falling down'; ©correctly tr.
with impfs. — r^Jo] Not a secondary predicate, with 0, but in asynde-
ton with r'^s:; cf. prn v.".
8-12. Information is laid before the king against the three
Jewish officials, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, for their
refusal to participate in the worship at the dedication. The in-
formants are naturally certain Chaldceans, members of the caste
which cherished a natural grievance against those obstinate re-
ligionists who had yet gained the royal favor. In what way the
three Confessors exhibited their recalcitrance is not related;
that attitude is dramatically taken for granted.
8. V'^^l]<gabr, cf. piim, ium, and for this effect of the labial s.
Dalm., Gr. §14, 2, Nold., MG §19, and in general. Brock., VG i, §76;
in Targ. gubrd and gabrd, in Syr., where it is rare, only the latter. Here,
also vv.'-- "°, it has the sense 'certain,' cf. D^z':i< Ex. i6^° = the common
Syr. nd'sin; also so na-x Ju. 4*. — r'?"'-'^] So pNiin^ v."; in all other
cases Kt. preserves orig. y, -ytn; s. Kau., §11, i, b. — pnixip iSjn] Also
6". The phrase = 'eat the pieces of,' i.e., 'gnaw at'; Behr. eft. Lat.
rodere; hence 'calumniate, sycophantize against.' This interpretation
is far more likely than that offered by Lepsius in Der Christl. Orient,
1897, 152 (cited by Mar.) to the effect that the phrase means to eat
the table portions assigned to a magnate's client and so to replace him
in the great man's favor. The phrase is ancient Akk. and wide-spread
through the Sem. languages, s. Lexx., esp. GB. N.b. Syr. NSip'?oN =
3^^-^' 205
b StdPoXoq. I note that the phrase has survived in the criminal argot
of Paris, ace. to Victor Hugo in his dissertation on that subject in Les
Miserables, Part 4, Bk. 7, c. 2; 'manger le morceau' = 'denoncer.' For
the anticipative pron. before the foil. gen. (a usage apparently ignored
by Kau., Mar.) s. Nold., SG §205, C. For '^0, var. 'ii^ or '■^R = Targ.
s. Bar. — 9. jnDNi tyj] 0 (B al.) om., Or^-c bToXa^hy-zsq (A uTro^a-
X6vTs<; 'suborning') slxav. — 10. ^oij'] So correctly; mss, also Mich.,
Hebraizing, ^^^'. — ^'>J?] Denotation otherwise than at 2^*, and with a
somewhat diff. nuance, v." inf.; here it is the 'sense' of the will, cor-
rectly 0 SdytJia. The VSS paraphrase here; Aq. tr. with yvf^'^ri. —
N^rn . . . ?flii] 0 texts om. by haplog. with v.", leaving ■rcdvxa fitvOpwxov
without construction. — 11. njD>i] @ + ifi e!x6vt t. XP^^Tl- — 12. P'""?"]
Unique instance in BAram. of this sign of ace. :!•> (not noticed in
Kau., Gr. §68). The particle is frequent in Targ., prob. in imitation
of Heb. PN (so Bev., p. 38), frequent in PalSyr. with pron. suflt., rare
in Syr., s. Nold., SG p. 217. It appears as ni in the Hadad Inscr., as rT>
in Nab. and Pal., s. Lidz., NE 263. For the particle s. Lexx., s.v. Heb.
DN. It is contained in Aram, ^tl' '^t?. — ""^y'l] (6 0 om. 'and,' and are
prob. original. — il^] = isti; in the papp., also CIS ii, no. 145 B, 1. 6.
— yrhn] PL, but sing, in mng., with &, cf. (S ly siocoXw aou, and s. on
jTi'^N 2'^ There is no reason with Mar. to change Kt. to the sing.
-\^^n, and it is absurd to hold with de R., Mein., Cha., that Kr. -[rha
indicates a sing. See Kau., §53, Anm. b. — pnSfl] In BAram. generally
of religious service, so in the Carpentras Inscr. {CIS ii, no. 141, Lidz.,
NE p. 448, Cooke, NSI no. 75), but of human service to royalty in
APO pap. 50, 1. I, 'to serve in the palace,' and so inf. 7"- ^'. For the
religious significance of the root cf. the parallel ^:3;' and Lat. colere; so
with Pr., and Haupt., AJSL 26, 209, against Del., Prolegomena, 176,
BDB, Kon., Hu<b., who find the original in Akk. paldhu, 'fear'; the
Akk. mng. is secondary.
13-18. The king in rage and passion has the recalcitrant Jews
haled before him. He demands of them, v.^*, whether it is true
{vs. AVmg RV, whether it is of purpose) that they will not serve
his god and worship the image. He gives them another chance
of comphance, v.''', and repeats the statement of the penalty;
and concludes with the arrogant demand: What kind of a god
can deliver you out of my hand ? The response of the Confessors,
v.", is generally translated, We have no need to answer thee, a
reply which has been designated by some adverse critics as the
height of arrogance; so Bert., vLeng. Martyrs have actually
followed various lines of reaction toward their persecutors, and
2o6 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
an attitude of defiance is at least human. But the term 'make
answer' is to be interpreted in a legal sense, cf. cnroBoduai \6yov
Acts 19^° and Syr. equivalents of our phrase used in that sense
(s. Note), i.e., 'make defence, apology,' and so here: There is no
need for us to make defence before thee. The indictment is con-
fessed, there is no apology to make. The defendants throw
themselves upon their God; yet with the restraint of faith, for
they admit that he may not interfere, but nevertheless they
will keep faith and defy the king. Had the story meant that
they were sure of deliverance, their reply might have been spiri-
tual arrogance.
17. There has been ancient debate as to the proper transla-
tion and reference of the introductory particle, which can only
mean 'if.' The implied doubt as to the divine ability in the
obvious 'if our God is able,' was an early stumbling-block to
the VSS, which agree in rendering the Aram, particle by 'for'
[our God is able], or H ecce enim, 'for behold,' followed by
Jewish comm. with ' for ' and by many subsequent scholars with
'behold.' Also (i> ^ "H carry their scruple into the interpretation
of the correlative 'if not,' v.^^, disguising or paraphrasing it.
With the only correct possible translation of the particle as 'if,'
two interpretations are offered. One is that of AV RW, most
recently supported by Torrey, viz. : 'if it be so, our God, whom
we serve, is able to deliver us, etc.; and he will deliver us from
thy hand, 0 king. 18. But even if he shall not do so, be it
known unto thee, O king,' etc. This, at first sight, appears to
avoid the doubt of the divine ability apparently expressed in
the other line of interpretation, which is here preferred: // our
God whom we serve is able to deliver us frofn the fiery burning
furnace and from thy hand, 0 king, he will save {us) ; but if not,
etc. So now most comm., SVmg^ JV. But to assert with AV,
Torrey, that God is able, and then to hedge with the possibility
that he may not interfere, amounts to the same result as the
expression of uncertainty concerning the divine action at the
beginning. The 'if not' of v.^* would then be adversative to the
nearest verb, 'he will deliver,' as Torrey allows. There may
not then be the absolute confidence in the divine interference
such as possessed Dan. in c. i (but that in a much simpler mat-
ter), nevertheless the Confessors are speaking the language of
'natural piety' in asserting, on the one hand, the divine omnip-
S''-'^ 207
otence, and acknowledging, on the other, its possible restrictions
in any given case.
13. ^'jn]] Tradition of Sura n — , also elsewhere in fems., s. Bar. =
^^Q cVDnn] V.19; the half-vowel may be colored in the respective cases
by the preceding vowel; but cf. :4 and \1 2^'- '°. For a general state-
ment s. Kau., §13, 4. For the form, from on>, s. Kau., §56, p. 103, Nold.,
MG p. Ill, Earth, Nb., §62, e, and note on Nixn v.". The word appears
in the Hadad Inscr., 1. 33, with identical spelling, an exceptional in-
stance in this Hebraic text of n for fem. ending.— -uj layi] (^ asynde-
ton.—I'D^':'] Cf. the parallel fem. sing. ^'.D'U 6 S both from hpn. The
former might be treated as impersonal pi., 'they brought,' with © &
Ehr., but otherwise the Haf. pointing is ^'''T'l^, e.g., 5'; the fem. n\iM
must then be arbitrarily revised into a pi. (Ehr. proposes nothing here !),
with © S". In their conjunction the forms must be pass., so (6 H Sa., Ra.
But, with Kau., p. 67, n., "eine befriedigende Erklarung dieser Passive
ist noch nicht gelungen." An elder view is that it is a Hofal, so Buxt.,
Lex. col. 247: "Tzere est propter "> sequens," etc.; adopted by Str., §17,
b, following M. Lambert and J. Barth. Jahn, Lohr boldly vocalize as
Hof. Either method of obtaining a Hof. is possible. Ingenious but far-
strained theories are offered by Wellhausen, Deutsche Lit.-ztng, 1887,
968 (presented by Kamp.), by Behr., and by Powell, Supp. Hebr., p. 43.
Torrey, Notes, II, 231, regards the case as a most interesting example
of 'alternative pointings,' i.e., an attempt to combine the Hof. and the
Hif.; but it cannot be said that the combination is obvious. 14. ny;]
(6 ou? X. auvtSwv. , i.e., as a form of py ! — ^Ti^] Kau. cites, §67, 2, spe-
cifically as '^'l?'-, but without any authority, although noted with ap-
proval by others. ® otd xi; 0 d aXr/Owt; = ^ NniJ'ipa = 3verene = AEz.
HDNH, so Sa., AV JV. Buxt. eft. Heb. 'i;!? (Nu. 35-°- -, out of murder-
ous intent) and tr., 'is it of purpose?' and so AVmg RVV Mar. (glos-
sary), Kon., Hwb. But the root is absent in Aram., the form is doubt-
ful, and the mng. is not applicable here. Bev., Behr., suggest ^T:*^ "*" ^:,
cf. 2°, corresponding with 0, etc. But the word has now been found in the
ostrakon published by Lidz., Altaram. Urk., 1. 12, cf. p. 12: t<"\sn '7n[i;'^]
hSn niSd •'jn, 'He will ask whether true {cf. ddn inf. loO are (■'jn 3d fem.
pi. pron. as copula) these words.' This early occurrence forthwith pre-
cludes the proposed Pers. etymology, connecting with xiin. Lidz. ven-
tures an explanation with the brief note, "vielleicht ist es eine erstarrte
Kurzbildung vom St. pis." But Torrey in his Notes, I, 261, had already
derived the Bibl. word from *ii"i = Arab, wasada, 'be firm,' and spe-
cifically as the verbal noun '*'^;? with shortening of the vowel, as in
xcn v.", then ^l^'l' > **1?^^. He is well justified in his Notes, II, 231, in
holding that his derivation is corroborated by the new-found text.
15. majr] For the following aposiopesis of the apodosis, cf. exx. in
2o8 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Heb., e.g., Ex. 32'^ and s. GK §167, i; for Syr. Duval, GS §416, Nold.,
SG §382. Similarly for N.T. grammar cf. Lu. 19^, 22*', 2 Th. 2"-, etc.
__n^x Nin-iD] xin is not here the copula. Actually the pron. here
emphasizes the interrogative, 'what (at all) god is there?' A parallel
with another demonstrative element is found in the Aramaic boundary
inscription published by the writer in JAOS 1907, 164^., 1. 2, riN n ]d
'whosoever' thou art who,' cf. Akk. mannu atta larrn, Behistun Inscr.,
1. 105. Similar is the Heb. nr nc, Aram., n nn, sup. 2^', etc. In Targ.,
Syr. this combination continues in mannu, etc. ; for this emphasizing use
of enclitic M attached to various parts of speech, s. Nold., SG §221;
Dalm., GV. §19. — p3:aTi»'"i] S. Lexx. for this form of Akk. origin, rt. 2r;.
In Heb. 3iy = 'leave alone,' and so in Stem I of Akk., but in HI, i,
iisezib, it has the sense of 'letting go,' and so 'delivering, saving.' This
development explains the difficulty encountered in the law of Ex. 23^:
'If thou seest thy enemy's ass crouching under his burden, thou shalt
refrain from leaving him alone' (^'<'? '?:"^'?); there follows ''°>! ^^'O ^'v,
translated usually, e.g., by JV, 'thou shalt surely release it with him,'
i.e., the same vb. and stem in opposite mngs. in the one period. Others,
e.g., Baentsch, demand a correction of aryn 2\y into some other vb. But,
after the two mngs. of Akk. ezebii in Stems I and III, we may simply
change 2r;?n into the Hif., and, like uiezib, gain the mng. 'dehver.' The
abs. inf. is, to be sure, K^al, but the inf. need not agree with the finite
vb. in stem. Cf. the Hif. of Heb. noi, generally 'lassen, ablassen,' but
also, e.g.. Job 7'', 'loslassen.' Similarly Eng. 'lose' and 'loose' are from
the same rt., as Prof. R. G. Kent kindly informs me. — ^y..] So Bar.,
Str., Kamp. = 0 IT; Mich., Gin., Kit., Mar. 'T.. = (S Or? Lu. But the
sing, belongs to the Sem. idiom and is corroborated by v.".
16. uj nnyi] OrP 0 It alone have conj.— '^i^^ ^.t^^] The dis-
courteous vocative of the Mass. pointing was not only impossible in
etiquette but also in the spirit of the writer. Ra. notes the discourtesy
and expatiates on it with zest, and Sa. tr. '0 Neb.'; the interpretation
is ancient, appearing in Jer., who notes that 'Neb.' is not accompanied
in ^ (as in (g) by a following 'king,' Bert. tr. 'to king Neb.,' and Hitz.
insists on the necessity of revising the punctuation accordingly. Behr.
follows suit, but incorrectly alleging that (5 read in sequence ^aatXeO
(so Kamp., Mar.), but ^aatXsu is sub aslerisco and is not original. The
general usage is xs^o '3J, but with exceptions, e.g., 2^', 4^^, 6'° (poss.
with emphasis on 'king' in some cases, so Hitz.). Torrey, Notes, I, 262,
believes that in the original text the two words were transposed, and so
indeed they appear in §. — V^^'^] So Bar, Str., vs. Mich., Gin., Kit.
jinsfn. The ppl. "i?*!?, vs. an assumed adj. '^^'Q, is approved by the equiv-
alent in Syr., s. Kau., §58, 2, e; but Torrey, I.e., argues for ha-. —
HOT hy] (S> 0 erroneously construe with DJHD. — imannV ojne] For the vb.
3^^"^' 209
with cognate ace. c/. xay ainn 2"; similarly 2YZf in Heb. with double
ace, e.g., I Ki. 12'. For the Indo-European origin of the word s. Lexx.,
e.g., Armenian palgam. (For the formation cf. j^pd i^, and id.^d 'idol,'
appearing in Torrey's CiUcian Inscr., JAOS 35, 369; this is also found
in transliteration in (8 at Is. 8-^ where xaTotxpa is to be read on Sym.'s
authority in place of corrupt -rcaipta, s. Nestle, DB 4, 441a. The word
appears also in the Targ. and freq. in Aram, magical texts.) For the
phrase here the common Syr. equivalent is NOJno ani 'give answer,
render account,' and also a more exact equivalent is found in Pesh. Mt.
15-', 'D ''JD. Zirkel, Untersuchungen uber den Prediger (1792), cited by
McNeile, Eccles., 42, followed by Torrey, Ezra Studies, 177, presented
the novel theory that 'fl is from <ff}iy^<x. But this fairly uncommon Gr.
word, while meaning 'voice, utterance, language,' is never used in the
sense invariably given by Aram, usage to 'd. which always = nji and
Xoyoq, the correspondence being substantiated by the phrase equiva-
lences cited. The objection made by Torrey that no proper Indo-
European derivation can be found is fairly met by a note by Gehman,
JBL 43, 320. The Gr. dTvoSouvat Xdyov is rendered in Pesh. at Acts
19" by the idiomatic tneppa^ riihd, 'make apology, defence.' Our
phrase also occurs in Odes of Solomon, 24', and can be explained there
only by the sense claimed here (Harris ad he. is unsuccessful in inter-
pretation).
17. '■''' \\i] = 'if,' as in the condition nS ]n, v.*', never 'behold,'
as in Heb. But the VSS unite in ignoring the conditional 'if God is
able to save,' and tr. by 'for,' as noted in Comm. Consequently the
syntax was recast : ' Behold {or, for) our God is able to save us from the
furnace, and from thy hand he will save.' So Sa., AEz., most of the
earUer comm., GV, CBMich., Ew., SVmg, Ehr., etc. The correct tr.
'if was recognized by deDieu, repeated by vLeng., and is accepted by
most modern comm. As indicated above, two interpretations of the
condition have been proposed. That accepted by AV RVV tr. in>x jn
by 'if it be so,' i.e., if the king's order is to be executed, and Torrey
defends this by comparing ^''.^ 2 Ki. 10'', 'and be it so.' For considera-
tion of this interpretation s. Comm. above. The interpretation ac-
cepted there is also that of JV. — '*^?-**] For the sufl. s. Kau., §53,
Anm. a. 9 (B Q V h" = Hw-b) ignored the suff.; 05 has a plus.— 18.
nV p] (K and & persist in ignoring any condition, and U dodges it. —
N3m] 0 (B 89 229 = E) om.
19-23. Naturally enough the despot's features were trans-
formed with rage at the Confessors' pertinacity. He absurdly
ordered the flaming-fiery-furnace to be heated seven times hot-
ter than was necessary or was wont, v.*^ The strongest men of
14
210 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
the army were ordered to bind the victims and to cast them
down into the fiery kiln, v.^°— all this to forestall any interven-
tion of gods or men. The three Jews were accordingly bound,
clad in their full suits of clothes, mantles and trousers and hats ;
they had attended the ceremony in full court dress. The three
terms of dress are variously interpreted in ($ and 0 and so in
subsequent VSS, and have induced extraordinary variety of in-
terpretations. The Note substantiates the tr. of GV AV, ' coats,
hosen (trousers), hats' against RV JV. The defiance of the king
to the Confessors' faith in the excessive heating of the furnace
had its retribution; the executioners had taken them up to the
top of the furnace (s. Comm. at v.*) and cast them in, when a
lambent _^awe of fire killed the executioners, v.^^. The Confessors
themselves were fallen down bound into the furnace, v.^^, when a
prodigy attracted the astonishment of the king, vv.^^ ^ — for such
is the connection of thought.
At this point is interpolated the great Apocryphon of the
Christian VSS; for judgment against its originality s. Int., §4, a.
The same opinion is expressed very positively by Torrey, Notes,
I, 264, and at length by M. Sprengling, AJSL 37, 132-135.
19. °..>'] For this vs. °,? v.^', etc., the usual construct form, by an
arbitrary distinction, s. on iSd 2*"; 'x here = 'fashion, cut,' of the face.
In 5*, etc., I'.' in pi. is so used with njtt", and so & renders here. — unsf n
Kt., ''J'-^f'^' Kr.] The pi. of Kt. is to be explained as by attraction to
the pi. iniDjN in the construct phrase; s. Kau., §98, i, b, and for numer-
ous parallels in Heb. GK §146, i. The pi. should be pointed ^i — with
Bev., Behr., al., vs. u — with Bar, p. 96, Gin. For the phrase cf. 5^ and
Comm. there.— uj i3>-i] = (6 B al.; Kw.b QrC (AQ 106 al.) Lu.
asyndeton; the preceding asterisk in @s niay refer to the conj. — njy]
8mss Ken., (6 0 § 15 om. — ^.'.°] Rt. nix, used of heating baths in Targ.,
Talm.; for syncope of n s. on nhd v.-. — ^';yy in] I.e., 1X7; this mul-
tiplicative expression is found in an APO pap. i, I, 3, fjSx nn 'a thousand
times.' I find it also in Syr. in g> to this bk. at ii^- ^^, where °'rf taken
as °?W is translated jnn nn, 'twice.' And I note the similar phrase
n^Niini NDD in in Lagarde, Clem. Rom., p. 52, 1. 13. Otherwise the Syr.
grammarians note only the use with 2 prefixed to the second numeral,
s. Nold., 5G §241; similarly in JAram., which also uses, e.g., pmn nn Vy
(also such a case in Mand., Lidz., Mand. Lit., p. 152), as well as i^J3f
'times,' s. Dalm., Gr. §23, 2. Kau., §66, 2, thinks our phrase is an
abbreviation of the usual Syr. idiom. But it may have come from
reminiscence of recitation of multiplication tables; s. Hilprecht, BE 20,
^19-23 211
pt. I, pp. 14^., for Bab. multiplication tables, which generally employ
A-RA 'times,' but one table is given without this symbol. Prob. the
obscure t^iz'i^ nji^'xi Jer. 16" represents the same idiom. — ^'H] Pass,
ppl. of ntn 'see.' Correctly (& sSet. In Rabb. both MQ and Heb. 'i^")
are used in the sense 'seen to' = 'fit'; Sa., 'necessary.' SeeLexx.for
similar uses of nxi. H Consiieuerat is practically equivalent, adopted by
GV, EVV: 'it was wont.' 0 lu>c, zlc, ziXoq iy.vAji, i.e., rdg. "i" for Sy (so
in 7MSS Ken., 3MSS de R). Apparently 0 regarded nrn as from rt. nin and
treated it as reinforcing n>inS and so tr. adverbially, efg zi'koq, 'ut-
terly.' ^'^''^i' strangely enough goes its own way, (anto qtiam solebat.
& tr. 'over what it was heated.' — 20. fiaj] = 'certain,' cf. v.*. —
■ID ''■?.-?;'] See Kau., §59, i, e. The phrase is Biblical, having in O.T.
the sense of 'trained soldiers,' etc., s. Lexx. s.v., as well as of 'strong,
valorous men.' — uj nap] Or? Lu. Q al. 31 om. conj. — ndidS] N.h.
asyndeton with nnc:?, cf. the ppls. v.'' — phnS] For the prep. xuS is
to be expected as v."', etc., or Sn, which appears in the papp.; but cf.
Heb. •? iSa', e.g., 2 Ch. 24".— 21. "^^^t] With following 1'°"! instance of
the pass, of the first Stem, so-called Peil, = Arab, ^utila. This was
recognized by Nold., GGA 1884, p. 1016; by Bev. on "hi 2^', Behr., p.
vii. Mar., Gr. §32, al. This against the elder view that it is a verbal
development of the pass, ppl.; so Kau., §29, 2, Str., §12, a. Tradition
of i^ varies between the writing of i plene or defective, s. the exx. in
Kau., I.e. The same formation in strong vbs. appears six times in APO,
s. p. 270, all written plene. We have to suppose that the vowel under
the accent came early to be stressed and underwent heightening of a
sort, cf. Heb. hikttl. Similar archaic passive forms have been retained
in Heb., s. GK §53, u. The distinction between the Peil and the ppl.
appears in vbs. n//S, as noted by Luzzatto, p. 32, n; s. Kau., p. 80.
pnnSanDi pnv^-v^ja pn^S^iD; for 2° :^r. liniu'Ms = Qr. Kt. and Kr.]
'ID again v.-^ On these terms s. Lexx., Andreas in Mar.'s Glossary,
Bludau, p. loi, Krauss, Talm. Archaologie, s.vv., and esp. S. A. Cook,
'The Articles of Dress in Dan. iii, 21,' Journal of Philology, 26 (1899),
306-313, with wealth of Classical citation. Since for each of these three
terms every category of gear for head, body and legs has been adduced
(e.g., the EW and margins), the possible permutations are many. Of
the three one can now be surely defined, the last, '"\d = Akk. karballatu,
'helmet,' found in the Nak§-i-Rustam Inscr. of Darius I, §3 (Weissbach,
Die Keilinschriften der Achaefneniden, 89), also in late Akk. texts as
prob. 'hats' (Meissner, Supplement, 50). With this agrees the mng. in
Talm. and Syr., 'cap' and 'cock's comb,' as imitating the pointed Pers.
cap. Oppcrt, on Darius' inscr., Records of the Past, Ser. i, ix, 76, con-
nected the word with xup^aufa {-alt > -ait), which appears as the
pointed cap of the Scythians (Her., vii, 64) and the Persians (Aristopha-
nes, Birds, 486 /., with satirical ref. to the strutting, cocklike appear-
212 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
ance of the Persian). With the third term = hat, the first in the series
of garments must be the body garment, coat or mantle, and so '"o is
specified as the principal garment in v.". The vb. is found in i Ch.
i5"j '^"'>'° ^2130, 'wrapt in a tunic,' from rt. S^a. Such is the usual
mng. of '-»D in Targ. and Talm., and so here Ra., AEz.; and so Theodt.
defines it, •rcspat/.wv TCEpt^oXaiwy eioT). Further, Isidore of Seville,
Etymologiae {PL Ixxx, 688), explains it as 'fluxa et sinuosa uestimenta
de quibus legitur in Daniele,' a definition ignored by Cook, who only
notices an alternative given by Isidore that 'some' define it as 'hats.'
The rt. is doubtless "^^d. 'carry, wear,' in papp., Heb., Syr. (for the r
cf. ND-13 ."^^nD sup., etc.). The second term 'Jd must then be the leg-
gear. So a tradition of its mng. as 'breeches' in Midr. Echa, i, i (but
the rdg. is uncertain, s. Buxt., Bev.), and ace. to one mng. given in the
Syriac lexicographers = Arab, randt, 'leggings' (PSmith, col. 3098).
But Sa., AEz., Jeph. tr. it by 'tunics' = RV JV. Its etymology remains
obscure. JHMich., CBMich. connected it with -viiiamc,, and so Hommel,
Geog. u. Gesch. i, 211, as a gloss to the following term. This order of
coat, trousers, hat is corroborated by an appropriate passage in Pollux
Archaeologos (c. 180 a.d.; ed. Bekker, vii, 58): Ilepawv Ihix xiivSoq (a
Median upper garment) xal dva^upk (leg-gear) xal xtdpa, rjv xotl
xup^aabv xaXoOat. Pollux, ensuite, cites the poet Antiphanes, who
in a verse similarly itemizes axoXaf, axIXeat, Ttapott. Cook ignores
this substantiation of l^'s order. — But the traditions of the VSS have
complicated the definitions of the terms. (S has only two, uTcoSTjtxata,
Ttapat; 0 all three, aapd^apot, xtipat, 7:sptxvT5;i,{3£<; = H hraccae,
iiarae, calceamenta ; & also the three, the first two in transliteration,
the third infixed after the foil, 'and their clothing,' as )in^;7:]ip = Syr.
'cap' or 'mitre,' so agreeing with the etymology given above. On
basis of these discrepancies in the VSS and after Hommel, Cook argues
for the elimination of 'aD as a gloss (but why was it inserted?), and
thinks he can simplify the resultant. But I believe that CS did have 'aij,
but rdg. it as pnv^j-io = i^-x x. xscpaXwv auxwv; i.e., (B read the third
term as xtapac and then shifted the erroneously read second term after
it so as to obtain 'hats on their heads.' Unfortunately 0 followed (6 in
keeping tiaras in second place, removing the second term to third
place, but translating it properly by TC£pixvr)[j,fSe(;; and 15 followed
suit. Thus possibly the text of H^ may be vindicated from the VSS and
the rdgs. of the latter explained. — The history of interpretation of sar-
belah may deserve particular notice. 0's sarabara = J^wib jg explained
by Suidas as a Pers. garment, and it was applied in the West to the
baggy Oriental trousers; and so Sym. (on Jer.'s authority) dva^upfSeq,
'leggings' (but (gsmg attributes to Sym. 'shoes'). Interestingly enough
Jer. notes that 0 and Aq. read saraballa and not ' as corruptly sarabara ' ;
if so, our 0 text has assimilated the former to the latter better known
319-23 ,,3
word. And at v.-' "B (not Am.) actually has sarahala, prob. from 21,
where his mng. 'breeches' would have been out of place. We are not
helped out by Krauss's statement, i, 172, that the Talm. knows the
word in three senses, 'mantles,' 'breeches,' 'shoes.' Scholars have nat-
urally assimilated the word to the well-known Arab, sirwdl (Pers. sal-
war?), 'trousers,' by which Sa., Jeph. tr. here. But Fraenkel, Aram.
Fremdworter im Arab., 47, also knows that word as 'coats.' — jininaSi]
For w'n? pass, katul-lorvn, rare in Aram., s. Kau., §57, e, and Nold.,
MG §101, SG §113; a few exx. are found in the papp., s. Sachau, APO
p. 268. 0 ignores the word, and Bludau (p. loi) and Cook (p. 311)
doubt its originality; but (& witnesses to it. By this general term may
be meant 'their other garments,' with EVV, or it may be summarizing.
— Nm^p'] On authority of (gs {vs. (gc) omitted in orig. (&.
22. n p NJT '73|"' "?;] = 'because of the fact'; a similar accumulation
of preps, in Syr., Clemens Rom., ed. de Lagarde, 31, nSt S"J3t Nin pi.
Sprengling's suggestion to tr. 'at this juncture' makes no improvement.
— nsi'nc] = HDsnnc 2^^; the Grr. inconsistently in the two places. —
^.'.^'] The first syllable 'a > 'e > e, as in Syr. mro (s. Nold., SG §174);
another instance of this phenomenon in BAram., J^ Ezr. 5'^ (but this
under influence of tone); Kau., §15, e, aptly c//. Heb. ■^'''?' ^'??. There
is no reason with Ehr. to rewrite ^1% — mifi''] Also 7'- '* = Syr. n-i\-i>;
as a fem. form to be compared with the advs. with fem. -t, e.g., ''^Tr' 6*'
and numerous cases in Syr., s. Nold., SG §155; in Heb., e.g., ^p**"! may
be compared. In papp. ■\\-ii = Syr. appears. — For the Gr. texts of vv.
!2b. 23 ,^ infra. — V^'^] Rt. p'^D, s. Kau., §44, b. For the progressive as-
similation of / with s (which appears in the Aramaizing Ps. 139, v.',
pDx) cf. Syr. "^rK, nezlun > nezzun, and s. Brock., VG i, p. 159. — uj n3;"i]
Orc Lu. asyndeton. — sao;:'] Also lu n p^ou' 7', v.:'N 2''2r Job i8\
The earlier etymology eft. Syr. 'sdh 'burn' as = Arab, sahba. But
Arab, should then be sabba, and Bev., followed by Behr., Mar., con-
nects with Arab, sab'ib, 'wisp of hair,' etc., and tr. 'streak, tongue' [of
flame]. This Arab. rt. has primary mng., 'cut,' hence Talm. ^'?'''^'
'chip,' or 'flame-spark.' However, Akk. sabdbu — 'burn,' and the
writer has found rt. D3'^' 'burn' in a late Aram, text, Aratn. Incant.
Texts, no. 28, 1. i, and it appears in the Mand., Lidz., Mand. Liturgien,
132, I. 9, aossr.— 23. P'^'D';''?] For the assured leldttekon s. Bar's note
and Kau., p. 120. The combination -dtte- is corroborated by the similar
Syr. forms for 'three . . . ten of them,' s. Nold., SG §149. The base
of the present numeral is the fem. teldtt; the subsequent forms in the
Syr., 'arbe'attaihon, etc., are then analogy-formations, even as Bev.
suggests that the pi. element ai-e is after analogy of teraihon, 'two of
them'; so also Brock., SG §170. This is preferable to an e.xplanatiT:i
by Kon., Lgb., i, p. 53. — uj ^2•;^] E A Q Lu. al. asyndeton. — niij] O
(B 8mss Jj) cm.; corroborated by (& Ivsicuptaev (?). — iSdj] Properly
214 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
'were fallen down'; for this sense in Heb., common in the act. ppl. s.
BDB 657 b, and cf., with Behr., the similar use in Pesh., e.g., Mt. 3"' =
piXXsaBxt. The v. is accordingly circumstantial to v.-^ and the usual
paragraph distinction between them is unnecessary; this against Cha.
that "this V. is an otiose repetition of 21b."
22b. 23 in the Grr. These VSS are in corrupt condition before the
Joint of the Apocryphon. V. -'', 'those men,' etc., is omitted by 0 (also
E). The omission is to be explained as a case of haplog., an early scribe
having passed over the first of two equal lines, each beginning with
'those men'; so also Torrey, Notes, I, p. 264. The lacuna is supplied
by Or^- ^, but for their ^2X(X)ovir2s Lu. has StapiXXovraq (37 51 231 c)
or IvSta^. These vbs. mean 'to accuse' and might be taken as perver-
sions of (j'a.)pciXX£tv. But & similarly has |inii-np "i?dn, 'their accusers.'
We have then to hold that Lu. was following some current Syrian in-
terpretation of ipDH, which does not = ^ or pdXXstv. 05, vv.^- ", is
well-nigh hopeless in its bearing on l|. At least syntax might be pre-
served if at end of v.^- a comma, not a period, with Swete, were used.
V.*^'' may be a var. of v.". The actual equivalent of ^ v."-^ is (6 v.-'%
which is a fair paraphrase of 2|; then l|, v.-', is summed up in (5, v.-^''.
24-30. The miraculous deliverance of the Confessors. The
three men were fallen down into the fire when a marvel appears
to the king. Dramatically he is made to ask of his courtiers
whether it was not three men bound who had been cast into the
furnace, and then he states the contradiction of his own eyes:
four men loose [the bonds had been consumed !], walking in the
midst of the fire withotit harm upon them, and the appearance of
the fourth like that of a divinity [ lit. a son of Deity]. It is not said
that the others saw this strange being, and he disappears from
the narrative as immediately as he was introduced. Both in
this term 'son of Deity,' iTi^t^ 12, and in the synonym for it
which is later put in the king's mouth, 'his angel,' the latter is
given language entirely genuine to Aramaic Paganism ; his terms
are taken neither from Babylonian mythology, as Heng., pp.
158^., and Keil argue, nor from the Greek ideas of the sons of
the gods, with Bert., p. 29. As in the Bab., the pi. ildni was
used as a singular, so also in the Aram, the pi. 'eldhtn, s. Note
on 2'^, even as the D\1^Sn ""iD of the O.T. was a common Semitic
concept. Also the term 'angel' was appropriate to common
WSem. diction as expressing an appearance-form of Deity. It
occurs in the Phoen. niniyy^^a 'Angel-of- Ash tart,' ^J?3D^D
'A.-of-Baal'; and it is now identified by Lidz., Eph., i, 256 {cf.
324-30 215
Dussaud, Notes de mythologie syrienne, 1903, pp. 24 ff., cited by
Cumont, Les religions orieniales, n. 23 to c. 5), with the first
element in the Palmyrene deity's name ^122^12 (not malk-,
'king') 'Mal'ak-Bol,' i.e., 'Angel-of-B.' In these cases the 'an-
gel' is similar to the primitive 'Angel of Yhwh,' and is properly
a pn^S ID. Also the preceding formula in this v., 'Blessed
(*|''12) is the God of,' etc., is typical of good Syrian religion,
occurring in the Palmyrene formula SD^>?^ Tl'Ci^ T"'-' which
is not necessarily a borrowing from the Jewish {cf. sup. 2^0), as
Lidz. holds, Eph. i, 256; and Torrey corroborates the writer's
opinion, s. his remarks, JAOS 43, 143. As to the theological in-
terpretation of the son of God, the Jewish comm. identify him
simply as an angel; Sa. tr. 'like the angels'; ace. to Ra. he was
the angel whom Neb. had seen at the calamity to Sennacherib's
host, for Neb. had accompanied that expedition, and hence could
recognize the celestial being; AEz. identifies with the Angel-of-
Yh\vh appearances. GV RV JV tr. here 'a son of the gods,'
with Sym. But 0's vlw deov 'einem Gottessohn' is correct.
Early Christian exegesis naturally identified the personage with
the Second Person of the Trinity, so Hipp., Chrys., al., and AV
'the Son of God,' following Miinster; but this view has been
generally given up by modern Christian comm. (so among the
Roman Catholic interpreters Knab.). And Jer. takes exception
to this identification: "sed nescio quomodo rex impius Dei
Filium uidere mereatur." Also the epithet in the king's mouth
for the God of the Confessors, S^'^J?, 0 v^|naT09, 'the Most
High,' is equally germane to WSem. Pagan language and
thought. It has its parallel in Heb. \vb]il, which, however, ap-
pears generally as a term outside of Hebrew circles, e.g., the
God Most High of Melkisedek, while Balaam is 'acquainted with
the knowledge of the Most High,' Nu. 24'®, and the term is put
in the mouth of the king of Assyria, Is. 14". This Elyon is
vouched for in the Phcen. religion by Philo of Byblos (KXcovu
6 v^lrLaTo^)^ and as v-^iajo^ appears in the later syncretistic
Syrian religions, e.g., the inscriptions of Palmyra; s. Bathgen,
Beitrdge, 83, Cumont, op. cit., 153 ff., and especially Hehn, Die
bibl. u. babyl. Gottesidee, pp. 258-264, for a comprehensive state-
ment on this theologumenon, inclusive of the Bab. field. In
Judaistic Gr. we find it constantly attributed to Pagan speakers,
2l6 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
e.g., I Esd. 2^, Acts i6", or to demons, Mk. 5^; it is frequent in
Enoch (s. Cha. on 99^), Twelve Testaments, etc., and in Syriac
Christianity (it is, as meraiyemd, the constant term for God,
e.g., in the Odes of Solomon). This monotheistic term became
current in circles more or less influenced by Judaism; s. Schiirer,
GJV 3, 174. The epithet is correctly put in the mouth of a
Pagan king.
In his summons to the Confessors to come forth (v.^^^), the
king thus makes his confession of their God as the Highest,
stimmus Deus, in the monotheizing language of the late period.
They come forth and the dignitaries in the king's suite assemble
and see that the fire had had no power over them (vv.^^^- "»);
in a well-put climacteric, their bodies were not touched, nor their
hair singed, nor their garments a whit changed, and not even a
breath of fire was perceptible upon them (v.-"''). The king then
utters a praise of the God who had protected his servants in
their absolute trust in him, even to the facing of death (v.^^).
And he proceeds (v.^") to utter an edict that whoever should
speak the slightest thing amiss against their God should be pun-
ished as culprits against the realm {cf. 2^). The edict moves in
terms of current polytheism; the Jewish God does not become
the king's God, but, as so severe a critic of the book as Bert,
admits (p. 255), he merely remains their God. But his religion
is formally recognized as a religio licita with its rights to respect
from all in the realm. Such a pronunciamento may well have
been true to the official protection of religions under the later
empires, and in fact this recognition of toleration was all that
the Jews desiderated.
30 . The Reward of the Three Confessors. It is simply stated
that the king promoted (so EW; lit. prospered) the three Jews
in their posts in the civil administration of the province of
Babylon. In this there is no contradiction to the sequel of c. 2.
24. '^l'?] This true n'/S vb. is overlooked by Kau. in his appropriate
§40. — nSnanna] 'In a hurry,' as also 2". — '''?^"'i'';^] Doubtless Pers.,
but the etymology is much disputed. A derivation as = simul-iudex
was suggested by v. Bohlen, which is denied by Bev., who is again con-
tradicted by Behr. The most recent discussion is by Rashdall, JQR i,
338/., who argues that the word can be explained from a supposititious
khaddbara, 'sword-bearer'; the title might then be purely honorific.
Steuernagel, ZDPV 35, 95, would correct 3 to j and cjt. NnDi::n APO
324-30 217
pap. 8, 11. 4. 23; but 2 is supported by (5's interpretation. C5 here and
V." ol 9(Xoc, cf. 5' exalpot (for inuoiJi), i.e., as from ">?? 'associate.'
The benai lewUd of (35^"^ to v.^' expresses the same thought. Blud.,
p. 100, eft. iffXot, as title of the highest officials at the Ptolemaic court,
but the title goes back to Pers. usage; s. for various refi. Holm, Griech.
Gesch., I, 162, Cumont, Les religions orientales, 165, Deissmann, Bible
Studies, 167, and Licht vom Osten*, 324. (&'s interpretation is satisfactory'
here as referring to the courtiers in attendance. 0 varies : here [Asy taxave?,
V." Suviiaxat, 4^^ xupavvot, 6' uiuaTot. ®smg j^as Njiinn 'leaders,'
attributed to 0 (attribution properly questioned), an etymology as
though from "i3t (so Field); the tr. may be Aq.'s; and so Sa., kmjwdd.
Similarly the Jewish comm. attempt Heb. etymologies.— r^>] The
form is corroborated by PalAram., e.g., P''';^, pn;:', s. Dalm., Gr., p.
290; for the penultimate accent cf. Kau.'s explanation, §47, p. 89, 'an
attempt to preserve the consonantal strength of the Yod'; he eft. the
pi. '^V?,? > Syr. malhe. For the generally adopted revision to ^^'i s. at
2*.—^?'?:] 'The truth, true!' = NHeb. V^\, 'Yes'; cf. 3>p p 2\
Behr. prefers to regard as fem., or as adv., eft. n-i>n'' v.'^, so Mar., but
it is masc. emph. — The Grr. supply a joint with the Apocryphon: (6
■/.. eyivETo (= VIM?) £v xw dxoOaat x. ^aatX^a u;i,vouvx(jL)v auxwv, and
then follows 1^, x6xe Nx^. xxX.; 0 /.. Nap. t^xouusv ujjlvouvxwv auxuv /..
iOa6;jiaaev. Also orig. (S om. the passage from jnjJ kSh to icni njy,
v.-^, which was supplied by Hex., the complement = OrC in the revi-
sion of 0; the fault arose from haplog. of i<^7\ v.-^, and nh v.".
25. ^J-*? ^'^i ■^'^xi "V] d X. ekev 6 paa. (= Hex. plus) \lw eyci.
In 0 texts B solus has 6 Se (Rom. ed., SSe Swete) syw. The var. rdgs.
are: x. elirsv 5 paa., tSou eyw (A 106 al. = OrC?; V 'I'Ss lyw); Q c al.
5)Se eyw; Or^ iicey-pfOir] x. elxev, & 5g lyw; Lu. dicoxpcOeii; elxev x. fSoi
eyd). Of these wSe is corruption of 0 Ss; tSou was Origen's revision.
But B's 0 Se is authentic; 0 om. i::ni njy, understood ^'7 as ^^, and
supplying the conj. obtained 6 Se (so prop. vs. Swete), i.e., 'and he
[said].' This classicism is prob. unique in the Gr. Bible. — 1''?;7-] So
with Haf. pointing at 4'''; otherwise Aram, dialects have Pael (= Piel
in late Bibl. Heb.). A few mss (s. Bar, Str.) read r?'?v"?, which is pre-
ferred by Kamp., Lohr, Mar. Is this a Mass. fancy in the two passages,
to obtain perhaps a denominative, 'walking after the Halaka'? The
asyndeton is preserved by (B'^- vs. (S^ 0. — 3n] go Bar, Str., Kit., but
Mich., Gin. '^?n (yet 6-^ Gin. -^H); the former is correct, as Syr. shows;
ef. r:^>!, Ecc. 4S s".— N^rai Kt., ^^'^:^1 Kr.] See Kau., §ir, i, b.—
I>n?N na] = ^literatim; (S ayy^Xou Oeoij {cf. v.='); 0 Aq. u'tiT) OsoG = T^
filio Dei; Sym. on Jer.'s authority [opiotwixa] u'lwv Oswv. — 26. uj i^yi]
(g asyndeton.— «:^!? Kt., '^iT< l^r.] Kau., §59, i, 6, Mar., Gr. §84,
regard as a k:ittdl or h:dttdl form, but the doubling is secondary; ef. Heb.
2l8 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
'^J??; with Syr. 'ellttd, further the adv. ^7^. 6', and s. on niN 2''. —
rPDi] In parallelism with ji^jdhd v.^', vs. M's verse division. — 27.
]i\i^iDr\v] For pointing s. at v.'. — 'The satraps,' etc.] The first three
terms as in v.'', the fourth from v.^*; the latter as brevet title occurs
last. fiS and 0 vary from their translations in v.^. In the third place (S
has apxcrcaxptwTat, cf. Jos. 21' = nux I'i'Xi. — jnn] Prob. asyndeton
with pi^'JonD, rather than secondary predicate, v. sup. v.'; cf. Mar.,
Gr. §129, e ('um zu sehen'), who eft. 7^, etc. Kau.'s note, §102, that
asyndeton ordering of nouns and sentences is rare is erroneous; it is a
marked feature of BAram., and in the orig. texts was probably still
more fully represented, as even the Grr. indicate. For vbs. in asyndeton
s. Nold., SG §337. — iu arz'] ': as masc. only here and 7', "otherwise
fem., as in Syr. Similarly the Arab. ?idr is fem. in most cases, rarely
masc," Bev.; cf. Wright, Gr. i, §292, rem. b: ndr "was anciently of
both genders." The following nn is 'exceptionally fem., like the Arab.
rth,' Behr. See on these two words Feghali, Dii genre grammatical en
semitique, 1924, pp. 77, 78.— P^''???.] Bar, Str., Gin.; iinca-j Mich.,
Kit.] The former is the Occidental rdg., the latter the Oriental, ace. to
Gin. {cf. his Int., pt. 2, c. 9); the universal Kr. identifies the former with
the latter and agrees with the VSS, except "& = pi. (early witness to
the pi. Kt. of ^). The pi. was induced by the pi. in v.-', but here the
sing, is quite proper, cf. following iin-i-Ni, and n.b. the support of the
VSS; Behr., Kamp., Mar. argue in the opposite direction. — lu nn]
Ehr., referring to his notes on Ju. i6^ Job 14', argues that this is not
'Brandgeruch, . . . sondern die geringste Wirkung . . . des Feuers';
but 'a smell of fire' is perfectly suitable here, pna refers to the men,
not to the garments. — At end of v. OrC (A Q V 106 A al.) a plus, 'and
the king worshipped the Lord before them' ; similarly Lu.
28. uj n^yi] (5^ a Q (HP inaccurate here) om. conj.; B conj. here
and with Mstuax- — 1"'J''^'] = Haf. Nr:jnD i<:y7\^ Ezr. 6"; these stems have
the secondary mng. of 'contradict, disobey,' analogous, as Bert., al.,
remark, to '\^n Is. 24*; also cf. Arab, halafa in stems III, VI, VIII. In
Syr. p i<yi' = 'disobey,' e.g., Cureton, Anc. Syr. Documents, p. 48, 1. 3.
Sym. rightly tr. TjOixriaav.— r'l'??^] So the edd.; the Oriental rdg.
]^r\^:!V> (Gin.). The Kr. is again identical as in v.-'; the pi. Kt., how-
ever, is here supported by (6^ Q •g^ the sing, by ^s §. Read here as pi.
Ehr.'s view that 'J is reflexive (he cfl. similar Rabb. use of Di';-) is not
necessary; he may be right in supposing that the sing. IK^r. implied this
idea. 05 + sEs e'tATruptcj^Lov, 0 (not Or?) + tie, xup; cf. Ken. 180 NnnrS
N"*1J U3. Paul has reminiscence of this rdg. at i Cor. 13^, xav •urotpaSd)
Tb csQt\i.6L jjLou Yva xauOtjao'^at, which latter vb. is thus supported vs.
xauxT)aw(jLat (WH); marginal apparatus appear to ignore the citation.
— 29. D>'0 D''i:' ''jc] the phrase also 4' and freq. in Ezr. 4*', etc., in 6"
'ta '^ imp p; cf. ijd 2^. For ojJta 0 texts 56Y(ji,a, exc. B 89 132 229 xb
3''-'° 219
Sdytia. — T?*:] = Syr., Arab, lisdn; cf. Mar., Gr. §82; Nold. in his review
of Kau., Gr., rightly denies the latter's description of this form (§§12. 57
end) as 'eine kiinstliche Schiirfung der Consonante.' The prec. conj. is
ignored by Q.—rh-:: Kt., ''"'v :^r.] VSS 'blasphemy.' Ra., AEz. identify
with Heb. rts. jjc'. r\xt', used of careless, inadvertent error; so Targ. tr.
these vbs. by i^^v, e.g., Job 6^*, 12'^, and such is the sense of Kr., = EVV
'(speak) anything amiss'; Sa., 'an absurdity.' The Kt., if not an error,
would be a var. form; Kau., §61, 4, b, suggests a pointing after analogy
of ^\^\ but possibly to be read as ^.."f 'remiss,' occurring in 4^ as 're-
laxed.' The noun ''^V' appears in the same sense in 6', Ezr. 4^^, 6' (here
Gin. accents hrv). For the form s. Kau., I.e., i.e., the participial stem
like galMd; but it is better compared with ^^^, etc., i.e., salU, and then
with Heb. heightening of the pretonic vowel. And so the Heb. equiva-
lent ^tl'^. Poss. ''..? Job 20^" should be read ^^*, as a noun is required.
Hitz., preferring the 5^r., suggested ^^'^ = ^t-F, cf. i Sa. i'^, ^^'?c', Kr.
ID^'^^V, and eft. for the mng. vXhSnc 4", 'word,' hence here 'thing' {cf.
use of Heb. "i3i). So Bev., Kamp., Mar.; the latter suggests that >x in
the unique speUing nuj en suite was intended as emendation to our
word. A third derivation is offered by Perles, JQR O.S. 18 387, pre-
ferred by GB, as from Heb. and Syr. nSo, 'despise,' the noun to be
read as 'abuse, slander' (also suggesting nSd'' for xSai 7-^); but then
tr is improper. I prefer the traditional interpretation with Behr., Dr.,
Kon., Hwh., al. For the danger of a ^]]Y even in speech s. Ecc. 5^ —
Nuj] Otherwise always ijj, as many mss here; prob. assimilation to
N1J3 sup. (& 0 om. prec. conj. — iiiyn'' pDin] For the penalties and VSS
s. at 2'. — mriB"] The rt. nv.S' here = n^t' 2^; there is no reason, with
BDB, GB, to postulate two Heb. rts. nia'; cf. Kon., Hwh.~^.\] S. at
2'.— ^r.?] 'Like this = thus,' so Sa.; so Ezr. 5' = prob. njTD APO
pap. 10, 1. 8; ef. Heb. n^jD, e.g., i Ki. 7"; erroneously AEz., Hitz., Behr.,
al., 'like this one,' i.e., their God. — 30. uj "i3;'i] (S 0 asyndeton. — C5
has transposed the words S23 n:nna, Icp' Kkriq ttji; x^pa?, i-e., as though
'^0 S33. A by reminiscence of 2" -\- ixl xa spyot. All 0 texts add an
extensive plus at end, most of them with a doublet Tj^cwaev auTou? ||
Tju^TjffEv auTouq; A is in sad confusion.
2 20 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
CHAPTER 4. NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S MADNESS.
The story is cast in the form of an encyclical edict emanating
from the king, with the salutation c. 3, 31-33 (c. 4, 1-3), and
the concluding pronouncement, his confession of God, 34 (37).
The body of the document contains three acts: (i) 1-24 (4-27)
the problem of the king's mysterious dream and Dan.'s inter-
pretation of it; (2) 25-30 (28-33) the story of the king's
mania; (3) 31-34 (34-37) his restoration to prosperity. Defi-
nite metrical structure is evident for 3^^, 4'^-"^- ''^-^- ^^-'^*, and the
greater part, if not all, of vv.'^-^^. The whole story is com-
posed in a lyric strain. Bert, casts all the spoken parts into
verse form.
The amazing malady which possessed Nebuchadnezzar,
known scientifically as lycanthropy, is presented in a simple
and natural way. There is no idea of his possession by Satan,
a view advanced by Origen but denied by Jer. (at the begin-
ning of his comm. on the chap.), no idea of metamorphosis, such
as has been advanced by some learned if not scientific students
(s. dEnv., p. 319), following in the footsteps of Jer., who insip-
idly eft. Scylla and Charybdis, Hydra and the Centaurs. The
disease is well known in the sad annals of the human mind and
attested by scientific examination. With it is associated the
primitive werewolf superstition, which may have its rational-
istic support in the actual frenzies of the human kind. Refif. for
this phenomenon from ancient and modern studies have been
assembled by Pusey, pp. 428^., and in a popular but well-docu-
mented volume by S. Baring-Gould, The Book of Were-Wolvcs,
London, 1865, in comparison with whose terrible tales Neb.'s
madness was a mild case.^ Even if the essence of the story
were true, that Neb. was so afilicted, after the manner of
'geniuses' and of many royal persons, as George III of England
and Otho of Bavaria, corroboration of it can hardly ever be ex-
pected from archaeology, for royal families do not leave me-
' See also W. H. Roscher, 'Das von der Kynanthropie handelnde Fragment des
Marcellus von Side,' in Abhandlungen (phil.-hist. Klasse) of the Saxon Academy,
vol. 17, 1896. Zock., p. 30, gives an extensive bibliography. Lammcns, La Syrie,
149, notes that Ibn Batrik records a similar madness of the crazy Hakim (ii, 218).
Wilson, p. 289, registers a monograph by D. R. Burrell, 'The Insane Kings of the
Bible,' Am. Journ. of Insanity, April, 1894, 493-504.
CHAPTER 4, PREFACE 221
morials of such frailties. The alleged malady is not an impos-
sibility.
A partly parallel saga of Neb., observed by Grot., has been
preserved by Eusebius, Praep. ev., ix, 41, 6, and in shorter form,
in his Chronicle (only preserved in Armenian) ; s. ed. Schoene,
I, 42 (the former text also in Miiller, Frag. hist, gr., 4, 282).
Eusebius says: "I found also in the book of Abydenus on the
Assyrians the following in regard to Neb.: Megasthenes says
that Neb. became stronger than Herakles, and made wars upon
Lybia and Iberia, and having conquered these countries settled
a part of their inhabitants on the right of Pontus. After this, it
is said by the Chaldaeans, he ascended the roof of his palace, and,
being possessed by some god or other, cried aloud: 'O Babylo-
nians, I, Neb., announce to you beforehand the coming misfor-
tune, which Bel my ancestor and the Queen Beltis are alike
powerless to persuade the Fates to avert. A Persian mule will
come, having your own deities as his allies, and will bring slav-
ery. He who will help him in this undertaking will be the son
of Medes [or, by correction, of a Median woman, with ref. to
Nabonidus and his Median mother, with Gutschmid and
Schrader], the boast of Assyria. Would that before my citizens
were betrayed, some Charybdis or sea might receive him, and
utterly extinguish him; or else that betaking himself elsewhere,
he might be driven through the desert, where is no city nor track
of man, where wild beasts have their pasture, and birds do
roam, and that among rocks and ravines he might wander alone;
and that I, before he imagined this, might meet with some hap-
pier end ! ' Having uttered this prophecy, he forthwith disap-
peared." For criticism of these passages and their relation to
Dan. 4 s. Schrader's notable essay, 'Die Sage vom Wahnsinn
Nebukadnezar's,' in Jahrbiicher fiir prot. Theologie, 1884, 618-
629. He would assign only the first part of the statement to
Megasthenes, c. 300, and the story of the oracle to Abydenus,
who prob. lived in the 2d cent. B.C. He notes the several strik-
ing reminiscences of veritable history in the anecdote and eft.
with it unfavorably the story in Dan., which certainly lacks any
definite historical traces apart from the general coloring, which
would better suit a later age than that of Neb. Two plausible
similarities between the Greek and the Aramaic story have been
observed and variously appreciated by students. One is the
222 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
oracle received on the roof of the palace, the other the wild
animal-like existence to which Neb. would condemn the traitor
to his land. The apologists for Dan. have made the most of
these likenesses, e.g., Heng., Pusey, dEnv.; they hold that
Abydenus' version is the younger, a perversion of that in Dan.
For the latest lines of defence the pertinent cc. in Wright, Wil-
son, Boutflower, should be consulted. Others who deny the
truth of the story, recognize these features as of a common origin
of tradition, e.g., Bert, and Schrader (p. 628); and so Bev., Dr.
Others deny in toto any relation, so vLeng., and most recently
Torrey, Notes, I, 266. The latter points out that the similarities
are in mere commonplaces, and that the wild life desired for the
traitor has nothing to do with the king's affliction. This judg-
ment is the simplest. Neb. left but a faint tradition behind him;
Her. knows him only under the name Labynetos I, as father
of Labynetos II, i.e., Nabonidus, and Jos., A J x, 11, i, after
summing up a few items of information concerning him, con-
cludes: "These are all the histories I have met with concerning
this king." ^
More immediate objects of historical criticism are found in
the edict form of the alleged encyclical of Neb. and in its sub-
stantial contents of confession by the heathen king of the God
of Daniel. As an edict the document is historically absurd; it
has no similar in the history of royal conversions nor in ancient
imperial edicts. Comparison with the Persian imperial recogni-
tion of the God in Jerusalem as ' the God of heaven ' in Cyrus'
edict, Ezr. i, and the papyrus rescript of Arsames to the Jews
at Assouan offers no parallel. Not only is there no trace of the
chancellery style of such documents, but the narrative passes
fluidly from the first to the third person and back to the first.
Calv.'s remark: "haec autem personarum uarietas sensum non
' There appears to have been a later midrashic expansion of the legend among
the Jews, first hinted at in (& v.^' and then specified in Aphrem Syrus at v.'<: "This
refers either to Evilmerodach or to Neb.'s wife, who in his absence for those seven
years administered the government." This speculation is found in an expanded
form in Rashi (cited here by Galle), who, at Jer. 52" and Is. 14", tells how Evil-
merodach took his father's place in his illness, was thrown into prison upon the
latter's restoration, and upon his death refused the crown for fear Neb. might re-
turn, but he allayed his fears by casting Neb.'s body out of its tomb. In (&'s form
of the story (s. at end of this chap.) we also have early midrash about Neb.'s suc-
cessor. The treatment of tradition by S. Bernstein, K. Nebucadnezar von Babel in
der jiid. Tradition, 1907, 72 pp., I have not seen.
CHAPTER 4, PREFACE 223
reddit ambiguum aut obscurum," indicates that he recognized
a difficulty but could not relieve it. Some would hold that the
section vv.^^-^^ was interpolated by Dan., so e.g., Calv., Hav.,
dEnv. (the latter glosses, p. 367: "Dan. ajouta — pour ses lec-
teurs"). Others, Kran., Zock., boldly recognizing the incon-
gruity of the document as a first-hand royal edict, because of its
theological character, etc., hold that Dan. was the writer, who
composed the declaration by order of the king soon after the
conclusion of the events. We have still to inquire into the lit-
erary phenomenon of the change of person in this story, a change
which sets in, from the ist pers. to the 3d, in v.^^ '■^^\ the ist
pers. being resumed in v.^^ '■^■^K Ace. to most modern comm.
the change is 'a lapse,' or, with Mar., 'the author forgot him-
self.' Cha. boldly asserts that this irrational change is an argu-
ment for the superiority of ^, which assigns a larger portion to
the 3d person. But it has not been observed by the comm. that
the same phenomenon appears in the book of Tobit, which
begins with the ego of the hero and passes over into the 3d pers.
at 3^ Here H and the secondary Aramaic version (Neubauer's
text) have the 3d pers. throughout, but it is well-nigh univer-
sally admitted . that the Gr. Tobit is the original form. The
change of person in both stories is due to an unconscious dra-
matic sense. In Tobit the hero speaks in the first act, but when
the drama passes to other scenes and characters, the ordinary
narrative style of the 3d pers. is adopted. And so in our story,
in which the alleged edict form sat lightly on the composer's
mind, dramatically the account of the king's madness is told
in the 3d pers., for of that he would not have been a sane wit-
ness; the change of person is anticipated somewhat too early in
v.i^. The dramatic propriety involved appears from the fact
that probably most readers do not stumble over the incongruity.
To the same sense of the dramatic belongs also the shifting from
Heb. to Aram, in c. 2.
The text of (S which rarely runs with ^, will be treated in an
appendix at the end of the chap. By the fatality of the Mediaeval
Christian division of chapters, generally attributed to Arch-
bishop Langton of the 13th cent., the first three vv. of this story
were attached to c. 3. This arrangement of U was followed by
the printed editions of M and also by GV, fortunately not by
EVV, except JV, which follows Jewish usage. (See in general
2 24 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
G. F. Moore, 'The Vulgate Chapters and Numbered Verses in
the Hebrew Bible,' JBL 12, 73-78.) The ancient tradition was
correct in its division, e.g., the pericope titles of the uncials A
and Q; the chapter division in 147, the Syro-Hexapla, and the
Chigi MS, in Hipp., Jer., ^ A; so Jeph. ('fourth chapter'), and
apparently AEz. Also in m a Closed (greater) Paragraph begins
at 4^^ of the Heb. edd., while Gin. allows no break between cc.
3. 4 {vs. Bar, who indicates a Closed (lesser) Paragraph at that
point). Further, the ancient Seder, or Lection division started
at v.^". See further §3.
C. 3, 31-33 (C. 4, 1-3). The encyclical epistle is introduced
with a salutation in which Neb. declares how it is my pleasure
to declare the signs and wonders that God Most High has wrought
for me (31. 32), concluding with a metrical psean of praise:
33. How great are His signs : and how mighty His wonders ;
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom : atid His dominion
with age and age along.
For Neb.'s confession of God Most High cf. Comm. at 3^*, and
V. inf.
31. 6mss Ken., 2MSS de R. + rhv [njSd '2j], 3MSS + 2.-13 = &. The
plus is borrowed from 6". — 'Ji s-'DOJ? ?3-'] Cf. 3*. Or^ Lu. h"' om.
conj. in n^ju'Si. — nj'^> jidd*?;:'] 0 efpTjvTj uyitv -KkriQuvOdfi; another tr.
of the same formula in Tob. 1'° Cod. Sin., x^fpe'v "O' -KoWa. yIvo-.to,
cf. the greeting xXsIaxa x^^P^'v in papp. of ist cent. B.C. (noted in
Charles, Apoc, at Tob. I.e.). In the Elephantine papp. the formula is,
e.g., 'the God of heaven ask much after the health of X.' For the par-
allels in Ezr. 5' and 7'- s. the writer's note on kulla in JAOS 43, 391 ff. —
32. Ninsni n\-in] Cf. Dvnflini nnx Dt. 4'S etc., 0 qt^^zIol %. -zipaxoi, a
freq. phrase in Gr. Bible, s. Thayer, Lex., s.v. a-q'^slov for reff. — ay i^';]
As Torrey has observed, Composition and Date of Acts, 38, this idiom
occurs in his Cilician Aram, inscription {JAOS 35, 370), in Syr., and
also is represented in the Gr. of Acts 14"", 15*; ^^ is similarly used in
Heb., e.g., Dt. 1^°. — mp lor] = 4=*, 6=; the phrase in Acts 6^; for the
prep. s. 2^- *. — 33. ^r?) The same adv. in Syr., e.g., Pesh. Mt. 7"; cf.
similar ^^? in Heb.— 0 om. for brevity 'his signs,' 'his wonders.' — IV; V"]
See on P'?^ 3-. — iii -n d>'] = 4'', cf. niSiS ay 7'; similar use in Heb.,
tt'DS' oy Ps. 72^ with which comm. eft. Ovid, Amor, i, 15/., "cum sole
et luna semper Aratus erit"; cf. our 'with the morning,' etc.
1-6 (4-9). Neb., frightened by a dream, summons his wise
men for the interpretation, but only Dan. is found competent.
4'-' ^'-'^ 22 S
For the theme of royal dreams s. Int. to c. 2. Neb. introduces
his tale with a brief idyllic phrase picturing his happiness when
the tragic event occurred. (A similar element of pathos appears
in the epitaph of Eshmunazar of Sidon, CIS i, 3; Lidz., NE 417,
Cooke, NSI no. 5.) He was enjoying life unconcerned {relaxed,
careless) and flourishing in the splendors of his Babylonian pal-
ace— like another Rich Man in another story (v.^). His quiet is
disturbed by an ominous dream which frightened him (v.^).
The two parts of the v. are, like v.\ in poetical parallelism, and,
as on reasonable grounds (s. Notes), the words and visions of
my head are to be regarded as an addition, the v. reads with
this omission as a true double trimeter, with the hemistichs
rhyming. All the classes of the wise men are summoned to in-
terpret the dream, but they were found incompetent (vv.'- ■*
<6- 7))^ until at last Dan. came in (v.^*^*"')- The king recognizes
him, with pardonable pride recalls his court name Belteshazzar ,
named after my god, i.e., Bel (ace. to the etymology assumed), and
welcomes him as one possessed by the spirit of holy Deity (v.^).
The story is deftly told. The seer was Daniel to the Jewish
readers, but Belteshazzar to the court. And while the story
connects with the sequel of c. 2 in stating Dan.'s pre-eminence
among the wise men, actually giving him the title of Master of
the Magicians (v.^^^'), it proudly makes him enter alone and
last of all, as though of a different class from the other wise men.
In historical verisimilitude the king should have consulted the
chief of the wise men first, particularly if he recalled Dan.'s
extraordinary faculty in interpreting to him the earlier dream
(and so (^ transforms the story, s. Note at end of chap.). But
a higher dramatic end is gained by having Dan. enter trium-
phantly at last, when his colleagues again have been nonplussed.
In V.5'' (*''>, repeated in v.^% Neb. speaks of Dan. as one in
•whom is holy Deity's spirit. The last noun is unarticulated (in
the abs. state), and is exactly comparable with, and a literal
reminiscence of. Gen. 41^^ where the heathen Pharaoh calls Jo-
seph 'a man in whom there is a spirit of Deity,' or rather 'a
divine spirit.' Here, as in Gen., the pi. for God, pri/K, is not,
against Behr., a polytheistic expression, i.e., 'gods,' and it is,
against Behr., Cha., the Aram, equivalent of Jiiwii's epithet in
Jos. 2419, D'^w^np D\n^X. ©'s 0€ov is right as against the pi. of
H (Jer. takes pains to contradict ©), and against comm. and
2 26 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
modern VSS in general, e.g., Grot., "loquitur ut idolalatra,"
cited approvingly by Mar. But Ra., CBMich., Ehr. correctly
understand it as of singular mng. See further Notes on j%"'?i<
2", 3". In addition to the material in the Babylonian field for
the use of ilii, pi. Hani, as generic terms, we may compare the
Egyptian distinction between the universal idea of ' God,' neter,
e.g., in comparison with 'the god of my city,' in the Book of
the Dead, chap, cxxv; s. Budge, Tutankhamen, etc., 1923, p.
148, with the accompanying discussion. In v.^^^^ vast trouble
has been given by the statement that the king bids Dan.: the
visions of my dream which I have seen and the interpretation
thereof tell, yet at once proceeds to tell the dream himself. But
the trouble is removed by the suggestion in the Note to read
••ITn ('visions-of ') as ''Tn 'lo,' i.e., 'Here is the dream, interpret
it!'
1 (4). ^I'.'f] See on rhz' 3-'; it is the equivalent of Heb. '*:.^', which in
Jer. 49'' is 'care-free,' then 'at rest,' with EVV et al. For the moral
implication cf. oSiy ■>iSt;', Ps. 73^^ — "'•'?;??] So Bar, Str. and Kau., §55,
3; ^'T''i??, Mich., Gin., Kit., preferred by Mar., §76, c. But the former is
approved by the similar forms in 2", 3-', 6", and the emph. 5'-, Ezr.
S'- ^-, in all which Gin. so reads without question. For the resp. statistics
of ai and e s. Powell, Supp. Hebr., p. 53. Bar's rdg. is doubtless the
elder form. There are two cases in APO where with suffix -.13 is written
(s. Index), also in a pap. in AP, no. 81, 1. 115. All other cases in papp,
have -no. — pyi] The green tree is figure of prosperity, for the
righteous Ps. 92" 5-, for the wicked Ps. 37'^ — ^So^n] (g by paraphrase
£xIt. ep6vou [xou; 0 texts om.; Or^- c- insert (S's rdg. (Jer. regards the rdg.
as of 0), followed by Lu., who adds the doublet v.. icfwv ev t«J) Xay [xou,
where Xaw is patent error for vaw = V3>n. Lu.'s rdg. may belong to
orig. 0, having dropped out by haplog., with evuxvtov. — 2 (5). "'Ji.nTl]
On the impf. following the pf. cf. Kau., §73, 4, Mar., Gr. §101. Kau.
remarks: "Die Ablosung des Perfects durch das Imperf. mit i ent-
spricht hier ganz der Ablosung des hebr. Perfects durch Impf. consecu-
tivum und es ist nicht unwahrscheinlich, dass hier die Gewohnung an
die hebr. consecutio temporum einen Einfluss ausgeiibt hat." The first
part of this statement is correct, the second is not proved. The alterna-
tion of pf. and impf. is one of the picturesque elements in the diction
of the dialect. — PI'^T] The word is used of dream fantasies, esp. of
impure dreams; s. Heb. and Talm. Lexx. It is used in Mand. for
'Tauschung, Blendwerk,' Nold., MG p. 64, n. 2, in Syr. of the Fata
Morgana, Brock., Lex. s.v.\ in Rabb. along with vb. nmn, of concep-
4^-'^ ^'-'^ 227
tions of the mind, and then in particular of impure dreams. Also a
magical inscription in my Aram. Incanl. Texts (s. p. Sz) lists the x>ii<nn
with incubi and 'visions.' Cf. the denotation of Arab, halama, and this
particular rung, in Syr. 'eihelajnlam. Buxt., Jast. derive from Heb. n-\n
'conceive,' and so Behr., who cfl. the Bibl. use for conceiving evil ideas,
e.g., Ps. 7^^ But Arab, harhara, 'disturb,' with its derivatives, suggests
an independent rt.; cf. Arab, harra, 'abhor.' I welcome therefore an
oral suggestion from Prof. M. L. Margolis that we connect with our rt.
here, har = harhar, the V'^''?. of Gen. 3'*, universally but with difficulty
derived as from ^"^^ and interpreted as mng. 'pregnancy'; but the form
requires our rt. i"\n and so means, as Margolis suggests, 'pruriency,' i.e.,
the se.xual metaphysical condition. On account of the unpleasant de-
notation of the word AEz. takes care to specify, iS n;'n |\si D^n imn
'a mental Aar/zor without excretion.' Prob. for the same reason & om.
the phrase. And actually ^i:'nt ''irm of ^ may be an exegetical addi-
tion, inserted, as similarly in v.', from v.'° and 2"', to avoid that dis-
agreeable denotation; it disturbs the metrical balance of the v. and
there is no trace of it in (5. 0 auvexcipa^av, i.e., as a vb. nnin, which
as Bert, recognized = Arab, harra.
3 (6). nS-j.-i] = rh';r^, f, s. on ^>-:n, 2".— 4 (7). r^h-; Kt., v'ly ^r.]
= 5^ i.e., the l^^r. as in Syr.; for the Kt. cf. Dalm., Gr. §71, and Nold.,
SG §21, d. — 5 (8). jnnN Kt., also mss jinn] Mich., Kit. for I^r. P.C1?,
Bar P,"?:?; Gin. notes both 5^res. Str. cites mss with Bab. punctuation
'uhrdn and ^aharon. The equivalent phrase to the present |nnt< ij: ap-
pears in the Aljikar papp., APO pap. 52, col. i, 1. 5, iJ"ot^ pnx S>', col.
2, 1. I, ]-\T\H ^y ■>? ny, also (?) pap. 56, 1. 8 (= ^P A^iikar, 11. 53. 64. 133).
Hav., approved by vLeng., first determined the true character of the
form., namely as pL, Vy^^, and so as abstract, i.e., 'at last.' He has
been followed afresh by Torrey, Notes, I, 267; and by W. R. Arnold,
JBL 31, 23, upon the basis of the papp. Similar pis. are, e.g., Heb.
i-inx {e.g., 2 Sa. 2^'), and some rare Syr. adverbs cited by Nold., SG §155,
A. But it is not necessary with Arnold to replace i>' with Sy; per con.
s. Torrey's elucidation of this use of 1", which is corroborated by 0 ew.;
and & 'adafmnd. Discussions of various attempts at the phrase are given
at length by Kamp. The ^^^r. V^P^ = Syr. 'another' appears as plus
in OrP [ew<; ou] exspoc; = Lu.; this was followed by 13 donee collega
(rdg. sTalpoi; for ?Tepo<;!). The tr. is prob. Aquila's, not of 'the
Three,' as Jer. states. And so AEz., jnnx; but correctly Ra., iy
H1^r\ njinx -wv., followed by GV EVV. — nxNS'oSa ncc n] See at i^ —
]ic"i-\p pn-'x] Polytheistic is the articulated Phoen. phrase in the Esh-
munazar Inscr. {CIS i, no. 3 = Lidz., NE p. 417, Cooke, NSI no. 5),
11. 9. 22. D'i'npn DjSKcri), 'the holy gods.' 0here and in the other cases
of 'i|"> 'Sn nn (vv.*- '*) tr. xv£G;j.a OeoO Sytov; the same construction
in s" in CI Or^-c Lu. (0 ignoring '•^?). In v.« Or? has ayfou.
228 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
6 (9). I? ... 13 ... n] = 'in whom ... for whom,' so rightly
© and GV ('welchen ich weiss'), but K tr. n by quoniam, and so EVV
'because.' — d:n] In O.T. only here and Est. i^ Djn |in, 'none compel-
ling'; here 'disturbing, incommoding,' EVV 'troubleth.' The vb. is
used in Rabb. of 'forcing, outraging' (so Syr.), and also 'taking by
force, confiscating,' and with it is to be connected Djn (= Haf. ?) in
the Nerab Inscrr. (Lidz., NE, p. 445, Cooke, NSI nos. 64. 65) and the
ZKR Inscr., col. 2, 1. 20. — ''?.!?] 0 S* as sing., U pi. This sentence in
?^, = B, makes Neb. ask Dan. to tell him the dream as well as the
interpretation (r/. c. 2), while ace. to vv.^- ' Neb. narrated the dream
to him. © relieved the obvious difficulty by the plus d'xouaov [x. opotJtv]
i.e., as i'?F, which is accepted by Mar. in his text and by Torrey, Notes,
1, p. 267. & helped itself out by a forced paraphrase, 'in the visions of
my dream I was seeing a vision of my head, and do thou its interpre-
tation tell.' Giesebrecht, GGA, 1895, p. 598 (s. Kamp.'s exposition),
has suggested reading ^:.n^^ 'I will tell' Ehr. would read ^-^ ^^'^ ^"^ ^°^n
'the dream which I saw I will tell,' and then takes 'and the visions
of my head on my bed,' v.'', as second object. But the simplest emenda-
tion is to read 'IT! 'behold !' This use of vn appears in the papp. APO
pap. I, 1. 23, pap. 54, 1. 7 (s. Cowley AP index), the ostrakon in APA
no. M, col. 1, 1. 4, col. 2, 11. I. 3 (Lidz., Eph., 2, 236 Jf.). This was early
confused with the word for 'vision,' and © felt bound, exceptionally,
to insert 'hear.' The reference of the suffix in '"^l-fl is then unimpeach-
able.
7-15 (10-18). The king proceeds to relate his dream. He saw
a great and growing tree which appeared to reach the sky and
to extend to the horizon. The dream is paralleled by that of
the Median Astyages, who dreamed of a vine growing out of the
womb of his daughter Mandane, which came to ' extend over all
Asia,' the vine being the future Cyrus (Her., i, 108); and by
that of Xerxes, who in preparing for his expedition against
Greece saw himself crowned with a shoot of olive, whose branches
extended over every land, but afterward the crown about his
head disappeared {ib., vii, 19). A similar dream is told of the
caliph Othman I (c. 1270); s. Hav., who cites d'Ohsson, Allgem.
Schilderung des ottom. Reiches, 273 ff. But our story-teller is also
following good native literary tradition. There is Ezekiel's fig-
ure of Israel as a cedar of Lebanon which was cropped by an
eagle and planted 'in a city of merchants,' where it grew and
became a spreading vine, Eze. 17' *^- ; while the figure is taken up
again in vv.^^^-, when the Lord takes a shoot from the top of
47-9 (10-12) 229
the cedar and plants it in the mountains of Israel, where 'it
shall bring forth boughs (Cj^y) and make fruit . . . and shall
dwell under it all fowl of every wing {h2 mS!f ^3 ITinn '\:y^^
M^), in the shadow (^^*) of its branches dwelling.' Still more
articulated is the same prophet's symbol of Assyria (the pre-
cursor of Egypt) as a cedar in Lebanon, c. 31: 'Its stature be-
came great (nn33), • • • and its boughs were multiplied, and
its branches became long. ... In its boughs nested i^2}p) all
the fowl of heaven (D''!:2w'n Cjiy), and under its branches brought
forth their young all the wild beasts (mwll HTl), and in its shadow
dwelt all (?) great nations' (vv.^- '^). In the judgment upon this
cedar we see 'its branches fallen upon the mountains and val-
leys,' etc., with the beasts and birds feasting on 'the carcass'
(vv.i2- ^^). But our narrator, while reminiscent of the classic
figures, is inventive and independent. With him the Tree, sym-
bolic of the Empire of Man, is to be cut down, but not destroyed,
that all may know that God is Potentate in that Empire of
Man. The Jew here speaks with the universalism of the Second
Isaiah; he seeks not his own, nor does he despise humanity, but
his sure faith is that God must rule. It may be noted that the
trope of the tree for national life is abundant in the O.T.; e.g.,
the contrast between the cedars of Lebanon which are to be
cut down and 'the shoot that shall come forth of the stock of
Jesse,' Is. lo^^-ii^; and compare the borrowed tropes of the
vine and the cedar in 2 Baruch, representing Israel and the
Roman empire.
Bert, appears to have been the first to display the poetic
structure of the passage, v.^'^-^^ (lob-n)^ ^jj-j^ ^j^g exception of the
prose interlude in v.^°(i^'% and his example has been followed
by Ew., Lohr, Mar., Cha., JV. But there is not sufl&cient
reason, with Mar. followed by Cha., to compress vv.'^^-'^^"''"^^^
to two stanzas of two stichoi apiece by omitting ' and the height
thereof was great,' and 'in it was food for all.' Omitting the
introductory 'the visions of my head,' which is either simply a
title or a gloss (s. the Notes), these w. may be translated:
lb. Upon my bed I was seeing —
And lo a tree
In the midst of the earth,
And its height was great.
230 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
8. The tree grew and waxed strong,
And its height reached unto heaven
And the view of it to the whole earth's end;
9. The leafage of it fair
And its fruit much,
And food in it for all;
Under it the wild life taking shade,
And in its branches lodging the birds of the sky,
And from it feeding all flesh.
In this arrangement the usual double trimeter is divided at
the beginning of each stanza into three dimeter feet, a frequent
phenomenon in Heb. poetry. But for the angel's utterance,
yy_iib-ii(i4b-i7)^ not more can be said than that the lines are
cast in poetic mould; there is no metrical evenness, it is vers
libre !
7 (10). ''JD-i'D S; irN-1 >itni] The clause is punctuated with athnah,
and must have been regarded as title to the following. Orig. (& (which
also ignores •'a^ra S;) © B ora. •'K'KT ■'irni, which is supplied unsyntac-
tically by Or? with -f) Spaatc; (V al. al bpScoBiq, so also Q subter lin.),
and by Lu., grammatically construing in ace. pi. with v.'. B = M,
iiisio capitis mei in cuhili meo. The evidence of the first three VSS
authorizes us to exclude the unnecessary clause, which would then be
similar to the identical gloss in v.- and a reminiscence of 2^', cf. 7*. The
comm. either attach it to the prec. v., e.g., Bert., Lohr, Ehr., or pre-
dominantly regard it as an absolute clause. (Too freely EVV, 'these
were the visions,' etc.). So vLeng., most recent comm., Torrey ('a sort
of paragraph heading,' Notes, I, 268). — hmh nin] Cf. 2". — ncn] But
® -fj o?aa«; auxou, i.e., as '"^H, which may be preferable, avoiding the
repeated r^i:i'\-\. S. Field on the strange tr. of (SS; I think the Syr. trans-
lator found 6paat<; for opacris, took it for OpotOatt;, and hence his ren-
dering.—8 (11). IP-'^i ^^'^■'< ^r] It is debatable whether the vbs. indi-
cate process or state; for the former interpretation CBMich., Ilitz.,
Klief., Bev., Pr., and Keil suggestively: "ihnen (the perfects) entspricht
im zweiten Hemistich das Impf. n'JD'', als die Form des anstrebenden
Antriebs." This view is doubtless corroborated by the repetition of the
vbs. in v.i' and adds liveliness to the scene. So EVV. The other inter-
pretation is accepted by, e.g., vLeng., Behr., Dr., Cha., 'was grown.' —
'^^!^'Q] Also v.'^; here (S 0 -rb xuto? auxoO {i.e., 'its circumference,'
y.uTo? is used of a concave body), and so 6 v.", where <& Zgiy-ci^; in v.^'
.10-13 (13-16) 231
d xuTOs, where 0 correctly xupi'a. There is no reason to amend the
word; 'its appearance,' i.e., as far as eye could see, it reached the hori-
zon. So S* 13 EVV and, e.g., Bev., Mein., Torrey. The form {cf. Kau.,
§55 end, §6i, 4) is identical with Syr. mehotd, selotd, or, better, it may
have been = Heb. ^■''C, e.g., 8^, so Bev. Haupt's revision of the lines
(in Kamp.), exchanging nnirn and nisy, v.', has against it the repeti-
tion in v.'^ Kamp. gives an extended discussion of the word. — 9 (12).
":.?>;] The same word in Heb., Ps. 104'=.— '^?^^•] With BDB GB rt. 22h;
with nasal insertion s. on ^^';ir\, v.'. But Del., Prolegomena, 114, Mein.,
Pr., Kon., H-wb., refer to the Akk. rt., andhii, 'spring up.' — P'?] Rt. Jir,
cf. prn'' inf. Nold., MG 130, n. 4, regards md- as 'a very ancient form
of the prefix,' vs. Kau., p. 112, who considers d a pretonic heightening.
Ace. to Powell, Supp. Hehr., 40, "'D and its like are rather Heb. loan-
words in Aram., and the Heb. -r is retained as stationary." — nn-xSDJ
So Bar, s. his note; Gin. om. dagesh; the same variation in v.^*. For
nSd s. at 2". Bert, rightly notes that & (also B) distinctly gives the
true interpretation, 'food for all was in it,' with EVV vs. M and some
comm. — im.nn.n] (^ © pref. xai, exc. 49 90 91 106 232 h'-°. — SSa.-i] =
'take shade'; for such operative ('innerlich transitiv') causatives cf.
Kau., §33, I, GK §53, d, seq. The strong form of j?"y is found only
here and in the Peal perf. rVSy and ppl. r^Sy. — ni3 nrn] For form of
'n s. Kau., §55, p. 100. The phrase = Heb. rnu'n n^n. — jmi Kt., ^y^\
^r.] Heb. niDX and Syr. sepperd are predominantly fem. (s. Lexx.), cf.
inf., V.'', where nas is construed with fem. vb. But in view of the in-
consequence in gender agreement in early Aram. (cf. Sachau, APO
273), the Kt. may be retained with Kamp. vs. Kau., p. 165, n. 3. — nss]
S. on n-iN 2^^ As against Kau., §59, c. Brock., VG i, §148, postulating
orig. kittal or kuttitl, the orig. form is supur, cf. similar words in Barth,
Nb., §110. The hatef vowel here is reminiscent of orig. u. — inni] See
on pnarii 2^.
10 (13). The second act of the dream drama is ushered in by
the vision of a Vigilant and Holy One descending from heaven
calling with a loud voice. We have here the earUest mention of
the Wakeful Ones, generally known in our translations as the
Watchers, who play so important a role in Enoch, Jubilees, the
XII Testaments, etc. {cf. the short note of Bousset, Rel. d. Jud.,
371). They appear also in Zad. Frag., p. 2, 1. 18, CiSw'h '•T'J? 1^2i
(with correction of actual '•"['•j;). The word "i''y is Aramaic in
form, although it has its Heb. counterpart, and is doubtless an
importation from the current syncretistic religion. Hence prob-
ably the addition of the epexegetical 'and holy,' to secure the
232 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
identification with the angelic category. The same combination
appears in Enoch: 20^ 'the holy angels who watch,' i.e., the
archangels; and 12^ 'his (Enoch's) activities had to do with the
Vigilants and his days with the Holy Ones,' the parallelism as
below, v.i^ While the Vigilants become predominantly fallen
angels, the original implication of the term as of beings nearest
to God is preserved in these references. The root of the idea is
not un-Biblical. Mein. eft. the eyes of the Cherubs in Eze. i
and 'the seven, which are the eyes of the Lord, which run to
and fro through the whole earth,' Zech. 4^°. Still closer is Is. 62^
with its summons to CnDt^'n, ' the Watchers,' and ns D''"l'';DTDn
mn'' ' the Remembrancers of the Lord,' ' to give him no rest' (s.
Duhm), suggesting a heavenly caste parallel to our Vigilants.
There may indeed be an implied contrast to this notion in Ps.
121, ace. to which 'He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor
sleeps.' Identification with the many-eyed Amesha Spentas has
naturally been attempted, e.g., by Bert. Others, e.g., Heng.
(p. 161), Hiiv., Keil, would relate these beings to the Oeol
^ovXaiot of Diodorus Sic, ii, 30, planetary deities who keep
watch over the affairs of the universe; and Hav. eft. the celestial
ip/xr]P€c<;, 0y\a/ce9, eTrCaKoiroi^ of the later astral theology. An-
other interesting line of development of the word is that which
makes the y^"^ a guardian spirit; in Philo it appears to be some-
thing like the Egyptian Ka, while in both the Mandaic and the
Christian Syriac literature the Vigilants are guardian angels (s.
PSmith, S.V.). Note also the corresponding rdkib or 'watcher'
in the Koran, 50'^, who records the dying man's words. For
adequate studies of the word we have still to go back to the
comm. mentioned above and to the classical treatise on the sub-
ject in the original (anonymous) editio prima of the Chigi text,
prefaced to the text of ©. A fairly modern interpretation, dat-
ing from I'Empereur, and accepted by dEnv., p. 388, is that
which would identify the Watcher with the Angel of Yhwh,
the Son of Man, the Messiah, and so with the Second Person of
the Trinity. The question also arises whether Neb. is speaking
in terms of revelation or ace. to his own Pagan notions. The
former is the view of Klief., who argues from the repetition of
'the Vigilant and Holy,' in Dan.'s words, v.^". But it is much
more plausible to assume, with Heng., Keil, that Neb.'s descrip-
tion is consciously given a Pagan coloring; Dan. indeed quotes
.10-13 (13-16) 2^^
the king's terms for the angelic being as a cue, but for him it
is, deliberately, 'the decree of the Highest,' v."^^, not of the Vigi-
lants as in v.i*. The latter v. is an accurate expression of the
later astral determinism.
11 (14). And thus the Vigilant made loud proclamation: Cut
down the tree : and break off its branches. Strip off its foliage : and
scatter its fruit. The beasts wander away from beneath it : and the
fowl from its branches. The pi. impvs. have for their subjects
the celestial executors of the decree, cf. Is. 40^ But v.^^ '•^^'>, the
tree is not to be destroyed; its stump with its roots is to be left
in the earth, clamped with a bond of iron and brass. The signifi-
cance of this metal clamp has given rise to many interpretations,
the most common one of which since Jer. is that all madmen
are bound, and so, e.g., Heng., Klief., Knab. VLeng. proposed
the rationalistic idea that the bond was to keep the tree from
splitting, which would be satisfactory if there were evidence
that such a practice was followed in ancient arboriculture. Pr.
thinks that it figures in general Neb.'s confinement. Others find
in it an allegorical mng., e.g., Rosen., Hitz., Keil, Bev. It is best
to follow Ra., with Mar., Cha., Torrey, to the effect of the sym-
bolism that Neb. should not be removed, with which cf. w.^^.
The text further reads that he should be left in a bond of iron
and brass in the grass of the field, which might then mean, exposed
to the elements, in parallelism with the following clause, let him
be wet with the dew of heaven. But as we have then two moments
in the one sentence, Torrey's excellent suggestion is accepted that
we supply a vb., let them feed him [with the grass of the field]
(s. Notes), which gives the necessary item of his eating grass
like oxen, v.^^ This entails the omission of the last two words
of the v., in the grass of the earth, which were subsequently in-
troduced to supply the defective moment. The v. then would
end with, and with the beasts shall be his lot. With this item there
is a change from the metaphor of the tree to the actuality figured;
we may compare, with Knab., the similar transition in Eze. 31*^,
Mt. 22", Lu. 12^^; cf. also the dramatic development of the par-
able of the vineyard, Is. 5' ^^ The uncovered reality is continued
in v.'^ ^"^' : his intelligence is to be dehumanized, made like that
of a beast; the distinctive glory of man is to be taken away
from him. And seven times shall pass over (or by) him. The most
ancient and common interpretation {e.g., that of (^ Jos., Jer. (at
234 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
v.^*), Ra., AEz., Jeph., and most moderns) is that seven years
is meant; Behr. eft. the corresponding Heb. word for 'time'
used as year in nTl nys, Gen. i8^°; and such appears to be the
use of the word in the last part of Dan. (s. at y^'^). However,
other calculations have been propounded. Hipp, tells of a view
which identified a 'time' with one of the four seasons. Aph.
Syr., Chrys., Theodt. think of a time as one of the two seasons,
summer and winter, i.e., after Persian reckoning. See for a long
discussion dEnv., pp. 336-341, also vLeng., and for a good ab-
stract Knab. It is vain to expect to know what was meant.
There may have been a tradition of a seven years' madness in
Neb.'s case. Or the figure 'seven' is conventional, even as nine
years was the term for the were- wolf in Greek folk-lore; s. W. W.
Hyde, Greek Religion and Its Survivals, 186^. For the use of
the number in Bab., Jewish and Pers. lore, s. Scheftelowitz, Die
altpers. Religion u. d. Jtidentum, 134.
10 (13). v;.N-, ^^r^,3] Grr. vary.— ti'^IPJ, ^^''^ = v.=». An elder identi-
fication (s. Pole, Synopsis) with Heb. ^'S, 'messenger' (so Kau., §10,
2, a, Behr.) is now generally given up, s. the Lexx., Mar. Glossary.
">''i'. = 'awake, wakeful,' "B uigil, as in Syr., corresponding to the Heb.
ppl. of "w;, e.g., "^'l ■'5^ Song 5-. (However, lis also = a divine 'mes-
senger,' was in the original of Is. 63*, where <S> xp^a^u? requires this vs.
i^ "*?.) Ra. and AEz. have the correct derivation, and observe that the
being is an angel. 'Watchers' of the EVV is used in the old English
sense. (S> tr. the two nouns by SyysXoq, 0 by tig x. ayto?; A 36'"b have
the gloss eypYjyopo.; attached to the prec. [jlou, taken doubtless from Aq.
and Sym., as a scholion given by Field notes. Jer.'s venture into com-
parative religion may be observed: "Consuetudo autem graeci et latini
sermonis Iptv uocat, quae per multicolorem arcum ad terras descendere
dicitur," a combination approved by Rosen., Hav. The Slavic version
of Hipp.'s comm. actually tr. etp by 'rainbow,' p. 123, 1. 2. Ehr. at-
tempts to find our i^y in Ecc. lo^^ but without success. The Chigi
text of 0 bears the title xb eTp a'ypuxvov, on which the anonymous editor
has a learned monograph. The second term "^'nii is epexegetical to i^i',
but not, with Hav., Behr., in order to give it a moral quality, which
Id^S never implies; a parallel is inSci is, as restored in Is. 63^ v. sup.
For the hendiadys CBMich. eft. 'the roll and the words,' Jer. 36",
Bev. 3i'im ij, which is a comprehensive legal term. In v." jia'-'ip is
II r"'V. Heb. ^''"'i"; is a term for divinities, e.g., Dt. 33^; for angels, e.g., inf.
8", Zech. 14^; and for saints, e.g., inf. f^- ", where jiB'np is anarthrous
as in v.", along with in"'>'. — •^^'^j The vivid ppls. of these vv. are
.10-13 (13-16) 2 3=5
ignored by the Grr. and "B; but this ppl. is recognized in the reminisccice
of the passage in Rev. i8'- -.
11 (14). 7'na Nip] = 3^— Ti-:'?<] poss. in APA G, 1. 35, iP[jnN],
'remove.'— '7^'in.T] But ^^'^n.-p vv.'- '8; Kau., §68, "durfte als Hebrais-
mus zu betrachten sein"; Mar. (Gloss.), Lohr accordingly correct to
mn.-i. Nold. in his review of Kau. notes the discrepancy as an exam-
ple of the unreliability of If, but does not deny the possibility of the
rdg. Torrey, Notes, I, 268, defends l|; he eft. Syr. letaht, and argues
that the rhythm demands the present pointing here. But it may be
an echo of I'C'?'-' Eze. 17-'.— 12 (15). 1M] = Syr. ekkdr; ^ is a Mass.
error, after the fashion of shortening the vowel of the const.; ef. "^P-.,
v.", and poss. ^Tf Ezr. 7--; s. Kau., p. 103, n. i. Similar cases are found
in Aram, words in Heb., e.g., VJ'A Ecc. 4', 5", but VJ}: i"; ID'3 Est. i^,
etc.; cf. const. ^1 Est. 2'-. The doubled ^ is hardly original (s. on mx
2'0) I'i- Kau., §59, c. Cf. V^P^-.y 'Ay.-A!xg>(iiv, Akk. Amkarrilna. For the
vitality of the tree stump cf. Is. 6", 1 1\ Job 14^. — ^nv^nr] 'f is not com-
mon in Aram.; c/. y~'^'~' Ezr. 7-*, 'eradication, banishment' (?). — iidnoi]
A fresh vb. is expected; however, the hendiadys is supported by v."^,
'•.:' -i|iy p^'iT?, and an additional word would overweight the line. —
NT3 ^T NN,-n2] Behr., followed by Lohr, Ehr., elides as a gloss "welche
den Ausdruck nj't.s y~'';2, aramaischer umschreiben sollte." But why
such Aramaic finesse? Those comm. must also elide the phrase in
v.^", on the rashness of which assumption s. Kamp. On the other hand,
Mar., followed by Lohr, om. n;"in 2-'>'3, on the ground that it is absent
in v.*". Torrey accepts this eUsion, p. 269, noting that v.^'"', after TiiS^n,
is a bald repetition of the present v., and that it is secondary, because
the interpretation does not verbally repeat the terms of the dream.
He then ingeniously supposes an original '^i^/''^'' before NNma, compar-
ing vv.--- -', 5-'; this supplied vb. gives the required item of the king's
eating grass 'like oxen.' The vb. was early lost before the intrusion of
v.-"'', and the moment was clumsily introduced at end of the v. The
word pSn meant then originally 'lot' as at Ezr. 4^^ — i'^ai'^] <B aXXouoG^,
B al. xo'.TaaeTjoeirat, but v.-° ajXtaGYjaeTott, read here by Or? Lu. al.;
Q notes S2ip. lin. that xoit. is from Sym. and in mg. that auX. is from 0.
Was rt. ;'3i understood here (Bert.)? At v.'" 0 correctly ipi:?-^. — 13
(16). ii•y^:n Kt., '^'ir'i^; Kr.] The Kt. only here and v.", elsewhere as
the K.r., e.g., vv.-'- '°. But k'un is found in Nab., and cf. above P:T,
Ir'rv'; s. Powell, Supp. Hebr., p. 34; GB eft. 'EXwt Mt. 27". Kau., p.
105, assigns the form to kitdl, but Brock., VG 1, 185, to kittdl, with 3
due to influence of u in orig. 'unds. For nu'ux p cf. iSnc i Sa. 15-',
"uc Jer. 48^, 'from being king, people,' also Is. 52", etc. Correctly TS
cor eius ah humano commutetur. — pji:'''] For the impersonal use s. on
y;2 2"; similarly hif. vv.^- -^- "; cf. Dalman, Worte Jesu, 183. The rt.
236 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
is used in Syr. of insanity (s. Behr.), and also in Akk., e.g., uSanna tenki
'I will make thee mad' (Pr.).— ^^^'''^'l So edd. exc. Bar 2n\-i>.
14 (17). The immutability of the divine purpose is stated in
a solemn formula like the tolling of a heavy bell: By the decree
of the Vigilants is the command : and by the word of the Holy Ones
the decision. Hitz. has suggested that we have here a replica of
some legal formulism; but prob. it was a formula of the astrolo-
gers. It has been discussed whether we are in presence of Per-
sian ideas, so Bert., or Babylonian, so Heng., Klief., al. But
rather this is an expression of the later eclectic determinism,
with which may be compared the statement of Diodorus Sicu-
lus, ii, 30, concerning the Babylonian fatalism, copiajxevT) k.
/SejSatW KeKvpojfjievr] Oeoiv Kpcai<i. Cf. below on the Book of
Truth lo-^ As noted above, at v.^", the terminology is definitely
Pagan, although there is also a Biblical background to this
theologumenon of a divine council; cf. i Ki. 221^^-, Is. 44^6, Job
1-2, and the 'assembly' or 'council of the holy ones,' Ps. 89®- ^
In later Judaism there was a revival of this antique thought; the
angelic hierarchy is God's senate, j"'T r^2, or his family, S^'7?2S,
with whom God discusses his decrees; s. Weber, Jiid. Thcol., §35.
Dr. eft. Sanh. 386, where it is said, "The Holy One does noth-
ing without first consulting the family above, as it is said (Dan.
41^): By the decree of the Watchers, etc." Such terminology is
true to color in a Pagan's vision. The decree is issued and its
execution ordered not so much for the chastisement of Neb.,
but that in the fate of him, the type of human pride and glory,
all living may learn that the Highest is potentate in the kingdom of
man — one of the immortal sentences of the Hebrew Scriptures !
Cf. Rev. ii^^, 'the kingdom of the world shall become the king-
dom of the Lord.' This principle is further specified, that God
gives it to whom he will, and the humblest of men he can raise up
over it — a truism in the facts of history, to be exemplified after
a few years in Neb.'s own successors. As vLeng. observes, this
is a common theme of the Bible; cf. i Sa. 2^- *, Eze. ly^^Ps.
113'- 8, Job 5", Lu. i^S I Cor. i""^^-, etc.
15 (18). The relation of the dream concluded, the king makes
his appeal in pathetic accents to Dan. to give the interpretation,
for the latter possesses the spirit of holy God {cf. v.^), whereas
the royal wise men have proved incompetent. As has been re-
.14. 15 (17. 18) ^^^
4 237
marked by comm., those professionals would hardly have dared
to interpret to their royal master the obviously ill-omened sense
of the dream.
14 (17). ^y..]] For similar pass, formations, e.g. nnhicy, inf., mpi
7", s. on nay 2"; a few cases in Syr., Nold., SG §111. For the technical
meaning of 'J as divine 'decree,' hence practically 'fate,' s. on pnu
2". — jn^y] © (sip) g- as sing.; & also tr. av^np by a sing. For the
anarthrous state of these pis., cf. Di^-ip Ps. 89*, Job 5^ — icnci] mss
also 'C31, and so the citations in Talm. (s. Bar's note), followed by Ehr.,
al.; 0 confirms 1^. But z^^. Mar., who reads this clause, with 0, as an
independent sentence, the obvious exact parallelism of the two clauses
demands the same construction for 'o as for mu; so JDMich., al.; for
similar cases of implied prepositional government in parallehsm in Heb.,
s. GK §119, hh. "B was misled by 0 and tr. et sermo sanctorum et petilio.
— nhSni:'] The parallel ncj^j) (s. at 3^0, as in Ecc. 8", has here the mng.
'decree' as the judicial 'response,' so Sa.., jawdb, and the parallelism
must set the mng. of 'c. But the comm. have widely differed. Depend-
ing upon the primary mng. of 'Z', the Jewish comm. tr. by 'request,'
so Ra.: the holy ones are consulted first by God — that is the request
(c/. 0 H); Klief. tr. 'Beforderung [zu dem Zwecke, dass],' a construc-
tion which destroys the unitary character of the couplet; Cha.'s sugges-
tion, 'the word of the holy ones is the matter in question,' is meaning-
less. Schultens, Animadv., 323, c/L Arab, mas'alat used in the sense of
'thing' (s. also on nSs', 3-'), and tr. 'ad decretum uigilum res fit' (so
also deDieu earlier). But ';:• = 'the thing asked about,' and so the
'decision' upon it. In Targ. to Jer. 12' ]''jn nSnv^r tr. Heb. D^astrc.
Further, form II, i of Akk. sa'dlu is used of mutually asking questions
and so of coming to a decision; hence Shamash is miiUalurn 'decider';
and the derivative situltu = 'Berathung, Entscheidung ' ; s. Del., Hwb.,
p. 633. See in general Jastrow, 'Name of Samuel and the Stem Sxii','
JBL 1900, 82 f., who considers the Heb. and Rabb. testimony on the
use of the rt., but does not note the present case. A magical personage,
Skp'^I'S na, 'son of oracle-giver' (?), appears in abowl text; see my Aram.
Incant. Texts, 152.— n mai ly] Cf. n m^-i ^>' 2^°, which is also read
by many mss here, and is accepted by Hitz., Kau., §11, 2, Kamp., Bev.,
Pr., Mar., Lohr. But "i;' is corroborated by (8 ew^ and If donee, and the
sense is, 'until they shall know'; cf. Behr., al. We find the assimilation
of h in S;? in late Aram., s. Nold., MG §54, but there is no reason to
demand here this later vernacular use. — ^''^'J'*, ■?^'] The const, has
comparative mng., s. Kau., §85, 4, and for Syr. cf. Duval, GS §366, a.
B correctly humillimum hominem. For ha'y 0 (B 49 90) e?ouSivT5;j.a
(other MSB variant forms) ; cf. i Cor. i^s Tct s^ouOeviQiAivjt s^sXs^axo h
656?. oiii-jN, D^D'7N 7'", disSd Ezr. 4" are scribal errors for j , s. Kau.,
238 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
§51, 2, Powell, Supp. Hebr., p. 51 (who, however, allows their possibil-
ity). Unlike the sufSxes an, oj Ezr. 3^, 5', there is no support for the
variation of -im for -in in the papp. Mar. would read nc-jn, but the pi.
is pertinent here; in Syr. the pi. = xivsg in general, but also 'people';
s. Nold., SG p. 90, Schulthess, Lex., s.v.—15 (18). NTi-D 1° Kt., "Tf?
Kr. ] So edd., many mss r\-\yo Kt. 0 U support Kt., only 34 h'-- + aOxoO
= 0. — Ni-'D 2°] = Or? (+ Q) = 1; © Tb auyxpi(Aa auTou, cf. 5MSS Ken.
rna>fl. — 0 StjXwffat, 36™^ qiavspbv -nrof^aat.
16-24 (19-27). Dan.'s interpretation of the dream. It is in-
troduced by the description of the effect made upon Dan. by
the king's narrative. The word used is variously translated: B
intra semetipsum tacitus, in which Jer. must have followed a
Jewish interpretation, as Ra. gives the same (priw^); so SV; AV
RV 'was astonied,' JV 'was appalled.' But the vb. is not to
be taken at its extreme {vs. Dr.), but like other psychological
terms of the Sem. be understood from the circumstances. A
mng. like 'was perplexed, embarrassed,' is more suitable; cf. the
same vb. with this sense in 8^^ His embarrassment was due to
the necessity of unfolding the ill-omened dream to its subject,
and was characteristic of his humanity. The perplexity lasted
for a moment (not for an hour with AV!), but long enough to
show that his thoughts were troubling him. The king with equal
grace and courtesy reassures him, bids him not to be troubled,
and the seer in reply expresses the generous wish, ' an expression
of civility and courtesy' (Jeph.), that, The dream be for thy
enemies : and its interpretation for thy rivals! 17-19 (20-22). He
briefly resumes the dream, in variant words from the original
narration, and makes interpretation of the tree that. It is thou,
O king, thou who grewest great and strong, whose sovereignty
reached the end of the earth. 20. He summarizes the second act
of the dream drama, still more briefly than the first telling, if
with Torrey (s. Notes) we should excise as secondary the latter
part of the v., but the root, etc. 21. He proceeds to its interpre-
tation: This is the interpretation, 0 king, for (= afid) the decree
of the Highest it is which has befallen my lord the king : 22 (25)
that ( = and) thee they will drive out from human kind (with im-
pers. use of the 3d pers. pi.). The seer defines the decree as not
of fate, nor ultimately of the Vigilants, but of God himself; s.
at v.i*. In v.22(26) |-}^g veiled allusions of v.'^cis)^ which might
have defied the skill of any Magians, are definitely interpreted:
4I6-24 (19-27) 239
the king is to have his lodging in company with the wild beasts, is
lo be fed like oxen, to be drenched with the dew of heaven, atid seven
times shall pass over him, until he shall know that the Highest is
sovereign in the kingdom of man; he himself is to learn this and
through his experience all 'living beings/ the utterance of v.^^ ^">
being now precised. But in the philanthropy of the story Neb.'s
doom is not to be like that of other arrogant tyrants, for example
Antiochus Epiphanes, who too late on his death-bed 'came to
recognition' (el? iirHyvcocnv) that 'a mortal should not be minded
as though he were like God' (2 Mac. 9"- ^-, rdg. la-oOea c^povelv
with text, rec); but the divine power will triumph in him. In
accordance with this purpose is the interpretation of the stump
left in the ground (v.^^ (26)) . u^y kingdom is enduring for thee after
thou comest to know that Heaven is sovereign. For the first time in
Jewish religion (s. Notes) we meet with 'Heaven' as surrogate
for 'God'; the word may have been chosen here with tact in
contrast to the baseness of all that is of the earth earthy. The
term itself is one which like ' the Highest ' has entered into the
syncretistic vocabulary of the later religion and would have been
understood by a cultured Pagan, Persian or Semite or Western.
But, v.2*<")^ with the benevolence characteristic of the Bible
religion the doom may be averted by the king 'bringing forth
fruits worthy of repentance.' As Jonah preached his rough gos-
pel of repentance to the Ninevites, so Dan. offers his gentle
counsel to the king, that thou break of thy sins by right-doing
and thy transgressions by showing mercy to the afflicted. The long
twelve months that intervened before the calamity was respite
for the possible repentance. It may be observed that this simple
moral code was about all that could be demanded of a Pagan, —
'to do justice and love mercy,' 'to leave off from evil and to
do good' (Ps. 34^^), for there was no thought of his conversion
to the Jewish religion. But Catholics and Protestants have
made this a locus classicns for their dispute over 'good works';
e.g., Pole ad loc: "Pontificii {i.e., Papists) ex hoc loco satisfac-
tiones suas et merita colligunt." See the reviews of the discus-
sion in Hav., dEnv., Knab. In part the strife lies about the
word 'righteousness,' Tl'pi'^, on which opinion varies, whether
it is to be understood in the general sense or in the later Jewish
denotation (passing over into the Syr. and Arab.) of 'almsgiv-
ing.' This is without doubt the eldest and most constant inter-
240 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
pretation, that of Grr.,^!! (eleemosynis), Jewish comm., most
Cath. scholars (so Knab.), JV, and also of some Prot. comm.,
e.g., Grotius, Berth., and of Calvin, with a shading of the word
as 'benignity.' The almost equivalence of 'righteousness' and
'almsgiving' appears in Tobit (a book as old at least as our
stories), where the two terms are constantly paired, e.g., 12',
14". In the Talm. 'righteousness' = 'almsgiving,' and there
are approximations to this mng. in N.T. There is corresponding
parallelism elsewhere in O.T., e.g., Ps. 37^', 112^. And indeed
why the Protestants should quarrel with the Catholics over the
Biblical virtue of charity it is hard to see. A Christian might
oppose the Lord's counsel to the Rich Young Man, Mk. lo-^;
also the character of Dorcas, who was 'full of good works ( =
Rabb. W'2''0 WU]!^) and charities' (Acts g^^), and of Cornehus
whose chief virtues were his 'charity to the people' and his
prayers {ib., lo^). But it is better not to identify ' righteousness'
here too exactly with 'almsgiving'; rather it is the general ex-
pression for good works, in which sense it is used in the Sermon
on the Mount, where, Mt. 6^^-, BiKULoavvr] is followed by the
specific terms of alms, prayer and fasting. Similarly here right-
eousness is particularly specified by charity. A more crucial
question is the mng. of p"iS, translated in EVV by 'break oflF,'
for which, however, the ancient rendering was 'redeem,' so Grr.
XvrpcbaaL^ ^ redime (so prob. ^ which transliterates ^). The
latter mng. is that held by AEz., Cath. comm. in general, also
some Prot. scholars, e.g., Grotius, Bert.,Zock., RVmg; the former
by Sa., Ra., Calv. and most Prot. comm., also dEnv. The for-
mer interpretation has philological corroboration from the O.T.,
the other and elder understanding being based upon the later
development of the rt. as 'redeem.'
16 (19). ani.nt-'N] Kau., §36, regards this and i>':'3iD?: Ezr. 6' as
Hebraisms. But Nold., ZDMG 1876, p. 326, had claimed such forms
as genuine Aramaic; for similar kantal formations in Syr. s. Duval, GS
§197, Nold., SG §180, and for their treatment as kaittal rather than as
Idtal s. Powell, Supp. Hehr., pp. 44/. — '"iin n>-^o] 'For a mome.nt,'
rather than with RV JV, 'for a while,' or the absurd 'for one hour' of
AV; s. on r\yz' 36. The prep, d = time at which, as in Heb., e.g., 8^
(s. BDB 454^), not with 6 & 1 as quasi una hora. — ntj'd Kt., ^T-^2 Kr.j
Q & 1 = Kr. — © om. the clause iSnji . . . n^Sd r\y;, through confu-
sion with the foil. 'a?a njj;. The lacuna was supphed by Or^ c Lu. —
^16-24 (19-27) 241
I'^n^^] Mar., Gr. §52, after Bev., Behr., has recognized this and iiSnai
5'" as true juss. forms with omission of the usual energetic element n
before the suff. Similar cases are found in the monuments, e.g., Tema
Inscr. (CIS ii, no. 113) 1. 14, ^ninsr, and in the papp., but the usage
is not consistent, s. Sachau, APO p. 270, a; similarly the impfs. vy"\
jio'^n'' V." have juss. mng. — "iN"\D Kt., "'1? Kr.] ^r. represents the later
pronunciation; Kt. is supported by the papp., but an ostrakon presents
n:;, s. Cowley, PSBA 1903, pp. 264/. = Eph., 2, 236/. — ymz'] The
rt. as strong i<"^ always in the papp., and in some cases in Syr., s. Nold.,
SG §172, C. — l'"^'!] Originally participial form from "nj:, s. Kau., §58,
2, h. The ppl. gained the technical sense of 'rival,' s. Lexx. s.v. heb.
Tix. — 19 (22). noSd Nin nnjN] 'It is thou, O king'; cf. for a similar
period 2"- ^^ — n] Rel. pronoun, 'who.' — n-'^T Kt., ^?1 Kr.] Kau., p. 79,
rightly regards the Kr. as 'incomprehensible.' M has carried to the
extreme its standardizing process of eliminating y in the diphthong. I
cannot follow Torrey's defence of M in his Notes, I, 271. — 1^''^~1] Bev.
notes the form as 'very peculiar': we should e.xpect T^^-""^ after the
analogy of the Syr. But the former, along with the latter, occurs abun-
dantly in the Targ.; it is here a cognate nominative: 'thy growth waxed.'
— njr] i-jie j-^^ jg found in the papp. both as noc and n-jr; e.g., pn-jd
APO pap. 13, 1. 2, but roc, pap. 28, 1. 6. The pointing here, in place of
expected '^?'^, may represent orig. '^b'"-?"; otherwise Torrey, I.e. Also s.
on r.133 v.^'. — s>'is iidS] mss also 'x So t]^oh = "B; & 'to all ends of
the earth. — 20 (23). ir-nj] B V 106 5MSS pref. Iv. — 0 (xuliG^rflSTar. s.
at v.'^. — pcSni] 0 dXkoiu)Q(baiy but v." dXXaYTjaovxac. — Torrey's po-
sition that all of v.-° after imS^n is secondary is very reasonable; I will
simply cite his argument (p. 269): "The proof of the fact that the
passage in vs. 20 is merely a scribe's repetition from vs. 12 is found not
only in the remainder of verses 20-23 (where it is evident that the plan
of the original writer was to refer in a few words to each of the main fea-
tures of the dream — divine command; destruction of the tree; the
stump left in the ground — and not to repeat the original wording), but
also, and especially, in the old Greek translation, in which this part of
vs. 20 is lacking."
21 (24). ntj'd] Also MSS rn-j-c = 0 4- auTou. — .-nrji] & "& om. conj.;
IS haec est inter pretalio sententiae, etc., attempting to obtain a more sat-
isfactory connection. Here and continuing into v.^- with ^S1 there is a
simple alignment of clauses without logical articulation; cf. Kau., §102,
Mar., Gr. §130.— n^on Kt., "?? Kr., so Bar, Str.; al. ri?° Kt. (also M^);
Mich. ^'^^] For the rt. s. at v.". Kau., p. 79, Kamp., comm. generally,
regard Kt. as error. Torrey's valuable comments correctly illuminate
the form; it is survival of the ancient stative, i.e., as ^''?^, instanced in
Syr., e.g., Jer. 32"' .nvjD, and in Mand. nNioic; point accordingly '^2?'?.
— 22 (25). mnS] Otherwise always wnh, s. at 220. — jmn] -\in occurs
16
242 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
in APO pap. 5, 1. 10 (not recognized by Sachau), s. Cowley, AP no. 33.
— pyjXD] The most notable case of this impersonal use of the 3d pi.;
particularly d propos to the present case is Lu. 12^°, ■zxutq xfj vuxxl
fjjv t^uxTjv CTou aiTouatv dicb aou (n.b. present tense). — 23 (26). ^'f'L!]
= 'persisting, abiding,' with ref. to Neb.'s hfe; in 6-' as epithet of God.
— n }d] Of time, so Ezr. 5'-; = Syr. n p or no p; cf. Arab. prep.
mundu, 'since'; for the impf. in place of the poss. pf. cf. Nold., SG §267.
— x^Stt"] As surrogate for 'God' also i Mac. 2>^^, etc., P. Ahoth i, 3, etc.,
Lu. i5''- -', and elsewhere in N.T.; cf. 'kingdom of Heaven' = 'k. of
God'; for the Rabb. use s. Dalman, Worte Jesu, §viii, and for the Ht-
erature Schurer, GJV ii, 268, n. 47. For corresponding use in the
Pagan religions (e.g., Latin Coelus) s. vLeng., and Cumont, Monuments
relatifs au.x mysteres de Milhra, 87, Les religions orietitales, c. 5, n. 64.
The VSS generally avoid the heathen implication.
24 (27). pS] 'Therefore,' s. at 2«.— ndSc] Kenn. 80, ^ om., 2mss
Kenn. om. •'jSd. — 117;?] For the Aram, idiomatic use of *?;; = *? s. at
2^*, and cf. inry 6"- "■ ^*; similar (Aramaizing?) use in Heb., e.g., ^7j? mflB»
Ps. i6«, s. BDB 758a, GB 588a; for Mand., Nold., MG §158, and
idioms in Arab., Wright, Gr. §59, b. In 3^' Dip is used. — yen Kt., 1??^
^r.] If regarded as a sing, the Kt. shows thickening of n into '; parallel
is Syr. hatdhd. As pi., as is most likely, so VSS, EVV, Kamp., etc., we
should expect with Hitz., Bev. TTt", with the Kr. representing 1''')'J?P,
But it is possible that the form is equivalent of Heb. ^'■^^, with loss of
N, i.e., 1'!?q.— ^1^7?] S. Comm.; for 's 'alms' in Talm., cf. P. Ahoth, v,
13 (19) and s. Talm. Lexx. For Jewish and early Christian approxima-
tions of SixaioauvT] to this mng. s. N.T. Lexx. and GB p. 6756. In
Gen. 15* 's is a work of religion, a 'merit'; cf. its use in the TemS,
Inscr. as 'a religious due' (Bev.). In 9'^ 'S otherwise. — pno] For the
VSS and comm. s. Comm. The vb. is best e.xplained from its use in
Heb., e.g.. Gen. 27", 'and thou shalt break off (npna) his yoke from
thy neck,' where Targ. Jer. tr. with the same vb.; so Ra. with reminis-
cence of that passage. Cf. P. Ahoth, iii, 9 (8), 'whoever casts off (pms)
the yoke of the Law.' Secondarily, 'd was used in the Targg. as =
Snj, yz'>, 'redeem, save,' e.g., Ju. ii'^ Is. 45'^ which mng. it has in
Syr., e.g., purkdnd = 'salvation.' Hence there was an apparent philo-
logical justification for 'redeem' here, as followed by the VSS, but not
in the context, as Keil rightly observes: "well die Siinden kein Gut
sind, das man einlost oder ablest." — I'!"?] Inf. of ]:n. — V^i Mich., al.
tl^'i] The form with Mich.'s accentuation (s. on ]■<:•;, f*) is pass. ppl.
of r\y;, 'be lowly,' with the sing, "^yi.; so GB, Konig, Hwb., vs. Kau.,
§57, a, p, who argues for katdl form, so BDB. The other accentuation
is prob. reminiscent of Heb. ^'l^^'i 'the meek' of the land; s. Rahlfs,
ly; und uy in den Psalmen. The ppl. form is corroborated by Targ.
^""M. The writer has argued, JBL 1909, 59, that the same word ap-
.25-30 (28-33) 24.-?
pears in the ZKR Inscr., 1. 2, where ny; ij'n = 'man of humble birth';
Torrey similarly, JAOS 3$ (1917)) 356/., translating 'in distress.' Ac-
cordingly the Aram, word is not 'an imitation' of the Heb., vs. Pr.,
who, after vLeng., regards it in the technical sense of 'the poor' of the
Pss., i.e., the Lord's people. — 1\}] For the indirect question cf. the use
of ON Job i", etc.; also Acts 8^^, e! dfpa.— '^r.^] Found APA D, 1. 4.
So 3 here and 7^^, s. Bar and Kau., p. 94; cf. ^^31'' 2'=, idSd; s. on the
next word.— 1^1*:?] The strong rt. also in Heb., e.g., '^t^^. For the
formation s. Earth, Nb., §62, 2, c, as katilat, cf. Brock., VG i, §140;
treated by Kau., §57, c, as ^alel. For the mng. cf. ^'7.'^^ v.^ The VSS
render here differently: 0 (B and most Mss) euTai (xaxp66ujAoq {cf. Heb.
adj. tin) Tots TcapaTCTwpLaafv aou (4MSS de R. l-'^V '''•'; cf. iStt* 3-') 6 Qsiq;
OrP Lu. om. 6 6e6c;, and Lu. has naxpoGu^jita; prob. b 6e6c; is secondary
in ©texts. S» 'until he remove (pnnj) from thee thy transgressions ' ; "B
forsilan ignoscai (Am.) delictis tuis (sc. deus as in orig. ©). Sa., Jeph.,
Ra. have the interpretation now generally adopted, e.g., EW, 'a
lengthening of thy tranquillity.' But AEz. (so also Gr^en) understood
^^"^^.t as in Heb., = 'healing,' and followed the VSS in rendering '^ as
'error'; so Calv., Mlinster, hence mg. of AV RVV, 'a healing of thy
error.'
25-30 (28-33). It all happened to king Nebuchadnezzar. When
at the end of twelve months, the time of the divine respite, he was
walking upon the royal palace of Babylon, possibly upon the
famous Hanging Gardens, the remains of which Koldewey be-
lieves he has discovered, he spake and said : Is not this Babylon
the Great, which I have built for a royal residence ? While the word
was still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, which
announces the hour of doom. The details of the divine decree,
obscurely set forth in the dream, clearly interpreted by Dan.,
are solemnly rehearsed. At that very moment the word was fid-
jilled. One new touch only is added to the description of the
terrible mania which befell him: His hair grew like eagles' feath-
ers and his nails like those of birds.
The setting of the scene and the king's self-complaisance in
his glorious Babylon are strikingly true to history. Every stu-
dent of Babylonia recalls these proud words in reading Neb.'s
own records of his creation of the new Babylon; for instance
(Grotefend Cylinder, KB iii, 2, p. 39): "Then built I the palace
the seat of my royalty (ekallu milMb larriltia), the bond of the
race of men, the dwelling of joy and rejoicing"; and (East India
244 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
House Inscr., vii, 34, KB ib., p. 25): "In Babylon, my dear city,
which I love was the palace, the house of wonder of the people,
the bond of the land, the brilliant place, the abode of majesty
in Babylon." The very language of the story is reminiscent of
the Akkadian. The glory of Babylon, 'that great city' (Rev.
18), remained long to conjure the imagination of raconteurs. For
the city's grandeur as revealed to the eye of the archaeologist we
may refer to R. Koldewey, Das wieder erstehende Babylon, 1913
(Eng. tr. Excavations at Babylon, 191 5), with its revelation of
Neb.'s palace, the temples, etc. (c/. summary by the same writer
in Arch. Anzeiger, 1918, coll. 73-81); further, to L. W. King, A
History of Babylon, 191 5 (c. 2 treats the remains and excava-
tions) ; and for a recent discussion of the size of Babylon and a
defence of the reliability of the Classical refif., W. H. Lane, Baby-
lonian Problems, 1923 (esp. c. 7). For the Classical refif. s. the
appendices to these last two works, Bochart, Phaleg, lib. iv, cc.
13-15, and Rawlinson, SGM 'The Fourth Monarchy,' c. 4. Ace.
to Pliny, Seleucus Nicator (c. 300) drained the city of its in-
habitants, but its decayed magnificence must have remained to
that age, enough to keep alive the memory of the ancient glory.
For the bestial appearance of the insane Neb. (a common ab-
normality) Ball, Daniel, 27, eft. the description of the 'Baby-
lonian Job': 'Like a she-ndkim or a ^Uht-devaon he made my
finger-nails grow'; and he finds other points of contact between
the Bab. story and Dan. 4, pp. 30 /. Also cf. the Ahikar story,
'my nails were grown long like eagles,' Harris's tr., p. 91, and s.
his remarks, p. Iviii.
25 (28). s'^d] See at 2"; if used nominally here (not adverbially,
'altogether'), then the adverbial form has taken rank as a noun.—
Noc] Elsewhere na^; s. at v.-'. M's paragraphing is erroneously placed
between vv."- 26.-26 (29). nspS] So v."; otherwise nxi"' jd 2«. The
sentence is nominal, dependent on the foil. v. — Sj^n] See at v.'; 0 vay^
36"*, IvTw o'ltxw. — S23 IT n.-iidSd] 0& variously. — 27 (30). ncNi . . . r\y;]
For this 'responding' to circumstances, practically 'beginning' to
speak, cf. 2-0, Zech. 3*, Job 3=, Song 2", Mt. 1 1", Mk. 9=.— «^lI] Assevera-
tive particle; for the equivalent Heb. '^■'!! s. BDB 5203, GB 374a. —
Nr3i Saa] Cf. Gen. lo'', Jon. i^, Rev. i8^— ^''^'•J?) So the received M;
also MSS '?, and ?, s. Bar, Str., Gin.; what is intended by the anomalous
pointing is obscure, s. Kau., §15, c. — liT'?, also mss IP-"'' IP'"^] = *<?P'"?
2". Torrey, Notes, I, 273 (also Socin cited in GB) rightly corrects the
431-34 (34-37) ^45
usual assignment of this form to ketdl {e.g., Kau., §57, a), remarking:
"The slight variation in pronunciation (0 for u) is a matter of small
concern." The -;- may have been chosen to pair with \'. — ijDn]
VSS EVV 'of my power,' and so coram., exc. Behr. 'meines Reich-
thums'; rather = 'tenure, possession,' s. at 2". — ^^P^'h] (g xXTjGTjaeTat,
i.e., li^kare. — 28 (31). -\v;] In the papp. APO, also t; APA ; also in
Targ., ChrPal.— N^D-^' p Sp] Cf. Mt. 3^^ 17', Jn. i2'8, 2 Pet. i", etc.;
s. Dalman, 'Bath Kol,' PRE^ 443, Worie Jesu, §viii, i. The same term,
nSp mi, appears in the Pagan Syriac story of Aljikar for the divine re-
sponse to the hero's prayer for a son at the beginning of the narrative;
accordingly it is 'common-Semitic' — hs:] So with Sip Is. 9'. — .-ny]
0 xapfjXOsv, 36™8 xape^wpT). — 30 (33). -\-^-\:2] Pass. Peil. — yz'J-i^] 0
correctly e^iipT), vs. vv.'"- =^ — jns'jj] 0 oddly enough, w? Xe6vtwv,
prob. in reminiscence of d, ol Zwxic, (xou wasl Xe6vtoi;.
31-34 (34-37). Neb.'s restoration. With simple but profound
significance return of reason is said to have come to the king
with his recognition of the true God. The statement, remarks
Bev., "offers a curious parallel with Euripides, Bacchae, 1265^.,
where the same thing happens to the frenzied Agaue." He adds
that the likeness is the more remarkable because the Bacchants
were in some way assimilated to animals, wearing the skins of
beasts, etc. Then follows the content of the king's blessing and
praise of God, which represents, stated in the 3d person, his
meditations upon the irresistible power of God. In v.'^ "^^ the
statement that his intelligence returned to him is repeated from
v.^'; Mar. would delete the repetition, which however serves to
indicate the two results of the conversion, there in the spiritual,
here in the temporal field of restoration to even greater glory.
34 (37). There follows, with the technical particle now, Neb.'s
public confession, the climax of the edict. His proclamation of
God as King of Heaven, a term unique in the Scriptures (but
cf. Jer. lo^- 1", Ps. 48^ 93I, etc.) is advisedly chosen. Neb. holds
his fief from Him who is King in heaven and in the kingdom of
man.
31(34). 2)n>] Toney, Notes, I, 273: " This imaginative impf. is com-
pletely interchangeable with the pf. tense"; s. Kau., §73, 4, Mar., Gr.
§101. But vs. Kau. we have here genuine early Aram, diction (lost in
Syr.), which is itself characteristic of the 'common-Semitic' use of the
two 'tenses.' — '^51?] So Biir, Gin., s. Bar's note and Kau., §g, Anm. 4,
c; al. n3n3._Nr>y^ ^n] cf. the antique D^iy Sn Gen. 21", etc.— 32 (35).
246 A COMIVIENTARY ON DANIEL
^i?] Many mss n'^3; VSS w; oJBiv, etc. For the sense cf. Is. 40''
njj pNi DMjn and 59^° aij;? l^xj 'like those without eyes' (Torrey). I
find the same use of nS in Syr., Clem. Rjm., ed. de Lagarde, p. 50, 1. 25
'ji 12D N;?''r3i N^S 'he thought it as naught and cheap to deceive us.'
Bev. proposed non respiciendi, but this is 'flat' (Kamp.). Yoma 20b
makes nS = xjin 'sun motes' (s. Bar, Behr.), repeated by Ra. But
Sa. tr. 'Uke nothing.' Torrey, Notes, II, 232, thinks of a conflation of
xSr and ^^, 'all of it,' i.e., the earth. But for the spelling cf. Dt. 3"
and (?) Job 6^'. — xid'J' S^n] = o^D^'n njx, = oTpaxia oJpiv.oc; Lu. 2".
For the thought Behr. eft. Is. 24'': 'Yhwh will punish the host of the
height above (annn) in the height and the kings of the earth upon the
earth.' — nT«a Nnoi] A technical expression in Targ., Talm. for 're-
proving, interfering with,' s. Talm. Lexx.; it was prob. based on some
symbolic legal action. Schultens, Animadv. 324, eft. the similar Arab.
daraba 'ala yadihi, and so Sa. actually tr. here. For Nnai, B al. ivxc-
xotT)asTa'., Lu. Q h'^' 12MSS avTtffTYjjcTott, which is the rdg. in the
citation Wis. 12'^. IB resistat manui eius = EVV, 'stay his hand.' —
.-13;? n:;] The same phrase in Is. 45^, Job 9'-, Ecc. 8*, cf. 2 Sam. 16".
— 33 (36). "'iT't] So M.\ on the anomalous vowel a, vs. v.", s. on -in;;
v.'^— '11^1 With EVV, etc., also Sa., it is safest to hold by ^ and to
understand 'n as parallel noun with mm. The most ancient tradition
understood it as a vb., 0 -^XOov 'H penieni (& has lost ^Sj; ami . . . api"?
by homoiotel.), the reason for which is revealed by Ra., who tr. 'n by
inirn = Aram, m^n, 'I returned,' a vb. which also later appears as
■nn. Our word being thus identified with Tin, the "• was understood
as representing the EAram. termination of the ist sing, in 1; so ncy,
11', was treated by ©B. Geier, Behr., al. have followed suit. The error
was reasonable on basis of later linguistic premises, and it must be
allowed that a vb. here would keep the balance of the consecutive
clauses better. Other combinations of the words have been proposed,
for which s. Bev.; Mar. suggests that ^hy 2i.-i"i . . . ipiSi is ancient
gloss to the end of v."; Lohr, Cha. would delete the prec. sentence.
But Torrey, p. 275, rightly remarks that verbal repetitions are emi-
nently characteristic of Dan. It must be admitted that ip^S makes
difficulty; the rdg. ip'', with "ivr mn as appositives, would simphfy
the construction. May the prep, have entered with the construction of
mn as a vb. — an exegesis as old as 0 and B? — P^'?! Bar, Str., Gin.,
Kit.,'?' Mich.] Mar. desiderates a Peal, but Torrey, i6.: "the unusual
pael stem is used here, obviously for its added effect." — '^^\i^^ Bar, Str.;
pj_ j^B Mich., Gin., Kit. (also mss ^\~, s. Gin.)] The first pointing
alone is possible here; the other rhymes with ncDin^ Qn the genuine
.\ram. Hof. (so also the following neoin), vs. Kau., §34 and others
(regarding the phenomenon as a Hebraism), s. Powell, Supp. Hebr., pp.
4T ff., who gives the literature. Nine instances are found in BAram.,
CHAPTER 4, NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION OF (g 247
apart from the questionable forms of nnx, s. at 3". — 34 (37). anno]
On this stem, s. on aninB'N v.^'. — nt'^ ■j-'c] Unique phrase in O.T., =
H-'T^-y N-is 5", found also i Esd. 4" f^ ; appropriate in a Pagan mouth, but
avoided by the Jew; cf. 'the Queen of Heaven,' Jer. 7^'. — |n] B A al.
xpfostc = B, Q c xpimq. — r?;^'?] Haf. as in 3-^; s. there my sugges-
tion that there is implied the denominative idea of walking after the
Halaka.— ^:?.] = Heb. ""V^l s. GB.
NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION OF (&.
(S has a narrative, which despite its omission of much of the material of
1^ is a quarter longer than the latter's text. For detailed criticism and com-
mentary of (S's text reference may be made to Hahn, Daniel, Blud., §18,
and Jahn. The following is a brief resume of (g's narrative (citations after
Swete's enumeration of the vv.).
The introductory salutation in ^, 331-33^ has been omitted, but was rein-
troduced from 0, as indicated by the Hexaplaric marks. In place of it are
found two parallel proclamations at the end, v.^*''. c_ gut y.^^" contains, with
expansion, exactly the contents of l^'s salutation, a fact proving that in
an earlier form of 05 this preface stood in its original place. A date, the
i8th year of the king, is given in v.^ (the same in (B 3S interpolated also
into 0 at that place), doubtless to make the point of the condemnation of
the king for his destruction of Jerusalem at that epoch; the point is specified
as indictment against Neb. in v.'**. Vv.^-* are omitted for the apparent
reason of the incongruity of the king's consulting the astrologers first after
he had found Dan. preferable to them, as in c. 2. The account of the tree
in the dream is sadly confused and absurdly amplified. To v.^* is added a
repetitious supplement to the narrative of the dream, and there follows an
account of the king's concern, which induced him to call in Dan. The lat-
ter's demeanor, v.'^, is described more at length than in ^. In his interpre-
tation of the dream the details are explained one by one, vv."--', and there
are further supplements in those vv. and vv.-^- -^ The divine announce-
ment to the king in v.-* is expanded by a long reference to 'a worthless man
in his house,' who shall usurp his place. Finally comes the king's story of
his seven years of humiliation and of his recovery and consequent homage
to God, to whom he engages to make sacrifice all the days of his life,
VY_3o-34a_ ^g noticed above, the narrative concludes with the two proclama-
tions, one, v.'^'', 'an encyclical letter,' in which he commands his people to
praise the God of heaven and to ofifer sacrifice to him, recounting the divine
favor to himself; the other, v.^*", representing the original preface at the
beginning of the story. At end of v.'*" is the statement that he sent letters
to all the nations of his kingdoms, this attaching properly to v.^''.
For the character in general of the variations of C6 from 1^ s. Int., §11.
In c. 4, as elsewhere in cc. 3-6, the variant material has been diagnosed by
248 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
almost all scholars since the publication of the text of C5 as purely midrashic;
e.g., Bert., p. 125, Blud., p. 148. It has been left to a few modern scholars
to acclaim the superiority of ^; so Riessler, p. 33, Jahn, p. 47, and Cha.,
p. 37. The latter holds that "the older order of the text is preserved in the
LXX and not in the Aramaic," and for this decision gives these three chief
reasons: (i) We should expect from the analogy of c. 3 that the narrative
of Neb.'s experience should he followed by the king's edict. But why? Fur-
ther, Cha. is in error in remarking that there is nothing in (& corresponding
to the first three vv. in If; as observed above, this original introduction has
survived, but has been transferred to the end, v.'*"^, in which the future
tense, 'I will show,' indicates its original place. — (2) The uniform 3d person
of C6 should be preferred as original. This point has been discussed and
answered in the Int. to the Comm. on the chap. — (3) "The LXX shows
its superiority in omitting vv.*-^ which recounts the king's summons of all
the wise men" first, and in "representing the king as at once sending for
Daniel in v.^^." This point has been met above in Comm. on vv.*-''. — It may
further be remarked that if it is true, after Jahn, p. 36, that " the attempts
to prove our piece [c. 4] historical, are particularly weak, even ridiculous,"
the narrative of (S only heightens the absurdity. What can be thought of
the great tree with branches 30 stadia long in which dwelt the sun and
moon (vv.*- ') ? There is the exaggeration of making Neb. undertake to
sacrifice to the Jewish God and also command his people to do the same;
certainly, as against Riessler, a secondary exaggeration. In v.^' appears the
earliest stage of the legend in Syriac and Jewish comm. that Neb.'s throne
was usurped by his son Evil-Merodach; also an obscure historical reference
appears further down in the same v. about 'another king from the East.'
A more serious question pertains to the critical character of (B, which is
manifestly composite; even Jahn elides considerable sections. In several
passages, for one or more sentences, (S runs parallel with 1^, with the usual
freedom arrogated by <B in translation. © was evidently acquainted with
05 and followed it when it was usable, e.g., the rare xuToq v.'. In vv.^- '
there is obvious conflation of different texts, and otherwise numerous repe-
titions and doublets exhibit themselves. An earlier stage of (& must have
been akin to ?^, and that form may have been employed by 0. Indeed, it
may be that, as in the following chapters, original (& was an abbreviated
form. At the same time there is some evidence that the midrashic expan-
sion took place in a Semitic form of text before translation. Bert., p. 130,
boldly asserts that the original document was Aramaic; so also Eichhorn,
Einl., 4, §617 end, JDMich., Orientalische BiUiothek, 4, 19/. Against, this
view are arrayed DeWette, Einl., §258, Hav., p. xlvii seq., vLeng., p. cix.
I note the following cases which argue to an Aramaic original:
v.', h rikwc, X. T) ffeXTjvT) -^v ev auTw oixouv: unintelligible! My own sug-
gestion for clearing this up has been anticipated by Bert, as = Aram.
inns na nn nnoi b'dc, 'were revolving in it.'
CHAPTER 5, PREFACE 249
v.", elxev auT(p, exx6i|^aTe auTo: As the angel did not address the tree,
Bert, suggests aurw = ^% 'in regard to it.'
v.*', dtXXotwGsfat); T-?jg bp&aeoiq auxoO: x. op. auT. = hit, read as nn, so nvi
= xpdaotj;!'; 2", etc. (Bousset, Rel. d. Jiid., 453, thinks of the phenomena
of ecstasy developed here.)
V.'*, TouTou<; T. Xdyouv; dYcixT)aov: Bert, notes the unusual use of iyaxav
and suggests orig. am; I would compare similar use of anx in Heb., e.g., Am.
4', Jer. 5".
v.'", ?G)<; itpwf: as 6", = ina -[•;.
v.'^*. xtivxa^ X. dyfoug auxoO: In this doxology we expect the praise of
God's mercies; the original may have been Tii-'Dn, 'his mercies,' which was
misread '''"'^"^PD, 'saints' ('n so occasionally in Pesh.).
V.'*'', ev xw Xa(p £xp<ixT)as [is: i.e., the construction of \2^z' with :i.
CHAPTER 5. BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST.
(i) 1-12. King Belshazzar made a great feast for his court.
At the wine-drinking he sacrilegiously ordered the holy vessels
of the House of God in Jerusalem to be fetched to the banquet-
hall, and while using them the party made their heathen devo-
tions to their gods. A mystical Hand appears and writes on the
wall. In his panic the king summons all the wise men for the
interpretation of the cryptic legend; they are unable to solve it.
The queen then enters and reminds the king of Dan., Neb.'s
Master Magian, and of his virtues. (2) 13-28. Dan. is brought
in, the king graciously accosts him. Dan. recalls to him Neb.'s
experience of exaltation and humiliation, a lesson Belsh. has
ignored in his act of sacrilege. He proceeds to interpret the omi-
nous script. (3) 29-c. 6, 1 (29-31). The sequel: Dan. is ac-
corded the promised rewards, while in that very night Belsh. was
slain and Darius the Mede succeeded to the throne.
For the historical criticism of this story s. the Int., §19, e.
The position there taken is that the story, while unhistorical,
nevertheless contains indubitable reminiscences of actual his-
tory. Against some comm., e.g., Hitz., Bev., Cha. (Dr. appears
uncertain), Belsh. is not the type of the arrogant despot Anti-
ochus Epiphanes; he does not appear as the destroyer of the
Jewish religion, only as the typical profligate and frivolous mon-
arch. With Mein., Behr., Mar., al., the story is devoid of refer-
ence to Antiochus; it is doubtless far more ancient than the 2d
cent. B.C.
250 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
1-4. The feast. For the festival which was in progress when
Cyrus took Babylon, s. Int., §19, e. There is nothing surprising
in the alleged number of guests. Hav. gives examples: ace. to
Ctesias (in Athenaeus, Deipn., iv, 10) the Pers. king fed 15,000
men daily from his table; there was the brilliant international
marriage festival celebrated by Alexander, when 10,000 guests
were present (s. Niese, Griech. Gesch., i, 165/.); and a similar in-
stance is cited for the last Ptolemy (Pliny, H. N., xxxiii, 47). For
such royal feasts as pictured here and the drinking customs of
the ancient civilizations the elder comm. have diligently col-
lected the Classical allusions, for which s. especially Brisson, De
regio Persarum principatu, ii, cap. cxxvi. The Bible has the
parallel story of Xerxes' splendid feast, Est. i , the crucial point
of which is the refusal of the proud Vashti to be presented be-
fore the rout. Rawlinson {SGM 'Fifth Monarchy,' c. 3, notes
2,A9 f-) has assembled the reff. from Athenaeus {Deipn., iv, 26)
on the banqueting habits of the Pers. kings. For the drinking
customs of the Persians s. ^Elian, Varia historia, xii, i, and of
the Parthians, Athen. iv, 38. For the lasciviousness and drunk-
enness of the Babylonians in Alexander's day s. Q. Curtius, v. i :
"Babylonii maxime in uinum et quae ebrietatem sequuntur
effusi sunt." Whether the royal women were also present on
such occasions has been much debated. Ace. to Her., v, 18, both
concubines and lawful wives were admitted to banquets: vofio<?
earl rolcrt Hepcrrjcri^ eireav helirvov irporiOoiixeOa fie'^a^ Tore koI
Ta9 7raXXa/ca9 koX Ta<; KOvpiSla^ <yvvatKa<i ead^eadai irapehpovi
(n.b. the coincidences with terms of our story !) ; while Plutarch,
Symp., i, I, and Macrobius, vii, i, say that concubines, not wives,
were so permitted. The undignified manners of royal concubines
in public are illustrated from the witty allusion in i Esd. 4^^^-.
But royal banquets in fin de siecle ages have been much the same
the world over, and it is unnecessary to press antiquarian details
for or against the historicity of our story.
1. Before the thousand: The expression is technical (cf. Hav.,
Pr.), and so the king particularly graced the company, facing
the guests at his high table. Vice versa, the guests 'ate before'
the king, Jer. 52^^ VLeng. cites Athenaeus, iv, 10, who records
that the Pers. king generally dined in a separate hall, his mag-
nates in another; but that on festal occasions he dined sitting
at a separate table opposite his guests, who then might number
5'-' 251
not more than twelve. Bert.'s opinion that the ' drinking before '
them meant pledging them (propinare, zidrinken) has not been
accepted. 2. At the tasting of the wine (Eng. VSS 'while he tasted
the wine') : The phrase, if it is to be exactly defined, can best be
understood as technical of banqueting customs, i.e., when the
wine began to circulate after the meal. This Pers. habit is illus-
trated by iElian, xii, i : l^era to ifiTrXrjOrivac TjOo^t}? ol TLepaai tm
re otvQ) K. TOi? irpoaiToaecnv . . . aTroa-^oXcH^ovat^ and, ^Tv^e
[ K.vpo<i] aiTO heiTTVOv cov^ koX "Kiveiv e/xeWe Kara rov rpoirov top
irepaLKov. Ra., AEz. understand the phrase as 'in the humor
(n^y 'counsel') of the wine'; so Jer., iam temulentus, followed by
Pr., and by Dr. as 'under the influence of wine.' CBMich. eft.
the Lat. phrases inter pocula, inter uina; Behr. paraphrases: 'als
der Wein ihm besonders gut schmeckte.' The vessels of gold and
silver . . . from the temple in Jerusalem, as the only tangible
remains of Israel's ancient cult, were uniquely sacred to the
Jewish mind; of. Is. 52", Ezr. i^^-, Bar. i^- *. The ref. connects
with 1 2. The king must have lost his sense of decency to com-
mit what is to the Oriental view a sacrilege even with the holy
things of another religion; of. Amos's allusion to the profligates
of his day, 6^. His wives (AV RVV, 'consorts' Dr., JV) and con-
cubines: The first term is an honorable one; it is used, e.g., of
Artaxerxes' queen, Neh. 2®; the other denotes the inferior class
of harem women, as its etymology may possibly indicate. For
the two classes of women in the royal harem cf. i Ki. 11^, Song
6^ The usual Sem.word for 'queen' ("3^0) is used in v.^" appar-
ently of the queen mother, (g om. all reference to the participa-
tion of these women in the sacrilege. JDMich. erroneously
brought a lascivious note into the scene, translating by false
etymology, 'singers and dancers.' 4. They praised the gods of
gold, etc. (cited Rev. g^", cf. Bar. 6^). Hav. thinks of some special
religious festival and eft. the Pers. Sakae; but with vLeng. it is
a common drinking-bout. The customary libations and appro-
priate snatches of song were in celebration of the gods of wine
and joy {cf. dEnv.).
1. i?^V;?] So in this chap. exc. v.'", where the incorrect ■'?^'<;?,
which latter spelling is continued in 7*, 8' (s. Bar at s'°); = Bel-lar-iisur.
The name appears on a statue of a private man in Egypt 'aus assyri-
scher Zeit' as TiSiD'^D, Eph., 3, 117. All VSS identify the name with
252 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Dan.'s surname, Belteshazzar, as BaXraaap, V Balthassar, & BeltlMsdr.
Cod. A, which gave the unique Bapxaaap in the earher capp., after this
V. reverts to BaXxaaap. — °0; "'?i'] This unusual, doubtless antique
Aramaic use of 'S as 'feast,' for which we might expect nocd as in v.^"
(c/. Est. i^ NPiyD na*],') is paralleled in Ecc. lo*' anS D''U'j?; also onS Sy
BSir 34^^' 'at a feast.' — 0 construes vv. ^''^ ^ together, and 19 as though
hzphz, unusquisque secundum siiatn hihebat aetatem. — 2. o^is] The physi-
cal mng. 'taste' only here in BAram. Mar., Gr. §48, notes that the
infinitival sense is perceptible. — B oYvou auToiJ eveyxetv, error for
0. Tou ev. — •'Jnd] In the papp., e.g., APA H, 1. 5, 'vessels of brass
and iron.' — pnt:'''] Impf. continuing the infin. — i^O^^F] S. Lexx., and
Haupt' Segal,' /5L 1916,322-324. & B correctly ' wives ' 1)5. 0 xaXXaxaf.
— i^DJD; ] S. Lexx. for proposed etymologies. Kon., Ewb., follows Hav.
in an etymology from Arab, lahina, 'stink.' Haupt, I.e., 324-326, con-
nects the word, as by interchange of d and /, with the theme dah, 'push
away,' for which he finds support in !^Q1, 6", which ace. to many is
identical with the present word. In APO pap. 53, 1. 5, appears njnS,
but vs. Sachau, who suggested identification with our word, it is recog-
nized that h there is prep, and njn = hanna, 'maid.' njhS is found in
Targ. Onk. for hen and trj'^'j, e.g., Gen. 25', 35", and in Mand. in lists
of evil spirits, e.g., Qolasta, xv, 5, Ginza R., 279^., which Lidz. arbi-
trarily tr. 'Netzgeister,' Or. Studien Noldeke gewidmet, i, 541; rather it
means succubae. — 3. 3MSS Ken. om. the v. by homoiotel. — X2m] 0 +
[ia xpuaa] v.a\ to: lipyupa = B, and this addition, NDD31, is approved
by Kamp., Mar., Lohr. — ^p!iir\] 0 g* U as sing., and Lu. B + 'Neb.' —
n>3 it] This unessential item0&15om.,OrP (62) restores; it introduces
the usual term for the temple, e.g., i^. — i"''!'^'':*] With prothetic vowel
and internal i of the stative, as in Syr. eUi; cf. Nold., SG §176. — 4. At
end of V. OrC (A 106 A al.) plus from (i, 'and the eternal God they
blessed not who had the power over their spirit,' which was intruded
into <S from v.-^ That OrC does not represent orig. 0 is shown by use
of (S's xvsu(jia vs. 0's itvoiQ at v.". Yet Jahn, Cha. accept the addition
as authentic.
5-9. The vision of the Hand and the Writing on the Wall;
the king's panic. 5. Just then came forth fingers of a human
hand and they were writing in front of the candelabrum upon the
plaster of the palace wall. The royal table was doubtless set on
a dais and against a wall, and that quarter of the hall was lit
with a great candelabrum, the light of which was reflected on
the plastered wall behind the royal seat. The v. gives details
which, if we would understand them historically, may be visual-
ized from the excavations at Babylon. In the Gewolbebau, the
5^'^ 253
assumed Hanging Gardens, was found a great hall, for the de-
scription of which we may summarize Koldewey {Das wieder
crstehende Babylon, c. 15, p. 103; Eng. tr., Excavations at Baby-
lon). In the southern part of the area lies the largest room of
the castle, the throne hall of the Babylonian kings. In every
respect it is distinguished from all the other halls, and there can
be no doubt that it was the chief royal audience chamber. "If
one would localize anywhere the ill-fated banquet of Belsh., it
could be found with greatest warranty in this enormous room,"
which is 17 m. wide by 52 long. In the centre of one of the long
sides, opposite the entrance, is a niche, in which the throne must
have stood. And the explorer notes that the walls were covered
with white plaster, referring also to an earlier statement, p. 88,
where it was remarked that " die Innenraume waren mit einem
feinen, auf dickerem Gipsmortel aufgetragenen Putz versehen,
der aus reinem Gips bestand." Earlier comm., e.g., dEnv., Pr.,
Dr., have adduced the evidence for such interior stucco work
from the descriptions in Layard and Perrot. The word in v.''
translated by EW 'palm,' probably means the hand proper be-
low the wrist as opposed to the lower arm, which also is often
called 'hand.'
6 . Then the king's color changed : The original word for ' color '
(EVV 'countenance') is 'sheen, brightness,' s. at 3^^ Cf. the
Arab, phrase, tagayyara launuhu, found in Lammens, Riwdydt
aWAgani, p. 100, 1. 14. For the 'loosening of the loins' as symp-
tom of panic fear, cj. Is, 21^, Nah. 2", Eze. 21", Ps. 69^^, and for
the 'knocking of the knees one against the other' Nah. 2". For
corresponding expressions in the Classics s. Bert., Hav. 7. The
various classes of wise men (s. at 2^) are summoned to interpret
the mystic writing. A royal boon is promised to him who will
read it: he shall be invested with the royal Purple and the
Golden Necklace and shall have the official rank of 'Third' in
the kingdom. Purple (so AVmg RV JV, 'scarlet' AV) was the
royal color in antiquity; among the Persians, Est. 8^^, i Esd. 3^
Xen., Anab., i, 5, 8; the Medes, Xen., Cyrop., i, 3, 2; ii, 4, 6; for
the Gr. period cf. 1 Mac. lo^*^, 14'*^ (Simon is accorded sole right
to the purple), etc. The 'necklace of gold' is more than a 'sug-
gestion' (Pr.) from the story of Joseph, Gen. 41^^ The golden
necklace (the word used is of Pers. origin and passed into the
Sem. dialects and the Gr., i.e., fiavca.Kr]';) was peculiarly a Pers.
2 54 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
distinction; it was worn by Persians of rank, Anab., i, 5, 8; 8, 29;
was presented by the king as a special compliment, ib., i, 2, 27;
Her., iii, 20, ix, 80, i Esd. 3^ (where /J-aviciKi^'i as here); s. Bert.,
Hav., Dr. Ace. to Cyrop., xiii, 5, 18, the decoration could be
worn only when presented by the king. Rawlinson, SGM ' Fifth
Monarchy,' c. 5, n. 420, observes that this and other particulars
of official insignia are confirmed by the Achaemenidan monu-
ments. As to the title 'Third' (also w.^^- ^^) there is vast variety
of opinion. The most common interpretations postulate for the
second member of the triumvirate either (so earlier) the queen-
mother or Nabonidus (for other views s. Note). It has been
argued in Int., §19, e, that the latter is excluded by the whole
tenor of the story, which regards Belsh. as absolute monarch;
within the scope of the tale only the queen-mother can be ac-
cepted, unless we would find in the term a faint reminiscence of
the co-regency of Belsh. with his father, who, however, is said
to be Neb. ( ! ). But see the extensive Note, which argues that
the term is a true reminiscence of old Bab. officialdom, where
the Akk. salM (= our word spelled both talti and faltd) was a
high official title, = 'ThirdUng' or 'Triumvir,' similar in its use
to the Heb. equivalent MUL 8. Then all the king's wise men were
coming in, etc.: an apparent conflict with v.'', in which the king
said to the wise men of Babylon, etc., a statement which supposes
the presence of those notables at the banquet. Kran. assumes
gratuitously a distinction between the three specified castes of
v.'' and 'all the wise men' as here. Behr. supposes that 1Dt<,
v.'^, means 'commanded,' not 'said,' and so Mar.; but this is
forced. Cha., after Jahn, readily falls back on (g, which he holds
gives 'a rational order of events,' as 'also supported by Josephus'
( ! ) ; but (g's narrative concludes, v.^, with a more emphatic repe-
tition than is found in i^ : ' and were coming in the enchanters,*
etc.; i.e., (I had the same apparent confusion in his Sem. text
as we find. The rather petty inconsequence may be understood
as a case of prolepsis in v.^, or 'careless diction' (Zock.). But
we may observe the force of the ppl., 'were coming in,' and the
comprehensive 'all,' v.*; through these ominous hours they were
filing in to make essay at the vain enterprise. 9. Their failure
cast the king and his magnates as well into the greater perplexity.
5. 1|1DJ Kt., ^\l^} Kr.] The same variation appears in the other cases
of the 3d sing, fem.: 7^- -°. Kau., §23, 2, Bev., Behr. hold that the dis-
5'-' 255
tinction made by M (-d vs. -u) is secondary and due to assimilation to
the Targ. form in -a. Palm, uses the form in -il for both genders; there
are no pertinent cases in the papp. But 0's rendering of "ho: 7-° as
hSdj ppl. proves that the latter was once Kt. The fern, in -a is found
in EAram., WAram., and Eth., and occasionally in Heb. (s. Peters,
Hebraica, 3, iii; GK §44, m). The rdg. of ims Ken., jpcj = ppl. is not,
with Houbigant, Bert., to be preferred; the frequent order of perf., ppl. is
idiomatically followed. — ^'^f"!^^^] Ace. to many a foreign, Aryan word,
s. Lexx., Behr., Pr., also Tisdall, JQR 2 366 (= ni + Avestan barej,
'shine')- Barth, ZA 2 117, led the way in regarding it as Sem. by diag-
nosing w as = rn by nasal dissimilation before b {cf. some additional
notes on this subject by the writer in JAOS 43, 50). Torrey, Notes, I,
275 {cf. II, 232), argues for composition from (Eth.) i3j and ncss =
'fire-stand,' but with little probability. I have for some time derived
the word from m3 'be clear, bright,' and as from the Safel stem with
metathesis of consonants. But, as Dr. W. F. Albright has informed me,
Halevy long ago hit upon the same root with a probably better analysis:
mabrart > nabrart > nabralt > nabrast, which fully clears up the deriva-
tion. Aq.'s tr. here is cited in Yoma 410, DiccS SapS = 0. — «T^] =
Heb. "^^ Is. 27'. For discussion of origin s. Lexx.; Haupt connects with
Akk. kir 'pitch,' s. Pr., p. 227. — Ds] ^ tr. by the identical word pasta,
and so 'd is used in Rabb. See Bev.'s note and his explanation that "the
king saw the hollow of the hand " ; but this were hardly possible. Kon.,
Hwb., assuming a rt. 'stretch out,' interprets it as of 'the finger-tips.'
But Jastrow, Diet., s.v., defines the word as 'the hand from the v.-rist
to the tips of the fingers,' and so AEz. here interprets, 'a severed hand,'
i.e., without a body; so also Hitz. and Torrey. Similarly 0 = dtaxpayd-
Xous = "& articulos. BDB is to be supplemented {cf. GB) by reference to
0'>D0 njn^, Gen. 37', where 'a means the hands and feet, sc. a garment
reaching to the wrists and ankles; also, with Maurer, cf. O'??? "'?, Eze.
47', 'water reaching to the ankles.' — 6. ndSc] For the casus pendens
cf. v.'". — ^nin] See at 2"; for the pi. here cf. Heb. a^JD. (g Spaaiq, as
though ■'ni'n, hence "& fades, z.n6. so EVV 'countenance.' — ''^^^'] But
V.' ^niSy \>iv vnin (the phrase but with Etpaal v.", 7^'). Accordingly
read here ''J'f (-|- ''niSy"?); the form is a scribal conflation with that
in V.'. The suff. for the indirect obj. is hardly possible; for Heb.
exx. s. GK §1 1 7, X. The use is frequent in SArab., and Pr. cites apparent
parallels in Akk. Str., §6, p, accepts the text; per contra Nold. in his
review, LCB 1896, no. 9. — nsnn] For identity of 'n with Heb. I'Sn,
Syr. hass, s. GB s.v. v'?n. For similar use of the sing. vs. the pi. of the
Heb. cf. Targ. Dt. 3312.— ni-?F?] Ethpeel is to be expected, so Bev.,
but Ethpaal in this sense also in Syr. (Behr.).— J^C^^I^f, Mich, '^^i^] =
Arab, rukbat ; for prothetic vowel s. Kau., §60, i. It is preferable with
GB, p. 117, to postulate two rts., I brk = rkb, 'knee, ride,' and II brk
{cf. Akk. and SArab. krb), 'bless,' as against BDB and Kon., Hwb.
256 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
7. '^tH?] See Kau., §46, 3, b; the Haf. with nasal dissimilation 2^^ 4'.
— mp^] As v/'?, so v.*s; but as rt. Nip vv.s- ". — ^IP^] = OrPC Lu.
& B; 0 (B 4- 5MSs) as nIu-d = 4MSS Ken.— njuin] = 2 Ch. 2\ Palm.,
Syr., Arab.; Heb. otherwise jdjix. — ndj^dh Kt., ^^'\t^ Kr., Bar, Str.;
WJicn Gin., Kit.; ndudh Mich.; ndjidh M^; these with Kr. as
above; the Ktib maintained strictly throughout] Levy, Bev., followed
by Andreas in Mar.'s Gloss., as < MPers. *hamydnak, diminutive of
hamydn, 'girdle,' with which cf. Bar's Kt. Tisdall, JQR 4, 98, insists
that Pers. hamydn is from Arab, himydn (rt. = 'fall '), mng. 'loin-cloth,'
etc., and derives the word from ham + maini, 'necklet,' i.e., 'collection
of necklets'; the Targ. form 1''^.? is then from the unprefi.xed noun.
But hemydn is found in Talm. and Mand. The variants in fH's tradi-
tion represent different forms of the imported word, with which cf. Syr.
hamnikd, Gr. pLavt3:/.T];;, used here. The Targ. N3>:2 tr. "^''?1, Gen.
41^2, of Joseph's necklace. — '^"i'.^l^" ] Spelled as in Heb. In a note in JAOS
1926, 58, the writer has explained the spelling as a development from
^aur (= Syr.) > sauuar > sau'ar.—'r}\^] = ^^\^ vv.«- "; = Akk. laM
Kialsdi (cf. GB, Kon., Hit'b.), noun of relation from sal'^ii, 'third,' s.
Del., Hwb., S.V., and Gr., p. 207. The word appears in two classes of
references, (i) In the one, for citations of which I am indebted to
Prof. R. P. Dougherty, we have the term ahu Salsa, e.g., Streck, Assur-
banipal, Rm. Ill, 48-49 (vol. 2, p. 26), Tammarilu ahuhi ialia-a. *T.
his brother of third degree'; similarly KB 4, p. 88 of sons; in these cases
it is brother or son 'number 3 ' in the family. (2) In the other class the
term is official. The reff . have been conveniently collated by Klauber in
his 'Assyrisches Beamtentum' in Leipziger Sem. Stiidien, 5, iii ff. He
presents a category of Salsu ( = SalH) officials of various degrees : a Ja/Jw
Ja iarri, SalSu dannu mar Sarri, etc. The parallel of Heb. ^ ; ^' (long ago
observed by Jer.) at once suggests itself, in its mng. of a high royal officer,
e.g., Ex. 14', I Ki. 9^^ Eze. 15'^ etc., for which Haupt, BA 4, 583^., dem-
onstrates the mng. of ' the third ' in the chariot, the 6xXog)6po<;, armiger
(s. GB s.v. for further reff.). We are dealing here, then, with a customary
official title, the numerical denotation of which has been lost. ^ has
preserved the two Akk. case-forms of the word, taltd and talti, by true
reminiscence; cf. i'?ij = iSu, etc., s. Note at 2^. N.b. that inSn is not
emph. but abs., hence not 'the third ruler,' so AV RVV, but rather
'one of three,' with JV, and we might translate 'Thirdling'; and
NnVn taiSif, v.^', is the same although on its surface it might mean 'ruler
of the third.' In a word Dan. was appointed a high dignitary in the
kingdom, with a title which had lost its original significance, like 'tet-
rarch,' or 'chamberlain' and 'knight' in English. The recognition of
this Akk. origin accordingly antiquates Kau.'s notion (§65, i, Anm. 3)
of 'an abnormal stat. emph. to "I?;'?,' as also the various attempts to
rectify the pronunciation, e.g., Behr., Kamp., Mar., Cha. Torrey,
5"-'^ 257
Notes, II, 232, thinks that the author meant '»'?'?'■? in all the three pas-
sages, i.e., as 'third' ruler (so 0 zgkoc), with which was combined the
notion of the 'ruler of the third part' (as C6 understands the phrase).
The above explanation does away with the prevailing interpretation
that Dan. was the third ruler after the king, so AV, RV, Hipp., iii, 15
lie'. 6p6vq) TpfTCj), and one of Jer.'s alternate views, uel tertius post me;
uel unus ex tribus principibus, quos alibi ■zgis-z&zxc; legimns {i.e., the
current translation in <K for f'Sa'). And accordingly it disposes with
speculation as to the person of 'the second' ruler. According to the
theories Dan. would have been third to the king and his wife, or his
son (Geier, dEnv.); or to the king and his vizier (JDMich., CBMich.,
Bert.) ; or to the king and the queen-mother, which to the writer's mind
is the only reasonable alternative. For the view that the two in prece-
dence were Nabonidus and 'the crown prince' Belshazzar, s. Int., §19,
e. The oldest interpretation, that of <S, is an erroneous paraphrase,
'there shall be given him authority of the third part '; so practically Sa.,
Ra., AEz., Jeph. Zock. cfl. the triumvirate appointed by Darius, 6',
and Mar. recalls ol rpsts ixsYtaTotves i Esd. 3^ In Test. Jos. 13*
Potiphar is 'third in rank with Pharaoh'; if not dependent upon our
passage, the term may corroborate the above interpretation. — N.m^'^ca]
© ;H as \-i-; so IMS Ken.— 3. no'^c] mss Ken. and de R. S32; this rdg.,
as noted by Bar, was followed by Levi b. Gerson. — ^T'f'?] So edd. (= &)
exc. Mich. "^IP^, M^ ^"X^^ (= 6 1); Bar claims latter as Oriental, but
this is denied by Gin., Int., 237.-9. nv^] For the adv. before the vb.
cf. 6i=- "*; for the same use in Syr. s. Nold., SG §245.— ■'Hi'-;] For the
phrase cj. Dieterici's text of Thier u. Mensch, p. 51 ai inf., rakka kalbuhu
'alaihi.—]-'ViT<Z'z] = (& £y.aux(I)VTo v.«, i.e., rdg. l^nanirc, cf. 1 Ch.
16" (Blud., p. 149).
10-12. The queen's plea that Dan. be summoned. Since Jos.
this lady has generally been identified with the queen-mother;
some comm., e.g., Origen (ace. to Jer.), Levi b. Gerson, lacchi-
des, by composition with the Biblical datum in 2 Ki. 25", make
her Evil-merodach's wife and so mother of Belsh., and similarly
the marg. variant in AV 'grandfather' for 'father,' vv.^- "; but
most the widow of Neb. {i.e., Nitocris, so Grot.), and so the
mother, or grandmother, of Belsh.; so Jos., Jeph., AEz. and most
modern comm. The narrator evidently ignores Evil-merodach
and regards Neb. and 'the queen' as the parents of Belsh. The
bald title 'queen' suggests prima facie Belsh. 's chief consort, and
so interpret Bert., p. 367, Jahn; this position is as old as Por-
phyry, whom Jer. cites and shrewdly answers: "Euigilet ergo
'7
258 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Porphyrius, qui earn Balthasaris somniatur uxorem et illudit plus
scire quam maritum." Also the lady's masterful appearance on
the scene betokens rather the queen-mother than the consort.
In the one case where a queen-consort is mentioned in the post-
exilic history, she is called i^Jl'j, Neh, 2^, the word used above,
T •■
v.^ In the O.T. the queen-mother bore the title 'Mistress,'
H'T'iil I Ki. 15", etc.; the book of Kings relates several episodes
illustrating her prime importance in the administration. Pr.,
citing Bab. letters from the king to the queen-mother (Del., BA
I, 187 /.), calls attention to their respectful tone, and for her
exalted position s. Meissner, Bab. u. Ass., i, 74. We learn still
more definitely from Classical reff. of the dominant position of
the queen-mother in the Pers. court. Says Rawlinson, SGM
'Fifth Monarchy,' c. 3: "The mother of the reigning prince, if
she outlived his father, held a position at the Court of her son
beyond that even of his Chief Wife"; and he cites, n. 393, from
Arrian, Exp. Alex., ii, 12, a passage indicating that the queen-
mother might properly hold the title of queen. Cf. the malign
power exercised by Parysatis, the queen-mother in Ochus' reign
{ih., c. 7). That the queen came in of her own accord with ||,
as against (^, which has her summoned by the king, is histori-
cally reasonable, especially if we have here a tradition of Nitocris.
11. There is a man, etc.: Comm. {e.g., Hav., Keil, dEnv.) seek
for reasons why Dan. did not officially appear at first. But the
story follows dramatic necessity as in c. 4 (s. at 4^), with the
additional reason of the frivolity of the new and abandoned
regime. In place of the usual translation of the grammatical pi.
'gods,' interpret as sing., 'Deity'; s. at 2^^. For 'light' EVV,
translate the abstract noun of the original -I^TIJ by 'illumina-
tion'; © tr. by a technical philosophical term, <yprj'yGpr]cn<; (s.
Note). The characterization of Dan. repeats Neb.'s words to
him in 4^ For Dan.'s position under Neb. as Master Magician,
s. at 2^*. At the end of the v. appears a superfluous ' thy father
the king,' an unnecessary repetition, disguised in )| and EVV.
12. The first part of the v., punctuated by the edd. of the VSS,
EVV, GV, most comm., with a full stop, reads like a superfluous
repetition of v."; but if read as protasis to v.'^, with dEnv., Bev.,
it is in place: Since (H quia) that extraordinary illumination was
actually exhibited in him, now (tJ?D) lei Dan. be called. Of the
5''-'' 259
three phases of his art dream-interpretation has been exempli-
fied in c. 2. For the solution (EVV 'showing,' 'declaring') of
riddles (so JV, 'hard sentences' AV, 'dark sentences' RV) as a
skilled specialty of the royal councillor we have the classic ex-
ample in Ahikar, the sage vizier of the Ass. kings, who, ace. to
the Syr. version of his story, distinguished himself in riddle con-
tests between his royal master and the king of Egypt; cf. BSira
at length, c. 39. The earliest case of such royal jousts of wits is
found in the story of the queen of Sheba. As the third specialty
is named, literally, the loosing of knots (so JV; AV RV dissolving
of doubts). The second noun is common in magic for the knots
tied by the sorcerer, which sympathetically bound the victim
and which had to be untied by counter-magic; it is in this sense
(probably that of 0, (rvvSea-fiovi = If ligatorum, and accordingly
(H om. the item) that Bev., Cha. would interpret the term. But,
with Mar., "an Zauberei denkt der Verfasser kaum," and it is
preferable with him. Dr., al., to interpret after Talm. and Syr.
usage as of 'problems, difficulties.' The repetition of the phrase
in v.^^ indicates that the mystery of the supernatural script fell
into this category. At the end of her statement the queen recalls
Dan.'s official surname, as it were, in personal reminiscence of
10. Nna'ro] For the emphatic position, denoting change of subject,
cf. nsSd v.«.— SapS] = Ezr. 4»«.— ^J>!] So JKb, Mich., Str., Kit.; "^ri,
Bar, Gin.; s. on rnn 2'^— N'ns'D n^j] Cf. Jer. 168, Ecc. 7=.— nnps] See
on '^r),n'7'^ 2^ where the other cases are cited. But in Peal we expect a
form similar to '^P.??. 2'^, hence M may be reminiscent of an orig. ppl.
form, '^")'?'t, especially after analogy of "'?^"l ^Yi. This elder form of
fem. ppl., regular in Heb., is otherwise not found in Aram.; however,
^•117? 7' is so understood by Or^ (= Aq.?), prob. with right, and there
is no intrinsic objection to the form. — iiS.-i3\ uns"] For these true
juss. forms s. on iSnai 4'^ — The v. is abbreviated in 0. HT regina autem
pro re quae accideret regi, which Hav. follows, but the pi. opposes (Hitz.).
11. |■'•L^'n|•7 i^hSn] = 'holy Deity,' cf. note on 2". Jer. remarks: "prae-
tor Sym., qui chaldaicum ueritatem sequutus est, caeteri spiritum Dei
interpretati sunt." 0 ignored ri^np, wh. OrP-c^ Lu. supplied, but con-
strued (or by scribal error?) after (S, with 'spirit,' xvsujxo: aytov; the
same change in 4'- ^ — i"i'''?J] A katttl formation, as Behr. notes, vs.
Kau.; §16, 5; it is abstract form from the Kt. Ni-inj 2'^, q.v. 0 tr. by
YpiQYop-natq; cf. Theodt.'s paraphrase -f) xf,? i^ux^"^ v^tj^tc;. For 0's tr. my
26o A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
friend Prof. W. R. Newbold has kindly given me an extensive note,
which I can only summarize. "This use of yprjfipriai.c, goes back to
the Aristotelian tradition," in which eypi^jopcic; was "exactly equiva-
lent to our 'consciousness,'" and so it is an attribute of God as 'con-
tinuously, eternally conscious ' ; the notion was adopted by Gnosticism,
e.g., the divine nature of man is i'iJxvo? e^ dtuxvou, Poemandres, §15.
He sums up that 0 "takes n>nj as meaning, not supernatural illumina-
tion, but full possession of one's intellectual faculties." — ''^7;?"^'] A
noun form unique in BAram.; for the formation in -an attached to fem.
stem cf. ''J??''?? 7^ and s. Nold., SG §129, and for forms in -dnHtd §138;
similar nouns in -tdnuld are cited by Duval, GS §255. — priSs naon^]
The VSS, exc. &, ignore. — x^Sd ii3n] 0 Lu. & om.; 11 pater, inqiiam,
tuns, 0 rex, which is followed by EVV, throwing the words back so as
to follow 'king Neb. thy father.' The repeated subject is unnecessary
and is to be elided with Lohr, Mar., Cha. Defence of it can hardly be
made as an anacoluthon (Kau., §97, 2), or as emphatic (Pr.); the posi-
tion of the subject may have floated between the beginning and end
of the sentence. — 12. unSsa'] As Kau., p. 65, n. i, observes, this is
absolute and cannot be treated as const, with what follows, vs. some
comm., e.g., CBMich., Rosen., Hav., vLeng.— ^I'f? • • • i^ljq^ ■ • • "^r?'?]
As the second term is an infinitival noun and nib' is used otherwise
only in Peal (v.^^), M must be wrong in accenting the other two
nouns as ppls. Accordingly point them "^t'??' ^Tf? (2MSS Bar, Str. *^Tf ?),
with Bert., Kau. I.e., Kamp., Mar., Lohr, and all recent comm. The
three terms constitute a parenthesis, the proper gramm. subjects, nn
etc., being resumed in nnDncn, which is construed in attraction to the
leading subject nn. This is the interpretation of U. But M's tradition
of the ppls. is very ancient, being found in 0, followed by g». 0 found
itself compelled accordingly to manipulate the sentence extensively. —
rirnx] Afel inf. of nin; for -at cf. n^nn Ezr. 4-, also in const.; there
is no reason, with Mar., Gr. §47, c, to demand in these two cases the
usual ending -ut, which is historically secondary; cf. Torrey, Ezra
Studies, 165 /. The papp. show other varieties of the infs. of derived
stems; s. Sachau, APO p. 270, col. 2. Similar nouns are found in Heb.,
GK §85, c. g- tr. by 'dhed, 'riddling [riddles].'— ITn!:*,] Against the
traditional view of derivation from a rt. nin (so BDB, pp. 295, 1092, also
Kon., Hwh.) is to be accepted Lagarde's identification (anticipated, ace.
to CBMich., by Cocceius) with Syr. ^iihdd, rt. inx; hence Heb. '"'T" =
Aram, n-i^hn, that which is 'held in' or 'fast.' So Targ. f<iq?< 'bolt'
(Behr.), and cf. use of rnx Neh. 7' of 'fastening' the gates. See La-
garde, Anmerkungen z. d. griech. Uehersetzung d. Proverhien, 73, Bev.,
Kau., Aramaismen, p. 30, GB s.v. hebr. ^T^. The word, typical of the
Aramaic wisdom, was early imported into Heb. (e.g., Ju. 14'^), but with-
out identification with the native rt. rnx. Note pnx 'riddles' in APO
5"-2^ 261
pap. 54, 1. 5, s. OLZ 191 2, 535, and cf. Cowley, AP ad loc; also cf. an
interpretation by ® at 12*. — PTfil] = 'knots.' For its use as a magical
term in Syria and Arabia, s. Bev. and Mar., Gloss, s.v.; the word occurs
also in the magical bowls, s. my Aram. Incant. Texts, 88, along with
'''\p''}}. But preferable {v. sup.) is the mng. 'difficulty' or 'problem';
Dr. eft. Talm., Yebam. 6ia, loyb, also the Syr. use, PSmith, col. 3591.
Hav. aptly cites Seneca, Oedip., loi /., "Nodosa sortis uerba et im-
plexos dolos Ac triste carmen alitis solui ferae." — ^T^^^] MSS also NTJ'fj.
OrP Lu.B'B = M;Q Orc as ^T-'s.
13-28. Dan.'s audience with the king. 13-16. The king gra-
ciously accosts him as one he had not known (vs. 8"), Thou art
Daniel then ? — although he had heard of him. His recognition of
Dan. as one of the exiles of Judah, v.^^, is, as it were, a personal
reminiscence of 2^^, and dramatically precedes Dan.'s denuncia-
tion of the royal oblivion of the episode of c. 2. The / of v.^« is
emphatic, of the royal ego. 17-28. Dan.'s response. In 17-21
after refusing the royal gifts but promising to read the Writing,
Dan. utters the conclusive indictment of the royal frivolity and
sacrilege. It is balanced in two parts: (i) 17^., Thou, 0 king —
the Highest God gave thy father kingship, etc., following with the
description of Neb.'s acme of glory and its reversal to the depth
of beastlike degradation, until he knew that the Highest is potent
in the kingdom of man. And {i)^^,^., And thou his son, didst not
humble thy heart, although thou knewest all this. There is no finer
example of the preacher's diction in the Bible than this stern
and inexorable condemnation. Compare Nathan's indictment
of his royal master, i Sam. 12. In this case, unlike that of
David or Neb., neither pardon nor respite is offered to the light-
minded monarch, for he had known. 23. The realistic picture
of the sacrilege in v.^ is intensified by the spiritual contrast
drawn between the gods of earthly material, which see not nor
hear nor know {cf. Dt. 4^*, Ps. ii5'*^-, 12>S^^^'j Rev. g^°), which
were praised in that orgy, and the God in whose hand is thy life-
breath and whose are all thy ways. Bev. well renders the last
word by 'destinies'; cf. Jer. 10-^, 'I know that the way of man
is not his own, it is not of man as he walks to direct his steps.'
24. Then is temporal, as vLeng. insists, referring to the mo-
ment of v.^^, rather than causal with ©, Sta tovto^ and some
comm. The seer solemnly repeats the details of the vision. It
appears that the inscription was left upon the wall. 25. We
262 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
learn at last what the Writing was ; it is presented as ment men^
tekel Ufarstn. But as earlier Bert, and more recently Peters {JBL
1896, 114-117) and Torrey [Notes, I, 276-280) have insisted,
the actual wording of the original epigraph is the three words
which alone are interpreted in the exposition w.^^-^^: NiD, ^pil,
D"l3 mene tekel peres. And that this was the original text in
V.2S is corroborated by 8 with its fiavrj Oe/ceX (^ape?, and by B
mane thecel phares. The repeated mene and the pi. form with
conj., H-parstn, of the present text are then secondary and do
not primarily concern us. Further, as Torrey rightly insists, M,s
tradition of the vocalization of the terms is corroborated by 0
(the swa vowel of the first radical being indifferently transliter-
ated by a or e, the second vowel consistently by e) ; this tradition
can be carried back to the summary at the head of the chap, in
(g, which was known to Jos. {AJ x, 11, 3). The words are nomi-
nal forms from the respective roots, and were so understood by
Jos., who renders them by apid/xo'i^ a-Ta6/x6<i^ KXacrfxa^ in which
he is followed by Jer. in his comm. They are interpreted by
passive vbs. in w.""-*, and so in (^ and 0. Ace. to Torrey: " they
were vocalized uniformly, after the pattern of the simplest
Aram, noun-form qetel; the most natural form for the narrator
to choose, if he wished them to be non-committal"; similarly
Peters. The first point in the story is that they were read, and
there is preserved the tradition of their vocalization, which
vocalization left them abstract, ambiguous. As for their inter-
pretation Torrey's axiom (p. 277) can hardly be disputed: "the
man who wrote this tale must be supposed to have known what
the solution was." And indeed the tradition of the interpreta-
tion is the same in ^ and (g 0. The words are severally trans-
lated as pass, ppls., to be translated, numbered, weighed, divided.
For the first item numbered there is given the exegesis: God has
NUMBERED thy kingdom and transferred it. Involved in the term
numbered is the idea of fate and of the destined number of days
which have run their course; cf. Ps. go^^, and the mng. of the
practically same form in Heb., iJD Is. 65" = Arab, maniye,
'fate.' Again: Weighed art thou in scales and found wanting.
For the divine weighing of human conduct cf. Job 31*, Enoch
41^ (with reminiscence of this passage), also Ps. 62*, Prov. 16^,
21^, 24^2^ etc. And finally: Thy kingdom is divided (perisa) and
513-28 263
giveti to the Medes and Persians (paras). Here a balanced phrase
is obtained by finding a double paranomasia in the mystic word,
i.e., division and Persia. Were these ominous words first assem-
bled and applied by our narrator; or did he take them from
some source and adapt them to his interpretation (so Bev.) ? It
is to be noted that the play of words gives 'Persia,' not 'Media,'
despite the fact that in immediate sequence it is Darius the
Mede who destroys the kingdom; the enigma is then based on
the correct historical tradition of Cyrus' conquest. (Kran.
notes that a play upon ''"FD 'Media' could have been found in
TTD 'measure,' equally ominous with the other words.) The
terms may have been actual language of the counting-house or
of the law, used of the settling of a bargain, winding up a con-
tract, settling a bankrupt's affairs, or the like.
The above obvious interpretation of the text has been contra-
dicted by an ingenious theory first advanced by Clermont-
Ganneau in J A 1886, pp. 36^. (= his Recueil d'archeologie, 1,
136-159), and Hebraica, 1887, 87 jf., followed by Nold., ZA i,
414 ff. {cf. G. Hoffmann, i5., 2, 45^.) and generally accepted, e.g.,
by Bev., Pr. (s. also his dissertation, Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin,
Johns Hopkins, 1893), Haupt (s. note in Kamp.), Dr., Mar.
Cha., who gives a good summary of the different views, is uncer-
tain. Ace. to this view we would have a series of money values:
the SilD = Heb. "JIS, Gr. f^va, i.e., the mina, or Bab. talent; tekel
V T
would be the correct Aram, equivalent for sekel; while the dis-
covery of the word ti^'^S on an Ass. weight as equal to a half-
mina (s. Clerm.-Gann.), which mng. D"l3 has in the Talmud,
appeared to clinch the discovery. Various modifications have
been suggested by Haupt, Hoffmann, Mar. (the latter regarding
parsin as a dual). Behr., Peters, Torrey stoutly refused to ac-
cept this new interpretation, the latter regarding it as ' untenable
and even absurd.' Of Torrey's two arguments against the dis-
covery of money values, that which holds that hp'^, not ^pfl,
was used in the Aram, world must be modified by the discovery
of ^pn = b'p"^ in one case in the papp. {APO pap. 28, 1. 5); as
for the other, that the half-mina should be vocalized perds, en-
tailing correction of the well-authenticated D^3, it must be
acknowledged we have only Talm. tradition for the vocalization
of that word, the corresponding word in Syr. mng. something
264 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
different, (TtTo/j,eTptov^ Pesh. Lu. i2*\ Behr. well points out
that there is no explanation of the illogical order mina, shekel,
half-mina. The phenomenon of the writing Hand is of course
meant as a miracle. But the reason why the script could not be
forthwith read has naturally puzzled many comm. Heng., p.
122, held that the script was such as could be read only through
divine inspiration. Some Jewish comm. have suggested an Ath-
bash method of writing, or supposed that the letters were written
in some form of anagram (s. dEnv., p. 417) — of course on the
theory that the Heb. alphabet is implied. Others, e.g., Grot.,
Prideaux, have suggested some strange script. At the same time
the story may not mean more than that the reading, i.e., intelli-
gent pronunciation (= kre) of the consonants forming the in-
scription (= kttb) was meant, and then with that the interpre-
tation. Similarly ambiguous was Isaiah's proffered enigma,
Maher-^alal-has-haz Is. 8^.
13. 'ji nnjs] An interrogative exclamation; for omission of particle
n cf. GK §150, a. b. In recognition of the interrogation Q has the unique
plus at end of v., xal elxev, va\ ^aaiXsG, xal eliiev. — ''^^] With mil'el
accent. The procession of accent appears which culminates in Syr. in
loss of f (= db); in JAram. this form became '^^^^ (on which s. Duval,
GS, p. 88) = N.T. dppa, s. Dalm., Gr. p. 90, n; cf. Behr.— 14. phSn]
MSB Ken., de R. + pu'np = & A; Q Lu. + aytov. — 15. ^''>\J] Kau.,
§46, 3, c, understands — here and in i''? v.", as «J; so M understood it,
but orig. Aram. = hu"a!u. — ^jn>ninS] For resolution of impf. into inf.
s. at 2'«.— 16. ^D^7\ Kt., '"?/' ELr.] See at 2"'.— 17. p''^'' 1^1 = 'remain
thine'; for this use of Nin in Syr., e.g., Pesh. Jn. 1*°; similarly .■^^^ in
Heb., s. BDB s.v. iii. So OrC gaxw auv aot.— IT:^;?.'] = ^?\V 2',
q.v.; 0 T. Swpsdv ttj.; oly.iaq aou, i.e., analyzing as two nouns = &
inij -ip'N = K dona dotnus tuae. — 18. n.-i:N] 0 attaches to v.'' as aoi.
— 'ji NmsSc] C/. 4^'".— 19. 'ji a-'zzy Sd] CJ.t,^. — x^r^'Si] ©asyndeton.
— N3S Nin n] For n as indef. relative cf. 2", Ezr. 7". N.b. interchange
of nin and nvi in this v. — ^C"?, 7MSS Ken. nni:] So edd., i.e., Afel ppl.
of n^n, exc. Mich, ^'i!?? (s. Bar, Gin.) = JflB, ix., ppl. of xnc. The latter
interpretation in 0, eTUTcirsv = B perctitiehat. But c (= Or^?) eawt^s
= &; and so Sa., Ra., Montanus, Grot, and moderns. The vb. is strictly
•;tr;, cf. Mar., Gr. §65, b, Haupt in Kamp., and for the Syr. s. Nold., SG
§183; Kau. treats it under sv/S, §47. — 20. o"!] Treated by Kau., §45,
3, I, Torrey, Notes, 276 (eft. n^c'y 6*, etc.), as pass, ppl.; but rather with
Bev., Str., Mar., GB it is stative form in i, cf. Syr. mil, Heb. ^^, and s.
Nold., MG §167. Cf 13^^ =■) Dt. 8'S etc.—^^:^^^] = OrC Lu.; 4iiss
513-28 ,65
Ken. Ni-nsSn = 0.— "^i";^] Also mss Nip>, = 0; Lu. & B as '"^".i"", and
so Kamp., Mar., Lohr. — 21. mc' Kt., '^^^^' Kr.] The latter, as impers. pi.,
preferred by Kau., §47, g, 3, Bev., Kamp., Mar.; the former, ^W, by
Behr., Pr., and so Peil {cf. 0 iooQ-q). The combination Dy Nvi' is found in
Syr., Pesh. Jn. 5'^ and cf. ay h'^'m, Ps. 28^ — N'm;'] smss Ken. Nmy,
i.e., 'flocks,' preferred by Pr. after JBMich. But the expression is hy-
perbolic and is consonant with the snj nrn 4-. For the wild ass cf.
Job 39^ "•, Gen. 16'-. — J'1'] 0 yvw, i.e., as impf. (then yiJ^, cf. 4»- ^2. —
22. nWn] mss cited by Str., ^b nSijir-n. but all odd. /«/• 't""^'; s. on
r2r\-' 2''. — n Sap Sa] In the exceptional mng. 'although'; s. at 2'. —
23. nccnnn] For the stem s. on DDintt'N 41s.— '>''?;n] g ^nd A (?) V
106 Lu. al. ijvsYxai;, al. T^veyxav. — ^DDtt'j] 'J = 'breath,' (8 TCveOfia,
0 TcvoT); as physical, e.g., Gen. 2', Is. 2^-; secondarily of the human spirit,
e.g., Pr. 20" (parallel to nn), Job 32'. For the context cf. 'the God of
the spirits of all flesh,' Nu. 16^^, and 'the Lord of spirits,' Enoch 47* (s.
Cha.'s note thereon). N.b. the frequent word attributed to Mohammed
in the Traditions, 'by Him in whose hand my spirit (nafs) is.' — ^1!]
Construed properly by M with preceding, = (n implied) 'his.' 0
treats it, au-rdv, as object of the following vb., and so Kau., §84, i,
Kamp.
24. a'K*"}] = 'inscribed'; cf. 6^«- of a signature, and 10=1.— 25. Jer.
positively states: "tria tantum uerba in pariete scriptum signauerat:
mane, thecel, pharas." The repeated ^^.? may have arisen from the
repetition in v.-^. g> vocalizes here mene moid. The spelling nj:: distin-
guishes the word from njc, the universal spelling of 'talent' in OAram.
For t:nfl 'half-talent,' identified in Clerm.-Ganneau's theory with our
D-\o, s. CIS ii, no. 10. PsSa. notes here one of the mngs. of did as ^2 mina.
Both Sachau's and Sayce-Cowley's papp. present D-13 in the sense
of 'share,' hence probably 'allowance' or 'salary'; in JAram., apart
from the sense of ^ mina it means a 'portion.' The word also occurs
in the Panammu Inscr., 1. 6 (Lidz., NE p. 442), as a grain measure =
Syr. perdsd a-.TotxlTptov (?). The pi. of the text may be due to an
assumed division between the Medes and Persians, as Bert, suggests.
It has been constantly interpreted as at once a pi. ppl., ditddentes , and
the pi. of ^Difl, 'Persians'; in either case the first vowel should be a. —
26. nr:Vtt'n] 0 ExXripwasv {cf. (S ixoXTjyeO = B comphiiit, and so Sa.,
mostcomm., BDB, Kon., //it'6. But in Ezr. 7'' thisHafel = 'give back,'
and deDieu observed that the corresponding Syr. Afel (also appearing
here in &) always = 'hand over, deliver,' i.e., = Heb. "^''^P^'. Cf. also
Heb. ^.'^"^ Is. 38'-- ", s. (5 and Duhm ad Joe. This view is preferred by
Behr., Mar., GB, and if there is some legal or commercial background
to this phrase, as suggested above in the Comm., counting would nat-
urally culminate in paying over. — 27. ^'??i'?^] The only case of Peil in
266 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
2d pers. sing. ; the spelling in nh — nicely marks out the form from a
possible Peal ^'^P^. 0, followed by Jer. in his comm., understood this
and the following nnontrn as fems., referring to ihidSc. — ^I^J^'O Bar
(s. his note), Gin., Str.; ^'J^M° Mich., Kit.] The latter form as dual,
so also in Mand., would appear more natural; so Kau., §51, i, Bev.,
Kamp., Mar. But the sing. Njnn is now found in the papp., APA G,
I. 24, along with the sing, n^jtid in Mand., s. Nold., MG §124, who
supposes that this is a sing, reduced from the orig. dual in -ayin. For
sloughing off of the dual in general s. Kon., Syntax, §257, e. — ~^^~^] As
Behr. notes, this adjectival form indicates, as against the ppl. "i?;^, in-
grained characteristic, i.e., 'defective.' — 28. nons] Sa., Ra., AEz. un-
derstood this in sense of 13^' 'break'; and so vLeng., followed by Hitz.,
held that '0 = vis 'break down,' on the ground that the Bab. king-
dom was not divided but handed over in toto to the Medo-Persians.
But the normal sense of did maybe retained, withQS'TI; when an em-
pire is destroyed its unity is lost, even if it be absorbed as a whole by
the conqueror. — "^1?] The 2d -7- is due to Mass. heightening; the orig.
form is Pars. — "'"li?] = OPers. Mdda = Akk. Mddai; also in the papp.
(Behistun decree), Safaite, Syriac. This form is accommodated to use
as gentilic in ><;■;? 6', cf. Heb. '"!? 1 1^; cf. Wright, Gr. i, §251 /.
29-c. 6, 1 (c. 5, 31). The sequel. 29. Dan. received the prom-
ised rewards. 30. And immediately, in that very night Belsh. the
ChaldcBan king was slain. C. 6, 1. And Darius the Mede suc-
ceeded to [a technical term, lit. received] the royal power, being
sixty-two years old. For the historical questions involved s. Int.,
§19, d. e. The Mass. division concludes the story dramatically
with v.^°; 6^ follows very lamely, but it belongs as a postscript
to c. 5. The term 'Chaldaean' is used in its proper ethnic sense
(otherwise v.", etc.). d varies extremely; it om. the note of
Belsh. 's death, saying euphemistically that 'the interpretation
came upon Belsh.,' etc., and revising the succession to Belsh.
ace. to some historical theory: 'Artaxerxes the Mede received
the kingdom,' while Darius appears in 6^ without introduction.
29. in^n] See on nthd 3*. — 30. ^x■^yvsS3] For change of spelling s.
at V.'; the change here makes liaison with 7^ 8'. — noSc] Qr^ 7MSS om.
— xncD] B 6 XaXSai'wv, error for 6 Xa>.SatO(;. — The correct sequence
with foil. V. is observed by B Hipp., Jer., etc., and the Western Bibles.
Another division appears in A, which begins a new 'Vision' at v.^";
this agrees with the chapter division of (gs in the middle of v.^". — C. 6, 1 .
^^^,17] = Ddriya{w)ul, the Akk. form of the name; spellings in Aram.
CHAPTER 5, NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION OF <S 267
dockets and papp. (s. GB, p. 168) are closer to the OPers., e.g., irnim
APO, pap. I, Ddryawa{h)irs. — ■?.^-] The phrase 'receive the kingdom' is
found 7'^ Here it is used of secular succession, for which use Bev. eft.
(p. 20) the same phrase for Julian's succession in the Syr., Hoffmann,
Julianas, p. 5, 1. 10. And so H, successit in regniim, and Sa., 'the rule
became Darius'.' Hence it is not necessary with Mar., Cha., to read
in the mng. that Dan. received it from God, nor with earlier comm. (s.
Pole) and modern apologists {e.g., Boutflower, c. 14) to argue that
Darius, qua Gobryas, etc., received dominion from Cyrus. Also s. on
I^DH, 9I. — 'ji i3o] = '62 years old'; 3 of time at which, s. at 4''; the
'about' of EW is unnecessary. (& here xXt)pt)c; twv T)[j.£pwv x. svBo^og
T75 YT)p£', i-e., a doublet: tcXyipy]!; = 13d (so ■Kkrigr\c, Is. i^), evSo^o; =
'^??. Behr. has an impossible solution, working with letter numerals;
but s. at 2*.
NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION OF <S.
See Bludau, pp. 149-151. The text of d is considerably abbreviated.
This appears in the curtailment of the king's address to Dan., vv."^-, and
the total omission of Dan.'s reference to Neb.'s experiences, vv.'*--. The
omission of both these passages is evidently due to economy; the first of
them is a repetition, the second reviews the well-known story in c. 4. For
the different order of events in vv.'- ^, and criticism of Jahn and Cha. for
their preference of (&, s. Comm. at v.^. In v.' the king summons the queen
for advice, a distinct toning down of the historical color in l|. We have
noted in the sequel of the story the colorless paraphrase and the substitu-
tion of 'Artaxerxes' for 'Darius.' In vv.-^--^ the mysterious words are not
given, and the interpretations, except for the first case, T)pt'0[i.TjTat, are
inexact. Those mystic words were probably dropped as unnecessary anti-
quarian ballast, v.'"" appears to be a later supplement, to give more exactly
than is given at vv.-^*^- the interpretation of those words; the v. reads: Autiq
•{) Ypa9T), TjptOpnQTat, xaxeXoYtaO-r], e^^pTat, followed by the obscure state-
ment, x.al I'oTiQ f) ypciiliaaa X^ig, xal ocutt) r\ auYxpcortc; otJTWv. Note that auyxptat?
is Theodotionic. It was doubtless in consequence of this failure that a
preface was subsequently prefixed to the chap., giving an abstract of the
story, concluding with the data of the mystic words and their interpretation.
In no respect is (6 preferable to l|; it appears to be an intentional abstract.
There are but slight clews suggesting that (S's Semitic text was in like ab-
stract form. We may note: v.°, uxovotat aiiTov xaxsaiceuSov, cf. (& at 4"
(but ^ may simply have repeated from that passage). V.'', exl Gsupiav
!Sciv: possibly a doublet translation. Ihid., axoXtel kjtov, when the origi-
nal meant '^^'^■?i-, but was read ^J'»r'37\ Jq yw ^^^ jj^g nominal clause,
xal xb •7rve0[ji.(4 aou sv t^ /etpl ocutoO.
268 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
CHAPTER 6. DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN.
(i) 2-10 (1-9). Darius appointed throughout his kingdom 120
satraps, and over these three presidents, of whom Dan. was one
(not 'first' with AV), and the king was minded to make Dan.
chief over the whole realm. This purpose aroused the envy of
Dan.'s associates, who decided they could find indictment
against him only on the score of his religion. Accordingly they
conspired to secure from the king a decree, irrevocable according
to the law of the Medes and Persians, to the effect that any man
who would ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days
save of the king, should be cast into the lions' pit. (2) 11-19
(10-18). But Dan. made no change in his public acts of religion,
was denounced to the king, and, despite the latter's efforts in
behalf of his favorite, was cast to the lions. (3) 20-29 (19-28).
Early next morning the king hastened to the lions' den, found
Dan. safe, and delivered his accusers to the death they had de-
vised for him. Then the king published a decree confessing
Dan.'s God and requiring his people to fear Him.
The story is parallel to that of the Three Confessors, c. 3;
Dan. is tested as they were in the supreme article of the Jewish
faith. With Bev.: "The main difference is that chap, vi dwells
upon the positive side of Judaism." The introduction of a new
regime gives dramatic opportunity for this repeated test. There
is no inherent impossibility in the escape of a victim thrown to
the lions. But the historical character of the story must be
judged from the evidently apocryphal character of the whole
series of stories in the book. Far more improbable than this
material marvel is the alleged edict demanding that no request
be made of god or man but of the king for a whole month, an
improbability all the greater under the devout Darius. Even
the insensate Antiochus Epiphanes, the 'Manifest God,' never
made such a claim, and if we desired an historical parallel we
should have to come down to the still madder Caligula. The
story is based upon the actual solidarity of the Pagan imperial-
ism, in which the king with his despotic power and his formal
claims to divine rights was the symbol and summation of the
denial of the true God. Hence monarchs like Nebuchadnezzar
and Darius, who otherwise are sympathetically treated, appear
:2-10 (1-9)
269
as the incarnation of all the forces arrayed against God. A
similar claim of sole deity is attributed to Neb. in Judith
3*. For defence of this and other edicts in the bk, s. Wilson,
c. 16.
2-4 (1-3). Dan.'s preferment. To Darius as the inaugurator
of the Medo-Persian empire is ascribed the institution of a new
provincial system. The 120 satraps (AV 'princes') is an exag-
geration, or at least an inaccuracy. Her., iii, 89, records that
Darius created 20 satrapies, and that king's inscriptions give
their number successively as 21, 23, 29 (s. Paton at Est. i^).
Ace. to Est. i^ Xerxes had 127 provinces, which is practically
identical with our figure. The same technical inaccuracy is
found in the Greek historians, who use 'satrap' of lower offi-
cials, e.g., Xenophon; Appian, Syr., 62, speaks of 74 satrapies
under Seleucus Nicator. See Comm. and Notes at 3^. There is
no known parallel to the ' three presidents.' The same traditional
number appears in i Esd. 3'. We may possibly compare the
triple royal control of the satrapies through the association with
the satrap of an independent commandant and secretary; s.
Rawlinson, SGM 'The Fifth Monarchy,' c. 7, and Meyer, GA
§40. For the suspicious caution of the whole imperial system
against loss of revenue and other damage, cf. Ezr. 4"^-. We
have here true reminiscence of the elaborate organization and
civil service of Persia. Above all these other officials Dan. was
distinguishing himself, not with AV 'was preferred.'
5-10 (4-9). The plot of the rivals against Dan. The story
does not tell how Dan. was omitted from the consultation of
the conspirators and their presentation to the king — an unnec-
essary scruple in a good story. 5 (4). The last clause, neither
was there any error or fault found against him, is tautologous
with the similar phrase in the earlier part of the v., and is ap-
parently a dittograph (so Behr., Cha.). In the account of the
conspirators' audience with the king a vb. is used which is
translated in AV RVV by 'assembled,' in AVmg RVmg JV by
'came tumultuously.' The same vb. is repeated in w.^^ (u). 16 (15) _
The latter mng., which may be etymologically justified, is im-
possible both in the court etiquette and in espionage. In the
Note the conclusion is reached that it means came in concert,
collusion. 8 (7). The conspirators claim to speak for the entire
officialdom. Their ostensibly honorific plea that the king sign a
270 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
decree that none should make request of god or man except of
the king for thirty days appears to many commentators as ab-
surd, and probably for this reason (^ omits the item. But these
stories are generally reasonable; the terms of the request may
be meant as a satiric hyperbole, cf. Jon. 3*, where the Ninevite
king orders both man and beast to put on sackcloth. Behr.'s
position is an entirely sensible one that the implication of the
story means a petition of religion (not with Bev. any kind of
request), and that this one king was to be regarded for the time
being as the only representative of Deity. Such a position was
absolutely alien to the religion of the historical Darius, but in
the Hellenistic age, when kings vaunted themselves as gods, ' of
god or man' was entirely appropriate in the premises. For 'to
make a firm decree,' AV, or 'strong interdict,' RVV JV, tr. to
put in force an interdict. The terms statute and interdict and
writing and interdict, v.i''^^^ are in the nature of legal pleonasm;
cf. Jer. 36", ' the roll and the words.' For the alleged irrevoca-
bility of the Medo-Persian law, v.^'i"), cf. Est. i^^^ S^. Bochart,
Hierozoicon, i, 748, cites a passage from Diodorus Sic, xvii, 30,
ed. Didot, concerning Darius Ill's attitude toward his sentence
of death upon Charidemos: "immediately he repented and
blamed himself, as having greatly erred ; but it was not possible
to undo what was done by royal authority." For the extraor-
dinarily barbarous forms of capital punishment in the power of
the Persian king s. Rawlinson, SGM 'Fifth Monarchy,' end of
c. 3; for the wholesale execution at end of the chap. cf. Her., iii,
119, Justin, xxi, 4, Amm. Marc, xxiii, 6. For the royal zoological
gardens of Assyria s. Meissner, Bab. u. Ass., 1, 74, and cf. Comm.
sup. at 2^*. For the capture of lions for this purpose cf. Eze.
jQ8£f._ jtqj- ^q elder material on lions and citation of traditions
concerning Dan. in the den, s. Bochart, Hieroz., iii, c 3; for
Rabb. stories, 'Daniel,' JE. The earliest apocryphon to the
theme is found in the supplement to Bel and the Dragon. The
variation of this apocryphon from our story suggests that it is
based upon an earlier, popular form of the story.
2 (1). oi|~i 13-'] Cf. 3^-. — °''i"!Dl] For the expression of purpose by a
parallel vb. cf. 2^^— N^JD-nirnNJ S. at 3% Ace. to Est. i', 8^, i Esd. 32,
127 provinces, and so 05 reads here. Jos., AJ x, 11, 4 attributes 360
provinces to Darius.— ^?] RW JV 'throughout,' not 'over all,' AV.
62-10(1-9) 271
— 3 (2). I'^^T'? '^t"^] This prepositional phrase is found in the papp.,
JAram., Syr.; for the ace. form n^>' cj. n>'-in 2", nSd 2*°. — I'?!?] l"iD is
generally accepted, since Ges., Thes., as a Pers. word; s. Bev., Andreas
in Mar. Gloss., and Lexx. Behr. proposed a Sem. derivation, = Arab.
sarika, 'be associated.' Aq. gives the same etymology in his auvsx-
Ttxous. The word appears in Targ., e.g., Pr. 6', and tr. Heb. '^9''^', along
with a derivative I?"!?. — ^?^^] So pointed also in Ezr. 4^, and with the
same mng.; the dagesh in c emphasizes the swa with j?; for other cases
of this dag. lene orthophonicum, s. Kau., §9, Anm. 3. — i"".^^] For the rt.
s. GB; it appears in Haf. also Ezr. 4"- '^- ", and the borrowed PU in
Heb., Est. 7^. The ppls. of these intrans. vbs., e.g., ^r^} Ezr. 4^^ are
pointed as kdtil, not katil, as is to be expected. — 4 (3). nji Sxiji] The
pron. may have been intruded here from v.^. — '^?^7'?] Cf. Heb. Piel
T^liV^. of a presiding ofHcer; the Ethpaal appears in the Aram, copy of
Darius' Behistun Inscr., APO pap. 62, col. i, 1. 11. — 0 reads v.'', x. V
Aav. uTsp aJTou? = &; Or? Lu. supplied the lacuna: x. ■^v Aav. ixspvwwv
UTcsp T. ffuve/.Tty.ou^ (Or^, xay.xr/.o'j; Lu.) y.. to:; aaxpaxaq. — Nl\"ii nn]
= 51=. The Sura tradition rightly reads m\-i> (Bar, Gin.)— ^^'^^j
Pass. ppl. with Nold., GGA 1884, 1019, cf. his SG §280 for similar use
of pass. ppl. in Syr.; s. also on si 5-°. Kau., §38, i, a, regards "; as Peal
stative with ^/e?ie-writing, s. §39 end. In Sachau's Ahikar papp. r<Z'-;
appears in the same sense, also the Ethp. n^'jTN; but note that in the
papp. the pass. ppl. is always written plene. For the root in Heb. s.
Kau., Araniaismen, 72. 0 ignored the word; Or^ supplied it, xpoa£56y.a.
— 5 (4). ^l>-\ For discussion of the rt. s. GB s.v. hebr. SSy I. In Pesh.
the word is used of a legal indictment, ground of accusation, e.g., Mt.
27'', as also of a pretext, e.g., Mk. 12^", = xpocpaatg, and so here 0. —
SnijiS nnasrnS] S = 'against'; similarly in the Strasbourg Pap., APO
pp. 26/., AP no. 27, 1. 3, ]'? nj.-i^-n n*^ Sjhd ayur:, 'nothing injurious
was found to our discredit'; = ini'Ty nDncn v. 5. — nhidSd ixd] 0 om.;
OrP £■/. Twv ■Kkayioyy tt]s t^atsiXeictQ = B ex latere regni. See Note on
isS 7^^. Other cases of the exceptional assimilation of the prep. Ezr.
5^1, 6". — '^'^'r''f ] = Sann in the line cited from the Strasbourg Pap. The
word appears in BSira 30''. 0 has a doublet xapAxTWiJia ■/.. a\}.^'k6iY.r)\La;
otfj.^. is an Aquilanic gloss, cf. Jer. in Field, appearing again below in
OrP. — 1' v] 'Remissness,' also Ezr. 4--, 6' in the same sense of defalca-
tion in duty, as above 3-^ Kr. The whole of this last clause of the v. 0
om., OrP supplies (with diXTcXaxTjiJia y.xX.). The clause is doublet to
'.11 rh-; Sdi above, poss. through variation between nSj? and iSr. — 6 (5) •
NjnD'^n] In the papp. this part is in ; — — ^1] Here of divine law, and
so used of the Thorah Ezr. 71=. etc.; i,ij_ 725 = 'religion.' The erroneous
m Dt. 33^ was so interpreted. It means here as in the Talm. 'religion,'
s. Jastr., s.v.
272 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
7 (6). ^^n^] = vv.i- i«. Hardly a word in the O.T. has provoked
more variety of interpretation than this in its triple occurrence in the
chap. The variety begins with the VSS:
vJ
V.'-
y_16
(S TupoaTjXGoffav
0 £TiQpT]aav
g> iJip' drew nigh'
11 surripuerunt
£TiQPT)aav
xotpexTjpTjCTav
noj 'watched'
curiosius inqitirenies
(vacat)
(vacat, OrP xapexi^pTiaav)
nnx 'made outcry'
intelligentes
B's surripuerimt appears to mean 'they stole away [to the king],' and
Prof. R. G. Kent corroborates this with his opinion, although he finds
no similar use of the Latin vb. Grot, thinks the orig. rdg. was surrepse-
riint, 'stole to'; however, the other rdg. is vouched for in Jer.'s comm.:
"pulchre dixit, surripuerunt." Similarly the Jewish comm. vary: Ra.
at v.^ iSnn Sy itrctt'D, i.e., 'felt, stole their v/ay,' cf. TJ, and at v.'- this is
expanded into ^z^'Dn^ iiynti'D, 'stole their way and spied.' AEz. inter-
prets at v.' by nannn, 'associated themselves,' and eft. dmj itrj-\ nnS,
Ps. 2^, and rjnJ l^^nj, Ps. 5515. But Sa. tr. by three different vbs.:
'came to'; 'quarrelled with'; 'rushed against.' The comm. of the
Reformation followed variously: (i) insidiose aggressi regent = Iff; (2)
conuenerimt (so Buxt.), congregarunt, or concursum fecerunt = GV
'drangen,' AV RW 'assembled'; (3) cum tumuUu occurrerunt (Mon-
tanus), tumultuarie conuenerunt (Grot., who however tr. with concur-
santes at v.'" and conglobati at v.^^); AVmg RVmg JV 'came tumultu-
ously.' Modern comm. have generally adopted the last mng. It is ex-
pressed plausibly by Dr., who tr. by 'came thronging.' But Cha. prop-
erly takes exception to 'coming tumultuously' as not suitable to the
context here or in vv."- ^'^. But Cha.'s remedy lies in textual change; in
V.' he would read after & uip 'approached,' eUding the word in v.'^
with (B 0, and interpreting it in v.'- after S», 'kept watch, spied,' and so
our vb. is used in Aram., e.g., Targ. Jer. Ex. 2^. But this proceeding
is quite too arbitrary. Another line may be ventured upon. It has
been observed that in Ps. 55^' '^V.'?.? is || to TiD and is translated by 05
ev h[i.ow((f, and so & 13 cum consensu; also Ps. 64' ^'^P.^ is || to I'D and
so S» interprets it. Buxt. also gives the mng. 'fellowship' to n^'jt Targ.
Pr. 7'^. Further, Briggs in his Comm. insists that ^'^■?1 Ps. 2' means
'consent together.' These instances corroborate AEz.'s nannn; afid
Ibn Janab at Ps. 2^ tr. 'were assembled.' Now in Syr. the Peal and
especially the Afel of cjt have the mng. 'to sense, perceive,' etc., gen-
erally representing yiyvwaxetv, sfScvat. But in Syr. of Acts 5- auvetSutac;
611-19 (10-18) 273
•zr]q Yuvat/.6g, 'his wife being privy to it,' the ppl. is translated by
N-r-'ji. The vb. appears then to have developed from the thought of
scientia to conscientia, common consciousness, fellow-feeUng, and so to
common action. A parallel development may be found in the Heb. rt.
□::n, whose occurrence in Ruth i" the Targ. tr. with v^Ji. This paral-
lelism is borne out by the papp. We find the adv. n>jicn (= hamondyit,
adverbial form as in Syr.; s. APO pap. i, 1. 5 = AP no. 30, and APO
pp. 26 ff., \. 4 = AP no. 27) in the phrase jj-nM d;; n^jinn, which is
best translated 'in league with Waidarnag,' so Cowley, following Euting
and Sachau 'conspiracy.' There may be noted too yjn) pen Is. 63" ||
□^cm, where the first phrase = 'sympathy.' Has ^nn developed from
the sense of 'noise' through 'music' to that of 'harmony'? Compare
the figurative use of the latter term. Our vb. i-'jnn then may be taken
as mng. 'they acted in concert, harmony,' here practically, 'in con-
spiracy.'
8 (7). r:>-\o] Here = officials in general; cf. the list 3^ and for the
sagans 2", for the xnjin ^M.—iishn d;i7 ncji'^';'] Generally rendered 'to
establish a royal decree,' with ignoring of the emph. '2 ; idSd were to
be expected. But with the accents 'd is to be construed as nom. to the
inf., so JHMich., Mein., Mar., al., RVmg JV (per con. s. Bev., Dr.).
For similar position of subj. of inf. in Heb. s. GK §115, k. Cf. the Heb.
Piel Ruth 4', Est. 9=^— o;!:] = 'decree'; in Syr. Ps. 2' = pn.— ^sp^o'?
"^?^!] = 'confirm, put in force, an interdict'; hardly with most comm.,
e.g., Bev., 'make a strong interdict' (JV 'strong decree'). Dr., 'make
a stringent interdict.' The vb. is || to ncp, as appears from nnos D>pn
v.s. NnDN has the Aram. mng. of the rt., 'interdict,' found also in Heb.,
Nu. 30^-1^, where "'F^' = a vow of abstention; cf. post-Bib. i-io''!*. — a'j]
EW 'den,' properly 'pit, cistern,' = Arab, jubb, Heb. iia, used of the
often bottle-shaped cisterns found in Palestine. — '*t3t"1^] For this pi.
s. Kau., §61, 6, Anm., Nold., SG §§79, 146. As Bev. notes, the first d
is EAram., for which cf. Nold., §49, B; so POIt. 7'.
9 (8). a^■?■?] The Pael is to be expected, after v.' (Mar.).— ^;^v'i:'r]
For the act. inf. with pass, implication cf. APO pap. 54, 1. 14, i^o-y
nincS I'l'c.— Difli nn] 0 riepawvx. MtjSwv (and so vv."- ^^ represents the
later view of the proportions of Media and Persia. 'Parthians and
Medes,' En. 56^ follows 0's order. — myn nh n] Cf. Heb. -113;'^ «'?! Est.
i'^ 8^ 0om.; the other VSS, followed by Bert., regard the phrase as
epexegetical ('so that') to nijt:>n'7 n'?, but the gender of the vb. makes
the clause dependent on m.
11-19 (10-18). The condemnation of Daniel. 11 (10). And
when Dan. knew that the document was signed, he went into his
house — now he had windows opening in his roof-chamber toward
18
274 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Jerusalem — and three times a day he was kneeling upon his knees
and praying and confessing before his God, even as he was wont
to do before this. The passage is valuable as a picture of the
ritual of piety of early Judaism; we note the several items of
a special place of devotion, of the direction of prayer toward
Jerusalem, of the attitude of kneeling, and of the three times
of prayer. For the roof-chamber (EW, 'upper chamber') cf.
Moore on Ju. 3^°: "an apartment raised above the flat roof of
a house at one corner, or upon a tower-like annex to the build-
ing, with latticed windows giving free circulation to the air," and
so used as a place of retirement and spiritual occupation, cf.
I Ki. 1 7^3, 2 Ki. i^, 4'°f-. The Gr. equivalent virepwov is found
in Acts i", 9"- ^^, 20^, appearing also in these reff. as a place of
prayer. The 'roof-chamber' also appears as a rabbi's apart-
ment in the Talmud, Kethuboth, 50&. He had windows opening
out: Ehr. is prob. right in holding the Aram, 'opened,' jPITlS,
means windows cut in the wall; cf. the identical phrase in the
pap. text cited in the Notes and the use of nri2 in the Talmud.
The window was open at Dan.'s prayers, and this facility of
observation and the fronting toward Jerusalem gave the con-
spirators their opportunity of denunciation. A Rabb. dictum,
Berakoth, 346, cited by Ehr., holds that 'a man is not to pray
except in a house with windows,' giving the present v. as proof-
text. Toward Jerusalem: This practice is assumed in the
(Deuteronomic) prayer of Solomon, i Ki. 8^*^-; cf. Ps. 5^, 28^
for the temple as the kiblah; also i Esd. 4^^, cf. Tob. 3" eherjOr]
Trpo'i rrj Ovpihi. The custom is alluded to in the Mishna, Berak.,
iv, 5. 6. Mohammed borrowed the custom from the Jews, and
first made Jerusalem the ^iblah, later Mecca; the Christians did
not follow this example (against Behr.), although the custom
came to prevail of orientating toward the East, s. Bingham,
Antiquities, 8, c. 3, §2. Three times a day: Cf. Ps. 55'^, 'At eve-
ning and morning and noon-day will I complain' (but Ps. 119^^^
'Seven times a day do I praise thee'). Comparing inf. 9^^ (q-v.),
where Dan. prays at the time of 'the evening oblation,' the
midday prayer in Dan.'s devotions was doubtless that which
was later known as the Minhah, 'oblation' (cf. Lev. 6^2ff. for- the
morning and the evening oblation), the evening oblation, offered
in the mid-afternoon, having become the chief daily sacrifice
and so fixing the most obligatory time of private prayer. For
511-19 (10-18) 275
the early importance of that sacrifice cf. 2 Ki. i6^^, Ezr. g^, Ps.
141^; for the N.T. age Acts 3^, 10^; and for the Rabbinic order
of the three daily Prayers Berak., iv, i. On the subject of the
stated prayers s. Hamburger, RE 2, 'Abendgebet,' 'Minchage-
])et,' 'Morgengebet'; Zunz, Gottesdienstliche Vorirage, 368 £.;
Schurer, GJV §24, n. 40 and §27, Anhang; Bousset, Rel. d.
Jud., 202 ff. This custom of the three daily times of prayer
went over into the Church: Didache 8, Tpt? t?'}9 rifxepa'; ovtco
irpoaev'xeaOe {i.e., with use of the Lord's Prayer); s. Harnack,
TU ii, parts 1-2, p. 27. Of the five obligatory prayers in
Islam the third, the most important, salat al-'asr, is at the time
of the Minhah. He was kneeling: The attitudes of prayer in
the Bible are various (s. Hamburger, RE i, 408; DB 3, 7/.); in
early Judaism kneeling came to be common, cf. Ezr. 9^, and the
numerous reff. in the N.T. Later Judaism appears to have
abandoned it; in the Church it was the rule with definite ex-
ceptions at certain seasons and occasions, s. Bingham, I.e., c. 8.
Before his God: This circumlocution was common in courtly
language, cf. 'speak before the king,' v.", etc.; for this usage in
Judaism s. Dalman, Worte Jesu, 171.
12-14 (11-13). Then those men came in concert [s. at v.'] and
found Dan. engaged in his customary and well-known devotions.
They bring their denunciation to the king, first assuring them-
selves of his acknowledgment of the irrevocability of his edict.
The theme is an early dramatic instance of the outwitting of
an innocent ruler by his own laws; Dr. compares the case of
Herod, Mt. 14. This legal point clinched, Dan. is denounced.
15 (14). Then the king . . . was sore vexed [not, 'at himself,'
with AV], and on Dan. he set his mind to deliver him; and he was
striving till sunset to rescue him. ' Striving ' is the picture of the
animal caught in the toils; he consulted the lawyers, he tried
to browbeat the conspirators. 16 (15). The latter resorted again
to the king in the evening and impudently demanded their prey.
17 (16). The king had to yield. But his admiration for Dan.
made him express the assurance that the latter's God would
deUver him — in striking contrast to Neb.'s impiety, 3'^ 18 (17).
The execution of the sentence was made sure by closing the
mouth of the pit with a stone and sealing it with the seals of the
king and his lords. The object of the sealing is well expressed
by a plus in (^: that Dan. might not be taken away by them or
276 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
raised up by the king. As protection against the king, his chan-
cellor was doubtless charged with his signet; cj. Ahikar as the
king's Great Seal (in the first of the Ahikar papp., 1. 3). As
observed in the Note at v.^, the pit seems to have been con-
ceived as a deep cisternlike cavity, the mouth of which above
could be closed with a stone, and so sealed. The writer may
never have seen a lions' den. Those who urge the historicity
of the story, e.g., dEnv., insist that the mouth, or entrance, may
have been on a lower level, as in the case of bear-pits in our zoo-
logical gardens. Why, then, a stone and not the regular gate,
and why was Dan. hauled up, v.^*? For the royal sealing cf.
I Ki. 21^, Est. 3^^, 8^-^°. For Persia Her., iii, 128, refers to
Darius' seal, a copy of which is known, s. Rawlinson, SGM
'Fifth Monarchy,' c. 3, n. 456. 19 (18). This second act ends
with the king retiring to his palace, where he passed the night
fasting and sleepless and without his usual diversions. We may
accept the latter non-committal translation (JV) of an obscure
word. See the Note for the many essays at interpretation:
'foods,' 'musical instruments' or 'musicians,' 'dancing women,'
'concubines.'
11 (10). Vl-.} Cf. APA J 1. 6, in^riD '3; the sing, in JAram. is ><'71?
= Syr. — ^•'2''??] = Heb. ^V-'i, with secondary doubling of S, hence not
kiml form with Kau., §59, f, Mar.; s. on nxSj? 326._[Ti2] xinj ^j^j^
Str., Bar, Lohr, = 8 &, vs. Mich., Gin., Kit. xin; the former rdg. is sub-
stantiated by the VSS.— ''"''^l^] Bar, 'Caph raphatum teste Masora';
in the dual ; is expected, cf. Heb.; yet ^^'H^? Ju. y^.— ><l^oi ^'i'??] Cf.
na-i'm N-iinc, 2^^. The vb. nSx also Ezr. 6", APO pap. i, 11. 15. 26.
For 'confessing' s. at 9^. — ^^ '^°"'i''~P] = 'pa Ezr. 5" = njT nmp,
APO pap. I, 1. 17.— 12 (11). Pn^-;^?] But ^?^'^'^ 7', ^"J^'^" Ezr. 7".—
13 (12). ndSd nON Sj?] VSS om. idn h-;, exc. Or? "&, all construing 'd as
voc, to which & adds 'live forever !' idn '73; is certainly otiose. — ncii'i]
0 ETasots; this explains the difficult Tsiray^jievoi eti; t^wfjv aEwviov,
Acts 13^^. — ^}'>-,\ See at 2^. — hid] 0 xal ih ScytJia, error for orig. xaxi
(so V 128), with suppression of the required relative. — 14 (13).
npiSj "'J3 p] 'One of the exiles'; cf. 5". — dj?b yhy ds'] = 3'^ — noSs 2°]
0 & H om. — nctin n nidx Syi] 0 om. — nm>"3 !<;J3] = 'saying his
prayers'; it is not necessary, with Cha., to supply 'to his God' after (8 0.
— 15 (14). •'HiSy B'xa] The vb. is impersonal, with resumption of • the
absolute n^Sd in •'ni'?;; cf. the Heb. '?x hy j?j7-». For the frequent im-
personal vbs. in Syr. s. Nold., SG §254. Correctly ® & H, but 0 sXuxt)6t)
k-K aiiTO). — ■?] A word of Aram, and Arab, usage; also APO pap. 54,
gll-19 (10-18) 277
I. 3.— '!???] So best Str.; Mich., Gin., Kit. 'yj?.; Bar erroneously, with
M^, "'-•?;? on witness of Mass. to \'??:? Lev. ii^ Against Kau.'s doubt
as to the form, §61, 3, b, s. Nold., GGA 1884, 1020, adducing the Syr.
construct pi. ma'dlai. For the pi. cf. Syr. madndhai lem'sa and Heb.
VPNXID Mi. 5^ — ■^I'^'f"'?] The vb. in APO pap. 11, 1. 4, of legal action.
Cf. the noun "i''"''-'"f?;! Ezr. 4=- ". — nniSxnS] In the papp. without the
assimilation of j. — V.'' is omitted by B 106 148 228 230 231; the lacuna
is due to haplography of the double iqeXsaOat for the two vbs. of 1|;
n.h. 2MSS Ken. have nmar-'C'S for nmSxn'?. — 16(15). ^"J] 'A law,' with
RW JV, or rather 'law,' not 'the law' with AV; Or? 56y(xa, al. -zh S.
— °''i'!lv'l] See at 2-'. — 0 xav 6pta[j.6v: s. Nestle, Sepiiiagintastudien, i,
II, who shows that xav is used for masc. ace, e.g., 11^', Ex. 12^^. The
awkward rendering toG . . . o'j Bsi xapaXXasott is due to literal render-
ing of n 2° = Toj.— 17 (16). ^T"".'??] I.e., 'in the round of custom';
the noun is used in Targ. = t'::.^, and also as adv. Kau., §60, 6, erro-
neously regards the form as 'Abplattung' of it^. — (6 exchanges v."
and v.b, on logical grounds {cf. v.")- But 'Ji vn-'ni idn = 'he com-
manded to bring,' etc.; cf. 2"" and s. Mar., Gr. §130, c. — 18 (17).
^\^'\}] S. on V7\-'T\ 3".— ^T) m] Cf. in ih-i 2^\—^'^x\ For this pass. {cf.
D-it? 3^9, 43) nrir jg ^q be expected with Kau., Str., Mar., al. Torrey,
Notes II, 233, thinks of a combination of ^'^-'^' and i=?.— ^i";i>] So iHBab
Bar, Str., = (&; Mich., Gin., Kit. '"'i:"> = 0 & B.— ^^?] Primarily 'will,
desire,' then 'thing,' as commonly in Syr., also in Palm.; cf. ns nn,
APO pap. II, 1. 6. The VSS tr. correctly; Calv., al., 'purpose,' = AV,
corrected by RVV JV ' (no) thing.'
19 (18). ^}] The vb. in Akk. and Aram. For relation to noun no
s. Lexx. and Haupt, SBOT Kings, p. 2io.^-~')?] The fem. as adv., the
same form in Syr.; Kau. om. the word in the pertinent §67. — IV?-] Gin.
notes pni as Or. rdg., and so M^"''. (8 ignores; 0 sSlaiAa-ra = & B. Sa.,
Ra. understood it as of 'table' {i.e., 'boards,' s. Talm. Lexx.); AEz. of
'musical instruments and songs'; similarly PsSa., 'musicians.' Levi b.
Gerson, cited by Galle, plays on the rt. nm, "they drive away sorrow,"
or "perhaps they are raconteurs." Similarly Calv., 'instruments of
music' = AV RVV, and deDieu etymologizing with 'pulsationes.' (But
deDieu prefers combination with Arab, duhdn, 'incense.') The Heb.
VS in Ken. tr. by nine"' and Jachiades etymologizes 'i as from nnn
'pleasure'; hence GV 'liess nichts zu Lust vor sich bringen,' and JV
'diversions.' The idea that the word implied women appears in PsSa.;
cf. ^''V}'^- 'reveller,' cited by Jastrow, Diet. This line of explanation is
followed by Bert., interpreting from Arab, dahd 'subiecit feminam.'
Hence RVVmg, 'dancing girls,' and Mein., Behr., 'concubines.' In
agreement with this idea Mar. {Gr.), Pr., Cha. regard the word as cor-
ruption of ]:r\^ 5-, q.v. Haupt, there cited, regards the theme here, dah,
as primary, njnS as secondary development. That the vb. S>'jn is used
278 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
only of persons, as assumed by Main., is denied by its use in Targ., e.g.,
Gen. 6". That the king had concubines brought to him vsrould make of
his evenings an absurd variety-hall entertainment. The scepticism of
Bev., Dr., that the mng. is 'unknown' remains unimpeached, and JV's
'diversions' is good because it is non-committal.^ i'^T] 'He did not
have brought in.'—^VW] So Bar = M^^^; Gin., Str., Kit. ^^-W. The
former is the Syr. pronunciation. Kau. explains (§12, d; §56, 2, b) as a
case of dagh. f. dirimens, on which Nold. remarks {GGA 1884, 1018):
"kein geheimnissvoller 'D.f.d.'; die vereinzelte Bildung schliesst sich
ganz den med. gem. an," i.e., as though from pa", not }!:'■'; cf. MG §94.
For the phrase iniSj? = dative cf. cases v.'^, 2^. — Part of a plus in (6
has been taken over into text of 0: x. eVAetaev b Qzhq to: axdjAaTa twv
Xsovirwv, vLoA oj TuapT^vtox^iQaav Try Aav.; Or^ Lu. om.
2Q-25 (19-24). The deliverance of Dan. Then the king arose
very early in the morning, so EVV; more exactly the adv. ex-
presses 'the dawn,' and 'in the morning' the time when the
sun was visible. When near the den he called to Dan. with a
voice full-of-anxiety (AV 'lamentable, JV 'pained'), inquiring if
his God had been able to save him. Dan. gives the joyful answer
that God had sent his angel and closed the lions' mouths. The
king in his joy commanded that Dan. should be lifted up, and
then no manner of hurt was found in him because he trusted in
his God. (RW JV, better than 'believed' of AV; the OLat.
preserved in Cypr. has confidebat, vs. H crediderat). The theme
is that of Heb. 11, which refers to this story at v.^^ The king
thereupon commanded that his accusers with their families
should be cast into the den. These became the prey of the
ravenous beasts before their bodies reached the bottom; the
story depicts them falling into the open mouths of the lions.
Exception has been taken {e.g., by Jahn) to this wholesale de-
struction of some 130 victims, which it is alleged the text of (^
simplifies by making the victims only the two co-presidents.
But as is shown in the appended Note on (g this is a secondary
simplification. The tragic denouement is indeed absurd, but
the narrator doubtless ignored the large number at the begin-
ning of the chap.
26-29 (25-28) . The king publishes an edict requiring of his
subjects in all (not 'every' AV) the dominion of my realm to
render religious respect to Dan.'s God. The address and the
contents of the edict are closely imitated after Neb.'s address,
^20-29 (19-28) 279
231-33 (41-3). Especially the end of the story reveals the nature
of the theme as borrowed from c. 3. With Bert., Mar., JV the
contents of the edict, vv.^^^^^^'-, are in poetical form. The
appellation of Dan.'s God as the Living and ever-enduring God
repeats on the one hand a typical phrase of the Heb. Bible, ' the
Living God,' also used by the king in v.^i. The other attribute,
an Aram, word, is an epithet of God in the Targ., e.g., Eze. !-■*,
and in the Rabb. literature the same combination is frequent.
'The Enduring One' is a constant epithet of Deity in the Sa-
maritan literature (s. Montgomery, Samaritans, 215), and was
a term which ace. to tradition Simon Magus arrogated to him-
self, = e(TTcd9. The ref. to Cyrus in the final v. loosely connects
with i-^; cf. lo^.
20 (19) . S'nQ1?D*3] For the Large and Small Letters s. Gin.,/M<.,893.
T T : *
They do not appear in M^"^, where the word is divided, NiiJ naco, ace.
to Gin. the Or. rdg. For the kataltdl formation s. Barth, Nh., §147,
Duval, GS §243, Nold., SG §124, GK §84, n. The word appears in the
Targ., = Syr. safrd, sefrd (also J Aram. nids). The rt. appears in Arab.
safara, 'to lighten' (of the dawn). The manipulation of the letters in-
dicates the two possible rdgs.: the reduplicated form and simple NiDtt';
so Torrey, Notes, II, 233. The parallel Nnjjj is the time when the sun
had risen, cf. njj nix Pr. 4'', and marks the exact specification of 'ra,
which means more generally 'at dawn.' For an apparent parallelism
in Mt. 28', s. G. F. Moore, JAOS 26, 323-329. Kamp. is fully right in
rejecting the treatment of one or the other term as a gloss, of '-o by
Kau., in his Schriften d. A.T., of ':2 by Behr., Mar., Lohr, Ehr. (5 0
read both terms, g- tr. one of them n^N^mos 'hurriedly.' — ^''P]] X.b.
the impf. with inx, exactly as the Heb. construction with ?n; s. Mar.,
Gr. §101, d; but vv.-^- -« with pf.— nSna.-na] = 'in haste,' so 2", etc.—
21 (20). nanpco] 3 used of point of time; mss Ken., de R. 3. — ^''Ti] =
'pained, painful,' cf. Heb. rt.; Bev. eft. Arab, yaiimmi 'asibiin, Koran
xi, 79. II lachrymabile, but (S 0 S» 'loud.' — 23 (22). 0 £vi9pa?av to
ax6(jiaTO T(I)v XsdvTwv is cited Heb. 11", vs. ($. For the angel Segri =
njD in Hermas s. Int., §13, n. 3.-131] = Targ. tr. of npnx (so correctly
<& Lu. StxatoauvTj), i.e., legal 'innocence.' For the phrase cf. Ps. 51",
Job 25^ f-. — nSi2n] So odd. correctly as fem., exc. Bar n — — 24 (23).
y7\-hy 3nm] Cf. at v.i=.— pon .npojnS] Rt. pSo, s. Kau., §44, b.— 25 (24).
im ,v-i.-i] For the vbs. as active cf. v.'^; it is not necessary with Mar.
to read them as passives; im was taken by 0 H as pass. — jun] For
abs. use cf. f. — ]^n>•^:^ jinija] (6 g" 13 prefer the logical order, 'wives,
sons'; cf. a similar reversal of order at 23^— "'^T"? ] = 'bottom,' based
28o A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
on the secondary sense of ;'in, s. at 2'^; Bev. eft. Heb. ^''000. — n ij?] =
practically 'before,' cj. use of Arab. hata{y), Wright, Gr. 2, §15, c. Behr.
notes that the clause with this conj. in late Heb. and Aram, generally
includes a negative, cf. Ecc. 12'; Syr., Acts 2"" (but not Mt. i"^). — ipi'"!]
For the vb. s. 2^^-^^, etc. — 26 (25). n^j2'^i] Grr. om. conj., exc. Or^.
— 27 (26). B 6mss ^6j[La toOto, error for 0. tou (sc. stvai). — xi^ ^t] =
'who' (EVV 'for he').— 28 (27). i^] = 'power,' cf. i Sa. 17" (where
EVV tr. 'paw'); Lu. aT6[Aa-uos, H^" manu, but text, rec, C3T)r. lacu.
— f^-?'!^] The intrans. and the trans, use (3'°) of n'"x also in Syr. =
Heb. Hif.
NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION OF «.
The variations of d in this chapter are surveyed by Bludau, §20, who
comes to the conclusion that we have here rather 'a working-over than a
translation.' With this judgment the present writer agrees, over against
the criticism by Jahn, who offers a running and derisive depreciation of the
text of l|. Cha., despite his preference for <S, ignores it in this chap.
d's text is marked with doublets, e.g., v.('', vv.'^- ^\ v.("\ and vv.<*'- -'),
with the double statement of the presence of the ofScials with the king at
the den (and with reminiscence of 3"). There are several short additions:
description of Dan.'s honor, v. <'>; the lively word of cheer put in the king's
mouth, 'Keep up courage till to-morrow,' v. (^^>; the statement that 'then
the God of Daniel took forethought (itpdvota, which occurs only in Wis.
and the books of Mace, also frequently in Josephus) of him and stopped
the mouths of the lions and they did not trouble Dan.,' v. (^'>, which re-
places Dan.'s assertion in i§, v.--, that ' God sent his angel,' etc. In v. '^'>
the king is made to say that he will serve Dan.'s God all his days, because
hand-made idols cannot save, etc. In v.^^**' the statement of Darius' death
is awkwardly inserted before v.'' = l|, v.-'. For other variations we may
note the conspirators' 'adjuration' of the king 'by the laws of the Medes
and Persians,' v.'^; the sarcastic touch with which the enemies dare to
speak of Dan. as the king's 'friend,' v." (but s. inf); the placing of the
king's word of cheer to Dan. before the latter's being cast to the lions, vv.
(16. 17). ^-jjg query, 'Art thou alive?' v. '-°>, and Dan.'s response, 'I am still
alive,' V. <">.
Apart from some lively touches, which are characteristic of OS's genius,
for the later handlers of the story were themselves good story-tellers, none
of these points can be given preference over If, while the presence of doub-
lets and repetitions is primary proof of the secondary character of (H as we
have it. Only one point can be made for the reliability of (S as the simpler
and therefore elder narrative, namely that vv. <^- ^- -^\ with their B60 a'vSpa<;,
Sio vsavfoxot, 5uo d'vOpwxoi, make only the two co-presidents conspirators,
and only these with their famiUes the victims of execution instead of the
wholesale slaughter described ia 1^, which latter we must grant is an ab-
CHAPTER 6, NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION OF 05 28 1
surdity (but s. Comm. on vv.-"'^). The writer has discussed this criticism
in a Note in JAOS 41, 316, to which the reader is referred, as also to the
reply to it made by Prof. N. Schmidt in his art. 'Dan. and Androcles,' ib.,
46, 1-7. The result obtained in that Note is that the Sem. copy before C5
made all the officials conspirators as definitely as ^. The present text of (&,
with its gloss V. (*> ol 56o vsaviaxot, is evidently reminiscent of 'the three
youths' of I Esd. 3^, and had in mind the rivalry of the two youths with
Zerubbabel; so also Nestle, Marg., 28. (Ace. to Lagarde, Mitth. 4, 318, cf.
GGA 1891, 519, the story of the Three Pages once stood after Dan. 6 '■>.)
There may be noted the following Semitisms: v. (^' PouXtjv v.. jyuiiriy, cf.
2"; V. <^"*' 6au(j.a!^£[v rcpoawxov; v. <'^' the conspirators' term for Dan. as
Tbv 9!>.ov (Tou might stand, but more probably it represents i3in, which
appears in (S 3<"> as <?cXo?; v.(i«) ?w? xpwf = 4(3°).
II. THE VISIONS.
CHAPTER 7. THE VISION OF THE BEASTS AND
THE MAN.
With c. 7 begin the Visions, a book of independent origin
from the Histories; see in general Int., §21. The view of some
recent scholars that the original language of c. 7 was Hebrew
is there adopted. Sect. b. And for theories of interpolations in
c. 7 and for its origin as disparate from the following cc. see
Sect. c. With regard to the literary form, the chap, is treated
as on the whole prose with poetical rhapsodies, at vv.^- 1°' ^^- "•
2^-"; so Mar., Lohr, Cha., while JV expresses poetical form in
the first two passages.
Analysis. 1. The circumstances of the Vision. 2-27. The
Vision in two parts, 2-14, the phenomenon, and, 15-27, its in-
terpretation by a celestial attendant. 28 . The sequel, the effect
on the seer.
The seer sees the four winds of heaven agitating the Great
Sea, from which issue four diverse monstrous beasts: the first
like a lion, the second like a bear, the third like a leopard, while
the fourth is so horrible that it defies any zoological category.
The latter engages his attention; in addition to its ten horns he
beholds another of small size coming up, before which three of
its predecessors are eradicated; the horn exhibits the spiritual
traits of a human being. There follows the vision of a Session
of the Divine Court, in sequel of which the fourth beast is de-
stroyed. Then there appears coming with the clouds of heaven
one 'like a son of man,' to whom universal dominion is given.
The seer appeals for interpretation of the dream to one of the
divine bystanders; he interprets it as typifying so many king-
doms, with special explication of the fourth beast and its horns,
which are kings, the little horn being the blasphemous oppo-
nent of the Highest. But the divine Session typifies that beast's
destruction, and the grant of universal dominion to the Saints
of the Highest.
282
f- 2^ 283
The vision is a reminiscent replica of that of the Image in
c. 2. With the four metals there correspond the four beasts
here, while the divisive character of the lower part of the Image,
which is of iron mixed with tile-work, is paralleled here by the
conflict between the horns in the fourth beast. In both the
kingdoms of this world are superseded by one of mysterious or
celestial origin, there a Stone cut without hands, here a heavenly
Man, each representing the divine kingdom that is to be. In
both there is the same sequence of acts, representing the pro-
gressive degeneration of the kingdoms of this world : from gold to
iron, the basest of metals, from the eagle-winged lion, typifying
the kings of beasts and birds, down through the meaner bear and
leopard to a nameless monster, whose business is destruction.
There is explicit reminiscence of the malignant character of the
fourth kingdom, cf. wvJ- ^^ with 2^°.
In simplicity and grandeur of theme this vision falls behind
that of c. 2. But in this vision the author allows himself more
room for fantasy, as in the details of the first three beasts, which
have accordingly offered large room for inventive ingenuity on
part of exegetes. On the other hand, the introductory scene of
the four winds agitating the Great Sea and eructating the four
beasts tastes of ancient mythological poetry, from which the
theme takes its start; and the scene of the Divine Session with
the coming of the Son of Man is appropriately sublime, one
which has no equal among the other apocalypses for simplicity
and reserve.
Commentators all agree in giving identical interpretation of
cc. 2 and 7. The present writer agrees with the great majority
of modern commentators in understanding by the four succes-
sive metals or beasts the several empires of Babylonia, Media,
Persia, Greece, for the discussion of which s. Int. §19, c. There
is more diversity of opinion concerning the interpretation of the
Son of Man, whether he is to be regarded, like the Stone, as
directly Messianic or as symbolical of the people of the saints;
the latter view is held here. On this subject see the Note at
end of the chap.
1. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a
dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the
dream. [Beginning of the composition.] [He said do\ib\G.t.] 2a.
Daniel answered and said. The usual translation of the last
284 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
words of v.* is: 'he told the sum of the matters/ in the sense
of 'essence/ 'recapitulation/ as though an abstract were given;
so <S» U Jewish comm. and most. But the phrase is manifestly
a title, 'beginning of the story, or book,' and so Aq. (at least
Or'' Lu.) understood it, followed by Theodt., Pagnini, Vatablus,
and in modern times by Nestle, Marg., 40, Kon., Hwb. So Tor-
rey, Notes, 1, 281, remarking the similar use of 'head' ^"""l in
PalSyr. for chapter headings; he regards it as gloss, with the
implication: "Here begin the 'personal memoirs' of Dan.," etc.
As a gloss it may be appositive to v.^*'', 'Here the end of the
matter.' Nestle (cf. Kran., Mein.), comparing 'at the begin-
ning' 9^1, regards it as the original title of the series of cc. and
so appositive to 1 2^, in which case what precedes would be sec-
ondary. We may best suppose early duplicate essays at en-
titlement, this phrase having in view the whole series of cc.
' Then he wrote the dream ' is a summary statement of the sub-
sequent literary composition. For the writing of the vision cf.
the angelic order, 12*, and also Is. 8^^, 30*, Hab. 2^, Rev. i^^ 21*,
2 Esd. 14" '^•.
1. 'S mn nj'^ra] In 8' 'S3 nisSc'?, without difference. In the epi-
graphic texts the king's name is used absolutely without the prep., e.g.,
Sachau's pap. i, Clay, Aramaic Indorsements. For Trptoxw B the unique
error TpiT(p, corrected by later hands (the same error in (& lo'). —
ixc'nS^] This incorrect spelling here and 8', vs. c. 5 -\^n-y^2, except at
v.^°, where the spelling was accommodated to the present for liaison's
sake. The difference of spelling is a proof of diverse origin of the two
parts of the book. — S33] © x^^Safwv, with reminiscence of 5'°.—
^l'^. OaD] = 'had a dream vision,' cj. 4^ — 'Visions of his head upon his
bed'] Cf. 2-*, 4"- ^°. As the v. is reminiscent of the earlier book, it is
not necessary with Torrey to supply njj'i'nii, or with Lohr to omit 'and
visions of his head.' — i^n f'^D i^'nt] (S etq x£90£Xa!o: Xoywv ('for a sum-
mary'), 0 ignored, Or^ agxh Xoywv elursv, so Lu., but om. stxsv. For
the phrase cf. y\2-\ rxi Ps. 119'^° {cf. 137"). 13 has an interesting
doublet translation: hreni sermone comprehendit summatimque pcrstrin-
gens ait. The same phrase occurs in the Syriac Menander, s. Land,
Anec. syr., vol. i, f. 163V = 'the first business' of a man. As for the
doublet -iDN and, v.-, ncvsi 'i tm-j (this eUded by Blud., Mar., Lohr,
Cha.), (& om. both, 0 the former; but 0 has a trace of the second phrase
in eyco Aav., i.e., rdg. nj;; as ri:N. Lu. read the full text. There is more
textual authority therefore for the retention of this phrase thdn of
'he said,' and the former is to be preferred for its genuine Aramaic
flavor.
7'" 285
2b-8 . The vision of the four beasts arising out of the sea. 2b.
I was seeing in my vision by night, and behold,
The four winds of heaven : were stirring up the Great Sea.
For the introductory phrase cf. 4^- 1°; it is repeated eight times
in this chap. Cf. the repeated 'I saw' in the vision of doom,
Jer. 4^3 ff-. The Grr. tr. the vb. with decopetv^ however, in Aram,
the one vb. does for both physical and spiritual vision; in Rev.
opav is used. The four winds are the cardinal winds, 'the south
wind, the north wind, the east wind and the west wind' of the
Bab. Seven Tablets of Creation, iv, 43; cf. Eze. 37^, etc. They
are not the patron angels of the four kingdoms, with Jer., nor
angels in general, with early Prot. comm. and Keil; nor is there
any particular mythologizing strain, with Gunkel, Schopfung,
329, or W. R. Smith, suggesting a connection with Phoenician
cosmogony, s. Bev., p. 120, n. i. Far more apt for the picture
of storm at sea are the Classical reff. adduced by Grot., al. ; e.g.,
Verg., Aen., i, 86^., naming Eurus, Notus, Africus; Ovid (cited
by dEnv.), Tristia, i, eleg. 2, describing Eurus, Zephyr, Boreas,
Notus, and remarking pertinently, "Nescit cui domino pareat
unda maris." The winds are the product of the sea, and so
'hurricanes and mighty tempests' are the spawn of the evil
domain of Chaos, Bab. Seven Tablets, iii, 30 jf. The ' Great Sea'
is not the Mediterranean, with Grot., Hitz., al. (also Nestle,
Marg., 39, as possible), although the term is so used in Jos. i*,
etc., but is the nnn Qinn ' Great Abyss' of Am. f\ Is. 5110, and
our phrase is properly cited. Rev. 17*, as 'Abyss.' It is used
symbolically of 'the agitated world of nations' (Dr.), so Hipp.,
Jer., Theodt. The ocean is an appropriate symbol, (i) because
it is a common type of the turbulent world and peoples; cf.
Is. 17^^^-, Jer. 46^'-, Rev. 17^^ ('the waters . . . are peoples and
multitudes and nations and tongues'); and (2) following so far
Gunkel's lead, because the chaotic ocean is the figure of the
domain of all that is opposed to God; hence the beasts are re-
garded as automatically arising out of their appropriate abode,
even as the monsters of the Bab. epic. A breath of this repug-
nance to the abyss of waters appears in the N.T. seer's vision
that 'there was no more sea,' Rev. 21^ The contrast is given in
the heavenly scene, vv."^-. That by the sea is meant the earth
is directly declared, v.^^, and in v.'* the figure passes into the
2 86 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
thing signified, 'from the earth.' Were stirring up: So several
recent comm., unconsciously following Calv.'s original sugges-
tion; AV 'strove upon' and RV JV 'brake forth upon' represent
the other interpretations.
2b. ^'^'^ ^y 'IJ??] 0 ignores; Or? Lu. = M; <g regarded ^rn = Stuvous
as pi., which as "'2"^ is to be preferred, cf. 'visions of the night' v.^
For x^Si"? U-; s. on -\•^^ -n d; 4^'. — "i"^??;] So through this chap, except
V.', where '^■^ as elsewhere, e.g., 2'', q.v. — TPV??] 05 ev^xsaov [e:?],
© xpoa^^aXXov [d<;], 'attacked'; U piignabant [in mare magno], Ra.
'fought with' (or, 'in midst of,' var. rdg.), AV 'strove (upon)'; the
notion of fighting is from the Rabb. use of xjip nijx, and cf. the Heb.
Hif. of a military operation, Ju. 20^'. Others, e.g., AEz. (eft. Job 40-^),
Junius and Tremellius, Polanus, 'burst, rushed, broke forth upon' (so
Dr., RV JV). Best with Calv. commouebant, Vatablus, agitabant, fol-
lowed by Kran., Levy, Bev., al.; so the Hif. Eze. 32-, and similarly in
JAram., Syr. This interpretation appears to have been followed in
2 Esd. 13^, ecce de mari ventus exsnrgebat, ut conturbaret omnes fluctus
eius. This is to be preferred as the far more natural and picturesque
term, while S of the following noun is best explained as sign of ace, for
which otherwise Sy would be expected.
3. And four great beasts were coming tip out of the sea, diverse
one from another. The symbolizing of the heathen powers with
rapacious beasts or with mythological monsters, which become
then often rationalized into formal tvpes, is common in the
O.T.; e.g., Eze. 2932-, Is. 271, Ps. 68^1, 74''^-, &o'\ PsSol. 2'^ while
an elaborate use of this symbolism appears in the vision of
Enoch, En. 85-90. They were ascending — n.b. the vivid ppls.
denoting the 'moving picture' — out of the sea, the spawning-
place of such monsters; cf. the reminiscences in Rev. 13^, 2 Esd.
11^ (the Eagle Vision; in c. 13 the sea is the origin of the Man).
They were diverse, not in strength but in worth, so Theodt.,
vLeng., as similarly in the series of metals, c. 2. Each is suc-
cessively meaner than its predecessor, although the last, non-
descript beast is, like the iron of the Image, the most destructive.
4. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I was seeing
till the wings thereof were plucked off, and it was lifted up from
the earth [= ground], and was stood upon a pair of feet like a
man, and a man's heart was given it. The winged lion is Baby-
lon, according to almost all who interpret these figures histori-
7^"^ 287
cally. The artistic background was first proposed by Herder,
who suggested that the wall sculptures of Persepolis were drawn
upon. Stuart (1850) remarks that "on all the ancient monu-
ments of the East are found formae monstrosae, the s^inbols of
dominion and of conquerors." His contemporary Hitzig first
adduced the winged lion from Nimrud, with which we can now
compare the tile winged lions from Babylon. The combination
of the features of the lion and the eagle typifies the lordliest of
animal creatures. But it is unnecessary, e.g., with Jer. and the
host of earlier comm., to draw out the parallelism in virtues and
vices of this and the succeeding beasts. Reference may be made
to Pole and especially to Bochart, Hierozoicon, under the appro-
priate titles, for those who desire to pursue such fantastic de-
tails. The succeeding moments in the developing picture are,
however, problems. Two quite opposite interpretations have
been followed, which also are sometimes combined. Ace. to one
view it is all a drama of destruction. But the very evident de-
pendence of ' the heart of a man' upon the 'beast's heart,' 4" ^1^',
which was later made human again, v.^^ ^^^^ , compels the exegete
to take this as his point d'appui. The prime reference then,
really a reminiscent aside, is to the humanization which occurred
in Neb.'s case. This is the view of Hipp., Jephet, Stuart, Keil,
Zock., Pusey, al., and most recent comm. Its being raised from
the earth (ground) and stood on feet like a man, i.e., in a human
posture, would be equivalent. The plucking of its wings, which
gives the cue to the other interpretation, might then refer to
the removal of the superbia of Babel, so Jer., who cites Is. 1413^-
and Ob.-*, 'Though thou make thy nest as high as the eagle,' etc.
Grot, aptly cites a Classical parallel to this figurative plucking
of the wings, from Cicero, Ep. ad Attic, iv, 2, "qui mihi pennas
inciderant nolunt easdem renasci." The humanization involves
the elimination of heaven-vaulting ambition. Possibly the
thought is not more than of the return from the monstrous form
to the natural beast. The other interpretation is that of humili-
ation or destruction, which Jer. prefers, although he refers to
the other view. Ra. plays on the rt. mng of 'w'J^ as debilis ; Calv.
and early Prot. comm. tr. n^'^'Jj 'removed' from the earth,
ablata, sublata e terra, so Behr. and Pr. But why should the de-
struction of the first of the three beasts alone be commemorated
here ? The Jewish saga took pains to canonize Neb. as a Pagan
288 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
saint ! Perhaps we have after all to agree with Cha.: "It must
be confessed that the above [the first] explanation is rather
forced, but this is owing to the combination of two really incon-
gruous sets of ideas," i.e., with the interpolation of the theme of
Neb. The four pass. vbs. in this v., followed by other cases be-
low (of the Peil peculiar to early Aram.) belong to the later
euphemistic language; in c. 4 act. pis. are so used. See on this
pass, construction Dalman, Worte Jesu, 183, with exx. from N.T.
and Rabb. literature, and Volz, Jiid. Esch., 6, whose judgment,
"hier handelt niemand mehr, sondern es geht wie durch eine
Maschine," is, however, arbitrary. The euphemistic phraseology
was borrowed from the common diction; s. Note at 2^'.
5. Afid behold, another beast, a second [i.e., number iwo], re-
sejnbling a bear ; and it was raised up on one side, and it had three
ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and so it was said [they said]
to it, Arise, devour much flesh. The first vb., incorrectly pointed
by M as active, is corrected to a pass., s. Note; incorrectly AV
RV 'raised up itself.' The bear is chosen as ranking next to the
lion in size and fierceness. The two are often grouped together
as the most dangerous of animals, s. Hos. 13^, Am. 5^^, Pr. 28^*,
while in i Sam. 17342- the 'lion' of the original form has the
doublet 'or bear,' representing a later age when the lion had
largely disappeared. For its carnivorous character cf. Is. 11^, a
fact scientifically recorded by Aristotle, Hist, nat., viii, 5,
oapKO(^a<yoiv^ ^oiov 'irdfji(j)a'yov (Grot.). The destructive power of
the Medes had left its tradition; cf. Is. 13", Nahum, Jer. 5111- ^^,
etc. The theme is expanded in the final clauses of the v. Comm.
have come increasingly to recognize that the last two clauses
typify the voracity of the beast; so Junius, 'frendens in omnes
partes,' vLeng., Stu., Bev., Mar., Cha.; with Stu. the three ribs
"constitute a large mouthful," cf. the two legs which may be
rescued out of a lion's mouth. Am. 4^^. This gives the explana-
tion of the much-racked 'raised up on one side.' VLeng. first
adduced from the Bab. emblems the figure of a demi-couchant
bull, the two legs on the near side being raised as though the
animal were rising, and Professor Olmstead notes that the same
device appears in Persian art. This representation appears fre-
quently in well-known Bab. seals. The animal then is pausing
to devour a mouthful before springing again on its prey, to
which feat an oracular voice encourages it. The writer refers to
7^-^ 289
the coming overthrow of Belshazzar's kingdom. Thus a single-
eyed interpretation of the whole v. is obtained. For attempted
detail of the comparison between the bear and its kingdom it
may suffice to cite the Tanna R. Joseph that this v. refers to the
Persians, "because they eat and drink like bears and are as fat
as bears and long-haired like bears, and restless as bears," Kidd.
72a, Ab. Zara 2b, Meg. iia. The phrase 'raised up on one side'
has provoked most diverse interpretations. Theodt. under-
stands it as of loss of power, Jeph., "as soon as it was raised up
it was overthrown." Jer. gives a current Jewish interpretation:
"sic Hebraei interpretantur, nihil eos aduersum Israel crudele
gessisse," i.e., aside from Israel; Ra., as on one side awaiting the
destruction of Babel; others as on one side, or apart, in the scene,
e.g., JDMich. The var. in AV RV 'it raised up one dominion,'
is due to the Mass. pointing of the vb. as active and a mistaken
understanding of the noun. Very naturally for the three ribs
historical interpretations have been offered, but their variety
fails in conviction. Ace. to Hipp., Jer., they represent Media,
Persia, Babel; Bert., Media, Lydia, Babel; etc., etc. Jer. tr.
remarkably tres ordines, and gives an extensive discussion; he
notes one interpretation that the three represent the successors
of Cyrus, a view similar to the one preferred by Ra., that they
are the first three Pers. kings. Jeph. holds that they are three-
quarters of the world, similarly Piscator, eft. 8*, and so Kliefoth:
it did not attain 'oecumenicity.'
6. After this I was seeing and behold, another like a leopard,
•which had upon its back four bird's wings, and four heads had the
least; and dominion was given to it: the Persian empire. The
Arab, equivalent for leopard is used also of the panther and the
tiger. The agility and intelligence of the animal (c/. Hos. 13^,
Jer. 5^) are stressed by those comm. who see in it the figure of
Greece and the rapid conquests of Alexander: Hipp., 'clever,
inventful, cruel'; Theodt., ^la to raxv k. o^v k. ttolklXov; Jer.,
its swiftness; Jeph., "it haunts the gates of cities." However,
the velocity of Cyrus' conquests is part of the Bible tradition.
Is. 41^, 'not touching the road with his feet.' Whether the wings
were on the back (AV RVV) or the sides (JV) depends upon the
understanding of the orig. word. The latter position of wings
on an animal is illustrated from the winged lion in tiles from
Babylon. The four wings and four heads are variously inter-
19
290 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
preted ace. to the identification of the empire. The four wings
may represent extraordinary velocity (Geier, ' twice as great as
Babylon's'), but, better, they and the four heads typify the four
quarters of the world, ' oecumenicity ' with Klief, We might
compare the four-headed beasts in Eze. i, indicating the exten-
sion of the divine energy in every quarter. Cyrus in his Cylin-
der Inscription speaks of himself as monarch of the Four Quar-
ters. Mein.'s objection that ace. to 8* the Persian ram pushed
west and north and south, i.e. only three-quarters, does not
hold, for the east was Persia's original domain. Otherwise
vLeng. (following Junius), who interprets from the four kings of
Persia implied in ii^, so, of recent comm., Bev., Pr., Mar., Cha.
But, with Zock., Mein., horns not heads are type of kings, cf.
v.^'*. The traditional interpretation of this beast as Greece, since
Hipp.'s day, identified the four heads with the four kingdoms
of the Diadochi. For the statement that 'dominion was given
to it' cf. 2^^, 'a third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over the
whole earth'; aptly Mar., "Hatte das medische Reich haupt-
sachlich nur zerstort, so war das persische da zum Regieren."
7. Afler this I was seeing in the night visions, and behold, a
fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly ; and it
had great iron teeth ; it was devouring and crushing, and stamping
the residue with its feet ; and it was acting diversely from all the
beasts that were before it ; and it had ten horns. The writer intro-
duces this fourth beast, which is the objective of his parable,
with special circumstance. Its identity with the iron of the
Image in c. 2 appears explicitly in the verbal reminiscences of
'strong as iron' and 'crushing and breaking in pieces,' cf. 2^";
only here the point of destructiveness is particularly pressed.
It is a nameless and peculiarly nondescript beast ("vocabulum
tacuit," Jer.). And Professor Olmstead suggests that the mon-
strous sirusSu beast would have given a prototype from Bab.
art. Similarly the monster out of the sea, Rev. 13^^-, is based
on this apparition with the added features of leopard, bear, and
lion. With the theory here accepted that this terrible beast is
type of the Hellenistic age, such a judgment of that brilliant
era appears at first sight absurd to modern thought. But this
fearful figure meant to the Maccabaean Jew the Seleucide Hel-
lenism which he knew, just as it might be equally applied, al-
though with no better reason, by later interpretation, to the
7^'^ 291
Roman empire or its barbarous continuation, to 'Edom' (Rome)
or Ishmael (the Saracens) by the Jewish comm., to the Turks at
the doors of Vienna by early Prot. exegetes, or to the days
before Antichrist, with Millenarians. In v> the 'diverse' of
EVV has been translated 'acting diversely,' in justice to the
ppl. of the original. In v.^^ an additional feature appears, the
plus ' and claws of brass ' after ' teeth of iron ' ; the plus appears
in a few Gr. mss here and is approved by some (e.g., Ew., Mar.),
but the repetitions permit themselves much variation in details:
so in cc. 2. 4.
8. / was contemplating the horns, and behold, there was coming
up another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns
were uprooted [i.e., displaced]; and behold, eyes like human eyes
in this horn, and a mouth speaking big things. The seer's atten-
tion is fascinated by the horns of the beast, among which he
observes another, small horn growing up (with correction of
iH's aorist into a ppl., s. Note) and displacing three of its prede-
cessors. The horn is endowed with eyes like a man and with a
mouth. It is universally accepted that these two human traits,
the most expressive of the individual person, interpret the little
horn as an individual. The attribute of eyes expresses primarily
the human personality, so Jer., "ne eum putemus iuxta quorum-
dam opinionem, uel diabolum esse uel daemonem, sed unum de
hominibus," and so vLeng. insists. If with most commentators,
who find in the trait perspicacity (Grot.), cleverness, etc., we
attempt to discover a moral implication, the best comparison
would be with the proud eyes of Is. 2^1, 5^^, Ps. loi ^ The ' mouth
speaking big things ' is the king in 1 1^* who ' speaks awful things ' ;
for the phrase cf. Ps. 12^ Ob.^^, and the behavior of Sennacherib
described in Is. 37^^ The phrase has its exegesis in Rev. 13^,
crroixa XaXovv fieydXa k. ^Xaa(f)r) fiLa<; ; cf. the Homeric fJ-eya
elirelv^ Od., xvi, 243 (Behr.). The historical parallel for Anti-
ochus Epiph. is given in i Mac. i^*, ekakriaev V7repr](f)aviav
fxeydXrjv, cf. the description of that tyrant in 3 Mac. 6^ eVa/j-
Oivra avo/xcp Opdcrei k. yXcbo-ar] /xeyaXopi^novi, a bombastic para-
phrase.
There remains the consideration of the 'horns' in vv.''- *. The
horn is type of aggressive strength in the O.T., e.g., i Ki. 22'^,
Am. 6". For the horns as symbol of the Seleucide kings s.
Babelon, Les rois de Syrie (Paris National Library, Cat. des
292 A COMMENTARY ON D.AOTEL
monnaies grecques), pp. xviii seq. In Arab, karn is used both for
'prince' and 'generation.' In this chap, the horns are directly
interpreted as kings, and so also in c. 8 are either kings or
d^Tiasties. In 8^ the 'Uttle horn' appears again. In Zech. 2 the
four horns are prob. empires. For the former prevailing view
that this fourth kingdom is Rome and for the consequent inter-
pretation of the horns, s. Int., §19, c. The earliest interpretation
of the ten horns is found in the Sibylline Oracles, 3, 381-400,
which Hilgenfeld, Schiirer, at., ascribe to a date not later than
140 B.C. The passage describes Antiochus Epiphanes and his
successors. Lines 388-400 read as follows (from Lanchester's tr.
in Charles, Apoc, 2, 385/.; the Greek original is given in Dr., p.
98, n. 4) :
388 "One day there shall come unexpectedly to Asia's wealthy land
A man clad with a purple cloak upon his shoulders,
390 Savage, a stranger to justice, fiery; for he hath exalted himself
Even against the thunder, a mortal as he is. And all Asia shall
have an evil yoke,
And the drenched earth shall drink large draughts of blood.
And even so Hades shall attend him utterly destroyed.
By the race of those whose family he wishes to destroy
395 By them shall his own family be destroyed.
Yet after leaving one horn, which the Destroyer shall cut off
From among ten horns, he shall put forth a side shoot.
He shall cut down the warrior parent of the purple race.
And he f he himself at the hand of his grandsons shall perish in a
Uke fate of wart:
400 And then shall a parasite have dominion."
The 'ten horns' is a manifest citation of Dan. The 'stranger'
is without doubt Antiochus. The three horns of Dan. are some-
what illogically represented by the three violent deaths enu-
merated. Ace. to the interpretation of Hilgenfeld, Apokalyptik,
69/., Schiirer, GJV t„ S7Sf; followed by Dr., p. 98, n. 4, Lan-
chester, I.e., Cha., pp. 68/., the 'one horn,' 1. 396, is Antiochus'
son Antiochus V, who was murdered; the 'side shoot,' 1. 397, is
Alexander Balas, who got rid of Demetrius I; he himself, 1. 399,
was destroyed by Demetrius' sons; and the 'parasite horn,' 1.
400, is Tr>'pho. There was no question then regarding the appli-
cation of our prophecy within a few decades of its publication.
The interpretation of the little horn as Antiochus is implicitly
y3-8 293
that of I ^lac. (toward end of 2d cent.) and 3 Mac, U.cc. It
was also that adopted by Porph\Ty, Polych. and Aph. S>t. We
have then to look for ten kings who preceded hun, three of
which he displaced. Almost all who accept the fourth beast as
Greece agree on this, differing only as to the enumeration of the
ten and the three.^ Ant. Epiph. had seven predecessors in his
d>-nasty: Seleucus I Xicator, Antiochus I Soter, Antiochus II
Theos. Seleucus II Callinicus. Seleucus III Ceraunus. Antiochus
III Magnus. Seleucus I\' Philopator. The task is then to dis-
cover three subsequent kings whom Ant. 'displaced." Some,
Bert., a/., make these to be (i) HeUodorus Philopator's prime
minister, who assassinated his master and aspired to the throne,
but was frustrated by Ant.'s prompt action in returning home
from his foreign sojourn and seizing the throne for himself; (2)
Demetrius (later king as Soter) son of Philopator. who was hos-
tage in Rome and whose right Ant. usurped; and (3) Ptolemy
^'II Philometor of Eg}-pt, who made a claim on the S}Tian throne.
But this brings in a king of another d\*nasty. Hitz., ah, ob\-iate
this difficulty by including Alexander in the series, in which case
the three whom Ant. 'displaced' are his brother (by natural
cause), his rival Heliodorus, whom he got rid of, and the right-
ful heir Demetrius, whom he displaced during his own life. An-
other solution, confining itself to the Seleucide dynasty, accepts
an historical tradition of another son of Philopator, whom Ant.
caused to be put out of the way. So von Gutsclmiidt, Kleine
Schriftcn, 2, iS6_/f., followed by Bev., Niese, Gesch., 3, 93 (with
reff.). In any case it is hardly necessary in a Hterature which
knew only of four kings of Persia to insist on the exact identifica-
tion of the long S\Tian d>Tiasty. Reference may be made, e.g.,
to DeUtzsch, RE- 'Daniel,' the excursus to this chap, in Bev.,
Dr., Cha. For the counter-argument, against identification with
the Greeks and the Seleucides, s. Pusey, Lect. iii, end, Wright,
c. 5. Note may also be made here of the Rabb. interpretation
of the little horn as Odenathus, the famous prince of Palm\Ta,
> Bleek, Jbh. f. deutsche TheologU, i860, pp. 60 Jf., argued that the ten represents
the assumed ten provinces di%-ided among as many generals of .\lexander; but s. per
centra Pusey, pp. 155 ff., Dr.. p. loj. Comparison can then be made with the ten
toes of the Image in c. 2, which interpretation is denied above, in discussion of
2"-" (Dr. still wrongly compares the ten toes). Similarly Behr., who interprets the
ten horns as a round number, t>-pifying 'die vielgespaltene Diadochenherrschaft.'
He is right in not insisting on the exactness of the number.
294 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
who sacked and destroyed Nehardea, seat of one of the great
Jewish schools; s. Genesis R., c. 76, and Graetz's full discussion,
Gesch. d. Juden^, 295, and Note 28 at end of vol.
3. i:rf] See on n>jc v.i«.— ni p ni] Cf. siS nt 5«.— 4. With this
V. & introduces historical captions, here 'Kingdom of the Babylonians,'
V.' 'K. of the Medes,' v/ 'K. of the Persians,' v.^ 'K. of the Greeks,'
v.* 'Antiochus' gloss to 'its horns,' repeated v."'. — ^'.P^] In the papp.
both ni-iN and Nns. Grr., IS treat as fern., Xsaivot, leaena (similarly
xdpSaXt? v.^), and Jer. makes a point of the gender in his comm. The
noun is masc. in Syr., and the following pronouns can refer to the im-
plied NPrn. — V^^.] Whether dual or pi. was intended is uncertain in
view of the vexed tradition about the dual in BAram.; s. on ]^y; v.^.
— n •^■;] Similarly 2^*, = 'until at last.' — iSibj] The vb. in the Ahikar
papp. (APO pap. 57, 1. II = AP, 1. 169), 'I lifted up my eyes,' similarly
the vb. = Heb. n:'j in JAram. and Syr.; hence Behr. should not insist
on the sense 'wegschaffen.' — V^P.] M felt properly that the dual was
necessary here to represent the biped. — '^^''P.vl] As recognized by Kau.,
§4S> 3) 5) Nold., GGA 1884, 1019, al., a survival of the ancient pass, of
the Haf., = Arab. IV pass, 'ukimat. — 5. nj^jn i-inN] (6 jact' ocjtV SXko
(representing both words, vs. critics !); 0 SsuTspov = g>; Or^ Lu. e-repov
= 19. Cf. Rev. 14* aXkoq, Seuxspog (i'YysXos. With Kamp. it is hyper-
criticism to elide one or the other word, as do Behr., Mar., Lohr, Cha. —
anS] OrP xij ap-/.(p, an Aquilanic (?) suggestion of the she-bear. — "'r^'T' ]
So edd. exc. Mich, 'r^ = M^, also var. t-D; s. de R.'s extensive
statement. The spelling "Wiv 'side,' as in the papp., 'D is later spelling.
A Jewish interpretation (s. Buxt., Lex.) of alleged "ch tr. 'one do-
minion,' cj. Heb. Iff? 'dominion'; this has motived not only AVmg
but also the pointing of the following vb. But this involves the use of
S as sign of ace. with an abs. noun, which is impossible, a point ignored
by some comm., even Dr. Sa. tr. 'to one side.' — '"^^T-vJ It is now gener-
ally acknowledged that ^"^^.^ as in v.^, must be read, and so some mss
and edd., s. Gin. ad loc. The pass, was read by Grr. saxiGo, and & "B
'stood.' The sense of M. can only be surmised. — r>'.^>!] = Heb. >'^>",
which outside of Gen. 2-"- has mng. 'side,' etc.; hence, hke Lat. cosla,
cf. Eng. 'coasts,' arose a common interpretation 'provinces,' etc. Bert.'s
etymology of 'fangs' depends upon an Arab, lexicographical interpre-
tation of daW, properly 'robust' as 'endowed with fine teeth,' s. Frey-
tag, s.v. — nDDJ For the form s. reff. in GB, also Kon., Lgb., 2, 461,
Brock., FG 1,333. — 6. i.-^nj] So edd.,also fJJBab^exc. Bar, n~2; allTN:]
V.'; the variety in spelling is deliberate. See at 2''. — •'inx] <& eTjptpv
aXXo, 0 (B r Q OrP Lu.) Irspov 6T)ptov (al. 6. e.); but the position
of k'xjpov proves er:p(ov secondary, cf. vv.^- ^ — HV •'-'] 0 t:t:[voj,
f-^ 295
C5 corruptly Ixixetvov. — noj Sy] (5 exdivw auToO, © ixepivw aJXYJi; =
U. Bev., Behr., Mar., Cha., Kon., Hwh. prefer mng. 'sides,' eft. Syr.
NJJ rt. 3JJ, as & tr. here. But JAram. has 2i 'back,' rt. 33J {vs. Behr.,
who identifies the two roots), and the common prep. OJ Sj? (also ajx)
'upon,' and does not possess the Syr. word. — tiD^r] (S^ y^-waaa, x'.e.,
liB'S; cf. v.^. — 7. NiS'iS iiina] 0 om. — ''^7?"'"] For the nominal form
c/. i:nS3a' 5". For the fern, ending -i cf. the regular Syr. fem. ending
-yd to nouns in -an, s. Nold., SG §71, i; cf. fem. nnx. A var. 'J'""??
occurs, s. Gin. RV 'powerful' follows a late, erroneous etymology
from Arab, matana 'be strong,' e.g., Rosen. — r\-\^r'>] Adv., s. at 3"-. —
V.IV] Du^ of the two jaws, as also in Heb. — ]2-iai] © om., Or? c Lu.
suppl. [AsyciXot. To this 34 h*^^- "'* plus y.al ol ovuxsq auToO xakv-ol,
from v.'^— ^i^nc] S. Kau., §46, 3, b; Mich., Kit. "P"^°.— xixt:'] (g
7,uxX(p, and so vv.'-- ", apparently a paraphrase, s. Blud., p. 41. —
^t}^?] Pa. ppl.; it is distinguished from P,^';' v.^ as rather verbal, and
so en correctly Stayopw? ^pcofXEvov; © adds exeg. plus [Staipopov]
■rcspiaffd)?, to mark out the peculiar difference of this beast. Also Or^
Sii^epev notes the verbal force. — 8. ''■^] S. on nx v.^ — h^DZ'i:] =
'gaze at for self, contemplate,' cf. Behr., Dr.; Sri:' here in its orig. sense,
as also in Targ., Sam., e.g., Targ. Gen. 3^. Cf. a similar phrase. Acts ii^
(& has the unexplained rendering of the vb., x. ^ouXal icoXXai. — "'"ins pp]
<& a doublet, iStXXo (= inx) ev (= ins) xipa?, so v.'°. — ^T^-] = Heb.
'^''"l; prob. diminutive form, hiilail, s. Brock., VG i, §137; this the only
instance in BAram., but several cases in Syr., s. Nold., SG §112. —
^\t!P\ So M. demands with anomalous -^, but v.^" normal ^PS^^. Torrey
again explains, Notes, II, 233, by his theory of alternative vocalization,
the var. = ppl. ^R:?. But I am inclined to think that the fem. ppl.
form ^P^9 was original; s. Note on mnx 5". The careful Or^ un-
derstood a ppl. with dvspatvsv vs. © dcvs^T]. — ji.T'ra Kt., r'?T? Kr.,
also MSS jn^j^a] See on pnjo 2". — npynx Kt., '^T^-H^ Kr.] See on
ipDJ 5^. (S e^T)0(ivOT)aav, explained by Scharfenberg, cited in Hav.,
and Nestle, Marg., 40, as a corruption of £^Tj6T;aotv, Nestle comparing
the interchange of the two Gr. vbs. in Jer. 28^^ etc. — r\>r:-fp jc] With
Ehr., 'um ihm Platz zu machen,' cf. 2 Sa. 715.— rr>:] The dual V.r>
is to be expected for a man's eyes, cf. pSji v.S so pjtt'. pjip v.''.
Kau.'s suggestion that the pi. is reasonable because the number of eyes
is a reserved question, §51, i, hardly stands; however, M. may have
understood a monstrous number of eyes like the beasts in Eze. i ; but
they are qualified as 'human eyes,' and cf. v.^. In general the dual early
became obsolete in Aram, and so exceptional in the tradition of BAram.
{e.g., r?J V.*); it was lost in Syr. and appears in the Targ. only in
literal renderings from Heb., s. Dalman, Gr. §38, a. — ^^\^\ Var. '?!
Mich., Gin. mg. — At end of v. (S, followed by Lu. and a few mss, plus
296 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
/.. Ixofst tc6Xs|j.ov xpb<; t. dyfou? = v.^', but not verbally. Cha. would
add it here; Ew. regards it as remnant of a lost passage.
9-14. The Great Assize. 9. 10. The Judge and his court.
9 . / was seeing
Till thrones were placed : and an Ancient sat;
His raiment like white snow : and the hair of His head
like pure wool ;
His throne flames of fire : and its wheels burning fire;
10. A river of firefiowing : and corning forth from His pres-
ence ;
Thousand thousands serving Him : and myriad myriads
standing before Him.
The court sat : and the books were opened.
The first and last Hues are dimeters, the others trimeters.
In contrast with the chaos of Great Ocean, its hurricanes and
portentous monsters, appears the august vision of God come
to judgment. The scenery belongs to the treasury of the O.T., cf.
I Ki. 22^3 '^•, Pss. 51. 82, Joel 4, etc. But it possesses its own orig-
inal characteristic, which has become the classical model for all
subsequent apocalyptic scenes of like order. Bousset remarks
congenially: "In vollkommener Reinheit ist dieses erhabene Bild
[of the great judgment] bereits von Dan. gezeichnet (7^'^^).
Nicht immer tritt es in der judischen Apokalyptik in dieser
Kraftigkeit und Klarheit heraus" {Rel. d. Jud., 295). To this
section in Bousset and to Volz, Jiid. Esch., 188^., reference may
be made for the Apocalyptic parallels, amongst which those in
Rev. are particularly dependent upon our passage. It is not so
said until v.^^ — for titles are not necessary to these dramatic
pictures — but the scene is in heaven, the calm abode of God
('a sea of glass,' Rev.) in contrast to the chaos. 'Thrones were
placed': i.e., sedilia, which constitute, as appears later, the judi-
cial bench. (See Note for the erroneous 'cast down' of AV.)
The pi. is not to be stressed, for only One took his seat. Cf.
'thrones for judgment,' Ps. 122^ Jewish and Christian comm.
have busied themselves to discover who the assessors were. An
ancient interpretation is that in the Parables of Enoch (En. 37-
71), which makes the Elect One, the Son of Man, the assessor
of Deity, e.g., 45'. This doubtless had its influence on the N.T.
thought of the judgeship of the Christ, and so Akiba understands
7'- ■» 297
two thrones, one for God and one for David (Hag. 14a, Sank.
38J). Or the assessors are the elders of Israel ace. to Tanhuma
{Way., 366, ed. Buber), with which may be compared the prom-
ise of Jesus to his apostles that they should sit, along with him
on his throne of glory, on twelve thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel, Mt. 19-*. Ace. to Rev. 20* the saints shall sit
upon the 'thrones' and judgment be given them. Or they are
angels, so Jer., who eft. the 24 thrones in Rev. and the 'thrones,
dominions,' etc., of Col. i^^ (this personification in Test. Levi 3^,
2 En. 20^) ; so Calv., and Grot., who likens them to the satraps
of the Pers. court. DEnv. thinks of the Faces, the Persons of
the Trinity. The angels would be the most likely interpretation,
cj. 4^^, 'the decree of the Vigilants and the word of the holy
ones.' Yet better Maldonatus: "Thronos dicit in plur. quia
maior auctoritas sanctiorque maiestas repraesentatur." At the
most the assessors would be the recorders who opened the books
and inscribed the decisions. Such is the interpretation of the
earliest citation of the passage. En. 90^° (Cha.'s tr.) : 'And I saw
till a throne was erected in the Pleasant Land, and the Lord of
the sheep sat Himself thereon and all [ Cha. corrects the text to
*the other,' i.e., Michael] took the sealed books and opened the
books before the Lord of the sheep.' For the Jewish reff. s.
Schottgen, Horae, 1, 1104, Weber, Jiid. Theologie, 164, Dalman,
Worte Jesu, 201, Volz, p. 260, Bousset, p. 295.
The Deity is represented as an old personage, and similarly
the picturing of Zeus in Hellenic art. The usual tr., 'an ancient
of days' (erroneously AV 'the Ancient of days') is striking be-
cause of its unique sound. Comm. generally take it at once to
be a euphemistic term for God, indicating his eternal existence
(Stu. as a superlative, 'the most ancient'), and eft. such titles
as 'enthroned of old,' Ps. 55^0; or contrast is made to 'new
gods,' e.g., Ju. 58, and esp. to the new gods of Hellenism (so
Mein.). But Dr. appears to be alone in remarking that the
orig. term merely means an 'old man'; only the process of the
vision reveals who is referred to. The phrase means exactly
'advanced in days,' = Lat. aetate prouectus (Cicero, De seneet.,
iii, 10), EngUsh 'advanced in years.' It is identical with the
Heb. phrase 'come-on in years,' Gen. 24^ (EVY erroneously
'stricken in years'); and our phrase appears fairly often in Syr.
literature, s. Note. Dalman, Worte Jesu, 194, overworks the
298 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
phrase in comparing it with 'like a son of man,' v.", as 'eine
ebensowenig prosaische Schreibart.' Cha. desires to amend into
' one like an ancient being ' (p'^Dys), following similar expressions,
but there is no reason to think that the prep, of comparison
could easily have dropped or been edited out. The apparition
of the Person is in shining white, his hoary hair betokening his
venerableness, while the white vesture indicates unsullied maj-
esty, always the dress of notables, and so of the denizens of
heaven, e.g., of angels, Mt. 28^ (an unobserved citation of 0
here), of the saints in heaven. Rev. 3^, etc., and frequently in Jew-
ish literature (s. vLeng.'s full note) ; we may compare the ermine
of a modern justiciary. The seer's glance drops down to the more
bearable features of the circumstances of the vision, w.^''- i°*
(cf. Is. 6). The proper element of Deity is fire with its effluence
of light, cf. Ex. 32, Dt. 4^\ 33^, i Tim. 6'\ Heb. la^^, etc.; there
is no compelling reason, with Bert., Meyer, al., to seek for Parsee
influence; s. also Int., §20. Cf. inter al. En. i/\}^^- for an expan-
sion of the present scene. The flaming throne and its wheels
coursing like a river of fire are to be compared with the vision
of the Merkabah in Eze. i. The curule chairs of ancient mon-
archs and of Roman consuls have been compared with these
wheeled thrones (so Grot.), but the figure belongs to a common
stock of tradition coming down from Eze. The river of fire which
drew forth from the divine presence denotes the irresistibility of
the divine energy. Comparing Ps. 50'', 'a fire devouring before
him,' = 97^, this fiery stream also executes the divine herem, and
there is a point to the feature in the subsequent destruction of
the beast 'in fire,' v.".i Then the seer observes the myriads {cf.
Dt. 33^, Ps. 68'^) of the ministering ones, standing in position
as do courtiers before their monarch (s. at i*); it is the court of
heaven, where, as always in the Bible {e.g., i Ki. 22^^), God is
never alone.
1 Meyer, Ursprung, 68, 199, etc., insists on the background to this picture of the
Parsee notion of a river of molten metal at the end of the world. The chief passage
in question is in the Bundahis, xxx, 19. 20 (West, SBE vol. 5): "The fire and halo
melt the metal of Shatvairo ... it remains on this earth like a river. Then all men
will pass into that melted metal and become pure; when one is righteous, then it
seems to him just as though he walks continuouslj' in warm milk: when wicked then
... as though ... in melted metal." And ace. to v. 31 the serpent (? — the word
is uncertain) is burned in the molten metal. The writer does not think that this
parallelism, drawn from an actually late document, is very convincing for Parsee
influence upon Dan. The Parsee fire, it should be observed, is for purgation, not for
destruction; in the end all souls will be purged by fire.
f' '' 299
The seer's eye at last returns from these stupendous circum-
stances to the opening of the assize: The court sat, for which the
original has literally 'the judgment sat'; the abstract passes
into the concrete, as is the case with Kptr^ptov (so ^ here),
"B uidicium sedit (= Cicero, Verr., ii, i8), i^ovaiat = apxovre^
Rom. 13^^-, etc. And books were opened: Current court proce-
dure naturally colors the picture; Medus eft. the process of the
Sanhedrin, Grot, the Pers. conclaves; the Pers. monarchs,
through their spy system, made note of every petty detail of
their provinces (Rawlinson, SGM 'Fifth Mon.,' c. 3, notes 334
jf.). But the idea of divine books is as old as human writing. It is
found in the ancient Egyptian religion, in the Babylonian with
the 'tables' of sins and of good works (KAT 402), and equally
in the O.T., Is. 65^, Jer. 171, Mai. s'^ (pn^T nSD), Ps. 56^; in
the N.T., Lu. lo^o, Rev. 20'^ (citing this v.), etc. For this con-
stant theme in Apocalyptic and Rabb. literature s. Volz, Jiid.
Esch., 266, Bousset, Rel. d. Jiid., 295^., Cha. on En. 47^; n.h.
Pirke Aboth, ii, i, 'Know what is above thee — a seeing eye and
a hearing ear, and all thy deeds written in a book.' Bev. eft. sl
passage in the Pagan Arab, poet Zuhair: "Hide not from God
what ye devise . . .; it is reserved, laid up in writing, and kept
in store against the day of reckoning" (ed. Ahlwardt, xvi, 26/.).
The Fathers moralize: Theodt., /3//3\ou9 r. fxvqfxa^ /caXel- Jer.,
" conscientiae et opera singulorum . . . reuelantur." Mar. ob-
serves that not only the past records but also the decisions were
entered into these books, cf. 4'*.
9. 'ji n nj; n^n ntn] Introducing the denouement, cf. 2'*. — P,P1;]
For the internal -a- s. on Nnms 6'. The pi. = 'the bench,' cf.
D-im^n ySn 'interpreter of the court' in the Cyprian inscr. CIS i, 44 =
Lidz., NE p. 420, Cooke, NSI no. 15.— '''"1] Grr. hiQr,a!xv = S> H.
The identical phrase also Targ. Jer. i'^, imois laj jiDii = Heb. ijnj
1ND3 t:'^x, etc.; also ncn 'lay a tax,' Ezr. 7"''. Cf. Akk. ramil subtii, 'found
a dwelling,' similarly the freq. Syr. larmttd, 'foundation,' i.e., 'creation'
of the world = Hellenistic xaxaPoXr), Polyb., Bibl. Gr., etc. This rt.
mng. appears in the name in''r:T', s. Cornill at Jer. i^ Cf. Heb. nT>,
both 'throw,' and 'lay foundation,' Job 38*; this development appears
in 'cast up a cairn,' Gen. 31^'; GB eft. ^aXXeaGat acjTu, fundamenta
iacere. Sachau's proposed rdg. in APO pap. 56, 1. 8, nndi^ pi, cannot
stand, s. Cowley ad Inc. The tr. of AV 'were cast down' goes back to
the Jewish comm. (also Polanus, Geier, etc.), who interpreted it by
300 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
^h'a^n 'were removed,' Ra., AEz.; or uWm 'were cast down,' PsSa.;
Sa., 'cast away,' so Jeph., the thrones being understood as those of the
beasts. Hav. eft. the Koranic name of God, du l-'ars, xvii, 44, Ixxxv, 15.
— r?"" P''P]?] In general s. Comm.; = pDia Na Gen. 24^ For the syn-
tax cf. GK §128, 3, Nold., SG §205, A. The correspondent xsxaXott-
tofjilve •Jjtxspwv )(.axwv appears in Sus.", while the identical phrase occurs
in Syr.; e.g , Wis. 2", Ecclus. 25* (translating 'old man'); also the pi.
freq. in Aphraates, e.g., Dem., xxii, 8, while Torrey adduces a case from
John of Ephesus; Sa. tr. by ^aih, 'old man.' The adj. did not primarily
mean 'old,' requiring a specifying addition; but it appears with that
mng. in i Ch. 4-- and also in JAram., Syr. I note Arab, musinnu s-samd'l,
'the ancient of heaven,' in the 'Aghdni, Lammens, Riwdydt al-Aghdnt,
I, 105, 1. 7. The term is cited at times in the Talm., s. Lexx. It becomes
'the head of days,' in Enoch, e.g., 46'. While Ra. identifies the Ancient
with God, Jeph. finds in him an angel, and AEz. Michael. Hipp, has
an ingenious comment: xbv icaXatoOvTa laq ^[Kig<xc„ oux, auxJ)v uicb
Xp6vwv ri ■?)[X£p(I)v xaXaiouiAEVov. — spj -\c;JD . . . iin jShd] M con-
strues the adj. with the prec. noun in each case, but 0 sv5u[jLa . . .
tbasl xtwv Xsuxov, 6pf^ . . . wasl eptov xa6ap6v = IS AV RV, and so
most comm.; this is inconsequent and so Mar., 'weiss wie Schnee,' 'rein
wie Wolle.' But there is no reason to abandon iH's construction, which
is followed by Bev., Behr., JV. (6 om. 'white,' which appears to have
been glossed into the second clause sptov Xsuxbv xaOapov. En. 46^
and Rev. i''', to which Cha. appeals for revision of the text, are inexact
and incomplete citations. — ^\^-\] Kau., §47, g, f, as pass, ppl., but
Earth., Nh., §10, c, as katil. — ]i33'^] See at f-. — pSi mj ^mSjSj] lu
masc. as at 3"^ Orig. (S om. the clause. The Hex. insertion of it was
accompanied by a revision of the following clause, v.'", plus ■zQia[Lhc,
xupb^ I'Xxwv, which then became a partial doublet to orig. (S, v.. e^sxo-
peusTo . . . izozoit^hc, xupo?. — 10. iiJ n inj] Mythologized by later
fancy into the river Dinur, the fiery stream from which issued the
ephemeral angels, Hagiga 14a; s. Weber, Jiid. Theologie, 166. — li^]
Arab. = 'sweat,' Syr., JAram. 'flow,' in Pesh. = Heb. 21T (Syr. also
with other mngs., e.g., 'draw,' trans, and intrans.). The latter pictur-
esque sense may be retained here. — •■'mmp ]d] vLeng. 'from it,' the
throne, and so En. 14^', cf. Rev. 4*, 22'; but the prep. = 'from in front
of,' 'from his presence' (not 'out of him' !) = Heb. vjdSd. — n^flSx Kt.]
Kr. l>£3Sx is desiderated.— p:n Kt., ???"! Kr.] The Kr. thinks of Heb.
"?r=; read Kt. ?I?1 = Syr.; s. Kau., §65, 4, Nold., SG §148, D.—
njWDtj'''] dSi eOspi-rceuov, © IXsitouyouv; the latter in N.T. exclusively
of liturgical service; cf. Test. Levi 3^, ol ayyeXXot . . . ol XetToupyouvxec;
X. s^tXaax6[j,£vot xpi? xijptov, and s. Cha.'s note there, i Clem, 34,
Justin, Try ph., 31, Iren., Haer., ii, 6, 2, have 0's rdg. These and later
Fathers (s. Lightfoot on Clem.), following Rev. 5", transpose the two
7"- 12 30I
clauses 'thousand thousands' and 'myriad myriads.' — Jiam^] Masc.
with fem. subj., xaxd auvsutv, s. Kau., §98, i, b. N.b. the Ml clauses
with vb. at end.— ^'?1 ^T"!] = 'the court sat,' cf. v.^^; Bev. eft. use of
TiD for a deliberative body. Grot. eft. the Jewish in n>3. g> daiydnd,
'judge.' Kran.'s 'zum Gericht setzte er sich' is unnecessary, if not im-
possible in Aram, syntax.
11 . 12 . The execution of the divine sentence. 11 . I was see-
ing from the time of the utterance of the big words which the horn
was speaking, I was seeing even till the beast was slain, and its
body destroyed, and it [the beast] was given to the burning of fire.
See Note for revision of the usual tr. of opening of the v., ace.
to which the repeated ' I was seeing ' gives much debated trouble.
The words 'from the time of,' lit. 'then from' (EW 'at that
time because of) are here treated as the starting-point of the
seer's observation of the horn's big words, continued even into
the scene of judgment, to the point of ('till') its destruction.
The tr. is at least less awkward than the current one, for which
many comm. help themselves out by the elision of ' I was seeing'
1° or 2°. Dramatic indeed is the immediate passage of the great
scene into the execution of the sentence; it recalls the katastrophe
of the Lord's parable: 'the rich man also died and was buried.
And in hell,' etc., Lu. 16^2 f- This observation disposes of Gun-
kel's categorical criticism (Schopfung, 324, n. i) that v.^ is
'mutilated.' It is held by vLeng., anticipated by PsSa. and fol-
lowed by Stu., Keil, dEnv., Cha., that the fire is the eternal tor-
ment of hell. Comparison is made with the kindred idea in Is.
66^^, and with the hell of fire in Rev. ig^", 2oi°-". Cha. adduces
the reff . in Enoch to the place of fire where the fallen angels were
cast, lo^ 1811, 21^^-, 90^4 ^•, all but the last of which passages
he holds to be older than our text. Even if this point be true,
it does not condition the interpretation here; it would be absurd
to think of that beast, abstraction of an empire, being cast into
hell-fire, while the one reference to future punishment in our
book, 11^, has no allusion to hell. So in general Dr. It is suffi-
cient, with Mar., to compare Is. 30^^ and to identify 'the fire,'
if needs be, with the fiery stream from the divine presence; so
Zock. 12. And the rest of the beasts — their dominion was taken
away, and prolongation in life was given them till a time and tide.
The natural implication of 'the rest of the beasts' is that of the
other three, surviving after the destruction of the fourth beast.
302 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
See the arguments of Stu. and Dr. in support of this view. The
destruction of the other beasts had not been narrated ; they con-
tinue in some condition of survival after the destruction of the
fourth beast, which cuhninated in the httle horn; cf. the figure
of the image in c. 2 : " The entire image remains intact until the
stone falls upon the feet . . . , when the whole of it breaks up
together" (Dr.). The v. is then anticipative of v.". The ex-
pected superiority of Israel did not at once imply the destruc-
tion of all other political forms in the world ; it was a supremacy
more like that expected by Ezekiel, with the possibility of the
final rise and onslaught of Gog and Magog (so Ra. here), or
later of the Antichrist. Calv. held that the vb. — a plupf., the
prophet reverting to an omitted detail. Mein. insists properly
on the contrast between the fates of the fourth and the other
three beasts, the former so terrible, and similarly Mar., who
points out that the vision is meant as prophetic, both holding
that they had ceased before the fourth beast. But these scholars
do not explain the item of ' the prolongation' of their life. Behr.,
who holds that the ten horns are not the successive Seleucide
kings but the various parts of the Hellenistic empire, thinks
that the figure has changed, the horns have become beasts.
But to the composer the little horn is the climax of the fourth
beast, its final expression, and horn with beast is destroyed. In
the tr. ' till a time and tide ' the latter old English word, = ' time,'
has been used to express the identity of the two terms; GV
'Zeit und Stunde,' Behr., 'Zeit und Frist'; cf. Acts i' and v. sup.
2". The idea is that of a fixed fate; cf. the writer's note on nj?
in Ecc. = fate, JBL 1924, 243.
11. T^-^^ri nin . . . niin r\:r>] The repetition of the vb. and the unique
use of fixa after its vb. ace. to usual translations (but vs. accents of
M) has induced critical operations. (S 0 om. niin. ntn 2°, and so Bert.,
Rosen., Blud., Cha. delete it. Behr. deletes n''in nrn 1°, against which
view s. Kamp., Mar. But read: 'I was beholding then from (the time
of) the sound ... I was beholding until,' etc., i.e., taking piN'a and
10 as correlative. In this interpretation I have been anticipated by
Piscator, Klief. All other comm. understand p as 'because of.' Note
that p inx3 = Heb. '??, which is used as prep, and with a vb. as =
'since.' The sentence is awkward, but is no anacoluthon, as with some.
— «'^l?nn] So Bar, Str., Gin.; ^^^^o^ Mich., Kit.; s. on ^i^^.? y.-'—^±\\
For the form s. on ^'^l 2^\ '"^l!.? 41*; cf. Heb. ^?1-'. 0 attempts here a
7l3. 14 ^^^
logical sequence: 'and it perished and its body was given.' In (S nS^Dp
= i-!toTU(ATcaviff6T) 'was bastinadoed to death' (also 3 Mac. 3-'') — a
touch of malice? — n-^'n] Abs., = ^t^'^• in papp.
13. 14. The vision of the humanlike one and the dominion
given to him.
13. / was seeing in the night visions,
And behold with the clouds of heaven : one like a man
was coming,
And to the Ancient he came : and before him he was
presented.
14 . A nd to him was given dominion and glory and sovereignty :
With all peoples, nations and tongues serving him;
His dominion an everlasting dominion not to pass away :
And his sovereignty not to be destroyed.
So for the metre Mar.; v." consists of long stichoi with a
short final hemistich.
Again a fresh introduction for this final moment of consumma-
tion of the scene; cf. v.''. The seer beholds, wafted in the upper
atmosphere with a nimbus of cloud, a human figure coming (AV
ignores the climax of the syntax of the original); he comes to
(lit. 'arrives at') the Ancient, he is presented before him, as is
the custom in royal courts, and to him is then given universal
and everlasting dominion.
There is no reason with some to prefer the tr. of 0^ 'upon the
clouds'; Hi is vouched for by ' pre-Theodotionic ' rdgs. of the
N.T. and Fathers; s. Note. Behr. eft. II., v, 867, where Ares is
pictured as ascending to heaven ofiov vec^eeacrLV. There is a
reminiscence of this passage in i Th. 4I', 'with them we shall
be snatched up in the clouds to the meeting with the Lord in
the air ' (in contrast to the usual Messianic interpretation of our
v. in the N.T.). The clouds are in contrast to the chaos of
waters — the Kingdom of Heaven opposed to the kingdoms of
this world. It is a question how far we may press the nuances
contained in the clouds; as with Dr., 'superhuman state and
majesty,' or possibly swiftness of motion. Position upon the
clouds, which the writer avoids, would rather be the attribute
of Deity, e.g.. Is. 19^ Ps. 104^, and his enthronement upon the
cherubs. The contrast of the human being lies with both the
Ancient and the beasts: God, man, beast, cf. Ps. 8. The pass.
304 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
'he was presented' (JV 'he was brought near') is the proper
rendering of the Aram, idiom of the act. pi.; cf. v.^ and Note at
2^^ The idea is that of a royal audience; cf. the identical "|T13"lp
i"'1KniD mp, 'I presented thee before Sennacherib/ ^PO pap.
50, 1. 2 (= AP Ahikar, 1. 50), cf. 1. 6; also n^nS ^:S^ Q^Sf^'l, EVV
'presented tliem,' Gen. 47^ There follows in v." the description
of the viceregal investiture of the humanlike being. For the
attribution of dominion and glory and sovereignty, cf. the
similar terms used of Neb.'s imperial power, 4^^, 6^*. The v. de-
pends with its expression of an eternal and incorruptible king-
dom upon 2*^, q.v. for discussion of "ID^D 'sovereignty,' EVV 'a
kingdom.' For the standing phrase 'all peoples,' etc., cf. 3*,
etc. For the vb. 'serve,' used of both human and divine service,
s. at 3" Note; inf. v.^^ the people of the saints are the object of
this service. Comm., who insist that the vb. implies a divine
object, e.g., Keil, are in the wrong, as Zock. acknowledges. For
the interpretation of the 'Son-of-man,' s. Note at end of the
chap.
13. •'ny Djj] oy of accompaniment {cf. dj? of time, v.^). So 0 \i.zz^
Twv ve9eXwv = Mk. 14^^ {cf. Harris, Testimonies, 2, 76, for suggestion
of a basic Targum here), Rev. i' (the balance of the v. a non-Septua-
gintal citation), 2 Esd. 13', and so Just. M., Tryph., 31 = H. (6 Q exl
T. V. = Mt. 245°, 26", Rev. 14"- " = Just. M., ApoL, 51 Ixivw = Didache
16, and so B. Other citations have sv, Mk. 13-^ (D s-rct), Lu. 2". The
early Lat. texts vary, with cum (so Lucif., prob. OLat.), in, super, all
being found in Tert., s. Burkitt, Old Latin, 22. The accumulation of
rdgs. by no means justifies Nestle {Marg., 40) and Dalman {Worte Jesu,
198) in their arbitrary preference for the rdg. of d. — ^i^, ""^r] 3 retains
its original nominal character as 'the like of; s. BDB, GB (otherwise
Kon., Lgb., ii, i, 279). For Heb. cf. the use in Eze. i^', etc.; for Arab.
ka = mill, s. Wright, Gr. 2, §63. Cf. mnno iqI^ — ><p, "D?! For use of
mn with ppl. s. Kau., §76, 2, f. After ''"^t? the vb. is otiose, and recalls
the similar use in Syr. (S t^px^to, 0 Ipx^fJ-evos, OrC Lu. + ■^v. Or? -(-
auTb? •^v, i.e., an Aquilanic interpretation as of s'-in. Just. M., Tryph.,
31, epx6[JLevo(; x. ■^XOsv = 1C (Cj^r., Lucif., Aug.) ueniens tienit, com-
bination of CS and 0? — nidii pipj; iy] (B w? ■KoXaibq •fjfi.spwv, ancient
error for su? %. t]., but pre-Christian, as citation of it in Rev. i" shows;
s. the writer's article in Expositor, Sept., 1921, 214. Bousset, Rel. d.
Jtid., 303, cites this as a Septuagintal notion of a pre-existent Mes-
siah, but it is accidental. — inrnpn ininip] (& ol xapea-noxoTeg xapiiaav
auTy, the method of which mistranslation is patent. In 0 texts B
7"- " 305
130 (r?) TCpoa-rjxOT] aixw, al. xpoaTf]vix6Tj, which is supported by Lucif.,
oblatus est ei, the vb. being apparently interpreted sacrificially as in
Ezr. 6i°- 1', /IPO pap. i, 1. 25 (AP no. 30). Or^ OrC (106 A al.) Lu.
Ivcoxtov aJTou •^upoaTjvix^T). A variant appears in A 26 evwirtov ajToO
irpoaTjyayov ajTov, which is supported by Just. M., Try ph., 31, xpoaifj-
yayov otJirbv = Tert., Jif. Marc, iii, 7 addu.xerunt eiim (s. Burkitt, 0/i
Latin, 22. 27 ff.). With Burkitt this rdg. appears to be a revision of the
faulty (S, not a variant of 0. The same rdg. appears in (]Ss™k, which
Swete reverts into i^yytl^ov, but rather = xpoffTjyayov. Which was the
original one of the 0 rdgs. it is difficult to decide; either is a possible tr.,
and either may be a corruption of the other. — 14. ^^^l] & H as though
^'^\; s. at vP. — id'^ci i,-'''! y^hz'] 05 s^ouat'a, Hex. plus y.. xqi-f) paat-
XtxT); just below a misplaced gloss x. xaaa So^ot. C/. Mt. 28^* sooOt)
[jLot iraua e^ouai'a, y.xX., a citation ignored by N.T. edd. — n''J'.1'Si] Or^-C
Lu. Q om. conj. — jihSd'] Hal construction of purpose; similar cases,
v.'^ bis ; these to be added to cases cited in Kau., §73, 3, b, Mar., Gr.
§130. This use of the impf. appears in Arab., s. Wright, Gr. 2, p. 26,
D; also in Heb., e.g., Jer. 5-^ B A 35 49 90 232 c SouXeuouatv, al.
SouXeuffoufftv = ds.
15-27. Daniel's anxiety and the interpretation of the vision.
15. As for me Daniel, my spirit was anxious on account of this,
while the visions of my head were troubling me. The emphasis on
the first person is not due to the pseudonymous habit, with
vLeng.; it marks the break in the vision when the seer comes
to himself. The vb. rendered 'was anxious' {cf. a similar phrase,
2^) has been variously interpreted, e.g., 'was horrified,' 0 U
Bert.; 'was grieved,' Aph. Syr. (for the woes threatened to
Israel), contristatus , deDieu, or contritus fuit, Calv., and so AV
RW; 'was pained,' Dr., JV. The vb. however has the sense of
being 'short' in spirit, and means constraint, impatience, anxi-
ety, and the like. This oppression is the motive which makes
the seer bold to accost one of 'the assistants.' Cf. the similar
phrase in 2 Esd. 3^^, excessit cor meum. On the other hand. Rev.
5*, sometimes adduced as a parallel, implies grief. The tr. 'on
account of this,' in place of the traditional 'in the midst of my
body' (EVY), is obtained by a slight change and shifting of the
Aram, letters, is supported by ^ and accepted by many mod-
erns; s. Note. For the final clause cf. 4^, etc. 16. I approached
one of the Attendants to ask him the surety concerning all this ;
and he said to me that he woidd make me know the interpretation
of the things. The usual rendering, 'one of them that stood by,'
20
3o6 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
ignores the force of the ppl. of the Aram.: 'the standing ones/
i.e., those who were in attendance on the heavenly monarch;
the term is taken from court hfe, s. Note at i^. Cf. Hipp., iv,
8, "the angels who stand before the Glory." The interpreter
angel appears in Eze. 40-48, Zech. 1-7, the later cc. of this book,
I En., Test. XII Patr., Jubilees, 2 Baruch, 2 Esd. (Cha.); in
the earlier prophecy God himself spoke, and yet there was from
early times the mediation of 'the Angel.' The second part of
the V. gives a revision of the usual rendering, which is awkward ;
s. Note.
15. nnsHN] S. Kau., p. 81, §2; mll'el accent is to be expected, cf.
mrjnn 2^^. The dagh. in i represents -t-, cf. ^'^■"'?P > ^';?i'. The vb.
= etymologically Heb. ixp {cf. Pesh. Mt. 24--), used of mental impa-
tience, anxiety, and so here Ken.'s Heb. MS, n-isp. — Sn^jt n:^] For the
abs. pron. cf. Ezr. 7-'; so in the papp. njx nh >h>i APA B, 1. 8, and I. 9,
njx >ni3; cf. njNi ]njii t>3 in the pap. in PSBA 1907, 260 f. = AP
no. 81, 1. 14; for the same use in Heb. s. GK §135, 2, e.g., inf. 8'- ^°. —
—■r\p,\ X1J3] So Mich., Gin., Str., Kit.; Bar ^}M, s. his note. The
traditional and still dominating explanation connects njnj with M,)
'sheath,' i Ch. 21^', also in the Targums, a word of Sanskrit origin {cf.
also Tisdall, JQR 2, 367); so the Jewish and early Prot. comm., Bux-
torf, Kau., p. 94, top, Nold., GGA 1884, 1022, Mein., Bev., Behr.,
Kamp., Pr., Dr., Kon., Hwh. Sa. tr. 'in my body.' This interpretation
requires a radical change of punctuation (orig. = nidlidna), while the
final vowel is variously treated as a suffix (s. Kau., Kamp.). Two
Rabb. passages, e.g., Sank. io8a, 'lest their soul should return to its
sheath' njij (s. Rabb. Lexx.), as is often admitted, may merely de-
pend upon the interpretation of the present passage. A parallel is found
by some in Job 27', and Polanus has compared Pliny, Hist. Jiat., vii, 53,
"donee cremato eo remeanti animae uelut uaginam ademerint." Pref-
erable is the explanation apparently first advanced by Capellus, fol-
lowed by Bert, and, of recent comm., dEnv., Jahn, Mar., Ehr., Cha.,
BDB, GB, that the phrase is a corruption of ^p Vi^- V>^ = 'on
account of in JAram., e.g., Targ. Yer. Gen. 12". I note Syr. ]i2 used
similarly, Wright, Apoc. Acts, 215, 1. 19. Torrey, Notes, I, 282, prefers
rdg. pj2 (= JAram. jua, s. Dalman, Gr. 221, 226/., 239), with origin
from Pers. gon, 'color,' of which gen as here would be a variant. (S»
apparently agrees with this modern interpretation in ev toutois (=11
in his), along with a doublet sv xqi bg6nL(XTi ir^q vuxt6<;; 0 Iv Tfj e^si [j.ou,
by which noun 0 tr. in 7-', so supporting Torrey's derivation. This
understanding of 0 is better than that of Bert.'s, who cfl. •"''i-' = .\
e^is Jud. 14^. Nestle, Marg., 41, follows the same line and would read
here "'1? or ^^^''^. & has ••aocD 1J3 'in my bed,' prob. finding nj.i in
the second term and interpreting from f<''JiJ 'bed.'— 16. ^'^"^i'^] The usual
Kr. N-'Dip is omitted by M. — '^"^'^I] See at 2*\ — '''^.?'?] Impf. of purpose;
s. on irnSfj"' v.'''. — •'jj>-nn> n^Sd tj'di >h idn] VLeng. has rightly seen
that the impf. is one of purpose, and represents the idiom in German
by 'er sagte es mir zu und so wollte er mir kund thun.' Cf. i Ki. i"
^h i-^M . . . n: 1-ins, 'bid [Solomon] that he give me.' The idiom ap-
pears exactly in Arabic. I note in 'Usama ibn Munkid (ed. Deren-
bourg), p. ID, 1. 19, kultii lahti fa-ta'dina It 'an 'udaiwana, 'I said to
him that (and) he should permit me,' etc.; somewhat similar cases in
Wright, Gram., 2, pp. 31/. The usual tr. 'told' for 1-n makes the vb.
entirely parallel to ''jj;rnini, is superfluous then, while idn in that
sense should have the obj. expressed, e.g., 4^. 0 felt the awkwardness
and rendered elicev t'Jjv dcxp^^stav = &, and H in paraphrase, and so
Bert.
17. 18. The interpreter gives a summary explanation of the
vision. 17. These great beasts, which [to he explicit] are four [in
number]: four kings shall arise from the earth. The Grr. tr.
'kingdoms' by way of interpretation; but the individual king
can stand for his empire, cf. 8^° and Neb. as the head of gold in
c.^ The nuance 'from the earth' harks back to 'from the sea,'
v.^ Both d and © introduce at the end of the v. a statement of
the destruction of these kingdoms; but that is implied dramati-
cally in the continuation, 18. And the Saints of the Most High
shall take over [cf. 6^ (5")] the sovereignty and shall possess it for-
ever. The word 'saint,' Aram, tyi'lp, Heb. l^^^p, used of members
of the Church of Israel, is found only in this chap., 8^^, Ps. 16^,
34'°; for the thought cf. Ex. 196, 'Ye shall be to me a kingdom
of priests, a whole nation' (cf. inf. 12^). Its equivalent ajio'i
became the standing name for members of the Christian Church.
(See Dr. on the other far more frequent word hastd, also trans-
lated 'saint' in the EVV.) The word translated 'Most High'
occurs only in this combination, also w.^^- 2^- 27, it is a unique,
Hebraizing word (pJl'^^y) corresponding to the Aram. S""-?!?, e.g.,
V.24 ('against the Most High'), and s. Comm. at 32". The term
was probably a current one among the Chasidim. It is cited in
Schechter's Zad. Fr., 20, 1. 8. As argued in Note at end of the
chap., the saints of the Most High are the group typified by
the Human, v.^^
3o8 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
17. NPaiai] <S B Q 26 132 149 h-"' om., al. to: [x.sf&Xa, Lucif. magna.
— I'^^] So edd., exc. Bar, Kt. jun, Kr. pjs; the only instance of this
form; it is used as copula. pj« n = 0 to: [Tsau.]; <S elai and om. y^ns.
Jahn, Cha. indorse (S, but the argument is weakened by observing
that 05 syntactically rearranges the broken construction of the Aram.,
'these beasts . . . four kings shall rise' {cf. vP). — p^Sc] (g 0 potat-
Xetat = 1]h.^, so Ken. 253 = H regna ; (5 accepted by Knab., Jahn,
Cha., but with Bert., Kamp. the change is needless; cf. 'king' for
'kingdom,' 8^°. In c. 11 the text authorities vary much as between
the two nouns. — n;?ix p Ji^ip"'] ^ by pregnant construction of j::,
dfxoXoOvTat ixb i%q yf^i;, which has induced the plus in 0 texts at
if6T)aovTa[, which fails, however, in Lucif. Jahn, Cha. prefer (8 vs.
1^; Ehr. supposes a lacuna. — For H cod. Am. gives correct construction
of v. vs. text. rec. — 18. rJ''\V.] P]. of the abstract ('majesty'); s. on
ITiSht 2" and Comm. on 4^^. The similar pi. D'K'^ii? Hos. 12', etc.,
protects this understanding, against Hitz., Bev., Behr., Mar., who
argue for the phenomenon of pluraHzation of both nouns where the
first is the proper pi., exx. in GK §124, q. The case of a^'^x ija Ps. 29')
etc., is no proof, for QiSx = ain^rx. It is remarkable that the Aram,
word ^tr''^. otherwise used in the book also occurs v.-^, alongside of
pjvSy. But in this prob. current term of the day the Saints preferred
the Hebraic to the Aram. word. Or the Heb. word may have slipped
in from the Heb. orig. of the chap. The word belonged to the common
Heb. stock, e.g., Phoen. 'EXtouv; but nouns in -on occur in Aram., s.
Kau., §61, 3, Powell, Siipp. Heb. §§44. 45. — pjon^] Also v.-f = 'take
in fief-possession,' s. on njdh 2". — N^nSj? d'^j? nj;i uzhy n;] (& 0 om. the
first member (supplied in Q V Lu.), and prob. with right Mar., Lohr
(but against Kamp.'s judgment) om. it on the ground that the parallel-
ism is improved. A similar plus appears in the Song in c. 3, v. <"". The
combination H'^thy dS;? is unique; it possesses superlative significance,
s. on jtiSn nSx 2".
19-22. The seer desires more particular information about
the fourth beast. 19. Then I desired to ascertain about the fourth
beast, which was diverse from them all, exceeding terrible, its
teeth of iron atid its claws of brass, devouring, crushing, and stamp-
ing the residue with its feet ; 20. and about the ten horns which
were on its head, and another which came up, and there fell before
it three, and that horn, it had eyes and a mouth speaking big things,
and its appearance was greater [i.e., it looked bigger] than its fel-
lows. 21. / was beholding, and that horn was making war with
the Saints and prevailed over them, 22 . until that the A ncient came,
f'-'' 309
and the decision was given for the Saints of the Most High, and
the time arrived that the Saints possessed the sovereignty.
The passage follows the description in w.''- *, with some addi-
tional features, which have led many critics to desire to incor-
porate them in the first instance. On the other hand, Sellin and
Holscher would treat these expansions as secondary; s. Int., §21,
c. 19. 20 constitute a long period composed of relative clauses
(cf. 2"- ^^). The syntax of v.^° is improved by following a sug-
gestion by Torrey (s. Note) so as to read: 'before which three
horns fell, which had eyes.' 19. The feature of the 'nails of
bronze' is new; the monster is like the Bab. sirussii beast. 21
introduces the fresh item that ' that horn ' ' made war with the
saints and prevailed over them' {of. Rev. 11^, 13^). Some critics
have desired to postulate a lacuna between w.^ and ^ once con-
taining this element, but then the mystery of the vision would
have been revealed too early and undramatically. On the other
hand, the seer himself is here anticipating the interpretation,
and it is probable that this passage is a later addition; s. further
Comm. on v.^^. The seer's contemporary interest is revealed by
his inquisitiveness concerning the last beast and the judgment,
which hitherto have been hid in figures. 22. Read with most
comm., RVmg JV 'judgment was given for the saints,' i.e.,
decision was rendered for them; s. Note. The sentence 'judg-
ment was given,' ^rT* Kl"''!, many critics (Ew., Bev., Mar.,
Kamp., Dr. (?), Lohr, Cha.) desire to amend: 'the court sat
(:nri'' «:n = v.^o) and power was given' (^H'' S^t^^tyi), the
present lacuna having been caused by haplography. But the
text of ?j| is adequate.
19. ^'T^] Kau., p. 79, eft. ^'.Il; 4I, and finds here 'Abschwa-
chung des e zu I'; but Nold. in his review, p. 1019, explains the vowel
from the internal i of the root. — *"'??-] So the edd. = Pael inf.; but
vulgar texts and mss ^'^'-^^V., which is preferred by vLeng., Hitz.,
Mein., who eft. v.^*. There is no reason to tamper with the good idiom
here = 'make sure, ascertain,' or with Behr. to suppose implicit change
of subject for the inf., cfl. 2'\ Ex. 32^9.— ^;V^] So edd., exc. Bar '^)W;
the former is act. ppl., and so ?'^T v.^, V.V^ 5'; the other pass, ppl., or
adjectival, and following the Targumic pointing. The latter is more
appropriate here and v.^ while T^F 5^ is properly verbal. — 20. nnx] (5
a doublet toO hhc, Toij d'XXou as at v.^.— i't??'' ^V^l^] 0 rd. as ppls.,
dva^ivToc; v.aX Exrivdl^ovTo?, i.e., as '^P? (s. at v.') and ^'^^j i.e..
3iO A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
the 5r. rdg., a sure proof that hSdj was in his text; s. on ipflj 5'. —
H'-mp jd] 0 partitively xwvTtpwTwv, c/. v.^^ — pn] Also v.", 2" = ij^wtf. —
pT Njipi nVn] = (S; 0 om., Or^c Lu. suppl.; but Q xpfa (c/. 230
Tpfa xlparot) = Lucif., and this may have been in orig. 0. 'That [horn] '
would still remain outside of 0's witness, which corroborates Torrey's
suggestion, I, 282, that we read p:-\p for pT Njnpi, which came in
from v.". — 21. pirnp] Anarthrous as at 8^*, Ps. 16'. — pS nSj^] Sji
with S of the obj., so also in Heb.— 22. ^^\ ^^'^] <& 0 xV xpt'atv (xb
%pi[L(z) eSwxe = & B, i.e., ^^]; cf. variants at v.'^ Two interpretations
have been given, both of which were advanced by the early Prot.
comm.: (i) 'decision was rendered for,' which has the vote of the ma-
jority and of all recent comm., and so the view of AEz., 'he gave them
revenge'; cf. Heb. pi || iddc'd nr;-, Dt. lo^', Ps. 140". (2) 'The (power
of) judgment was given to,' properly denied on the ground that God
is the judge in this chap. Of this interpretation there is reminiscence
of the passage in Wis. 3', the righteous 'will judge nations and rule
peoples,' and in Mt. 19^', 'when the Son of Man sits on the throne of
his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes
of Israel,' and i Cor. 6^, ' Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the
world?', and in a combination of v.' and this v. in Rev. 20*, xptVa eSoGtj
oeuToi?. It is this 'analogy of Scripture' which has induced some comm.
to take the second interpretation. — x:2i] = 'term,' s. at 2^^ and inf.
v.*". The following phrase is one of result; cf. 2"- ", and s. Mar., Gr.
§130. — ''^''nv] For expected ''^'^r'^, which Mar. demands, and Kamp.
finds unnecessary, cf. ''''''^i? 5-°, 7'^
23-27. The interpretation of the fourth beast.
23. Thus he said : The fourth beast —
A fourth kingdom shall be upon earth :
which shall be different from all the kingdoms,
And it shall devour all the earth :
and shall trample it and crush it.
24. And the ten horns —
Out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise :
and another shall arise after them,
And he shall be different from the first ones :
and three kings shall he lay low.
25. And he shall speak words over against the Highest :
and shall wear out the Saints of the Most High ;
And he shall think to change seasons and law :
And they (the saints) shall be given into his hand :
For a time and times atid half a time.
y23-27 211
26. But the court shall sit :
and his dominion shall he taken away :
for utter destruction and annihilation.
27. And the sovereignty and the dominion and the greatness of
the kingdoms under the whole heaven :
shall be given to the people of the Saints of the Most High ;
Their sovereignty an everlasting sovereignty :
with all dominions serving and obeying them.
The angel speaks in a poetical rhapsody, with free use of
metrical forms; cf. Mar., Cha.
23. 'AU the earth': as was said of the Pers. empire, 2^*. The
three vbs. of the beast's activity are picture words: 'devour'
(lit. 'eat') = 'destroy,' as Is. 9", Jer. 10"; 'trample,' of the
treading of oxen, and so figuratively as here, Is. 41 ^^ Mi. 4^^; cf.
the accumulation of similar terms in 2*°. 25. 'Speak words
(over) against the Highest ' : cf. English ' speak against ' ; speak-
ing words had in itself an evil connotation, cf. Hos. lo^ 'Wear
out': another picture word, that had come to be equivalent with
^to humble,' i Ch. 17^. 'The Highest' and 'the Most High'
represent two different words in the original, s. Comm. at v.^^^
'Think' is a good idiomatic tr. of an Aram, word {cf. the Pesh.)
with connotation of 'expect.' 'Seasons and law': the 'seasons'
(JV; 'times' AV RW) are the calendar feasts of the Church;
the word j^JDT = Heb. cn^ltt, Gen. i", Lev. 232- ^, etc. It was
blasphemy against Deity to attempt to change these everlasting
ordinances; the book of Jubilees is a commentary on this article
of faith. Morgenstern, 'The Three Calendars of Ancient Israel,'
Hebrew Union College Annual, 1924, p. 75, suggests that the
passage refers to an attempt by Antiochus at revision of the
calendar. The word 'law' has occurred above in its primary,
governmental sense, e.g., 2^^, 6^; then of religious law, 'the law
of his God,' 6^ and so here practically = 'religion.' In Ezr. j^"^,
etc., it denotes the Thorah. The historical interpretation of this
indictment is found in i Mac. i*^^-: 'The king [Ant. Epiph.]
wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people and
that each should forsake his own laws. And all the nations
agreed according to the word of the king; and many of Israel
consented to his worship, and sacrificed to the idols, and pro-
faned the sabbath. And the king sent letters by the hand of
messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, that they
312 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
should follow laws strange to the land, and should forbid whole
burnt offerings and sacrifice and drink offerings in the sanctuary,
and should profane the sabbaths and feasts . . . that they
might forget the Law and change all the ordinances.' There
follows the history of the execution of this Nihilistic edict.
With the interpretation of the figure here as the type of Anti-
christ (e.g., in Rev.), this historical ref. came to be entirely
ignored, exc. by a few, Aph. Syr., ApoUinaris, Polych., and
'times and law' were interpreted of the world's institutes, the
two terms referring to divine and human statutes (e.g., Calv.,
Hav., Keil). Grot, restored the historical interpretation by ref.
to Mac. Among curiosities of interpretation may be noted
Jeph.'s suggestion of Mohammed's change of the Kiblah, and
Geier's of his change of the calendar.
This rather abstract ref. to the terms of Ant.'s persecution
raises the question whether the passage in v.^^, ' and the same
horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them' is
original. It is remarkable that this extreme statement should
not be repeated in the interpretation, and equally difficult to
see how the seer himself could see the thing figured. Either the
writer has forgotten himself, or the passage is a later intrusion.
Of the comm. Ehr. alone has recognized the inconcinnity of the
passage. The omission of the passage would give an earlier date
for the composition of the passage than that of the war with
the Maccabees.
25 (cont.). Tor a time and times and half a time' pp IJ?
py ib2^ i'':ij;i = Heb. at 12^ 'for a time, times and a half.'
These are 'the times of the Gentiles,' Lu. 212*. The word for
'time' is another than that for seasons just above (but AV RW
* times ' in both places). The extent of time is expressed, in apoc-
alyptic fashion, indefinitely, and the problem is whether a defi-
nite term is meant or an indefinite era is symbolically expressed.
Essaying an exact interpretation, 'time' may be interpreted as
'year' after the usual interpretation at 4" (q.v.). The traditional
and by far the most common understanding of 'times' is as of
a dual; the word is pointed as a pL, but the Aram, later having
lost the dual, the tendency of M is to ignore it in BAram. (s.
Note on 'eyes,' v.^). Accordingly 1 -\- 2 -\- }4 = 3/^ years.
This term is identical with the half-year week of 9" — 3>^
years, and is roughly approximated by the 2,300 evenings and
f'-'' 313
mornings of 8^^ = 1,150, although this figure falls considerably
short of the required number of days, since 3^^ solar years =
1,278 days, and 3>^ years at 360 days = 1,260. (The 1,290 and
1,335 days at 12"- 1- are later additions.) On these data s. ad
locc. and Int., §21, d. This interpretation of our passage was
fixed in the ist cent, a.d., for in connection with the citation of
it in Rev. 12^^ the apocalyptist interprets it as meaning 42
months, 11^, 13^, and 1,260 days, ii^ So also the contemporary
Josephus with his period of 3^^ years for the devastation of the
temple by Antiochus in B.J. pref. 7; i, i, 7, which term is a
reminiscence of Dan., for in ^/ xii, 7, 5, he follows i Mac. in
making the term exactly three years {v. inf.). The Christian
comm. naturally follow suit, e.g., Hipp., Theodt., and Jer. with
his grammatical comment, doubtless gained from his Jewish
teachers: '^iempora, iuxta hebraici sermonis proprietatem, qui et
ipsi dualem numerum habent, duos annos praefigurant." Sa.
also has the dual (so noted by Ra. here, and AEz. at 12^). The
Fathers, following the Biblical interpretation, refer the era to
the dominion of Antichrist, with a few notable exceptions. Aph,
Syr., Polych., Apollinaris see in it the time of the devastation
of the temple. This historical interpretation was taken up again
by Grot., Junius, Polanus, and is followed, of later scholars, by
Bert., Rosen., vLeng., Maurer, Hitz., Stu., dEnv. (with typo-
logical reference to Antichrist), Bev., Pr., Dr., Mar., Cha., Cur-
tis (in DB), Kamp. (in EB), Kon., Mess. Weiss., 310, et al. ■
The most natural terminus ad quern is Judas' rededication of
the temple in the month Chislev Era Sel. 148 = December 165
B.C., I Mac. 4^2 ff.^ The initial attack of Ant. upon Jerusalem
was in Era Sel. 143 =170 B.C., but the prohibition of the cult
and devastation of the temple did not begin until 'full two
years' later, i.e.. Era Sel. 145 = 168 B.C., s. i Mac. i^"- ^^ Ace.
to 4^ the rededication occurred on the anniversary of the prof-
anation of the temple, so the term of the devastation for i Mac.
is three exact years. For the dates s. Schiirer, GJV 1, 200, n.
39; 208, n. 7. (But ace. to 2 Mac. 10^ the devastation lasted
but two years; this is an item in the disputed question as to the
relative value of i and 2 Mac.) With Bert., al., the extra ^
year may include the months preceding the actual profanation
of the temple. If the datum is post eventum, there is no reason
to dispute what was in the writer's mind as to the facts. But
314 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
if it is prophetic, the question arises why the scrupulous 'half
a time/ why not two or three years, or the like? This is a prime
argument of those who oppose the historical interpretation. It
may however be suggested that 3^ years is a current phrase
for half a sabbatic lustrum, as we might say 'half a decade,'
'half a century,' etc. The sabbatic years were rigorously ob-
served in agriculture by the Chasids, as we know from i Mac,
while the term of seven years was current in law, e.g., Ex. 21^.
With this solution we find the writer using a cryptically ex-
pressed but fairly exact definition of time. If the passage is pro-
phetic of the termination of the Antiochian persecution, we must
admit it to be a remarkably approximate prediction of a future
event. A similar instance of such a short-term prediction, which
history shows was fulfilled, is that by Isaiah, Is. 8^, who prophe-
sied that while his as yet unborn child was still an infant, i.e.,
within two or three years, Damascus would be vanquished, a
prediction that came about within three years, 735-732. For
similar exact prophecies of the same prophet cf. 16'^, 21^^, 291^-;
in the case of Jeremiah, the fate of the prophet Hananiah, c.
28. Particularly Dr., pp. Ixv seq., and Cha. stress this predic-
tive element.
But the contrary opinion insists that ' time and times and half
a time' is indefinite or symbolic. And so some exegetes who
would hold to a contemporary, not distant application, but re-
gard the term as altogether vague. For criticism of the 'his-
torical' interpretation, s. esp. Keil, Zock., Mein., and Behr.,
denying the definiteness of the 7,^2 years. The actual pi. and the
indefinite i^£ understood as ' portion ' (although in the papp. 'S
means constantly 'half') are insisted upon. So Jeph. in as
many words; Tirinus paraphrases: "seu longo, seu breui, tem-
pore"; and Behr.: "das gewohnliche Zeitmaass (ein Jahr), dazu
dasselbe mehrfach genommen, dazu dasselbe theilweise genom-
men." However, the 'half still militates against the theory of
a round number. The early Jewish and general Patristic in-
terpretation was followed by the early Prot. comm. (with a
few exceptions noted above), referring the period to the reign
of the Antichrist. The most popular interpretation is that
which is thus presented by Calv. : ^^tempiis: pro tempore aliquo,
cuius finis est in consilio Dei; in tempora: in prorogationem.
temporum; usque ad sedionem, uel diuisionem; ut significet ali-
^23-27 ^j^
quern modum fore et finem his malis, adeoque priorem tristitiam
mitiget." The latter point is illustrated from the shortening of
those days for the sake of the elect in Mt. 24^2. Vatablus holds
that 7 is the perfect number, the halving of it gives the inferior
number of Antichrist. Similarly Kran., Klief., Keil, who adduce
the 3>2 years of the famine in Elijah's day, ace. to Lu. 4^^ Ja.
5^^ (But this Judaistic notion of the time, not in the Elijah
story, where only the third-year famine is noted, is perhaps set
by our passage; s. the N.T. comm.) This figure is eagerly taken
up by the maintainers of the mythological interpretation of the
chap. (v. sup. on w." ^ ■) ; 3>^ is regarded as an apocalyptic sym-
bol like other multiples of 7, e.g., Bousset, Rel. d. Jud., 284, and
his comm. on Rev. 13 ^
26. 27 repeat variantly w."- ^*. The word 'kingdoms [under
the whole heaven] ' appears in AV as 'kingdom,' whether through
ignoring of the peculiar construct idiom here, or through insist-
ence on the kingdom of Christ; GV abbreviates, prob. for the
same reason: 'das Reich, Gewalt und Macht unter dem Him-
mel.' For 'under the whole heaven' cf. g^^ and Note there. In
2^b the pronouns of the Aram, in the phrases translated above
'their kingdom' and 'obeying them' (with JV) are sing., 'its,'
'it,' doubtless referring to 'the people,' to whom in v.'' 'the
sovereignty' is given. From the context the ref. to 'the Most
High ' as the nearest antecedent is fallacious ; but it is accepted
by 0 and AV RW ('whose' with B or 'and his,' 'him') and by
a few comm., e.g., Keil. Calv. sees in it the submission to the
Christian Church. The Biblical interpretation is of the reign of
the Saints, s. Note.
23. Njirn] (S correctly Siofoet, and so 0 at vv.'- ''; but here 0 exe-
getically uxepe^st = 0 irTin = "B mains erit ; similarly 0 S* II v.^*. —
njpini nj-^nn] Cf. 2*°. (S here is in contracted or corrupt form, and
was pieced out from 0 in Hex. For (8> dvaffTaxwaet, cf. Note at end of
2". — 24. linN] B om. 0 exepo? by haplog. of xo£TaaTT)a|sTateT£|po<;|o?.
— nyt'-'] (5 an exegetical plus, [Stotast] xa/.o;c;, carried over into 0 texts
(exc. 230) = Iren., Lucif. malis. — s'^mp p] 0 xavxa; xoii? s'tixpoaOsv,
230 plus aJTou (i.e., as in v.=°), indicating a var. tr. = Iren., Lucif., Aug.
—25. 1?'?] Cf. "'?'? 65; with this mng. cf. ^^t] 10", and Sy in the par-
allel passage 11'^; i.e., uersus > aduersus (vLeng.); or more exactly
with Behr., 'gegeniiber'; with Calv., "sedebit quasi ad latus Dei, hoc
est, ex opposito: manifestus hostis erit"; and so Hav., "in dem Aus-
drucke liegt . . . das sich Gott gleich stellen"; c/. Keil. This is Sym.'s
3l6 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
interpretation (in Jer.), sermones quasi Dens loquetur (corr. loquitur),
cf. 2 Thes. 2*. Tirinus, Kon., Ewh., recognizing a difficulty, tr. 'con-
cerning.' May the word be identified with Arab, dadd, bidaddi, 'against,'
which would have coalesced in Aram, with sadd? — ^2V,] For origin of
the rt. s. Haupt, AJSL 22, 259. Heb. nS^ = 'be worn out,' of clothes,
then ' perish ' ; the Piel used actively ' use up ' ; for the mng. here cf. i Ch.
17' inSaS II imj>'S 2 Sa. 7"; for the former vb. Curtis suggests that it
was supplanting the older nj;j. In Targ. Is. 3^^ xSa = Heb. jno. Both
(S xaTaTpt'i];£i = II and 0 xaXatwaEt = 21 (Lucif.) inueterabit, give lit-
eral renderings; Lu. Taxetvwffst. Several mss (33 36 87 89 90 91 228 h--"
= A) xXavTiaet evidently error (preferred by Bert.) for xaXatwaet, cf.
II-'. # followed this early error with nSsj 'deceit,' i.e., nS3> rd. as
n'^3"', becoming the Syr. verbal form nSsj, which was then understood
as a noun. But Aph. Syr. understands n'^dj as a vb., 'will restrain.'
For Perles' suggestion of nSdi s. at 3-'. — i^D'] For the disputed rt. s.
Lexx. Cowley reads the vb. moD 'I thought,' in APO pap. 10, 1. 7 =
AP, no. 37. — m] For the anarthrous noun cf. N.T. yb[xoq. — jnnini]
'The saints' are the subject, not 'the times,' with some early Prot.
comm., and so evidently (5 0, which tr. with a sing. vb. — py ly
py jSiji pjiyi] For j-iy s. at 4"; the Heb. tr. 12' uses li'is. The
phrase is cited Rev. 12^*. If a dual was intended originally, it was
ignored by M, s. on ]-<i^'; v.'. — jSd] = 'half,' as in the papp., e.g.,
APA pap. C, 1. II. For the conj. with jSa B 22 89 130 132 149 have
xa£ ye; elsewhere ye = ^n; here it appears to represent a glossated
numeral, poss. y = 3, e = ett) (or a symbol for 5^?). — 26. ^0'.] The
same form in J Aram., Syr.; Bar's suggestion, accepted by Behr., that
it is an abbreviated Ithpeel is absurd. 0 read it as perf. = v.'". —
njtaW] C5 0 ir ignore pron. suff. (0 Lu. hab.), cf. Ken. 153 Njta'^::'.—
nnain^ nnntrnS] Active with pass, implication; cf. npsjn^ (r^, inii
•With iv^n Jos. 2', etc., and cases in Syr. cited by Duval, GS §332, b.
— NDiD n;?] = 6"', but with opposite implication = 'utterly' = Heb.
on n;?. — 27. ^'^''^"1] See at 4", here = 'greatness,' as in Targ. — noSn
ninn] Unique case of const, before prep, phrase, a usage common in
Syr., s. Nold., SG §206.— r-Ji''"';' '^''^? d>I] = ^1p d? 12'. It is unnec-
essary to analyze with Mar., Gr. §118, into 'ein Volk, das aus Heiligen
des Hochsten besteht.' — '^0''^:?] The antecedent must be ^'i, cf. v.^.
(& stresses this dominion of the saints; and so Wis. 3^ (cited in Note,
v."). Rev. S'" paatXsuouaiv i%\ tt^s y^q, 22* PocatXeuaouatv sic, t. atvwva^
T. aiwvwv, cf. 20*. 0 strangely ignores, or avoids this attribution, assign-
ing the dominion to the Highest.
28. At this point the end of the word : so the literal tr. Cf. Jer.
Si'\ 'So far the words of Jeremiah,' In^Dn^ ^21 -Jn Ty,
CHAPTER 7, NOTE ON 'SON OF MAN' 317
and Ecc. 121^, 'The end of the word,' '^21 CjlD, a technical
term mng. ' book's end ' (s. Barton ad loc.) The usual tr. ' mat-
ter' for Xn^D is too indefinite here, although proper just below.
It includes the subject-matter of the vision, which however is
essentially a 'word' of God, cf. lo^, 'a word was revealed unto
Dan.' For the corresponding phrase at the opening of the story,
'beginning of words,' s. at v.^. / Daniel — much were my thoughts
troubling me: The seer is recalled to himself, as in v.^^; the
phrase, describing his affection of mind, appears above 5®- ^°.
And my color changed [for the phrase s. at 5®- ^- ^°], and the mat-
ter [a potential word] I kept in my heart. The literary composi-
tion of the vision was later, as indeed was the case with the
oracles of the great Prophets; a book was finally compiled and
concluded, 12'*. The phrase is cited again in Apocrypha and
N.T. after similar visions, s. Note.
28. "? '^^ = Heb. ni) ny, e.g., Ex. f^. (g tr. the phrase, ew? xaxa-
aTO(pf)s ToO Xoyou, attached to v.^^, i.e., 'up to the denouement (a dramatic
term) of the matter.'— iijna'> Mn] = 5", and cf. 5^- ^— nntsj •'^Sa nd'-d]
CJ. Gen. 37". 0 xb gfi\i.(x sv Tfj xapSi'qt [xou SieTT)pT]aa (O saxTjpi^a), cf.
Lu. 2^1, with Stex^psc (also cf. v."); also (g 4=^ Test. Levi 6^, S^',
2 Esd. 14".
NOTE ON 'SON OF MAN.'
The term translated above 'like a man' or a 'humanlike one' (v."), gen-
erally rendered verbatim 'one like unto a son of man,' is the most notable
crux in this book, the more crucial because with it is involved the Christol-
ogy of the N.T. However, it is fortunate that the comm. at the present
passage have been noticeably free from theological bias, the Messianic and
non-Messianic interpretations being found almost indifferently with con-
servatives and radicals. The present writer will confine himself to the
briefest possible discussion of the term in its context.
In the first place, the philology of the term is a matter of dispute. Was
it current and commonplace, or is it cryptic, involving a mystery? The
many theories fall, on the whole, into three classes, although withal they
develop their special miances. The three classes are as follows: (i) The
personal, Messianic interpretation, the eldest and, in past Jewish and Chris-
tian exegesis, the prevailing opinion; (2) the symbolical interpretation, the
'son of man' being type of the people of the saints, itself an ancient view;
(3) the mythological theory, of recent origin, which finds in the 'Son of Man'
a mythical and traditional figure of hoar antiquity — so joining hands in part
with the Messianic interpretation.
3l8 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
To begin with, the prep. ' like ' belongs to the agenda of the controversy.
Does the prep, indicate essence, identity (d verilatis), or similarity? A vague
pursuit of the prep, through the language brings us nowhere. But in this
chap, the same prep, is used in exactly parallel circumstances, 'like a lion,'
'like a leopard,' vv.*- ^, while the same notion is expressed in v.* by a ppl.
'h n^m 'resembling,' with no difference in mng. but for the sake of stylistic
alternation. 1 Analogy requires that the prep, here is equally symbolic; it is
exactly identical with 'like the appearance of a man,' 8^^ = lo'^ (with dif-
ferent words for 'man,' nir and homo), 'one like the likeness of sons of men,'
lo^^. It is not correct to speak of the prep, as affecting a mystery; it belongs
to the expression of visionary phenomena, in which the seer, whether spon-
taneously or through the use of conventional language, knows that he is
seeing only 'the like of something (so the Sem. use of the prep., s. Note);
similarly Volz, Jiid. Esch., ii: "der kbar 'enasch ist ein visionaler Mensch,
kein Mensch, wie ihn das gewohnliche Auge sieht, darum 3, aber es ist doch
gerade ein Mensch, wie das Wasser, der Lowe doch Wasser und Lowe sind."
There is a subtle distinction in v.^, where 'the like of an ancient is not said
(demanded by Cha.) ; the reason is that Deity is a person, whereas the beasts
and presumably the man are not real living entities but types.
As for the term 'son of man,' ^'^?*: "*?, in Syr. this, often in shortened form
barnd's, is the current word for a human being {homo). But Dalman- argues
that the term is not found in the PalAram. of early date; the pi. ntjn >j3
appears as a transliteration of the Heb. Divsn ij3 'sons of man'; in the later
Targums the pi. is more frequently found, also occasionally the sing. Fiebig
adds a case in a Rabb. tradition of the 2d cent, a.d., s. Schmidt, col. 4708.
Dalman holds that the later usage is due to the influence of the Oriental
dialect. He accounts for the term here on his theory of a Heb. original of
the chap., the background then being the common Heb. onx p. Dalman's
contention is borne out by the subsequently discovered Elephantine papyri,
where s'JX "i3, with also its pi., never appears. There the word 12J uir pre-
dominates by far (some 40 cases vs. NsrjN 8 times, the latter only in the
Ahikar papp.); it is used of the male, as inclusive of the woman (in legal
language), or in the distributive sense— in a word exactly like the Heb. U'^n
(which word itself also occurs twice). In Dan. the proportion is reversed,
B'JN occurs twice as many times as "laj. But this is due to the different sub-
ject-matter of the two lots of literature. It may be noted that "i3J and it-jn
are used in the Ahikar papp. somewhat synonymously — either may be used
in an axiom; but if the word is given an attributive adj., then ijj, not z':n,
is used. That is, 13J meant the individual, ii'JN the species. Still, it may
' Konig, Die messianischen Weissagungen, 28Q, insists on the distinction: the mon-
sters were only like certain beasts, but the figure here is 'menschenartig.'
' Worte Jesu, §ix, i, p. 191; his discussion is elaborated and amended by Fiebig,
Der Menschensohn, 1901, Schmidt, 'Son of Man,' EB coll. 4705-4740, introd. §_§,
Dr., p. 103, and his article 'Son of Man,' DB.
CHAPTER 7, NOTE ON ' SON OF MAN' 319
be asked, with Schmidt, whether the argument ex silentio is to be too much
depended upon. The term i3J meant primarily a male and was not always
suitable. The abstract Nr:N predominates in Dan., but its occurrence in 4-
is repeated in s-^ by nii'jn ijn, the one other occurrence of the latter being
in 2^*. The idiom of 'son of a species was common in Heb., and also in
Akk. (s. Del., Hwb., p. 390), while we have at least one occurrence of it in
the "equally unique term r^ha -\2 'a god's son,' 3". This case corroborates
the idiom for early Aram. The writer might have used here 12J, cf. 8'^ of
the angel; he might have used, Uke the papp., ^m; but the expression of
both category and individual was best expressed by czk -13. It is not a
beast, nor a divinity, 'a-son-of-God,' but a man who is raised to the empire
of the world. Accordingly mystery is not to be discovered in the term; it is
questionable whether Dr.'s suggestion that it is 'a choice semi-poetical ex-
pression' is to be accepted. The writer may have had in mind Ps. 8^, 'What
is man (i^un) that thou mindest him, or a son of man (dtn J^) that thou
reckonest him?' Curtis, DB i, ss6a, aptly eft. Ps. 80, where 'man || son
of man,' v.^* = Israel, is contrasted with the wild boar, v." = the heathen.
Unfortunately English gives no satisfactory equivalent, such as German
'Menschensohn.' Exactly, 'son of man' is 'a human.'
However much a student, for one reason or another, may be inclined to
find here a Messianic prophecy of a heaven-born Saviour coming to the
rescue and rule of his people, nevertheless the strict exegesis of the chap,
does not bear this out. The ' accurate ' interpretation given later on tells us
in so many words what is symbolized by the vision. Ace. to v.'* it is 'the
saints of the Most High' who 'shall receive the kingdom'; and in v." 'sov-
ereignty and dominion . . . are given to the people of the saints of the
Most High'; i.e., both statements are intentional replicas of v.". All comm.
find the parallel in the Stone in which culminates the great historical drama
of c. 2. Early Jewish and Christian exegesis which found in the Stone the
Messiah was logical in interpreting c. 2 and c. 7 in parallelism; but it is
illogical to understand the Stone of the Kingdom of God and the Son of
Man here as the Messiah merely because a personal figure is used.
The writer thus agrees with the majority of recent comm. on Dan., with
Mein., Bev., Pr., Dr., Mar., Cha.' For the English reader reference may
be made to Dr.'s admirable excursus, pp. 102-110, and to his article, 'Son
'Of other scholars who take the same position may be noted: Schiirer, GJV 2,
SQo: E. L. Curtis, 'Daniel,' DB (s. p. 556a); Hiihn, Die mess. Weissagungen, 1899,
I, 78; E. A. Edghill, An Enquiry into the Evidential Value of Prophecy, 1906, p. 371;
Lagrange, Le messianisme chez les Juifs, 1909, p. 66 (identifying the Man with the
Mace, heroes); Konig, Die mess. Weissagungen, 286 /. For the scholarship of the
18th and early 19th centuries s. vLeng., p. 335. For the 19th-century authorities
arrayed for the symbolic and the Messianic interpretation, s. Dr., p. 108, and
Schmidt, 'Son of Man,' EB coll. 4709, 4710, notes, and his extensive display of
the authorities in his earlier article, 'The "Son of Man" in the Book of Daniel,'
JBL 1900, pp. 22-28. ,
320 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
of Man,' DB. This view also possesses antiquity. Aphrem Synis notes that
the immediate interpretation of the Son of Man is the Jews, as later he in-
terprets the saints of the Most High, v.--, as the Maccabees; but even so, he
adds, the fulfilment of the prophecy is found in our Lord. This exegesis ap-
pears in the historical rubrics in this chap, in &. Also Theodt. observes that
this was the opinion of certain orthodox scholars. So AEz., against the cur-
rent Jewish Messianic interpretation, held that the Man represents Israel.
The notion came up in the early Prot. scholarship, s. Calvin's protestations
(in Pole), and Grot.'s notion is of interest, that 'the son of man,' = homo
priuatiis, indicates the Roman empire (so also he interpreted the Stone in
c. 2). Sa. translates, 'a youth,' 5a&Z). For other views s. Schmidt, col. 4715,
§15.
It must be admitted that the earliest interpretation of 'the Son of Man'
is Messianic. The term is frequent in the Parables of Enoch, En. 37-71,
where it occurs 14 times.'' The dependence upon Dan. 7 is patent from the
first reference, En. 46^ ^■■. 'And I saw One who had a head of days, and his
head was white like wool, and with him was another being whose counte-
nance had the appearance of a man, and his face was full of graciousness,
hke one of the holy angels. And I asked the angel who went with me and
showed me all the hidden things, concerning the Son of Man, who he was,
and whence he was, and why he went with the Head of Days. And he an-
swered and said unto me. This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness,'
etc. Without doubt this was the primitive Judaistic understanding of the
statement of the Lord at his trial, Mk. 14^=: 'I am [the Son of the Blessed];
and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and com-
ing with the clouds of heaven.' The Son-of-Man theme also appears in a
vision in 2 Esd., c. 13; the main body of the book belongs to the end of the
first cent, a.d., but c. 13 may be earlier than a.d. 70.^ In this vision elements
of Dan. have been freely drawn upon to compose an original creation. Vv.
^ "• read: 'I dreamed a dream by night, and I beheld, and lo ! there arose a
violent wind from the sea, and stirred all its waves. And I beheld, and lo !
the wind caused to come up out of the heart of the seas as it were the form
of a man. And I beheld, and lo ! this Man flew with the clouds of heaven.
. . . After this I beheld, and lo ! there was gathered together from the four
winds of heaven an innumerable multitude of men to make war against the
Man that came up out of the sea. And I beheld, and lo ! he cut out for
himself a great mountain, and flew upon it. But I sought to see the region
or place from whence the mountain had been cut out, and I could not.'
N.b. the combination with the Stone of c. 2. There follows the account of
^ See Dr., p. 107, n. i. Dr. presents the more important passages at length, pp.
106/. For criticism of some of the cases s. Schmidt, col. 471 1. The tr. below is
from Charles.
' S. Box, The Ezra-Apocalypse, introd. to the chap. Box's tr. is followed in the
citation.
CHAPTER 7, NOTE ON ' SON OF MAN' 32 1
the assault upon the Man by the peoples and their destruction by the
breath of his lips. Such a personification of the Son of Man into the Mes-
siah even at an early date — the Parables of Enoch were written within a
century after Dan.— is not at all surprising or improbable, as Bousset claims,
Rel. d. Jiid., 305 /. As noted above, how natural it was for the Servant of
Yhwh to be personified; cf. the naive inquiry of the eunuch. Acts 8^-"-.
Similarly the abstract expression of the nci" 'the growth' (EVV 'branch')
for the Davidic dynasty, Jer. ;^t,^^, was promptly Messianized, Jer. 23', Zech.
3', 6'^, the latter prophet writing within the same century as Jer.
The Messianic interpretation was apparently held by Akiba, first third
of 2d cent., who held that the thrones of v.'" were appointed for God and
David {Sank. 386, cited above ad loc). Joshua b. Levi, c. 250, taught that,
if Israel deserved it, the Messiah would come with the clouds of heaven,
after Dan. 7, or, if otherwise, riding upon an ass, after Zech. 9' (Sank. 98a).
This interpretation was followed by all the Jewish comm., with the excep-
tion of AEz., as noted above, including the Karaite Jepheth, e.g., Rashi,
'This is King Messiah.' * Finally in the consideration of the Messianic in-
terpretation may be noticed Porphyry's counter-notion that the Son of Man
is Judas Maccabee, to whom Jer. triumphantly responds: "docere debet
quomodo cum nubibus coeli ueniat," etc.
Of the recent comm. dEnv., Knab., Behr. hold to the Messianic interpre-
tation; so also Kamp., ' Daniel,' EB 1003, Volz, Jiid. Esch., 10 f. The strength
of the Messianic interpretation arises from the striking impression of the
figure of the Son of Man, but those who hold it must admit that that crown-
ing figure disappears at once in its subsequent identification with the king-
dom of the saints.
The third class of interpretation, the mythological, is of very recent date.
Its precursor is to be found in Schmidt's hypothesis that the Son of Man is
the angel Michael; s. his article JBL 1900, pp. 22-28, and cf. EB 4711a.
His basic argument is that in the subsequent chapters angels are described
as 'like the appearance of a man'; he enters the field of Bab. mythology by
taking Marduk as the prototype of Michael. See Volz, p. 10, for criticism
of this view: Michael is a well-known figure, the Son of Man here a future,
non-existent one. And if the beasts are not real, is it logical to demand
reality in the Son of Man? Volter in ZTNW igo2, 173 jf., would identify
the figure with a certain Amesha Spenta, a Persian genius incorporating the
Kingdom of God — a view criticised by Schmidt, col. 4710. Bertholet, in
Stade, Biblische Theologie, pp. 22 1_^., agrees with Schmidt's opinion, and
would incorporate that of Volter: "die Umdeutung ware dann durch die
Gestalt Michaels vermittelt."
« For the Talmudic and Targumic citations s. Dalman, Work Jcsu, §xi, 2, p. 201;
for the Jewish comm. Schottgen, Horae hebraicae, 2, 263; CBMich., ad loc; Kon.,
p. 299, n. i; and in general Dr., ll.cc. From v." was derived the Messianic name
"W:. 'cloud-man.'
32 2 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
But the most representative and wide-spread theory in this class is that
which was propounded at length by Gunkel in 1895, followed notably by
Zimmern, Bousset, Gressmann, A. Jeremias.' In his Schopfung und Chaos,
323-335, Gunkel expounds at length the vision in Dan. 7 (c/. Porter's resume
of the theory, DB 4, 261). He seductively adduces the primitive chaos myth
with its winds and monsters, finds antique traits in the setting of the divine
judgment, and assembles the numerous parallels from Bible and Apocrypha
to prove that we have to deal with a common body of primitive mythology.
With regard to the Son-of-Man theme he proceeds, p. 331, to the following
induction: "Auch der im Zusammenhange des Dan. so rathselhafte Men-
schensohn, der auf den Wolken des Himmels kommt, wird zur Tradition
gehoren; denn es ist schwer zu sagen wie der Verfasser von sich aus auf dies
Bild grade fur Israel hiitte verf alien konnen; zumal Israel ja in dem Gesichte
schon unter dem Namen 'die Heiligen' erwahnt wir. Im Mythus wiirde
'der Menschensohn' der Titel des Gottes-tJberwinders sein." For proofs of
this position Gunkel refers to 'below,' apparently to pp. 367^., where he
draws from the elaborations in Rev. and the Adam JK^admon specula-
tions.^
This theory was pursued by Zimmern far more exhaustively, as far as
the Bab. sources were concerned, in his treatment of Marduk and the
' Christological ' myths of that god, in KAT 370-396, esp. 391 f. From the
identity of the four beasts with the four world-ages, Zimmern concludes:
"So ist wahrscheinlich, dass . . . auch der '(himmUsche) Mensch' ur-
spriinglich von einem bestimmten Sternbild am Himmel seinen Ausgang
genommen hat. ' (Himmlischer) Mensch' wird also urspriinglich so viel
bedeuten wie ein bestimmtes Sternbild, das einen Menschen, bezw. einen
Gott in Menschengestalt darstellt, im Unterschiede von anderen Sternbil-
dern, die tierische und sonstige Gestalten aufweisen." Farther on, he sug-
gests identifying the Man with one of the constellations in the neighborhood
of Marduk's Bull, possibly the Charioteer or Orion. These mythological
possibilities, on the basis of later literature, are further pursued by Bousset,
Rel. d. Jud., 29s, 301 f. After a criticism of the current symbolical interpre-
tation and the concurrent argument that in Enoch the Son of Man was
promptly elevated to Messianic status, he concludes, p. 307: "Somit drangt
sich die Vermiitung auf, dass in der Gestalt des praexistenten Menschen-
sohnes zwei Gestalten miteinander verschmolzen sind: der judische 'Messias'
und eine praexistente himmlische Wesenheit, deren Ursprung und Herkunft
noch dunkel ist. . . . Damit ist das Gebiet angesteckt, auf dem wir zu
suchen haben." The same writer continues this theme, drawing especially
' For a recent criticism of this theory s. Konig, pp. 295 /.
' For criticism of Gunkel s. Giesebrecht's review in GGA 1895, 596^., and Well-
hausen's critique in his Skizzen ti. Vorarbeiten, 6 (1899), 215-249. Gunkel responded
to Wellhausen in ZWT 42 (1899), 581-611.
CHAPTER 7, NOTE ON 'SON OF MAN' 323
from Gnostic sources, in his Hauptproblente der Gnosis, 1907, chap. 4, 'Der
Urmensch,' noting the bearing upon Judaistic Uterature, pp. igt f. Gress-
mann follows in the same tracks in his Ursprimg der judisch-israeUlischen
Eschalologie, 1905, §33, 'Der "Mensch" im Daniel.' Gressmann does so
much credit to the more commonplace interpretation as to admit that "die
Originalitat des Arbeiters besteht allein darin, dass er den Menschen umge-
deutet hat auf Israel." But after this aside he continues: "alles Ubrige ist,
wie die Vision lehrt, zur Rekonstruktion des alten Mythus zu benutzen."
Similarly A. Jeremias, in his Das AUe Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients
(1906), has surrendered himself completely to the spell of Babylon; s. his
Index s.v. 'Menschensohn,' and especially p. 595, note on Dan. 7. He holds,
against Zimmern, that if an astral prototype is present, Nebo, not Marduk,
is to be thought of. He identiiies the term 'son of man' with the epithet
zir ameluti used of the mythological hero Adapa (= Adam) = Marduk, s.
pp. 9, 82, 168.
More space has been given to statement of this theory of interpretation
because its development is subsequent to the comm. on Dan. The writer
subscribes to the acute critique of the Pan-Babylonist school in Prof. Kem-
per FuUerton's admirable Presidential Address, 'Viewpoints in the Discus-
sion of Isaiah,' JBL 1922, pp. i-ioi, esp. pp. 71 ff. The fault he finds with
that school's treatment of Isaiah is not relieved by any demonstrations it
can give in the field of Dan., although here the Bab. influence might well be
expected to be of far more patent and potent character. That Bab. mythol-
ogy, current in letters, art and speech, should have influenced apocalyptic
literature goes without saying. But it is not convincing to argue back from
later Hterature like Rev., or even Enoch, to what must have been the mental
background of Dan. The first principle of interpretation, unless the com-
position is a crazy patchwork — and that may be said of some later apoca-
lyptic productions, in contrast to the poetic simplicity of this chap. — is to
allow the document to speak for itself as the product of the writer's mind,
and to subordinate extraneous influences, unless they are required to make
his thought intelligible. Not one of those ingenious scholars, working tire-
lessly over the same field, for which Bab. hterature affords an enormous
treasure, has been able to identify the Son-of-Man figure.
If we admit that the term 'son of man' is not in itself mysterious, and if
we avoid confounding it with the later interpretations, there is nothing
strange in its use as the type of Israel. It belongs to the Semitic genius to
personify the people, as in the ' I '-Psalms. The Servant of YiiWH is another
instance, which easily became personalized and Messianized. (Gressmann
is at least logical in insisting that the Servant of Yhwh is also a mythological
motive, op. cit., §29.) The present writer submits that the symbolical inter-
pretation of the Son of Man is wholly adequate to the chap. It is terse, but
we have not to speculate on sous-entendus. We must allow it its own origi-
nality and do justice to the simply but finely limned features of the drama
324 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
without thinking that every detail is a painful borrowing on the part of a
second-hand litterateur.^
CHAPTER 8. THE VISION OF THE RAM AND
THE BUCK.
1. 2. In the third year of Belshazzar Dan. finds himself in
vision as at Susa in Elam by the Ulai. 3-14 . He beholds a two-
horned ram butting toward three points of the compass; it is
attacked and destroyed by a one-horned buck appearing from
the west. In the place of its conspicuous horn arise four other
horns, and out of these a little horn which exalts itself even
against God, desecrates his sanctuary, and interrupts the daily
double sacrifice for 2,300 due celebrations. 15-26. The angel
Gabriel interprets the vision to the seer: the two-horned ram is
the Medo-Persian empire; the buck is Greece, and its horn the
first king, its four successors the four subsequent kingdoms, and
the little horn a king who is particularly described in his char-
acter and doings. 27. As aftermath of the vision the seer falls
sick, but returns to the royal business, still without comprehen-
sion of the vision. With this chap, the bk. reverts to Hebrew.
With the explicit interpretation of the two beasts as denoting
Medo-Persia and Greece (w.^°- ^i) and with the obvious allu-
sion to Alexander, it would seem that there can be no question
of the historical explanation of the vision. This interpretation
is as old as the Jewish Alexander Saga, s. Jos., A J xi, 8. Com-
mentators like Hippolytus and Jerome, who saw in the little
horn of c. 7 the Antichrist, and who, like Jer., contradicted Por-
phyry's identification of the little horn there with Antiochus,
admit without question the identity of the little horn here with
that tyrant. This chap, is patently a doublet of c. 7, and the
latter more cryptic chap, must, most reasonably, be interpreted
from c. 8. It seems like an amazing obstinacy of opinion when
scholars like Hengstenberg, Pusey, Wright, Wilson, refuse to
take Yawan-Greece in other than its historical sense and persist
in making it include the Roman empire even to the end of the
world.
' The writer has avoided pursuing the theme in the NT field. The articles hy
Dr. and Schmidt in DB and EB present the literature of the discussion; s. also a
brief survey in Preuschen, Hwb. d. N.T., igio, col. 1106, and for a recent treatment
of the problem in the N.T., Konig, pp. 300 /.
81-2 325
As a double to c. 7 this vision is notably weaker in poetic
force than its predecessor. In c. 7 the cryptic character of Apoca-
lyptic is well preserved; in this chap, the writer shows far more
zeal for the concrete, as in vv.^"- ^\ where he abandons the proper
elements of vision. If one may allow more than an artificial ori-
gin for the scene of c. 7 and find in it the elements of a real
psychological state, then this chap, explains itself as not a mere
doublet but as a reasoned commentary upon the other; cf. Int.,
§22, ft. It may be noted that as in c. 7 ^ has the historic rubrics
identifying the several symbols with the things signified, Darius,
Alexander, his death, Antiochus.
1. 2. Introduction to the vision. 1. In the third year of the
reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, me Daniel,
after that which appeared to me at the first. 2. And I saw in the
vision : — Now it was in my seeing that I was in the hurg Shiishan,
which is in the province of Elam, [and I saw in the vision] and I
was by the stream Ulai.
The datum of 'the third year' of Belsh. appears to be gra-
tuitous, unless there was a tradition of a three years' reign of
that monarch; s. Int., §19,^. For defence of the dating s. Wright,
Daniel, 126, Wilson, Studies, ii^ f. For the insistence on the
seer's ego cf. 7^^- 2*. V.^ reads very repetitiously and without
entire support from the Grr., while its interpretation has been
embarrassed from antiquity by the problem whether Dan.'s
presence in Elam was in cor pore or in spiritu. The eldest in-
terpretation, that Dan. was actually in Elam, appears in J03.,
A J X, II, 7, who also records in the beginning of the chap, that
Dan. built for himself a fine building at Ecbatana in Media,
which was still surviving in perfect condition, that in it they
were burying the kings of Media, Persia, and Parthia up to the
present day, and that a Jewish priest was its custodian. This
then would be the first definite instance in Judaism of the can-
onization of a locality connected with one of the Biblical saints
(a process of popular religion of extensive vogue, cf. Mt. 23^^).
For the Tombs of Dan. s. further Int., §4, c. But that Dan. was
in Elam only in uisione was early recognized, e.g., by ^, 'I saw
in my dream that I was in the city S., which is in the province
E., and I saw in my dream that I was standing,' and so Aph.
Syr., at least for the last clause, 'and I appeared to myself to
stand in a dream'; so also Theodt., and H, uidi autem in uisione
326 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
esse me super portam Ulai (although Jer. does not recognize this
point in his comm.). This view was revived by some of the early
Prot. comm., e.g., Piscator, Polanus, Calv., and it is followed by
most recent comm., including Stu., Keil, Knab., Wright (p. 171).
This disposes of the question of historicity of the datum that
Elam was then a province of Babylonia and not of Media, a
criticism raised by Bert., and also of the query how could Dan.
have been in Susa on the king's business (v.") in the last days
of falling Babylon. Winckler, Vorderasiatische Gesch., 1905, pp.
54. 85, is disposed to regard Elam, the district of Susa, as still
belonging to Babylon, and this point is insisted upon by Wilson,
c. 14. If the scene be visionary, then the seer is appropriately
transported thither, to the ancient land of Medo-Persia, for the
setting of the drama of the symbolical contest between that
Oriental empire and Greece.
Textually our passage reads very awkwardly with its repeated
'seeing.' 0 om. the first clause, 'and I saw in the vision, and it
was in my seeing,' but 0's notorious habit of simplification of
repetitions does not corroborate his text here. Both (^ and 0
om. the second 'and I saw in the vision'; the tr. above follows
this double evidence in bracketing the phrase, which is unnec-
essary. It is easy to propose more radical changes; Jahn would
elide the whole of v.'' with its ref. to the Ulai, which he thinks
was introduced from v.^^ (but n.h. v.^). Classical Heb. would
have expressed the visionary character of the scene much more
exactly (s. Note). This spiritual transportation has its parallel
in Ezekiel's removal to Jerusalem, Eze. 8, that of the seer to the
desert in Rev. 17^ For the motive of the river cf. perhaps Gen.
4i\ Eze. i^ (the Chebar), inf., 9*, 12^ For Shushan, Greek Susa
(also Neh. i^ and Est.), the chief capital of the Pers. empire,
s. Paton on Est. i^ (with full bibliography), also Behr., Dr.,
p. 125. Ace. to Meyer, GA 3, §15, Susa was known to the Greeks
as well as to the Jews as the capital of the Pers. empire. The
word translated 'burg' is appositive to 'Shushan,' following a
common Aramaism, does not denote a part of the city, the
idiom being the same as in the following 'Elam the province'
(so literally). The word 'province' need not be taken in a tech-
nical political sense, cj. 3^. The Ulai bears the same name in
the Akk., is the Classical Eulaeus; it appears in the Syr. at
Judith i^ for Gr. Hydaspes (= Choaspes?). Among the three
81- 2 327
streams near Susa the Ulai can best be identified with an arti-
ficial canal which connected the rivers Choaspes and Coprates
and ran close by Susa; s. Behr., Dr., Cheyne, s.v. in EB, who
give full reff.
1. nstrNSa] For the incorrect spelling s. at s'", 7'. — ha-^i-^ ijn] For
the abs. pron. s. note at 7'=. — nnx] Ehr. would relieve the apparent
redundancy here by supposing that the prep, has qualitative mng.,
'derselben Art seiend.' — '^'tI^^] Nif., either ppl. pointed by careless
conformation with the pf. nxij sup., or possibly the art. has relative
force and nxnj is pf., cf. GK §138, i. k.— n'^n.^a] Cf. Gen. 13^ etc.— 2.
jC'iiro 1JNI \-iNi3 "iHM pina nxixi] \nN-i is evidently part of the jiin;
similarly inf. v.". For the construction 'Ji •'hm cf. 1 Ki. 22'-; classical
Heb. would prefer •'Jjn, as Gen. 41^ For the loose syntax of aligned
rather than of articulated clauses cf. '^^ ics 7'^ — n-i^^n I'^Mtt'] The
construction of mon is by Aram, idiom, universal in Syr., that of a
determinative to y.^'Yi'; it does not mean the citadel as distinguished
from the city, as Paton understands the phrase at Est. i- (with this
understanding he is embarrassed at 2^). Cf. N,-n^3 21 APO pap. i, 1. i,
etc. In Ezr. 6^ Nmi33 Nnanxj, the second prep, should be omitted.
The same construction, unrecognized by comm., appears in 'Casiphia
the place,' Ezr. 8'^. There are similar unrecognized cases in the N.T.,
s. the writer's Origin of the Gospel ace. to St. John, Philadelphia, 1923,
15. 0 renders the word by ^ipt? (also elsewhere = '2. jinix, S3\n),
on which s. H. Lewy, Die sent. Fremdworter im Griechlschen, 1895, 182.
But now the correct form is found in ^tpxa [ttjc; 'AtAfj-avcTcSoi;] ( =
'Arak el-Emir) in the Zenon papp. of age of Ptolemy II; s. Vincent,
'La Pa'estine dans les papyrus ptolemaiques de Gerza,' RB 1920, 161
ff., text p. 182. — As noted in Comm. the introd. clause ■'nxna . . . nx-ixi
is om. by 0; it is supplied by Or^ Lu. 05 appears to have read it
but with paraphrase. The subsequent ptnj riN-iNi was om. by orig.
(& (supplied in Hex.), and by 0, suppl. by Or^-CLu. — ''n^n ijni] The
use of ^niin here vs. its absence in the parallel clause above is notice-
able; it is rather an Aram, idiom. — '-""^ '^?"'^ '^"-] The nouns in const,
relation, cf. '"^1? "^^K '^^is, rt. Sai (= Arab, wabala, Akk. abdli() =
'conduit,' a 'lead' of water. The word = -Pi' Jer. 178, '^T- Is. 30^,
44^ The stem wbal > ilbal {cf. ufaz > ufaz loO, with loss of initial
consonant in the Akk. field, and with this form the more Hebraic yubal
corresponds. Otherwise Kon., Lgb., ii, i, p. 88, taking Sav, S21X as
kutal form. The VSS vary much. 0 ItX ttoO OugaX, ignoring ■hyu,
Sym. alone has above mng., rdg. ace. to Jer., super paludem Oulal.
Others transUterated, so Aq. ace. to Jer., super Oubal Oulai, and Lu.
(48 231 c) Ixl ToG Ou^aXouXa, so also for '':'in v.'^ (but 48 231 and also
328 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
at vv/- '' 22 OuXtxt); ^nd so &. Another tradition interprets '?3in 'gate':
(go xpbq T^ tcuXt) AtXatx = (8^. xuXt^ was had by identifying Saw with
JAram., Syr. abbulld = Akk. abullu, 'gateway.' So "B, super portatn
Ulai. For "'Sin resort was apparently had to the architectural term
nSiN = oS'x 'portico,' i Ki. 6^, etc., s. Stade ad loc, and Lexx. A
goes its own way in combining these renderings: here /I kurati l-'ahwdz
{al-ahwdz = modern Arabistan), but in v.^ {cf. v}^) for xpb tou OOpaX
kiidddnia d-dahltz, 'before the portico'; s. Gehman, pp. 339, 348. Sa.
has here a geographical paraphrase; he agrees with Sym. in under-
standing SaiN as a canal (lloc) rather than a river, 'by the canal {sdf)
of the river Ulai.' Ra., AEz., Jeph. correctly understand 'x 'x as 'river
Ulai'; PsSa. has, "by the gate of the building called Ulai; the Wise
call a great gate ^Sin ^Sijn."
3. 4. The vision of the two-horned ram, symbol of Media and
Persia. 3. And I lifted up my eyes [i.e., I looked], and saw:
and, behold, there stood in front of the stream a ram with two horns ;
and the two horns were high, and one higher than the other, and
the higher coming up last. 4. I saw the ram butting [EW push-
ing] to the west and the north and the south; no beasts could stattd
before him and there was none to deliver from him, and he was
doing according to his will and was acting greatly. The ram, like
the males of the other domesticated cattle, is a type of power
and so of princely leadership, e.g., Eze. 34^^ ('I will judge be-
tween sheep and sheep, between the rams and the bucks'), and
the word for ram, h'^ii, appears to be used as actual synonym
for 'prince'; so GB, Kon., Hwb., with less certainty as to identi-
fication BDB 17b, 1 8a. Hav. has collected similar reff. from the
Gr., Arab., and OPers., and Bev. instances Arab. kabS 'ram' =
'warrior'; for a compilation of references on these animals s.
Bochart, Hierozoicon, 2, cc. 43. 51. For the horns as type of
strength s. Comm. at 7*, here they represent the two constituent
parts of an empire. The moments of the vision of the horns
well represent the relation of Media and Persia in power and
time. The other ' beasts ' that could not stand up against them
presuppose c. 7. Persia was the Far-Oriental empire to the
Semitic world, hence the expansion only to three points of the
compass is stated, although, against some comm., the far-east-
ern conquests of Persia were known, cf. Est. i^ 'from India to
Ethiopia'; accordingly (g adds 'to the east.' 'Act greatly' is
preferable to AV 'become great,' RW JV 'magnify self; the
8^""^ 329
vb. is used in a good sense, e.g., of God, Ps. 1262- ^, more often
in a bad sense, so below w.^- "• ^s, Jer. 4826- ^\ Job I9^ etc.,
with the attendant nuance of afifectation = 'act big'; cf. the
'mouth speaking big things,' 7-°.
3. ^^^!] For use as indef. art. s. on in 2"; 0 om., 05 eva txiyav. —
^V-l?,] Bis and v.^ The pointing must be explained as M's combina-
tion of du. and pi.; cf. ='.?"ll Pr. 28«- ^^ and for the other exx. s. Stade,
Lehrb., §339. N.b. the problem of the duals in c. 7, s. at v.^.— D^jipni]
Orig. CS, 0 H om. as superfluous. — n'^yyn] Classical Heb. would use
nnxn. — njinNDJ = 'afterwards,' cf. Dt. 131°, etc. (S attaches to v.''. —
4. mjr] So the Pael, of an ox Dt. 33", of a sheep Eze. 34". For the
use of the ppl. as secondary predicate s. other cases inf., e.g., vv.''- ". It
is rare in early Heb., but note a case in Nu. 11'°. — For 'west, north and
south' of 1^ (S has 'east, north, west and south,' prob. understanding
^?- as '^?'' ('the Jay-rise'!). OrC (A 106 230 al.) has plus [votov] xal
Xf^a, a gloss explaining xaxa OaXaaaav; so for 31J?D v.^ — vjflS (5 has
6xiff(i> [ajToO], by scribal error, eoTT^aav evwxtov > ear. omaw; CSSmg
correctly. — PZ'•;^] Correct pf. with waw-consec, and so Snjm. —
Snjn] For such intrans. (operative) Hifils cf. GK §53, f, and Arab,
stem IV, Wright, Gr. i, §45, Rem. c.
5-7. The vision of the one-horned buck and his contest with
the ram. 5. And I was discerning, and behold, a buck coming
from the west over the whole earth and not touching the ground
[earth]; and the buck had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.
6. And he came to the two-horned ram which I had seen standing
in front of the stream, and he ran at him in the fury of his power.
1. And I saw him coming close to the ram, and he was enraged
against him, and he smote the ram and broke his two horns ; and
there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him
down to the ground and trampled him, and there was none to deliver
the ram from him. The fresh moment is introduced by a further
statement of the seer's continued observation. Cf. the intro-
duction of the little horn 7^ 'I was contemplating.' The vb.
translated 'discern' means 'to distinguish,' 'to make out' ob-
jects, and then, as later in the book, e.g., v.", 'to understand,'
intellegere. For the buck (or he-goat, Heb. 'goat-buck') as t>pe
of power and so a synonym for princes, cf. Is. 14^ h'Z \\ Cli
ps •'liny. Zee. io3 cmny |1 □■'Vl (sheep as oppressed by
goats). The relation between the two animals, the ram and the
330 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
goat, is not that of worth, as in the descending series in the
visions of the metals and the beasts in cc. 2 and 7, but of power.
The goat naturally overcomes the ram, just as in Eze. 34^ and
Zech. 10^ the Lord must intervene between his people, the feeble
sheep, and the rough goats. The wild goat, of some species, is
a fierce enough animal to be represented in the contests of Gil-
gamesh, s. W. H. Ward, Cylinders and Other Ancient Oriental
Seals, nos. ig f. Hav. aptly cites a vision related by Plutarch
in his Sidla, c. 28: there was seen a vision of two large goats
fighting, attacking and receiving blows, just as is the case with
men fighting — which presaged the fall of the younger Marius.
The view that the goat was taken to symbolize Alexander's em-
pire because the goat figures in the legends of the Macedonian
house and the composition of Macedonian place-names {e.g.,
the old residence of the dynasty ^Egse and the Macedonian epi-
thet iEgeades) was proposed by Medus, and has been accepted
by some comm., e.g., Hav., dEnv.; but this habit of finding
'inner (secondary) conformities' (Hav.) between the type and
the object has ever been one of the fallacies of interpretation of
the book. Had correspondences of this kind been chosen, rather
the two-horned ram would have typified Alexander, who, ace.
to Clem. Alex., Cohort, ad gentes, iv (ed. Potter, i, p. 48), had
himself represented with two horns to prove himself the son of
the ram-headed Libyan Ammon, a trait which appears in the
Seleucide coinage and which gave rise to the Arabic epithet for
Alexander Du l-lzarnain, ' he-of-the-two-horns ' {e.g., Koran, 18.
82), the exact equivalent, by the way, of D*'i^p ^J?i, the epi-
thet for the Pers. ram in v.^. See Hav., p. 258, vLeng., p. 369,
giving the elder literature, and Babelon, I.e. in Comm. at 7*.
The single horn of the goat, as v.^ certainly shows, represents
the first of the Greek dynasty, the great Alexander. The uni-
corn animal has its prototype in the Bab.-Ass. monuments, e.g.,
the sirussu, and other representations of one-horned animals, a
detail which arose from the artist depicting the animal from one
side so that the two horns are merged into one. This feature
also appears in the archaic inlaid bulls in the temple discovered
at Tell el Obeid, in 1923-24; s. Mtiseum Journal (Univ. Penna.
Museum), March, 1924, cut p. 26. On the Biblical 'unicorn' in
general s. Haupt, SBOT Psalms (Eng.), 172/. For the plastic
background of this contest of beasts Hav. draws attention to
8«-^ 331
the mythological representations in the ruins of Persepolis; and
the abundant material, from the art, large and small, of Baby-
lonia corroborates this happy comparison.
Several items are distinguished in the he-goat's progress. He
comes 'from the west.' 'He went over the whole earth': comm.
have long compared the description of Alex.'s conquests in
I Mac. i^: 'He went through to the ends of the earth and took
spoils of a multitude of nations; and the earth was quiet before
him,' etc. The rapidity of his progress, 'not touching the
ground,' is a reminiscence of the classical description of Cyrus,
Is. 4i2- ^, who 'pursues and passes on in peace. Not going on the
road with his feet.' VLeng. cites a Classical parallel from Verg.,
Aen., vii, 806/., e.g., 'Ferret iter, celeres nee tingeret aequore
plantas.' The 'conspicuous horn' is Alexander; for the much-
mooted adj. as rendered after the most ancient and most com-
mon authority s. Note. 6. 7 capitally describe the impetuosity
of Alex.'s attack upon Persia and the helpless, utter fall of that
empire. This and the following v. (with the echoes in lo^o,
ii3. 4) give us the only memory of the great Alexander definitely
preserved by the Jews in their Scriptures.
5. par:] The Hif. = 'distinguish, discern.' Cf. S^nirn 78.— i^fls
Q>r;n] For etymology of 'i" s. Bev., GB; the word is Aram., occurring
Ezr. 6^^ in this combination, in Heb. 2 Ch. 29=1, Ezr. 8^^; cf. the usual
'>'n -\^-;z'; inf. y.~^ n^v^i-n n^osn. The art. in 'yn is inexplicable and
lacks in <B 0; either it is conformed to 'j?n v.« {cf. a case in Ecc. 10",
where the Kr. corrects the art. in a>DJ3n), or the whole vocable should
be omitted, and so actually OrP ignores it; this Aquilanic (?) testimony
is noteworthy. — an;::] The word, late in Heb., occurs also in the papp.,
e.g., APA papp. C, D. — ;J1J J-'n] i^n has become a sheer negative, so
also ]03 pN V." {q.v.), and prob. a case Pr. 29^' nj>-D px = (g odx,
uxay.ouasTat (s. GB, p. 603b). Class. Heb. demands urx, which Ehr.
with good reason requires here, as lost by haplog. — '"''"7 PP] All recent
comm. tr. 'n (which recurs at v.*, q.v.) by 'conspicuous' (JV) or the
like, after the Hex. plus in C5 and 0, g> (xinnm), 1 (insigne = AV RVV
'notable'), Jeph., Ra., most early Prot. comm. Comparison may be
made with nx-iD u'in 2 Sa. 23^'. mm is a noun from the act. ppl. stem
with abstract sufTix; cf. Heb. '^'■"'^ = Aram. ''''^\, our word retaining
the Aram, -a-; cf. Earth, Nb., §98, Brock., VG i, §126. G. Hoffmann,
ZATW 1883, pp. 95/., would point r^^'q as sup. 4.^- '' and in Syr., but
perhaps that case should be revised to the form here. The noun can
mean either the action or the object of the action. But Sa. with mu-
332 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
!Sa"ab and AEz. with laiDc, also Gr.Ven xlpag aufjixXox^.; derive the
word from Ttn, 'ramify, interlace.' JDMich., Suppl. i, 703, proposed
'"'"1', 'sharpness,' so deWette, Bert. As for the Grr., 0 cm. 'n, which
Or^c Lu. suppl., eswpTjxdv. Orig. (8 ev, i.e., rdg. rns (which Ehr. pre-
fers). Cf. ^ sTspa = 'n v.*. He.x. adds OswpTjTov. The adj. nSij
vv.^- '^ favors ^ and the common interpretation. — 6. a^j-ipn hy^] Cf.
□i<3J2n h-j2, Ecc. 10-°, and s. GK §128, u; for the Arab, correspondents
s. Wright, Gr. 2, §81. — ncn^] 0 mss, supported by ?Cwzb j-„ impetu,
have Iv 6p[Ji.i3, error for ev Spyi^, which Chrys. reads. — 7. vriiNii] The
pf. with 'weak,' not consec. waw; for this freq. usage of later Heb. s.
Driver, Tenses, §133. F. T. Kelley, 'The Imperfect with Simple Waw
in Hebrew,' JBL 1920, 1-23, cites, pp. 21 /., many of the cases in Dan.,
and attempts to pursue his thesis that there is some purpose in the
variation, but, as this case proves, in vain. — Ssx] Cf. v." and 2 Ch.
28'^, uniquely with vb. of motion; in adverse sense also lo'^. — -\mDni]
The Hithpalpel also 11", in a variant to BSira 38'^ and in Syr., e.g.,
Acts 17'^. — PN his] As 62 147 show, Aq. tr. with his customary auv,
and so in subsequent cases. — S1N3] 0 tw xpty, but ICwzb /,j ariete in-
dicates orig. £v, which is read by 62 147. — '>^ no n>n nSi] Cf. inf. ii^^
and I Sa. 28-°. — h'<nh Ssd nin nS] = V^ixd ps Is. 5-', etc.; h is posses-
sive.
8-12. The vision of the great horn, continued, of the four
horns, and of the Httle horn that grew up. 8. And the buck
was acting exceeding greatly; and when he was strong, the great
horn was broken ; and there came up [gloss, conspicuousness ] four
in its place to the four winds of heaven. 9. And out of one of them
came forth another horn, a little one, and it waxed exceeding great,
toward the south and toward the east [gloss, and toward the Desire].
The buck stands consistently for the Greek empire; its founder
Alexander, the great horn, 'was broken.' The four kingdoms,
represented by the four horns, are apparently the four kingdoms
of the Diadochi, Macedonia (under Cassander), Thrace and
Asia Minor (Lysimachus), 'Asia' or Syria (Seleucus), Egypt
(Ptolemy). These suitably correspond to the four points of the
compass, west, north, east, south. The passage is cited at 11*.
Behr.'s criticism upon this view is the query: "What one of the
readers of our book knew of this; and if he did how did it con-
cern him?" However, the traditional remains of the ancient
proud monarchies must have long survived. This has been the
almost constant interpretation of the four, with variations as
to the names of the Diadochi, since the beginning: of Hipp., iv,
88-12
333
26, Jer., Theodt., Aph. Syr., Polych., with the modern excep-
tion of those who find here the Roman and post-Roman ages.
For the alleged gloss in v.* s. Note. In v.^ a slight amendment of
the orig. text has been made, following Bev. and most subse-
quent comm., viz., by the shifting and change of one letter (13
to n), making the orig. 'a horn out of a little' (whatever that
may mean) read 'another horn, a little one,' which is the exact
Heb. equivalent of the Aram, in y^ If Ant. Epiph, be meant
there, he must be found here. By the expansion of the horn
toward the south are meant Ant.'s campaigns in Egypt, only
frustrated by Rome, and by that 'to the east' the prospected
campaigns against Parthia, beginning 166-5, which terminated
in his death in Elymais 165-4. A third point of direction is
given in ^, 'to the Delight,' which is commonly interpreted as
in the several Eng. VSS, 'the pleasant,' or 'glorious,' or 'beau-
teous (land),' on the basis of ii^®- ^^, which passages, however,
have the desiderated word 'land.' The Note argues for the ex-
clusion of the phrase as a gloss, which cannot have the alleged
mng. by itself, which was not so translated by the VSS and
early comm., and which is absurd when aligned with two given
points of the compass, in which matter the book is remarkably
accurate.
10. And it waxed great even to the host of heaven, and it made
fall to the earth some of the host, yea of the stars some of them it
trampled. With few exceptions, to be noted below, the universal
interpretation of 'the host of heaven' and its synonym 'the
stars' is that they refer tropically to God's people: Jer., 'the
sons of Israel, who are intrenched by the help of angels ' ; Polych.
definitely, 'the Maccabees'; Aph. Syr., 'the sacerdotal order';
and so variously the subsequent views, on which no improvement
has been made since Pole's digest: the Church, the saints, etc.
For the trope of the stars we are referred to 12^, 'they shall
shine ... as the stars,' cf. Mt. 13''^. (On the Judaistic combi-
nation of the saints and the stars s. Volz, Jiid. Esch., 360 f.)
This interpretation of 'the host (SD^) of heaven' is obtained
from the word in its commonplace sense of 'army,' etc., and
hence of the Maccabees, etc.; or as of 'service' and so techni-
cally 'liturgical service' of the priests, e.g., i<D^ '^b.'Hh Nu. 4^3,
T T ; •
8^, etc. (s. Lexx.). But none can easily understand 'the host
of heaven' otherwise than of 'the heavenly host,' which is rein-
334 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
forced by the synonymous 'stars' and by the phrase 'Prince of
the host,' v.i° = ' God of hosts,' etc. Evidently Ant.'s presump-
tion against heaven and its denizens is referred to. The difficulty
of the common interpretation is felt by Jer., who tr. in his
comm. ^uelut stellas coeli' and Keil, who insists that this is a
vision in which the host and the stars only figure earthly affairs.
For the customary interpretation ref. is made to En. 46^, 'These
are they who judge the stars of heaven. And raise their hands
against the Most High, And tread upon the earth and dwell
upon it,' where the comm. {e.g., Beer, Cha.) interpret 'the stars'
from the common understanding of the word here; but rather,
the stars and the Most High are grouped together as heavenly
ones. (Cha. attempts to rewrite the v. in En. so as to make it
agree almost verbatim with that in Dan.) Hav. notes the citation
in 2 Mac. 9^0, ' And the man that a little afore supposed himself
to touch the stars of heaven (following (i>'s plus 'of heaven'),
no one could endure for his stench,' which definitely agrees with
the interpretation here followed. There is another passage in
the Bible, ignored by the comm. here, which cites and interprets
the v., viz., Rev. 12^, where, of the great dragon with seven heads
and ten horns, it is told that 'his tail sweeps the third of the
stars of heaven and casts them to the earth' (with independent
tr.., e^aXev ek r. ^yrjv). Gunkel naturally handled this passage
as a mythological trait, Schopfung, 387 {cf. Bousset, ad loc):
"This can only be understood as an setiological myth. The Bab.
science found in the heaven a vacant space, the origin of which
is to be explained by this myth." The present writer's result is
that the allusion was to Ant.'s God-defying arrogance, for which
the seer had in mind the classical diatribe against Babel in Is.
14, esp. w.^2-i5_ That blasphemous monarch's defiance of the
gods in general was part at least of the Jewish tradition, s. ii
^^-^^, with which cf. the general statement in i Mac. i^'^ of Ant.'s
edict against the Religion. This view, independently reached,
was more than anticipated by G. F. Moore in his article, ' Daniel
viii. 9-14' in JBL 15 (1896), 193-7. It is sufficient to refer to
this summary but compelling paper. He notes, inter al., the
sacrilegious attempt of Ant. upon the temple of Nanaea in Ely-
mais. As Moore observes, the stars are frequently identified
with gods, e.g., Dt. 4^^ Is. 24^1 «-, En. 80^. He notes that this
interpretation has been maintained by Smend, ZATW 4, 201-,
8^-^^ 335
and AUtest. Religions geschichte^, 452, and with this view agrees
a brief remark by Volz, I.e., 361. And last but not least, it should
be noted that Jephet in the loth cent, gave the same interpreta-
tion: "Then it seemed to him as though it had risen to the host
of heaven and thrown some of them down. ' The host of heaven '
very likely refers to the seven planets, Saturn and sarkd (?).
Then it seemed to him as though it trampled the stars on the
ground; and then as though the horn went in to the captain of
the host and the mightiest of it; but it does not say that the
horn did anything with the captain of the host more than that
'it magnified itself.'"
11. 12 constitute crescendo the most difficult short passage
of the bk. The early VSS read the same quantum of text; this
is true even of the expanded and disfigured text of <§ when it is
shorn of its glosses. For the texts of the VSS, which give but
Httle help, s. Note at end of the chap. 11 presents less difficulty
of the two: And even up to [i.e., right up to the face of] the Prince
of the host he acted greatly [cf. v."*], and by him [or, from him]
was removed [so J^v.; Kt. he removed] the Constant (sacrifice), and
was rejected the place of his [i.e., the Prince's] sanctuary. 'The
Prince of the host' (properly a military term, generalissimo,
Gen. 21^2 and often) is the same as 'the Prince of princes' (cf.
' God of gods,' 2", q.v.) and can be none other than God, ' the
God of Hosts,' as is accepted by almost all comm., even those
who take 'the host,' v.^", in a contrary sense. Aph. Syr., Grot,
are consistent with the prevailing exegesis of that v. in finding
in the prince of the host the high priest Onias; for this sacerdotal
use of 'prince' cf. i Ch. 24^ etc. Polych. finds here 'the presid-
ing angel of the nation,' and AEz. Michael, following the clew
of the use of the word for angels in lo^^- ^o, cf. Jos. 5"; in Targ.
to Ps. 137^ Michael is the prince of Jerusalem. The combination
of the vb. with the prep, is very pregnant, 'right up to'; again
with reminiscence of Is. 14, e.g., v.^^. In the pron. 'he,' vs. the
fern, ('it') otherwise depending upon the gender of 'horn,' the
writer has inadvertently dropped his figure; it is sometimes over-
looked by critics that even a writer's autograph may contain
errors, vs. vGall, Einheitlichkeit, 51, and Moore, I.e., 197, who
would read the fem. We may take it that the ultimate sense of
the variations 'by him . . . was removed' and 'from him {i.e.,
God) he removed,' is the same. 'From him' is the rendering of
336 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
H B RW JV; 'by him,' i.e., the horn, of Grr., AV; the former
interpretation is more commonly adopted. The conflict of voices
between the Kt. and Kr., which is as old as the VSS, is doubt-
less due to the contrary interpretations of the prep. 'The Con-
stant,' T'Cnn, is the technical abbreviation for the 'constant
holocaust' or 'whole burnt-ofifering of perpetuity,' "I'»Dn n^y,
which in the late ritual of Judaism was offered in a lamb morn-
ing and evening of every day; cf. 9-^ and Ex. 29^^-^^; see Nowack,
Heb. Arch. 2, 221 /., and Edersheim, The Temple, c. 8. Cf.
oXoKavTco/xara Kvpicp to irpooLvov Kal to SciXlvov^ i Esd. 5^^.
The abbreviated term appears only here and w.^^- ", ii^^, 12'^
in the Bible, but is common in the Talmud. These two daily
sacrifices were the basis and expression of the whole cult, and
that the two are meant is proved by the ' 2300 evenings, morn-
ings,' v.i'*, which figure is to be divided by two to obtain the
number of days. The word for 'place,' jl^D, not the usual
□IptS, is rare, implying a construction, a base, e.g., Ezr. 3^ (the
base of the altar), Ps. 89^^, or a dwelling, and so used esp. of
God's abode, either on earth, e.g.. Is. 4^ or in heaven, i Ki. 8^^
The vb. here translated 'was rejected' is generally rendered
'was cast down,' as in vv.'- ^^ But the vb. implies both 'throw
down' and 'throw away,' deiicere and reiicere, e.g., Neh. 9^*, =
'despise,' and this nuance is properly proposed here by Ehr. As
Dr. remarks, the temple does not seem to have been literally
' cast down ' ; however, it is described as having been ' laid waste
like a wilderness' and 'trampled down,' i Mac. i^^, 3^^; ace. to
4*^, the Jews ' (re)built the holy place.'
12a. A}id a host shall he given (or, set) upon (or, against) the
Constant in iniquity ; so 1^ literally. The gender agreement be-
tween subj. and vb. is most improbable, and the future tense
is out of place. Attempts at translation may be exemplified
from H: rohiir autem datum est ei contra iuge sacrificium propter
peccata ; so practically g> = GV AV, but ' a host ' for rohur ; RVV
JV, 'and the host was given over to it together with (following
the Zurich Bible, also CBMich.) the continual burnt-offering
through transgression'; Dr., 'and a host (or, a warfare) was un-
dertaken against the continual burnt-offering with transgression
{i.e., wickedly)'; etc. Grot, interprets 'host' of Ant.'s garrison
in the Akra. Sa. om. the prep., 'the stars (so S3^ throughout^
8^-^^ 337
laid low the Constant.' Ra., Calv. think of 'a determined time'
( ?) ; Hav. of a corps of Jews who had perverted to (' were given
to') the innovation, and somewhat similarly vLeng., but 'were
surrendered to.' For the first word of the v., t<^i*1 'and a host,'
the Grr. depart peculiarly from ^ in finding a vb., s. Note at
end of the chap. ; but no help to the sense is obtained. Emenda-
tion has naturally been attempted. VGall, p. 51, deletes fr^^il
(but hardly on the authority of the Grr., as he and Lohr allege),
corrects the vb. into a past, jn^m, om. the prep, 'in [sin],'
and so obtains, 'und es wurde gelegt auf das tagliche Opfer
Frevel,' which Mar. follows. Moore, p. 196, following Bert.,
also om. i<3^1, reads jrim, and tr., 'and it (the horn) put
on the daily sacrifice the Iniquity.' He eft. the 'desolating
Iniquity,' v.^^ = 'the Abomination of Desolation,' 9", etc. But
such an obscure expression as 'putting the Iniquity on the sac-
rifice' can only be defended by stressing the element of inten-
tional obscurity. Bert., who preceded in this line of emendation,
tr. T^n hi), 'in place of the Constant,' and eft. Gen. 28^ But
we expect such a phrase as is found in i Mac. 6^, to ^hekvyfia
0 (pKoS6fjbT)a€v iirl to dvcnacrr^piov. Jahn, who regards v.^^ as
a doublet to v.", has a similar interpretation, but retaining
i>*2^1, in which he finds ns::f1 'filth,' and tr., 'und Unrath (?)
wird freventlich an das bestandige Opfer getan.' For another
essay might be proposed iH^ imD'if-1 (borrowing a noun from
' T T
the Aram.; a similar opinion given by PsSa., but with ref. to
the divine will): 'and his will he set against (or, upon) the Con-
stant.' But emendations are not better than plausible.
12b. And it cast down truth to the ground, and it wrought and
prospered: so Eng. VSS. But the sequence of the Heb. tenses,
better observed by B, is difficult. The subj. of the fem. vbs.
would be 'the horn.' By rdg. the first vb. as a pass, and with
waw consec. (r|^*jm for Tj^kl^m), with 2MSS de R., the VSS,
vGall, Kamp., Mar., is obtained, 'and the truth was cast down
to the ground.' But 'the horn' must still be understood as the
subj. of the following vbs., nrT'^i'n'l . . . nriw'yi; these perfs.
may possibly be regarded as frequentative, 'was doing,' etc.
Moore, denying this probability, makes the observation that
these vbs. may have been introduced here from v.^^, a likely sug-
22
338 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
gestion, relieving the change of subjects. 'The truth/ nOX, is
not the abstract truth, as in i Esd. 4^^^-, but the True Rehgion
as embodied in the Scriptures, esp. the Tliorah (c/. the concrete
use of ^ip), and so nD« min Mai. 2^; cf. the Pauline v
bXr]6ua Iv tw vofitp Rom. 2-°. So Ra., AEz., and most recent
comm. A concrete historical ref. is found in Ant.'s destruction
of the sacred books, i Mac. i^*^-. The Gr. paraphrase, v ^i-fcciio-
(Tvvrj (so (^ at 8^^), is not so 'flat' as Hav. judges, for there is
meant 'the righteousness that is in the Law'; ^ KtJ'nip. For
'wrought and prospered' cf. 2 Ch. 3121, etc.; for 'do, work' used
absolutely cf. ii-*- ^"^ ^^, Ps. 22^^^ etc., mostly of divine activity.
8. '"^Ft?] 3 of time at which, as often; cf. on rfja^D 4.^^; for the phrase
cf. inprnD n^.— •"''"?] 0 (at least B V 130) Or? Lu. om., and B follows
suit; but the early presence of a word here is attested by <& sxspa, i.e.,
as '^''"'0''?. and so Or^. (A plus xspaxa is also read by (S 0 U.) @'s rdg.
has been accepted by Gratz, Bev., Kamp., Pr., Dr., Lohr, Cha. But it
is to be noted that (B renders nirn, v.^, as though it were nns, and its
testimony may not be accepted too easily here. Ehr. remarks that the
order should be I'^nns j;3"\n, cf. 12^ It is best to regard rvn as an early
gloss, relating the v. to v.\ Ra. tr. by nxio, and Behr. compares the
word with '"^'"^l Eze. i^, which awkwardly gives another sense than
here in v.^, while we should expect 3 or n«nD3, cf. v.'^ The most com-
mon interpretation attempts to relate the word with v.^; so S> ptnncn;
the early Prot. comm., AV RVV CBMich., Rosen., vLeng., Hitz., Stu.,
Keil, Mein., al., with various interpretative essays. Sa. and AEz. repeat
their interpretations from v.^, and so JDMich., Bert. — mnn ;,'3ix'?
aiDw'n] Cf. 7-, 11^ Behr. notes that h is not necessarily Sn, and should
be translated r.azi, as in Is. 32^ desiring to forestall an exact historical
interpretation ; but the parallelism of the four horns and the four quar-
ters may be objected to this fine point.
9. anc] For lack of agreement in gender with antecedent s. on
DnxpD i^; also mss pc.— Ni-'] For similar lack of agreement s. GK
§145, 7-— '^T>^?'? ^"'^ Pi""] For rt. vs = nyt s. GB igia, with bibliog-
raphy. Bev. suggested the correction ^"V^ ^"^"^ Pi"' = exactly nnx pp
n-i>;'T 7', accepted by all subsequent comm. exc. Behr. and adopted
here; n.b. the similarity of d and n in the papp. Graetz had earlier pro-
posed omitting c. The troublesome word has provoked a large number
of conjectures, (i) With n regarded as the prep.: Bert. tr. adjectivally,
'kleinwinzig,' so Ges., Thes., 805, i.e., 'of a small character,' eft. ''^..^.}^
Ru. 2^°, on which it may be here remarked that the form unamended
(vs. ^''SxjD in Kittel's marg.) has its counterpart in an Arab, idiom of
mill, s. Wright, Gr. 2, p. 138, B-D. Zock. obtains an adv. phrase, eft.
8'-^' 339
^•'S'' p 2^, and tr. 'in a small way.' V Leng.proposed a nominal use,
'von Kleinheit,' eft. ]\so Is. 41-^ cf. GB^" e paruis initiis, and Behr.,
'von geringerer Wiirde.' Or, regarding p as comparative, CBMich. eft.
S^nn minus quant uaniias, Ps. 62*", j^n:; phisquam non, Jer. 10^; and
so Kon., Syntax, §352, z, Hwb., s.v., desiderates tninus quam parua. On
this vLeng. remarks that 'more than a httle' can also mean 'ziemlich
gross,' and so he acutely explains the iaxupov of the Grr. Or (2) another
form is found: Ew., Lehrh., §270, h, n. i, suggested the ppl. '^T^-??,
which Behr. criticises, since it must mean 'becoming small' (or 'doing
small things')- Others, as cited by CBMich., compared "'^?? Gen.
19-°, here s with dag. euphonicum, and so Earth., Nb., §165, finds a
unique miktil adj. form, with which he eft. the (dubious) Akk.-Aram.
viisken. And (3) the Aram. rt. "i/S, in act. forms 'despise,' is compared,
so Ra., who tr. mjJiXD and eft. Ob^ while JDMich., Suppl., 2124, in
agreement with Syr. Pael tr. 'blaspheming.' EVV follow T^ (modieum)
and early Prot. comm. in translating as an adj., 'httle.' (Si rd. xlpa?
iaxuphv £v = 0 v.. £v lax. ^ tr. 'sD 'little' = H. 3lWzb^ cornu in
idrtute, i.e., understanding sv as ev and manipulating ta/. accordingly. —
nn''] Also as adv.. Is. 56'-, BSira 8" = BAram. niTiv — Sni 3Jjn Sx
i3xn Sni n-iT::n] (g rd. the three terms, krl ii.EffTi[j.p?iav, dvaxoXcis,
§op?av, i.e., ^Ti7\ as though ]^Si^i7\■^ Q only the first and third, xp^j; t.
vcTov, T. oivatAiv, i.e., "':3i'n as ^!3i^"l, as v.^" (in Q 230 232 233 = A
Suatv for Suvatitv by easy and seductive error); Or^c Lu. supply the
second term, avaToXifiv. §• om. the third term. The eldest evidence
thus supports the three terms; why© om. the second is not evident.
There is no reason with Houbigant (cited by Bert.) and Jahn to accept
(S's perversion of the text to 'the north'; it is interesting that Sa. has the
same interpretation, 'to Syria {e's-sdm), that is, the north.' The third
term is now almost universally interpreted as = '•^jH i'in n'*'", so
Prot. comm. generally after the Jewish comm., EW ('pleasant, beau-
teous land'), also dEnv., Knab. vs. B. But how can the word in itself
stand for that phrase? Hardly so unless that phrase had already oc-
curred and here were a reminiscence. And then why the explicit phrase
later? Parallels offered, e.g., nr: Eze. 44^ (Geier), are not forcible for
this context. And how absurd is the geography: 'to the south, to the
east, and to Palestine ' ! Note that © is followed by Jer., contra forti-
tudinetn, the latter in his comm. identifying xas v.'" with 'the sons
of Israel,' and so Polych. In sum, the oldest exegesis had no suspicion
of the modern interpretation. If & deliberately omitted the word, this
may have been for lack of a suitable understanding. In ii'^- *'• ^' 0
tr. ''3xn consistently with aapaetv. I am forced to conclude that ^3sn
here is not original but an early plus, prob. a gloss to the foil. X3S 13;,
and that 0 actually read n3S here, ^3X then being a later assimilation
to the geographical term '•^^^ in c. 11.
340 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
10. Di3Di3n )Di] With Piscator, CBMich., al., waw explicative, 'even
of the stars,' cf. Zech. 9', 'upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of a she-
ass' (Hitz.); s. on cnpi T>y 41". — (g goes its own way in interpreta-
tion; for DiciTi N3'i sw;; T. (ZGTspwv ToO oupavoO, and for dodidh pi
aico T. ddTspwv X. ixb aJTciv (poss. a doublet). (5 thus identified the
host with the stars. The vbs. in v.^ are put in the pass., • "0 = sppayj)ri
(v.'' = 3in), cd:d-i.i = x.aT£T:aTT)9T]. 0 tr. ^sn as Kal, Ixsasv, with the
following partitives for subject. For (2)Dd-\.t B al. auvs'iia-rTjaav, error
for 0 -aev, which is exhibited in Or^ Lu. Q 42 230 A, corroborated by
Jjwzb conculcaidt. — 11. ijcd] The prep, can be used, but rarely, with
the agent after the pass. Behr. tr. ' seinerseits,' but which 'side' he
means is not obvious. — a''in Kt., ^y}_ Kr.] The Hif. has the mng. 'to
lift up,' and then 'to remove,' e.g., Is. 57'^, Eze. 21", and so constantly
of the ritual 'removal' of parts of sacrifice; Behr. finds here a sarcastic
allusion to ritual practice. The pass., Hof., was read here with ^r. by
Grr.; the act., ffif., with Kt. by B &, i.e., by the 4th cent, the change had
come in. Prob. the change was made so as to define the antecedent of
ucc. The Hof. is preferable in alignment with "I-"f'7, is not to be ex-
plained, with Keil, as a conformation to the latter. Ew., Lehrb., §115,
d, Olshausen, Lehrb., §259, b, Kon., Lgb., i, 502 f, Behr. regard the Kt.
as an antique Hof. form, but most unnecessarily. — "l-'f'71] With weak
waw. Hitz., Kamp. would read the abs. inf. Hif. 1. 'f'^l, but the pass, is
supported by (8 and prob. by 0 (which misread the Heb.).
12. N3x] For the assumed fem. gender in construction with jnjn
cf. nxis n^vSn Is. 40-, where, however, as Bev. notes, the vb. can be
construed as act., 'accomplished her service'; for discussion of the gen-
der s. reff. in GB. All interpretations of njs are unsuccessful; s. Comm.
If an intrusion— although some word was found here by (S— it may be
a gloss on •'^sn v.', or a gloss meant to be added to the list of terms in
v.", q.v. — >'w'D3] (S ajjiapTto:'., understood as a pi. and so the vb. plural-
ized in agreement with it, but originally prob. a dative = apLapxiqc (s.
Note at end of chap.); this contradicts the position of scholars who
hold that (S is witness to y^'s as nominative. — nn^'^i'm n^\•>:;';^] Schultens,
Animadv., 326, eft. the use of Arah.ja'ala with the impf., 'he was doing
so-and-so,' and the similar use of na";' in i Ki. 8'-, also below in 11'
(q.v.): i.e., 'he did prosperously.'
13. 14. The angelic announcement of the term of the vision.
13a. And I heard one Holy one speaking, and another [Heb., one]
Holy one spoke to so-and-so who was speaking. ' Holy one,' tl^HD,
= angel, s. on tt'''lp 4^°. For the seer's 'hearing in' on an
angelic conversation as introduction to a revelation cf. Zech.
ji2 ff.^ 2^; v.^2 of the former passage, ' the angel of the LoiiD spoke
S''- 14 341
and said, 0 Lord of hosts, how long?' being model to v.'' here.
'So-and-so' (the Heb. word here is a hybrid) may be used where
the name is not known, e.g., i Sa. 21^, Ru. 4^, or, at least in Arabic
narrative, even where the name is known, but it is tedious or
unnecessary to repeat it; here the title of the addressee may be
implied. As has not been observed, the contents of the first
angel's 'speaking' must be the details of w.^^-i^. The vision
has passed from the visual to the aural, for the moments of that
climax could not be seen. 13b. For how long is the vision: the
Constant, and the desolating Iniquity, the giving of both sanctuary
and host to trampling? I.e., What is the term of this shocking
vision? Cf. |'p nyi»^ v.". 'How long,' \'"ia T;_, is an antique
expression of religion, appearing constantly in the Bab. peniten-
tials {adi mati) ; for example of the repetitious use of this litur-
gical formula s. the hymn to Ishtar in King, Seven Tablets of
Creation, i, 222 _^. = Jastrow, Rel. Bab. u. Ass., 2, 66^.; the
same exclamative use in the Bible, e.g., Ps. 6'*, 90". It became
frequent in apocalyptic usage, cf. inf. 12^, 2 Esd. 6^^ etc. (s. Volz,
Jiid. Esch., 162). The subsequent items are epexegetical to 'the
vision,' detailing its chief contents. The translation followed
provisionally above is the one based on the Mass. punctuation,
which has been in vogue since the early Prot. comm.; it is fol-
lowed by GV, the Eng. VSS, and almost all scholars who will
not amend the text. It treats the 'and' in w'lpl as correlative
to the following 'and,' i.e., 'both . . . and,' a usage only occa-
sionally found in Heb. (for the cases s. BDB, p. 253a). It is not,
however, the construction known to the ancient VSS, although
© ^ B had our text at this point. But we might easily overcome
the unusual syntax by reading li'lp Inn for ti'lpl rin, 'his
making sanctuary [and host a trampling].' The problem in v.^^
anent S^i' 'host,' which we gave reason for deleting there,
continues here, and all the attempted translations, 'army,' 'cult,'
etc., are contrary to the sense of 'host' in v.^^, q.v. The Grr.
vary from 1^ and have given a starting-point for emendations,
for which s. Berth., Graetz, Beitrage, 388, Bev., vGall, p. 52,
Moore, I.e. (JBL 1896, 196). The first two terms inquired of
are the Constant and the Iniquity. The former is doubtless im-
proved by following the plus of the Grr., V apOelaa (with Graetz,
Bev., vGall, Moore) = D"nD, i.e., 'the Constant removed,' cor-
342 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
responding to the l^r., v." (Moore prefers "iplH after 12").
In DDtJ' yJSn, 'the desolating Iniquity,' we would have a de-
scriptive epithet added to 'the Iniquity' of v.^^, understanding
ytl'S there as subject and omitting the prep. ^ 'in.' The term
is then equivalent, as Berth., Moore note, to DiStT ppti' of 9^^,
etc., the disguised term for ' the abomination which he built on
the place of sacrifice,' i Mac. 6\ And Ra. finds in ' the Iniquity'
in both vv. the idol that was set up. For 'IT ppt^ s. at 9".
But as DOti^ is not an item in the preceding w., the present
writer is inclined to regard it as a gloss from 9". Further, on
the alleged evidence of (^ Berth., Moore delete bsi^l, thus re-
moving the trouble caused by this word. (S. at v.^-; again, here
as there (g read some word = ep-qfiwOrjaerai in its place.) For
the difficult inf. nn 'giving,' vGall, followed by Mar., proposes
to read the Nif. \T\l^ i.e., 'the Iniquity was set up.' Moore,
following Hitz., retains nn, regarding it as postpositive to its
obj., with the same result as vGall; a parallel for this hard con-
struction is adduced from Jer. 10" iriH b^ph, as though with
AV = 'when he utters his voice,' but the natural mng. is given
by JV, 'at the sound of his giving.' Bev. suggests a considerable
amendment. The writer would propose that all the terms after
' (desolating) Iniquity ' are a series of glosses that have accumu-
lated from terms in vv.^"- "• 1-, terms that provoked inquiry:
v.i". Jeph. has a similar notion: "How long shall this person
last who shall do the things mentioned in the v., which are
three: giving, the sanctuary, the host?" The primarily ab-
stract t^Tp 'holiness,' is here used of the concrete 'sanctuary';
so often of holy things, occasionally of the holy place, e.g., Ps.
20^, and ' the holy of holies.' For DDIQ (^ tear air drrifxa^ ©
avv7raTr]d^(T€Tat^ cf. the reminiscences in i Mac. 3'*^- ^^, 4^",
2 Mac. 82, Lu. 212".
14. And he said unto him [^ unto me]: Unto evenings (and)
mornings two thousand three hundred; and the sanctuary shall be
vindicated. All the primary VSS have 'unto him' = T'^^?,
adopted by Berth, and recent comm., in place of '»7X. The
problem of the v. lies in the computation of time: Are 2,300
evening-mornings = 2,300 days meant, or, counting up both
813. 14
343
evenings and mornings, 1,150 days? The former is the view of
(S 0 If (,§» tr. ^ verbatim), which add ' days ' to the numeral. The
Jewish comm. follow suit (with various calculations of the
time), and such is the predominant opinion of the early Prot.
comm.; AV gives Mays' for 'evenings mornings,' putting the
latter in the marg.; GV similarly, adding 'vom Abend gegen
Morgen zu rechnen.' So Berth., Hav., vLeng., Stu., Kail, Behr.;
the last is the latest defendant of this view among the comm.
The other view, i.e., 1,150 days, appears first in Aph. Syr.,
Polych., Jeph.; Hipp., iv, 25, agrees with it by rdg. %f'Xtat (so
also HP 26 35) for ha'x^lXiaL^ i.e., 1,300 days, with identifica-
tion with the 3^ years. It was taken up by some of the Prot.
comm., and since Zock. appears to be now the prevailing opinion;
and so RW JV, 'unto 2,300 evenings and mornings.' The de-
cision is to be approved for the reason that the consummate
sacrilege consisted in the suspension of the Constant sacrifices,
of which there were two a day, hence 2,300 of them = 1,150
days; as we might say, so many Matins and Vespers. The one
philological problem lies in the asyndeton, 'evenings mornings'
(Ci> © B have ' and '), but what is meant is patent from the fuller
statement in v.^^, 'the vision of the evening and the morning.'
For these words as technical terms of the two Constants cf.
TO irpcoivov Kal to SeLXtvov i Esd. 5^^ Behr. notes a parallel
from the Hildebrandslied, 'sixty summers and winters' = 30
years. The other view eft. 'it was evening and morning, one
day,' Gen. i^, and holds that 'evening morning' = vvxOrjixepov
(so Grot., Berth.), but for such a composition of two nouns no
exx. are found in the Semitic outside of modern dialects (s.
Brock., VG i, §248). A period of 1,150 days approximates the
2)/4 years (1,260-1,278 days) found in our interpretation of 'the
time, times and half a time' of 7^^; s. Comm. there. The cal-
culations based on the opinion for 2,300 days, i.e., about 6>^
years, begin quite too early, e.g., with Menelaus' usurpation,
171 B.C., or terminate too late, e.g., with Nicanor's defeat, 162
B.C.; s. Pole, who presents a wide range of theories, Pusey, Behr.,
Dr. The vb. in 'the sanctuary shall be vindicated' is an inter-
esting but perfectly proper use of pT^, as Calv. saw: "iustifi-
care Hebraeis est uerbum iuris"; i.e., it will be restored to its
rights. Cf. iBiKaioidr] rj ao(^La Mt. ii^^ (gel interpret with
'shall be purified,' and so AV RVV 'be cleansed,' marg. 'be jus-
344 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
tified/ GV 'wieder geweiht werden'; but JV 'shall be victori-
ous.' The historical commentary on this vindication is given
in I Mac. 4^^'^-.
13. ^"[■/"'^i] The Mass. tradition for -rr is certain; for similar cases
of apparently arbitrary -fr, explained in part as due to following guttural,
s. Kon., Lgb., I, p. 74, GK §10, h. N.b. that in the Aram, dialects there
was the tendency to replace the expected a stem vowel of the impf.
with u; s. Nold., MG p. 219, SG §170. For the cohortative form with
ti'aw-consec. s. Dr., Tenses, §§69^.: "It occurs only at rare intervals
except in two or three of the later writers, some ninety instances of its
use being cited altogether." — inx . . . nnx] = 'one . . . another' ;
for similar cases s. BDB s.v. §6. For the prepositive use cf. Nu. 31=*
(if the text is correct). It is not here the indef. article, which is always
postpositive (s. at 2^', although cases otherwise in the Mishnah, s.
Bev., p. 30), but is in apposition with ''^i'^?, 'one, a saint' (so GK
§125, b). For ^^K (6 uses in both cases e-uepoc; = "inN, which is non-
sense in the first case. Orig. (6 om. U'np 2°. — 12id] For syntax of the
ppl. s. at v.^ — T'^;?:] The Heb. expression for this indefinite pro-
noun is always '^^i^ '^""P. Ew., Lehrb., §106, c, Brock., VG i, 295,
regard the form as contraction of the usual double term; Behr. as
erroneous scribal combination of the two; Perles, Atialekten, 82, as com-
bination of two rdgs. Probably the ultimately alone current ^j'^d was
original, and a was inserted artificially to identify with the classical
term. The text is ancient, the word being transliterated in C6 ©
(p:X;i.ouvi; Sym. alone Ttv; xots (so & B Theodt.). Aq. gives the earliest
treatment of the word as a proper, angelic name; ace. to Ber. R., 21, he
translated it 'to him who is inside,' identifying with ^s-'JD, meaning
Adam, whose seat is in front of the ministering angels; s. Field, ad loc,
Jastrow, s.v. Similarly Polych. regards it as name of an angel, and so
Jeph., who finds three angels, Palmoni, Gabriel and an anonymous.
N.b. the article in M supported prob. by the Grr. With the derivation
of ^jSd from r^^o (s. BDB) = n'^2 'be wonderful' (?), cj. Arab, lahs,
'individual, person,' primarily a 'phenomenon.'— P'^lv'] There is no
reason with Ew., Lehrb., §290, e, to regard this as an irregular case of
the construct, or with Pr. to read a const. On the VSS at v."'' s. Note
at end of the chap. — 14. -\p2\ Without depending on the evidence of
(S 0 13, which prefix conj., we may note that an orig. 1 may easily have
fallen out before the following labial. There may be noticed Knab.'s
ingenious theory that the text once read -ipa d^d-', but minus 3V. "ip^
being a numeral, i.e., 2,000 -|- 100 -f 200 = 2,300; subsequently the
numeral was written out, "^pa was taken for the noun, 2-\y attached,
and so d^-'' finally dropped. But alphabetic figures for numerals are
8"-^^ 345
not found in the ancient texts; cj. at 2', 6'. — pixj] The Nif. only here.
For 0 xaOapiaOTjasTat, h-", Clem. Al. have the error apOifjasirat.
15-27. The interpretation of the vision. 15-18. The inter-
lude of the summons to Gabriel to instruct Daniel. 15. And it
came to pass when I Daniel saw the vision, that I sought to under-
stand it. And behold there stood before me as the appearance of
a man. 16. And I heard a human voice amidst the Ulai, which
called and said: Gabriel, make yon one to understand the vision.
VI. And he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was
panic-stricken, and fell upon my face. But he said unto me: Un-
derstand, son of man ; for the vision has to do with the time of the
end. 18. And as he was speaking with me I swooned with my
face to the ground ; and he touched me and made me stand upright.
The introduction to the interpretation is similar to that in c. 7,
vv.i^ f-. Here the angels intervene of their own accord. For the
phrase 'as the appearance of a man ("li!l, uir),^ or 'the like of
a man,' cf. similar although not identical phrases, lo^®- ^*, and
s. Note at end of chap. 7.
16. For the opening sentence cf. Eze. i^*^; 'a human voice,'
i.e., mS homo, used in its usual generic sense. The phrase
* amidst the Ulai ' is interpreted by the E W ' between the banks
of Ulai'; but the prep. \^'2 is sometimes used as here translated.
For the scene cf. the angels by the river, 12^^-. With Gabriel,
here and 9^^, we have the first attribution of a personal name to
angels; the one other angel named in the Jewish Scriptures is
Michael, 10" '^^ {q.v.). And these two alone appear in the N.T.,
Gabriel being there the annunciator as here, Lu. i^^- ^^ In Tob.
2)^\ etc., Raphael is named. In En. the angelic nomenclature is
luxuriant; the four or seven archangels there include Michael
and Gabriel (9^, 20). See, inter al., for the Judaistic period
Bousset, Rel. d. Jud., c. 16; for the Talmud, etc., Weber, Jild.
Theologie, §34; and for later Judaism the great compendium by
M. Schwab, Dictionnaire de Vangelologie, 1897. Michael and
Gabriel retain their pre-eminence in the Talmud. As the writer
has observed in his Aram. Incant. Texts, 96, Gabriel is often
given precedence over Michael in magical formulas, especially
in non- Jewish circles, Michael being the patron of Israel. It
became early the vogue to compose angelic names upon the
element -el, 'God,' but these were of the type used originally
346 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
for humans, s. Note. The pronoun translated 'yon one,' rare
in Heb., is reminiscent of Zech. 2^.
17. 'I was panic-stricken': this tr. of the vb- f\]^'2 is approved
by comparing the cognate m^X Tl^yS 'terrors of God,'
Job 6*. The title 'son of man,' i.e., 'human,' is borrowed from
Eze., where it occurs about a hundred times, 2^, etc. 'Falling
on the face,' the common attitude of reverence, is a frequent
phrase in Eze., e.g., i^*; cf. Rev. i^^, 22^ The causal connection
of 'for the vision,' etc., would be that the vision is 'worthy of
special attention' (Bev.). But the tr. 'that (''3) the vision' is
also possible. The Heb. reads literally ' the vision (is) for time
of end,' as we might say 'End-time.' I.e., a fixed term is given
for the consummation of the 'age,' which has been counted in
days, vv.i^- ". The expression recurs in v.", ii^^- ^°, 12*- ^; and
with a change in one word, 'end-term,' inf. v.^^, it is reminiscent
of Hab. 2^, 'For the vision is yet for the term (ij^ll^^), and
it ...(?) to the end and lies not.' What the 'end' is appears
from 9^^, 'his end,' i.e., Antiochus'. For the apocalyptic use of
'end' cf. Am. 8^, Eze. 36, f, it'"'- 29, 355. It is the D^DNI nnns'
of the prophetic books, commonly translated ' the latter days ' ;
s. Comm. at 2"^. The phrase rings through all subsequent apoc-
alyptic literature; s. Volz, p. 189 (with numerous citations),
Bousset, pp. 278^. It appears usually in the reverse construc-
tion, finis saeculi, saeculorum, and so here the text of 0, et?
Kaipov irepa^. But the later nuance of the end of time and the
ushering in of eternity {cf. Bousset, p. 280) is not to be found
here, against Cha. 18. The tr. 'I swooned,' TiJ^TIi, is more
appropriate for an abnormal unconsciousness than that of EVV,
'I was, or fell into, a deep sleep,' which is correct in, e.g., Jon.
i^, Gen. 2^1 (nDT"iri). The same kind of scene, with the mo-
ment of the divine touch, is repeated in lo^f-, cf. vv."*^-; also
En. 60^ f-. Rev. i", 2 Esd. 5"^-. The sentence 'he made me stand
upright,' lit. 'on my standing,' follows Eze. 2^, ' (the) spirit made
me stand up on my feet.' The parallelism may explain the
Koranic identification of Jibril with the Holy Spirit.
15. inxna in>i] See at v.^. It is not evident why JV throws the vb.
into the pluperf., 'had seen.' — '?}<''Ji '■jn] Emphasis on the name to
express return of self-consciousness, as in 7". (§ simplifies by making
the phrase subj. of the following vb. — njo] 'Understanding' with ref.
819-26 347
to the object, as 9-, 10'; of the subjective faculty, 1-°. — 13 J hnidj] Cf.
D1K 'CD lo'^ 01S >i2 nir:i3 Io'^ and t'jN -133 7". — 16. pDCNi] But
rri-psNi sup., nyccsi v.". — '•Six }i3] For p3 'amidst' cf. T'Xn p33
(P33?) 'amidst the grass,' Is. 44^; and so in expressions of time,
D''D'' mtry p3 Neh. 5'^ o^siiin p3 'at the evening,' Ex. i6'^ etc.
(a"'3ij? not a dual, s. GK §88, c, GB); cf. Arab, baind, bainamd, 'while.'
— '?x->-i3j] For similar human name cf. El-gabri, BE 10, 52, Ilu-gabri,
Tallqvist, Neubabylon. Natnenbuch, 76. Similarly Michael, Uriel were
at first human names. — ^)^] For the other few cases, and for '^J.?^
found only in Pent., s. GK §32, f. — In v.'^'' (B has a doublet: x. sx-dleas
. . . opajiv is interpolated from 0; the second clause, x. avaporjaat;
elicev 6 d'vOpWTTo; sicl xb xpoffTaytxa exsivo fj opixaiq, is the result of a
queer but intelligible misreading of % i.e., nfsnnn nNt*? nSjan hn -i3J.
On this it is to be remarked that n'?j3n was understood as nSjnn with
dissimilation from ^^^^ (= xpoorotyixa 3", 6"^); cf. Mand. nhS-'JD <
nSjn (s. Nold., MG p. 54), and cf npSon > npon > npojn 6=^.— 17.
''"'•??] "'v^ or inf. const. "''^H, only in Dan., Ch., Neh., semantically =
0''P? Below and c. 11 ic>' is used for Dip. — pn] Both Hif. and Kal are
used indifferently, = 'understand.' For p pn B F (HP defective here)
ignore p, having ouvaq alone; al. + uis = SjWzbj g P represent an
early omission, which was later supplied. — I'l"?, ">.] 0 exhibits dq xatpoij
xipa?, but ffiwzb ifi tempiis finis correctly, i.e., elq xatpbv %. {cf. 230
xatpwv = xaipov?), and this may have been the orig. rdg. of 0, mth
■jiipa^ understood as indeclinable or adverbial. (S £t<; wpav xatpoO, i.e.,
giving TP in sense of 'time,' the mng. it probably has in Zad. Frag., i, 5;
2, 9. 10. — 18. inmn:] The ppl. oii: 10^; OrC plus to 0 sOa[i.pT)OT5v
[xat xtxTw]. — nny Sy] 0 (B al.) exl xooa;, Or^ (A Q 106 al.) Lu. +
tiou, cf. ^^^^ supra pedes rneos. The phrase is late, else only 10", Ch.,
Neh., = earlier 'Onn or "h^^- ^'L
19-26. The angelic interpretation of the vision. 19. And he
said : Behold, I will make thee know what shall he in the end of the
Wrath ; for for the term of the end ' / The angel repeats his pre-
vious announcement, but with greater fulness. The present
phrase is enlarged upon in 11^'', 'till the Wrath (without the
article) be accomplished, for that which is determined shall be
done.' The phrases go back to the prophetic books: Is. lo^^
'and (the) Wrath shall be accomplished,' 262", 'until (the) Wrath
pass by.' The 'Wrath' is the temper of God at the present
epoch, due primarily to Israel's sin, which however is to vent
itself upon Israel's enemies, who have taken advantage of her
bitter discipline. As Mar. remarks, the whole history of Israel
348 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
since the Exile lies under the Wrath of God, to be terminated
by the inauguration of the Kingdom. This interpretation ap-
pears in the comment of i Mac. on the persecutions of Antiochus,
I ^^, ' there came great Wrath upon Israel ' (with actual citation
of I Ki. 3^^, a passage of quite different circumstances, but rep-
resenting the antiquity of the idea). A commentary on the
Wrath is given in Dan.'s confession in c. 9. For discussions of
this grievous problem of Jewry s. Schultz, Alttest. Religions gesch.,
§54; Wicks, The Doctrine of God in the Jewish Apocryphal and
Apocalyptic Literature, c. 2; Weber, Jiid. Theologie, §58. The
fmal clause of the v. repeats the end of v.^'^ with an unessential
change in one word and omitting the subject 'the vision.' The
latter word is expressed in most 0 mss (not in (^), and is re-
stored here by Behr., Mar.; but unnecessarily, for the signifi-
cant words are repeated exclamatively as a clew.
20. The ram which thou sawest, he of the two horns — the kings
of Media and Persia; 21. and the buck, the he- goat — the king of
Greece; and the great horn which is between his eyes — the first king;
22. and the broken one and there stood up four in its place — four
kingdoms shall stand up out of his nation [|^ a nation], but not
with his power. The items of the vision and their interpreta-
tions are given in staccato fashion. It is almost the only case
in the book where political allusions are definitely unveiled. 21.
In v.i^ the two horns stand for the two states of Media and
Persia, and 'kings' is used for 'kingdoms,' as in 7^^, q.v.; simi-
larly here 'king' is used both of the kingdom of Greece and of
King Alexander. The double phrase translated above ' the buck,
the he-goat' differs from the corresponding one, w.^- ^, 'buck
of the goats.' The second term here, I'^J^ty, is generally trans-
lated as adj., EW 'rough,' more correctly 'shaggy.' But the
word is most often used as a noun, of the he-goat, the usual
word in this connection, whereas above an Aramaic word,
"l^S!i 'buck,' was used. Hence comm., e.g., Behr., Dr., have
suggested that the classical Heb. word has been here added by
way of explanation (Behr., as a gloss). The Grr. read here as
above, 'buck of the goats,' but their evidence is not to be taken
for the orig. rdg., for the word 1''J?'i* is also used of the wood
demon, the 'satyr' of AV, and the Gr. translators would nat-
urally have avoided such a slur on Greece, even as the trans-
gl9-26
349
lators of the Pent, avoided Xaya)<i for the unclean hare out of
respect to the Lagidae. 22. By the addition of one character
to the Heb., we obtain the necessary 'his nation,' with the Grr.,
H. For the asserted diminution of the power of the Diadochi
from that of Alexander cf. ii'*.
23. And at the end of their sovereignty [Heb. kingdom], as it
were [Heb. like] the completing of sins [M sinners], there shall
stand up a king bold-faced and skilled in enig^nas. 24. And his
power shall wax mighty [gloss, hut not hy his power]; and he shall
destroy terribly, and shall prosper and do; and he shall destroy
mighty ones and the people of the Saints. The climax of the em-
pire of Greece appears in Antiochus (ace. to Oriental notion the
Seleucidae were Alexander's legitimate successors, s. Torrey's
paper on 'Yawan,' JAOS 25, 302); as in c. 7 all the history of
the Successors is focussed in this Atheist who holds the centre
of the stage for the pious Jews. The prep, introducing the fol-
lowing gerundive clause may be translated as above, 'as it
were,' and so more forcibly, or it may be simply temporal, of
time at which, as it is generally understood. This clause in m
refers to 'the sinners completing (the measure),' i.e., of their
sins; and so almost all comm., e.g., JV, 'when the sinners have
completed their transgressions.' But all the VSS understood,
with a different vocalization (D''yii*3 for D'^JJirs), 'the sins,'
which agrees with 'finishing (so ^^r.) transgression,' 9^*, and this
amendment is accepted by Berth., Ew., Mein. The phrase is
then parallel to Gen. 15^^, 'for not yet is complete (Q^:y) the
•■ T
iniquity of the Amorite,' a theme which recurs in the Scriptures:
2 Mac. 6", 7r/>09 eKirXripoiaLv afiapriMv {vv.^-^- an interesting
commentary on Israel's discipline) ; iTh. 2^^,€i9 to avairXripoiaai
ra<i dfMapTLa^ avrwv Trdprore^ with evident reminiscence of this
passage, for there follows, 'and the Wrath has come upon them
utterly.' These refif., adduced by Geier, CBMich., Bert., but
ignored by recent comm., give the preference, by 'analogy of
Scripture,' to the rdg. 'sins.' The 'sins' are the causes and the
object of the 'Wrath,' v.'^; with Antiochus their measure is
brought to the full that the Theodicy may be inaugurated. The
description of the 'king,' Antiochus, is a striking miniature in
words. He is 'bold-faced,' as close as possible a translation of
the Heb., in which the same phrase is used of the harlot's
3 so A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
effrontery (Pr. 7"); it involves insolence (Bev.), defiancy (Dr.),
but we may hold to the concrete, physical expression dear to
the Semitic genius. The word rendered 'enigmas' is the 'rid-
dles' of 5 '2; the multifariousness of word-meaning in the elder
Sem. lexicon is illustrated in the use of the word {cf. the Lord's
saying, ravra ev 7rapoifiiaL<; XeXdXrjKa v/ilv Jn. 16^''). Ant.
was a master in Machiavellian arts, master-diplomatist, able to
deceive 'the very elect.' Cf. the characteristic of 'deceit' in
v.^^, which is illustrated from i Mac. i^°, 'he spoke to them words
of peace in deceit.' Ant.'s character is further depicted at 1 1^^ ^■.
The clause bracketed above, ' but not by his (E VV plus ' own ')
power,' repeats the last clause of v.^^, and by reason of its change
of reference has given trouble to the exegetes. Calv., Ew. are
logical in making the words refer again to the same antecedent,
Alexander; but the antecedent is too distant. Hence a variety
of attempts at explanation: Theodt., Aph. Syr., Ra., AEz.,
Vatablus, by divine permission; or by other human auxiliaries
(Bert.), Polanus precising by naming Eumenes and Attains or
the perfidy of the Jewish renegades. Or the contrast is found
between strength and deceit (cf. v.^^), so vLeng. and recent
comm., Mein., Bev., Behr., Kamp., Dr., Cha.; but we should
expect 'by power,' not 'by his power,' as Behr. himself seems
to feel. But © om. the clause (it may not be original in (^, s.
Note), and so Mar., Lohr, Ehr., cf. Cha. The adv. used in 'he
shall destroy terribly' corresponds to the Gr. Seivw^ which so
often is used like the 'awfully' of Eng. vernacular; indeed, the
word may be imitated from the Gr. To the persecuted Jews
Ant.'s ' destructiveness ' (the vb. is used thrice in this and the
following v.) loomed large; the Heb. vb. is commonly used in a
moral sense, and its object would include social institutions as
well as concrete things. The 'mighty ones' are Ant.'s political
foes ((S well 'dynasts'), who are represented through a narrow-
ing of focus by the four 'kings' he displaced; these are in con-
trast with 'the people of the Saints' (the latter word without
the article, and so practically a proper name), i.e., 'the Saints
of the Most High,' 7^^ Some comm., e.g., AEz. (not Ra.), Stu.,
Pr., identify 'mighty ones' with Israel and regard 'the people
of the Saints' as epexegetical; but the Maccabees had not yet
proved their valor.
25. And after his cunning he shall cause craft to prosper in his
810-26 351
hand, and in his mind [Heb. heart] he shall act greatly, and un-
awares he shall destroy many. And against the Prince of princes
shall he take stand. And without hand [i.e., natural agency] shall
he be broken. As Mar. observes for vv.^^- ^^ the conclusion of the
angelic address breaks into metrical form, but it is rather a
kind of saj' than a regulated metre. The syntax of the Heb. in
the first sentence is somewhat harsh, although quite possible,
and it has been adhered to above. But it has troubled the Grr.,
0 being snarled up in one of its rare absurdities. (^ supplies after
the first prep. ^J?, 'the Saints,' obtaining the plausible tr., 'and
against the Saints his purpose.' This clev/ has been seized upon
by Graetz, p. 390, followed by Bev., Mar., Blud. (p. 67), Jahn,
Lohr, Ehr., Cha. for an emendation: omitting 'and the people
of the Saints,' end of v.^'* (which (^ has !), and then following
d, 'and against the Saints shall be his mind [and he shall cause].'
Bev. eft. ii^*, 'his heart against the holy covenant.' But Behr.,
Kamp., Pr., Dr. rightly stickle at the correction; Behr. regards
it as 'flat,' and observes against Bev.'s view that there can be
no mention of the saints until v.", that the writer does not avoid
repetitions; and Dr. makes the capital point that h'2^ does not
mean 'mind' as those critics take it after (^ Siavorj/jba-^ s. Note
further. ' In his hand ' means ' in operation ' ; for this use of T»
T
s. BDB 390a. There is a contrast, perhaps satirical, between it
and the following 'in his mind' ('heart' as seat of the mind).
For 'act greatly,' 'do big things,' s. Comm. at v.*. 'Unawares'
is a tr., now generally adopted after Aram, usage, in place of
RVV JV 'in (time of) security,' which amounts to the same
meaning (AV 'by peace'). It is generally recognized that here
we have a direct historical ref., which can be of use in dating
the chap., viz., i Mac. i^^^-; this tells how Ant.'s tax-gatherer
(Apollonius) came to Jerusalem 'and spoke to them words of
peace in guile, and they believed him, and he fell upon the city
suddenly (i^aTriva)^ and he smote it greatly and destroyed much
people of Israel' (cf. below 'deceit' and 'shall destroy many').
The 'Prince of princes' is 'the Prince of the host,' v.^^, q.v., i.e.,
God. In 'he shall be broken without hand,' the vb. is not used
concretely as in v.^ of the great horn, but in the secondary
sense of destruction, e.g., Jer. 22^", 'all thy lovers are destroyed.'
In ' without hand ' the noun is used in one of its many connota-
352 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
tions (c/. mamis in Latin), here as the instrument of force, and
so force; we may compare Zech. 4^: 'not by power and not by
force but by my spirit, saith the Lord.' Not a human or natural
agency but the direct visitation of God will destroy the tyrant.
We recall the vivid Jewish stories of his miserable death in
Persia from some disease accompanied by melancholy: i Mac. 6,
2 Mac. 9, Jos., AJ xii, 9, i. However, the vague statement here
must not be taken as post eventum or treated too exactly as pro-
phetic. For another similarly vague predictive allusion to Ant.'s
death, but one which cannot be post eventum, s. 11^^.
26. The asseveration of the truth of the vision. Atid the
vision of 'the evenings and mornings' which has been told is true.
A nd thou, close up the vision, for many days yet ! ' Evenings and
mornings' is a clew from \}^, taken as a summary title of the
vision. For this solemn affirmation, "intended here as an en-
couragement to the persecuted Israelites, who may rest assured
that their sufferings will ere long reach the appointed limit"
(Dr.), cf. 10', II- (in both which cases as here the noun 'truth'
is used). Rev. 19^, 21^, 22^ It is implied that the vision is to
be written, cf. 7^, and then the book is to be 'closed up' (simi-
larly 12^ 'closed up and sealed'), because while written in the
reign of Belshazzar it relates to the distant age of Antiochus;
it is to remain hidden because it would not be intelligible before
that epoch, while this charge would explain why none ever heard
of the vision until that late day {cf. Dr., Cha.). Cf. En. i-
(visions seen not for this generation but for a remote one),
104^- f-, 2 Esd. 14^^ ff- (distinguishing between the public Scrip-
tures, and the 'apocrypha' which are to be committed to the
wise). For the final apocopated clause cf. v.^^ It is a citation
of Eze. 12^^ (there a satirical gibe of the people at the prophet's
predictions); cf. also below 10".
19. Ehr. offers the insipid correction of D^'rn to D''Din. — $ has the
correct exegetical plus [i-qq opyrji;] lolc, ulol^ toj XaoO aou, which is
adopted by Lu. — ^>■1!:] = n;? v."; for the equivalence cf. the synonym-
ity of iDi and p;", s. at 2-'. — At end of the v. most 0 mss -|- t) opaatc; =
SJWzb^ but Q in Lu. MSS omit it, prob. after the earlier rdg. of ©. (S
did not read it, but has a doublet, sU wpa; (1. wpav) xatpoG (= v.*")
auvTEXsiaq (= "i"'.) pLsvs; (^;;1DS as from rt. nD>' often = jjiivciv). —
20. "'sVd] All VSS as though iSd, induced by the apparent difficulty
of the syntax. — Dial nc] A B 26 35 106 130 233 'Persians and Medes'
8^^-^^ 353
= ffiwzb; the same in 0 texts 6'.— 21. "''3'.^'] = 'hairy,' then 'he-goat,'
and so the satyr-demon (why BDB, GB distinguish the two nouns is
not evident). All VSS tr. as though °']".^—22. >3-i« njnDyni nnp.rjni
ninnr] The whole clause in casus pendens with the waw consec. fol-
lowing the ppl., cf. ■i>J ><?i n^i nar b-^x Ss 3 Sa. 14'", etc., s. GK, §116,
w. The difficult clause is variously rendered by the VSS but without
impeachment of 1^. (6 xal xd: auvTpt^evua = n^^B'jni, and the plus
[reaaapa] xspaxa; 0 x. toG auvTpcpsvxo; (gen. abs.) ou eaxTjaav
xsajapa uxoxiTw xepaxa; the strange position of -/.igara can only be ex-
plained as a gloss from (S, it is not found in iCw2b_ q^c revised the
order here, Lu. rendered more elegantly. 31 e/ conlriti (— 0gen. abs.)
cornu (an exegetical gloss) in quo stelerunt quattuor reges ('four' 2° lost
by haplog.) sunt (?) de gente eiiis exsiirgent. — '^'"?..'?] This pi. for a
noun in abstract -ut is unique in classical Heb., to be expected '^^9;^;
s. GK §95, u. But it is the regular pi. in NHeb., s. K. Albrecht, Neuheh.
Gramm. aiif Grand der Mishna, §84, h. All VSS read 'kings.' It is
possible that a double rdg. is implied here, to be read either lOi^sSc or
niaSn. — ''"'J?] All VSS exc. & read as '''J°, now generally accepted. —
i^^lD^] The form is explained by Mein., Bev., GK §47, k, after elder
grammarians, as either Aramaizing or survival of an antique Sem. form
(with y prefix to the fem. as in other Sem. groups); similar cases in
Gen. 30^', I Sa. 6'-. This view is rejected by Kon., Lgb., i, pp. 239. 417,
Behr., Kamp., Mar., Lohr, who read the regular njisyn. The Jewish
grammarians recognized these forms as 'androgynous' (s. Kon.), and
Kon. thinks there was intended the double ref. to 'kingdoms' and
'kings'; as such, like nvjSs above, it would be an early Rabbinic con-
ceit.— ^"^^^ ^■)\ There is no reason (Kamp.) to strike these words out
with Behr. as a gloss from v.-^ (the converse argument is made by some) ;
Behr. arbitrarily holds they must mean ' through Alexander's strength.'
(& 0 tr. the suffix by oejtwv (= &), corrected by Or^-c Lu., auxou; E is
non-committal, in uirtute sua.
23. Dv^^'^"^] For inconcinnity of gender agreement cf. 0^5 v.'; here
'kings' rather than 'kingdoms' may have dominated. — E^Jb {^ anno
el in nouissimo regni eorum contains a doublet, prob. in anno = ev
e[j-/a]xa>.— ='3it=^ °^??] All VSS read a^ii^sn^ and understood the vb.
as pass., so the Grr., or intrans., & i^'^S', 13 creuerint. Cf. ^'^'^^ DPn ;^j._
9"^ For the intrans. use of the Hif. here (AV 'come to the full') cf.
Is. Z2>^, lP'?i??. This meets Bev.'s objection that the Kal is necessary.
The plus [oe(iapT'.wv] aJxtov of the Grr. (so JV !) is exegetical, of the kings.
Cod. c has the unique doublet -(- w; av aypaYicovTan to: xapofTCTtojxaTa
auTwv, i.e., onno for anna, dependent upon 9-''. — ^'^^ HI] Cf. Dt. 28*";
Pr. 7" of the harlot; also Ecc. 8- (text and mng. ?). Not 'of fierce coun-
tenance * with EW, evidently following H praedurae faciei, where Jer.
23
354 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
prob. meant 'impudent,' cf. Quintilian praeduri oris; correctly Grr,
ava;ST]i; Tcpoawxw. — nn^nj Qn the borrowing from Aram, rt., s. at 5'-.
<S oclvif[i.cxT<x, 0 •7:po^XT)txaTa = S 15 proposUiones ; JV 'stratagems' is
imhappy. — 2A. °?)J] Inchoative, as v.*; cf. 11^'. — insa nSi] 0 (B 22 26
34 89 91 130 229 230 147) = SjWzb iren., v. 25, 3, om. the clause. (35
has Iv xfi !axui auToO = Hexapl. texts of 0, but in v.^^ xaxa ttjv iax^v
auToO, and it is poss. that the identical plus was introduced by Origen
into (S as well as 0. — r^^n-y niNSiij] 'j fern. pi. used adverbially, d
eaufjiaairws, so Job 37^ (text?), niNiij pg. 139I1, as the sing. fem. is
also used; s. GK §100, d, and often in Aram. In comparison with
'i-\2-\-' 1 1^6 Bev., followed by Mar., would amend r\^ny into ^^^r, or
^'!}''^] 'shall utter [monstrous things],' but with Kamp. an unnecessary
amendment. — a''Dii'>'] There is no reason, in view of the neighboring
as;', to understand 'j? as 'many' with Behr.; for this mng. we find 013-1
V.''*. — ai'.T'np d;"] (S S^plov ayidiv = 230 It, but 0 aytov prob. an early
error, but supported by Sjwzb populiim sanctum.
25. "^l? n^^f^l -^y^-^^ Cf. ip.? ^l Lev. 5", V-^l W Is. 60', s.
BDB 7S4&. '73s' in malo sensu. The conj. in n^Sxrii resumes the casus
pendens contained in the prepositional phrase; s. Dr., Tenses, §§122/..
GK §143. Both d and H take hd-id as subj. to the vb., and possibly an
abs. inf., '^.V'!', was intended, 'the prospering of deceit.' Query: have
we here a pair of clauses depending on v.-^? — '[will destroy . . . the
saints] both by his cunning and the prospering of deceit in his hand'?
d's plus is noted in the Comm. 0 has the remarkable rendering x.
6 t^uybg tou xXotou aiiToQ = JjWzb, Qn this basis Berth, attempted a
restoration of %, "'■?;'? • J', cf. Is. 9^. But 0 flatly misread; he understood
•3? as S'jj, and interpreted iSatt' from hy:? 'lay crosswise,' Gen. 48'* =
Arab, lakala, 'bind,' which suggested /.Xotd^, a large collar for dogs,
etc., and so SI torquis. & has an unexplained misreading, 'in his power,'
njnmx3. — n^a nri-ir:] 0 takes as a fresh clause, 56Xo<; sv Tfi ^etpi au-uoO;
for 56Xos ffiwzb has sermonc, rdg. SoXo^ as Xoyos, and taking this as
dative.— '?1^J'> naSa] d ignored the prep., tj -/.apSc'a auxoO u^iwOi^asTat,
and so It, but with the noun as obj., cor suum magnificahit. — '^]:'"?] =
jj2i. 24^ where (& e^iiciva; for the corresponding Aram, noun s. at 3^',
4^*, 6*. In mng. = o^tf? Job 15-', and cf. the common Syr. men sel
(Targ. niStt* jc) 'unawares.' (S 0 SoXw, U ifi copia rerum omnium. —
-^vp Q>-)i^ nb- Sp] For h-; ncy = "-y a^p cf. 10", n" and s. BDB
7646. Both (& and 0 misread; (S i%\ a-Kuikeiaq dtvSpwv oTTjasxat, simi-
larly 0 but xoXXwv for dvSpwv, i.e., d>2-\ \\ 3n3J -\t' hy. Lu. adds the
correct doublet x. i%\ fipxovTa dpxovrwv axTjasTat. — "^^^'l "^i^ "???]
C/. I:T3 ^'^ 2^; DflN3 also Pr. 1428, 2620, Job 76. dsn = pN, poetic
and mostly late; for equivalence with Akk. apsu, s. Hommel cited in
Gunkel, Schopfimg, 46, KAT 492, n. i. (6 Tconrjast auvayuT'^iv x^'P^?
8^^ 355
(= # KTX nnNC3) xal a7:oBtjaeTat, i.e., ^^'1\ "''' '\°^?. © (^c, ihi. x^tp'-
auvTpt4;et, i.e., DflX3 as ^^5 (was o^s^a 1sn3 Is. io'^ in mind?) and
the vb. as Piel. — 26. icnj] For this use of icn cf. 4^. As Mar. remarks,
the terms for vision, as here, and 'word' can be used promiscuously, so
that "?n and ncN can be used indifferently with them, e.g., Is. 2', Jer.
2" (text?). (S -OLipsOT) is error for kp;.Tfir,.—n^n rcN] Cf. i^in n^n nsK
Dt. 22-°, etc. For nsN 0 (B al.) d>.T)Ot:)^ (after the freq. adv. use of nax),
al. iXT)6Tj<; = ffiwzb uerus. — 3nD h.-in] (g vQv TCippaYixevov = ""? '^''^J'.
27. The effect of the vision upon Daniel. And for me Daniel,
I was befallen [?], and I was sick some days ; and then I arose
and did the king's business. And I was perplexed at the vision
and without understanding. For similar psychological effect cf.
7^8, 2 Esd. 5^*. The first vb. 'I was befallen,' i.e., with a stroke
of illness, is a translation offered as a possibility; for the various
theories s. Note. The reference to the royal business connects
with 2^^ For the vb. 'perplexed' s. at 4i«<i3\ The traditional
interpretation of the final clause is ' and there was no one under-
standing,' so Grr., ^, Ra., the early Prot. comm., EW, most
moderns. This is then variously explained: Ra., that none per-
ceived Dan.'s state of mind because he restrained himself before
the eunuch; Mein., that none remarked the vision and its effects;
Behr. thinks of a lack of sympathetic attention, or suggests a
bit of phraseology, eft. Is. 53^ IJ tr. 'there was none to inter-
pret,' so Sa., Jeph., AEz. = RVVmg, and this causative mng.
of the vb. is entirely possible. But there is no reason why Dan.
should have expected attention, sympathy, or an interpreter in
his Pagan circle. The tr. given above, which can be justified
from the Heb., is that of Maur., Hitz., Mar., Lamb., and is cor-
roborated by 12^, 'I heard and could not understand.' The
moment serves, as Mar. observes, as introduction to the follow-
ing chap., in which the seer agonizes for further illumination.
27. ''^'^W: 'H'.':'?^] The Nif. of 7\^r\ presents the same problem here
as in vS;? nnMj inja' 2', q.v. Those who interpret from that passage
tr., e.g., Dr., 'I was done with, exhausted' (= Eng. vernacular 'was
done for' !). EW, 'fainted,' depend upon H langui. But it is doubtful
if the same vb. could mean, the sleep luas done, and the seer was done
for. Ra., Kimbi boldly etymologize from ^f^ 'ruin,' Job 6-, followed
by Berth., Hav., eft. Arab. hawa{y), and so cadere factus sum, and eft.
■ic('KT£iv £'!; xoiTTjV, SO agreeing with 0 £y.oip.T;9T5v. The present writer
came independently upon this derivation from r\^'r\ = nin in its original
356 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
mng. 'fall,' observing its (rare) use in Syr. as an active, 'befall' (e.^.,
Acts 7^°, 28^ other cases in Wright, Apoc. Acts), and so translate, 'I
was befallen,' i.e., stricken. The difficulty is too easily overcome by Pr.,
Mar., Lohr, Ehr. in regarding iniinj as dittograph of "Tii'jnj on the
alleged support of CS, which sums up the two vbs. in daOsvYjaa?. 0 tr.
the two vbs. exotpiT;0T)v x. £tJ.aX(zx''a6rjv; j& for the first zd'ei, 'trembled.'
— o-ic^] This absolute use also Gen. 40*, Neh. i*; Behr. eft. Arab, 'aiydm.
© om.; C5 -QtAspac xoXXd?, which was carried over into OrC Lu. — nf;;}*!]
For unapocopated form, frequent especially in ist pers., s. GK §75, t;
the retention of n may be due to the expected cohortative mood in -d.
— iScn DDnhv] Cf. Est. 9=; "?d = Aram, xmo;^ 2".— r?n r>?] As 3d
pers. all the VSS and EW; Grr., & take the ppl. as intransitive, 'under-
standing,' TB as causative, ?ion eral qui interpretaretur, and so Sa., Jeph.,
AEz. But ]''N here = nS as pure negative, cf. v.'. Dr., Cha. are unde-
cided as to interpretation. HWzb agrees with B in non erat qui inter-
pretaretur; Ranke suggests that guvetiXwv was read for cuvi'wv. But
this appears to be a contamination from H; and Ranke probably gives
the actual OLat. in his citation from Aiictor de 42 mans. {ap. Ambros.),
non erat intel'igens.
TEXTUAL NOTE ON 8"b. 12,
The table opposite gives a synoptical critical presentation of the texts of
i| and the Grr. 0 follows 1^ word by word except in two sequences, in one
of which he follows (6. The absurd errors of the latter for words (2) (3) are
corrected, but ^SB'n is evidently understood as nSsn, cf. gloss in (S. His
otuTw = p30 is unintelhgible except as primitive scribal error for toxw. He
follows 05 spTjpLwOYjasTat = n2si, renders injn more correctly with eSoGt)
(following (5 with xat prefixed to the clause), and has sing. ajAapTta. As to
variants B alone has epazO^Q = °"''"'> the others sTapax6Y) = E conturbatum
est. 0 tzxpax^f] represents rdg. of l| as a form of iis. In 22 231 A another
variation with exaxOr;; Qmg has r^pO-^ = gloss in (S. There follows in Or^- c
Lu. X. £y£VT)Orj = ^ et factum ; this appears in gloss to <& = (& eysvr^e-r^aav =
pjn, and is evidently an early gloss from (8 in 0 but out of place. Prefixed
to this gloss Lu. has plus xapaxrwiiaTt, a variant to aixapTta = ;?"^03, again
a gloss out of place.
In col. 3 is given orig. (S, which like 0 follows 1^ almost literally. The
origin of its evident absurdities is patent. In cols, i, 2 are given two sets of
glosses, the place of the words in the present text of d being exhibited by a
consecutive numbering of the words as they stand in the text. Col. 2 con-
tains a consecutive series of glosses intruded solidly into (&; they give valu-
able independent corrections of the latter's errors. Col. i contains some
odd glosses: suwOwOt; (|s, -cav (^^, from 0 (?); ey£VT;OT) for ey£VT,OTiaav,
prob. older than the latter, as it is supported by the gloss in 0 texts; and
eici T. yiQV II xai^at.
00
o
H
O
H
X!
H
. •s > rv
^ • IH
^^o
*"^
o. 3 u
o 1^
0
§■ + +
It-
'
til
^
fr
M
C3
>
**— ^
®
O
8
3
8 p- tj
>
o
?-
8
o
8
f
w
O
3
P-
O
8
t>
3
>
P"
8
P-
g-
(N
P-
>
3
t)
O
8
?■
to
to
P-
o
p-
3
o
3
iO
f
A
10
V'
Q.
8
rt
10
8
8
!<
10
to
8
CT> 8 s t;
o- 8 3
8
p-
Q-
8
N
8
«5
8
8
>:
>^ u) S 8
?J
tu
X
to
8
!<
N
P-
>;
X
r f: p Q
D
r
?)
n
r.
'-I
-T-
r
n
Q
E
o
r
ft
•i
r.
o r »-
c
r-
n
£
t SS"
SI
>
>
r
•-*\
>
8
O
P-
<x>
p-
(O
^-
to
M
3
Original (5
>
o
f
8
<-p 3
o f
1 §
£ ti X g
o 8 8 o
8 8 Q. ^
>
o
?-
8
o
0>
t)
P-
G5
3
d.
p-
8
5
3
O
!^
8
P
8
8
p-
e-
3.
o,
to
8
P-
3
t3
O
8
to
to
P-
s
to
p-
3
3
to
8
8
O-
8
ii
.J
8
8
8
8
S
b* b» to o
J<
u>
>;
to
8
!<
N
P-
><.
Si
M
M CO rt- vo
T^
in
o
f^
00
o
O
M
c<
ro
M
M
*"*
t-H
M
M
<N
IN
c^
tN
>
p-
b-
3
«
P-
pk
>,
^ «
to
tH
H
rt
P- o
p-
cs
a) C5
« 8
to
8
U"
I
^
S S
S
3
to
8
O
vr) r^
CO
o
O
-*->
l-H
>
4J
«
b
tn
O
o
M
-a
a
o
o
u
p-
as
3
«>
3
3
o
p-
ID
1
w
H
M
358 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
For the VSS the following points are to be observed. OLat. (Sjwzb cor-
roborated in part by Iren. v, 25, 3) = B, with exceptions as noted above.
& and "B agree with the Kt. onn as active, & nnx, "B deiecit, but vs. M tak-
ing i^uTi as active. Similar correspondence appears in v.^-: H robur (ft haild)
datum est ei (not in 1^ S>) contra sacrificium propter (S» 'in') peccata (also pi.
in pointed text of ft vs. 1S[). The following ^Su'^ is taken as Hof. by all VSS.
Thus ft and B read our 5^ with variations from M.
The above study proves that criticism of the elder VSS, (5 as well as 6,
presents after exclusion of patent glosses the same quantum of words.
Jahn's servile dependence upon (& is absurd; and quite without proof is
Cha.'s assertion that "it is possible by means of the VSS, esp. the LXX and
Theod., to recover the original for the most part." Only one substantial
variant rdg. is given by (S = 0: £prj[j.ci)Orja£Tot'. for N3si, which Graetz ap-
proved, supposing °?'^"1; but for which Blud. (pp. 65 _^.) more reasonably
suggests '^l?^, cf. Zeph. 3*. We may thus obtain an intelligible rdg., 'and
was cast down the place of the sanctuary and it was desolated' {i.e., z'-\'->-2
nixii). But it is questionable how far we may rely upon <S's corrupt text.
For other suggested revisions s. Comm. 0's a[xa?Ti(x = (S at ayLotprtat is
claimed by many as proof of orig. rdg. >'tt'D. But the dative aixapTioti may
have been original, and this is supported by the gloss eYevT)8T) for eys-
VT]GTjaav; when it came to be understood as a nom. pi. it entailed a pi. vb.
NOTE ON VSS AT S'^b.
For liDnn prnn (i> 0 to opafia (0 r\ opaats) aTTjasTat x. t] Guata -q apGsica,
in which Trnn is duplicated by r] Guata || <mr)a£Tai treated as form of ^c;';
an ancient rdg. in 0 (interpolated from (S), corroborated by H'^^'', quam
dill uisustabit (sic) sacrificium quod stiblatu7n est. The plus t] apGetaa is e.xe-
getical, representing [-fcnn] ain v.'*, and gives a correct rendering of ain,
ignored at v." (is it original here?). For nn d-s' jjz's^ Grr. tq ajJiapTia epTr)[i.w-
asw? iQ SoGeiffa; ti.b. the forced rendering of r\r. IS tr. n.-i quae facta est, after
the tr. of injn v.", which = <S; ft a'^n-^i'j 'will be handed over.' ft read as
though QCiiM 'and destruction.' For Dmci nOjI ii'ipi (§ x, Ta ayta epT^^j-wGr;-
a^Tat £t<; ■/.xxaTzaxr^[ia, i.e., holding to the rendering of n:isi v.^\ But 0
corrects himself: v.. to aytov x. t] Suvayiiq ouv-axrjOiQaETat, apparently rdg.
DDio as '.-1; ft B = 0.
CHAPTER 9. THE REVELATION OF THE
SEVENTY WEEKS.
Dan., having learned from the Sacred Books of Jer.'s prophecy
of the doom of seventy years' desolation for the Holy City, a
term that was now naturally drawing to an end (1. 2), sets him-
self to pray for the forgiveness of his people's sin and the prom-
ised deliverance (3-19). The angel Gabriel appears to him (20-
9^'^ 359
21), and interprets the years as year-weeks, with detail of the
distant future and of the crowning epoch of the divine purpose
(22-27).
1-3. Introduction. 1. In the first year of Darius the son of
Ahasueriis [i.e., Xerxes], of the seed of the Medes, who became
king over the realm of the Chaldceans, — 2. in the first year of his
reign I Daniel observed in the Books the number of the years, as the
word of YnwH came to Jeremiah the Prophet, that were to be accom-
plished for the desolations of Jerusalem, ^seventy years.' 3. And
I set my face unto Yewe God to inquire with prayer and suppli-
cation in fasting and sackcloth and ashes. For the identity of this
Darius, s. Int., §19, d. The father's name in the transliteration
from the Persian is the 'Xerxes' of the Classics, as (^ correctly
renders it, although in Est. (^ commutes it into Artaxerxes.
Jos., following his usual bold treatment of the Persian period in
Biblical history, gives the name as Astyages, the well-known
royal name of the Median dynasty. The name here may have
been simply borrowed from the Biblical onomasticon. In the
following relative clause M points the vb. as a passive, 'was
made king'; in the Note is proposed a repointing which, after
Aramaic idiom, gives the mng. 'became king,' and this is the
tr. of all the VSS. Since the early Prot. comm., Calv., Piscator,
Junius, etc., and so still Wright, Wilson, Boutflower, the passive
has been explained from the alleged institution by Cyrus of a
viceroy, Darius-Astyages-Gobryas, in Babylonia, or, with Stu.,
from the action of God; cf. the interpretations of Darius, 're-
ceiving the kingdom,' 6^ (5^0-
2. The repetition of the date, 'in the first year,' found tau-
tologous and omitted by 0, Bert., has its point. The seer insists
upon the date because with the overthrow of the Chaldsean
kingdom the hope of the exiles for liberation was awakened
afresh, and they naturally took recourse to their 'Books' to
judge whether the term of exile had arrived. With the fall of
Babylon the seer naturally 'observed' particularly (JV 'medi-
tated upon,' incorrectly AV RW 'understood') the definite
prophecy long ago made by the favorite prophet announcing a
term of 70 years of exile, Jer. 25"- i^, 29^°. The result of the
seer's prayerful 'seeking' in the matter was a vision which re-
vealed that those 70 years were not to be interpreted by natural
mathematics but as year-weeks, a calculation which would bring
360 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
down the objective of the prophet's prophecy into the age of the
Maccabsean restoration. The ref. to the prophecies in Jer. is so
clear that it is not at all necessary with Nold., AUtest. Litteratur,
224, Bev. (int. to chap.) to hold that there is here a midrashic
interpretation of Lev. 2&^- ^^ {cf. the 'seven times' of v.^^), and
to find there a prophecy of year- weeks. 'The Books' are not
the Thorah, with those scholars, but the Canon of the Prophets,
which had already obtained authoritative value. The term is
the one Biblical ref. to the Canon of the Prophets. 3. The term
'I set my face,' while poetical in quality, cf. the freq. 'set the
heart,' is probably an old cultic term involving the idea of the
^iblah in prayer {cf. 6"^"^, as is also the vb. 'seek' ^52, once
used of inquiring at the oracle, here of divining the interpreta-
tion of Scripture. This spiritual inquiry was accompanied with
the ancient concomitants of fasting, vesture of sackcloth, and
the sprinkling of ashes on the head (the last term is omitted by
0). For 'prayer and supplications' cf. 6"*-. From primitive
times fasting was regarded as the preparative for a revelation,
e.g., Ex. 34^*. It is the preliminary to the following vision, lo^- ',
and to the visions in 2 Esd., s. 5^^ and Box's note; cf. Syr., Apoc.
Banich, 20^- ^, and the Shepherd of Hennas, visions 2. 3. For the
combination of sackcloth and ashes (more likely the general term
'dust,' s. Note) cf. Jon. 3^, Est. 4^-^ the latter passage and the
present one showing that these rites of humiliation were still
practised. Later reflf. to the combination, e.g., Mt. 11^^ and the
Talmudic saying, ' Not sackcloth and fasting but repentance and
good works effect the divine mercy,' Ta'an. 16a, are rather rem-
iniscent of ancient practice. For these practices of private
piety in Judaism s. Schiirer, GJV 2, 566 ff., Stade (Bertholet),
Bibl. Theol. d. AT, 2, 422 ff. The divine Name miT' occurs only
in this chap. In v.^ it appears as a citation, in v.^ it anticipates
the personal, intimate use of the Name in the following prayer;
its occurrence would seem to indicate that the vocable was still
in use in the liturgy and private prayer.
1. i^'^il^'D^,] The name occurs also Ezr. 4*, Est. i^ etc. Its form in
OAram., itn-'ti'n, irit<'>::'n (CIS ii, no. 122, the papp.), as also correctly
iJ iTTicHN, better represent the Pers. Khsayarsd, s. GB, Gehman, JBL
1924, p. 322. — nn j'-itd] Cf. i^. — I-^t ] The Hof. is found only here,
and a pass, is most unUkely. We may point it as Hif ., and so ' reigned,'
9^-^^ 36i
after the S3T. use of the Afel. Misunderstanding of the alien idiom pro-
duced a Hof. in M.—2. '^'^'^] The form, for which '^^? Ps. 139- (and
so here 3MSS Ken.), is formed after analogy of V"}} vbs., e.g., T'^Dj and
so ^"'^"'l Job ^:i^^. The earUer explanation as Hifil, later upheld by
Ewald, is disproved by Nold., ZDMG 37, 525 ff. It is possible that a
Piel, ''^V--, was intended, as in Syr., which (so also the Hif. in NHeb.)
has the sense of 'interpret, expound.' — anao] B solus ^upXots (al.
^c^Xots), and so B solus 2 Ch. 17', i Esd. i'', teste Hatch-Redpath,
which ignores this case. In the papp. this spelling lasted into the third
Christian century; s. Thackeray, Gram., i, 95. — 'Ji "^ -i:n riin -lu-x] A
common form of introduction to a prophetic book or oracle, e.g., Jer.
I-. In (^ Tf) yfj standing in place of nin^ is survival of the Tetragramma-
ton carried over, as it once was, into the Gr., in this case, the only sur-
vival, misunderstood and read as THFH; see the writer's note in JBL
1921, 86. — •^''^z'?/] Gerundive use, ad complendum ; the spelling, con-
flate as of N'^S and n//S, as in the cited passages, Jer. 25'-, 29". — '"^''^l?]
A frequent word in application to the devastated Holy Land, e.g.. Lev.
26^1, Is. 44=^ Eze. 36'". — 3. •'JD nx njnNi] = a-'ja cv ii^^, 'd n::' Nu.
24^, etc. = after freq. Sept. use axYjpiXstv t^ xpoawxov, Lu. 9^1. GB
eft. the freq. Amarna gloss naddnu pdna ana. — unx] iomss Ken. nini;
also the Kr. has entered the text below at times; s. at i^ Mass. edd.
vary through the chapter. In the tr. the term is rendered always by
'Yhwh.' — '^pa] A common cultic term for approaching the oracle, i.e.,
'make inquiry.' The following nouns are cognate aces., cf. Zeph. 2^
r\M-; \z'pi pis Vkfpa, with Behr., vs. Bev., al. This use of the ace. is good
old Sem. idiom, cf. Arab., SArab. — D>junm nScn] Cf. Aram, jjnnm nyj
6^-. 'nn also vv.'^- ^*- ^^, Jer. 3", and freq. in later books. It refers
technically to the second part of the prayer, vv.'^'f-. — oisnj q |y y^.
CTTscat? = (&, but 23 ev •^■qisxzl.q.. — "'?^1] 0 (B al. 21) om., supplied by
OrP- c Lu. 1DN = prob. primarily 'dust' = ">?? and borrowed from
Akk. epiru, so Zimmern in GB.
4-19. Daniel's Prayer. The prayer is of the liturgical type
which existed since the Deuteronomic age, represented by Solo-
mon's Prayer, i Ki. 8, the prayers of Jeremiah, Jer. 26. 32. 44,
and the prayers in Ezr.-Neh., Ezr. 9, Neh. i. g. By far the
largest part of this prayer consists of language found in those
other compositions. Yet it is not slavishly dependent upon
them; it is a liturgical gem in form and expression, and excels
in literary character the more verbose types found in Ezr. and
Neh. (an argument, ace. to many conservative critics, e.g., Keil,
and Ziindel, Kritische Untersuchungen, 191, as cited by Zock.,
for the priority of our book). The saint prays as the Church
362 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
prays, and this prayer is modelled after customary liturgical
forms of the Synagogue. Similar is the prayer of Azarias,
3(24-45)^ and of Baruch, Bar. 1^^-31*. The latter presents an in-
teresting problem in its relation to Dan. 9, for it appears to be
a mosaic of our prayer; it has been discussed at length in Int.
§13. There was a common genus of Jewish liturgical prayers,
of which these canonical ones are the few surviving examples,
the later Synagogue losing sight of this ancient treasury of de-
votion. Dr. K. Kohler has extended our view of the richness of
the ancient Jewish liturgy in his demonstration that prayers in
the Apostolical Constitutions have been taken over bodily from
Jewish (ace. to him Essene) sources; s. his 'Origin and Compo-
sition of the Eighteen Benedictions,' etc., in the Hebrew Union
College Annual, 1924.
Von Gall, Einheitlichkeit, 123-126, has developed the thesis
that Dan.'s prayer is an interpolation, although the rest of his
work contends for the practical integrity of the canonical book.
He is followed by Mar., Cha. It is patent, as these scholars
argue, that the theme of the prayer does not correspond to the
context, which would seem to require a prayer for illumination,
cf. 22"^-, and not a liturgical confession bearing on the national
catastrophe. Further, Dan.'s prayer for immediate redemption
is in contrast to the recognition of the far distance of that event,
S^fi and end of this chap. It is pointed out that v.^* repeats v.^
and especially that v.^" is a joint with the main narrative, which
is resumed in v.^^; this would explain the repetition: 'while I
was speaking and praying and confessing' || 'while I was speak-
ing in prayer.' The present writer agrees with Kamp. in find-
ing these arguments inconclusive. The second-century author
may well have himself inserted such a prayer in his book for
the encouragement of the faithful, even as the calculation of the
times was intended for their heartening. The example of the
prayers in Ezr.-Neh. would have suggested such a device to
him; the inclination to such an expression of piety might have
affected him as easily as some interpolator a few years later.
Further, the exclusion of the prayer would cut down the length
of the chap, to a quantum far below that of the other episodes
of the book, and, as remarked at v.-, the prayer is dramatically
introduced to fill up the time of the angel's flight. For an elab-
orate study of the Prayer, defending its authenticity and also
arguing for its dependence on the Chronicler, s. Bayer, Daniel-
sttidien, Part I. In the following tr. the citations from earlier
Scriptures are indicated by quotation-marks.
4a. And "I prayed to Yhwh my God and made confession^' ;
and I said : Against vGall this need not be a repetition of v.^,
as it stresses the Confession which makes the first part of the
prayer, vv.^^-", this being followed by the Supplication proper
(D'^Jl^nn V.2), w.i^-". The vb. 'pray' has the primary sense
of intercession. The Hithp. minn as here, and its Hif. rniH,
T - : ■ T
are both used similarly to Lat. confiteri in its religious implica-
tions: the Hif. generally in the sense of making confession of
the Deity, in his names, attributes, etc., properly a creedal use,
and so practically equivalent to 'praising,' as it is generally
translated; while the Hithp. presents the antithesis of the hu-
man subject and so in Jewish piety of his sin, i.e., confession of
sin. The vb. has 'sin' expressed as its obj. in v.^°, cf. Lev. i6^^,
etc. The same combination 'pray and make confession,' ap-
pears in Ezr. loS cf. Neh. i'', g'- S; in i Ki. S^^ i^'?^^"'! mm
ijjnnm.
45-14. The Confession. Y.'^," Ah, YHWH, the great and awftd
God, keeper of the covenant and kindness for His lovers and the
keepers of His commandments'' : The citation is almost identical
with Neh. i^ {cf. cf-), based ultimately on Dt. 7^, and, for the
epithets 'great, awful,' cf. Dt. 7-K The text of |^ in this prayer
varies between Yhwh and its Kre 'Adonai,' even as (^ bears
witness to further variant use; in this tr., where 'Adonai' oc-
curs, as in this v., it has been revised so as to read the Tetra-
grammaton. The Heb. IDPI, wrongly translated 'mercy' in
AV RV JV, after Grr. eXeo'i^ etc., is pietas, personal relation-
ship on its moral side, e.g., Jer. 2^ 'thy bridal devotion'; better
than 'mercy' is Coverdale's coinage, 'lovingkindness,' used
capriciously in AV and adopted here by SV; s. Hastings, 'Lov-
ingk.,' DB. 5. "We have sinned and dealt perversely and done
wickedly" and rebelled and "turned aside from Thy command-
ments" and Thy decisions; the first three vbs. = i Ki. 8^^;
'turn aside,' etc., = Dt. 17^°. The commandments are legis-
lation, decisions the judicial verdicts given from time to time.
6. "Neither have we hearkened to Thy servants the prophets, who
spoke in Thy name" "to our kings, our princes and our fathers,
364 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
and to all the people of the land.^' As Dr. remarks, a reminiscence
of Jer. 26^ cf. 7^^ 25'', 29", 35I'', 44*, all containing 'thy servants
the prophets' followed by 'ye (they) hearkened not.' The same
listing of civic strata in Jer. 44^^, but with 'fathers' first, cf.
44^^; in Neh. 9^^- ^* 'priests' is added after 'princes'; cf. Jer. i^^
' the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests and the people of the
land.' By the fathers are probably meant the heads of the
m^S ri''D 'family houses,' practically elders, so, e.g., Lamb.,
Ehr., rather than spiritual fathers with Behr., who thinks that
the item replaces the priests of the other lists; however, the
omission of the latter class has some significance. The 'people
of the land' = Landesvolk, commoners, cf. Eze. 7^^.
7. "Thine, Yhwh, is the right," and "ours is the shame of
face, as it is this day," "to the men of Jiidah and the citizens of
Jerusalem" and all Israel, "those near and those far of" "in all
the lands whither Thou hast driven them" "for the treachery with
which they have betrayed Thee." The word generally translated
here and elsewhere as 'righteousness,' np"l!f, means primarily
It t :
legal righteousness; God has been vindicated as right (secon-
darily as righteous) by the people's experience. Cf. v." 'our
God is right.' 'Shame of face as it is this day' = Ezr. 9^;
'shame of face,' also v.*, is a physical expression for confusion
before others, a shame which involves the reproach of others,
cf. nSin^ v.i®; for the phrase cf. Jer. 7", Ps. 441^, etc. 'The
men (Heb. a sing, collective, Mannschaft) of Judah and the citi-
zens (lit. 'dwellers') of Jerusalem' = Is. 5^ (with terms re-
versed), Jer. 4^, etc., 2 Ki. 23^ 'Those near,' etc., depends on
I Ki. 8-^; the phrase also Jer. 25^6, Is. 5719, 'For the treachery,'
etc. = Lev. 26*", Eze. 17^°, etc., i Ch. 10". The common rt. of
the noun and vb. denotes treachery, unfaithfulness, so JV, not
the colorless 'trespass' of AV. 8. Yhwb, "ours is the shame of
face, to our kings, our princes and our fathers," in that we have
sinned against Thee. "Haec repetitio . . . pondus orationi
addit" (Maldonatus). 9. To Yhwh our God belong compassion
and forgivenesses, for we have rebelled against Him, 10. neither
"have we hearkened to the voice of Yhwh our God" "to walk in
His laws which He set before us" through "His servants the
prophets." 'Compassion' is more fitting psychologically than
'mercy' for D'*Dn"\; AV unnecessarily insists on the Heb. pi.
9'-'' 36s
and tr. 'mercies,' and equally unnecessary is JV 'compassions.'
'Forgivenesses/ i.e., acts of forgiveness, = Neh. 9'^, 'thou art a
God of forgivenesses ' {plus a long series of equivalent attributes) .
The thought of v.^" is motived by v.'', 'for we have rebelled
against him'; i.e., we are thrown simply on his mercy. The
logic is reminiscent of Dt. 5^° ^■. ' Hearken to the voice of Yhwh '
= Ex. 152^, 19^, Dt. 4^", etc., Jer. 3^^, etc. 'To walk in his laws
which he set before us' = Jer. 26'*, 44^°; the first clause also =
Jer. 32^3, 44^^, the second = Dt. 4*, ii^^, Jer. g^^. The antique
pi. torot, 'laws,' properly oracle decisions, in place of which 'the
Torah' came to be used, is taken from Jer. 32^2, appearing also
Ps. 105^''; ^ B quite naturally understand the word as a sing.
The sing, occurs in the next v. 11. Yea [Heb. mtd], all Israel
have transgressed Thy law and "have turned aside" "so as not
to hearken to Thy voice,'" and "there has been poured out upon
tis" "the curse and oath that is written in the Law of Moses the
servant of God" ; for we have sinned against Him. 'Not to
hearken to thy voice' = Jer. i8^°, 42^^ 'Poured out upon us,'
cf. 'my anger and fury hath been poured out,' Jer. 7^°, 42^*, 44^,
2 Ch. 12^, 34^^ The vb. "jHi has the suggestion of molten metal;
cf. e7%e€it' Tci'i (f)Lcika<i rod dv/xov Rev. 16^ ^^ It recurs inf. v.2^
'Curse and oath,' the same zeugmatic expression in Neh. lo^" ^^^^
= 'oath of curse' Nu. 5^^ 'The curse written in the Law of
Moses' = Dt. 29-", and refers to the great imprecations of
Lev. 2614 2-, Dt. 281^2.^ <xhe Torah of Moses' = Jos. 8^1, i Ki.
2^, but found mostly in late books, s. BDB, p. 436, and in N.T.,
Lu. 2^2 _|- 5 cases. 'Moses the servant of God' = Dt. 34^, Jos.
iS etc., Neh. 10^° ^29). ^y_ ^jg ^[^1^ '^an of God,' Dt. 33^, Ps. 901.
12. And "He has confirmed His words [!^r. word]" which He
spoke against us and against our judges "that He would bring
upon us a great evil," so that there has not been done "under the
whole heaven," as has been done with Jerusalem. 'Confirmed his
words' = Neh. 9*, with pi. 'words' as here; cf. Dt. 9^ etc.
'Judges' is used in the general sense of magistrates, summing
up the official classes of vv.''- *; Ps. 2^'^ 'judges' || 'kings.' Bar.
2^ understands here the historical Judges. 'Bring upon us a
great evil' = Jer. 35^^, 36^^ etc. 'Under the whole heaven' =
Dt. 2^ 4", Job 282'*, etc., and sup. 7". 13. ^'As it is written in
the Law of Moses" "all this evil" has come upon us, and we have
not mollified Yhwh our God by turning from our iniquities and
366 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
considering Thy truth. This is the first appearance of the term
*as it is written,' KaOayi yeypaTnai^ etc., common for citations
in N.T., Talm., etc. 'Mollify,' the Heb. Hterally 'soften the
face of,' an antique phrase used with God or man as obj., and
continuing into late religious usage, Zech. 7^, Mai. i^, Ps. 119^*,
2 Ch. 3312 (s. Lexx.). Cf. 'cause thy face to shine,' v.^^ AV
'make prayer to' follows the suit of the VSS, e.g., "B rogauimus
faciem Domini; RW JV 'entreat the favor of.' The gerunds
at the end tr. infs. with b 'to,' and accordingly VSS, EW,
comm. in general, render 'that we might turn,' etc. This evan-
gelical treatment might be paralleled by i Ki. 8"^-, 'The Lord
be with us ... to incline our hearts unto him'; but the sense
required in this prayer is that God should be propitiated by
right action and thinking; and accordingly the infs. are here
translated as ace. to a common use of the inf.; s. Dr., Tenses,
§205. In the final clause the VSS take the vb. in the sense of
'to understand, consider,' e.g., H cogitare, AV 'understand,'
RW JV 'have discernment in,' and this is the mng. of ^''^tyn
elsewhere in Dan. (i*, 9^^, ii^^- ^^, 12^- ^^ — in 9^' causative). The
object of this consideration is universally translated ' thy truth,'
cj. 8^2, where the same word is used of the objective truth, i.e.,
religion. But the primary ethical sense 'faithfulness' is prefer-
able here. God's promises are absolutely reliable for blessing or
bane; the Jews have learned the truth of this in the latter
sphere, they can prove it also in the other. 14. And " YHWH
has been vigilant over the evil" and brought it upon us ; for " YHWH
our God is right in all the works which He has done," and "we
have not hearkened to His voice." The first vb. is generally trans-
lated 'has watched' in the old English sense of 'be wakeful.'
The phrase is cited from Jer. i^^, 31^^, 44", 'I am vigilant against
them for evil and not for good.' For ' Yhwh is right (p""*!^) ' cf.
immediately Ezr. 9^^, Neh. 9^- ^^ (' thou art right in all that has
come upon us'), also Jer. 12^ (where JV 'right,' al. 'righteous'),
Lam. 1 18, and v. sup. at v.^.
15-19. The SuppHcation. 15. YHWH our God, "who hast
brought Thy people forth with a strong hand," and "hast made
Thee a name, as it is this day": "We have sinned, have been
wicked." The first statement, referring to the Exodus, = Dt.
6^^, etc., Jer. 32^^; the second = Jer. 32^0, Neh. 9^°. For 'to
make a name' = 'gain renown,' cf. Gen. 11^, etc. 'We have
9^-" 367
sinned/ etc., s. at v.^; if the distinction of stems is to be ob-
served, here Kal, there Hif., the final vb. here = 'be wicked.'
16. YHWH, ^''according to all Thy acts of vindication,^^ oh, "may
Thy anger and fury turn away fro?n Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy
mount'' ; because for "our sins and the iniquities of our fathers"
Jerusalem and Thy people "are become a reproach to all those
about us." The pi. Tjnpl^, 'acts-of- vindication,' is tr. by all
VSS and EW (even JV) by the sing, 'righteousness.' But the
pi. is correct and is a classical reminiscence, being used in the
rather antique sense of vindication of a cause; so in the Ode of
Deborah, Ju. 5", i Sa. 12^, Mi. 6^ Ps. 103^ How far the word
developed in another direction appears in ©'s tr. eXee/xoavvr] and
s. Comm. on the word at 42^(27)^ q-_ Ropes, '"Righteousness"
and "the Righteousness of God,"' etc., JBL 1903, 211-227. Cf.
the other shades of the mng. of the word in vv.'^- ^*. 'May thy
anger turn,' etc. = Nu. 25'', Is. 12^, Jer. 23^0, 30-^. 'Thy city' =
v.i^, 'my city' Is. 45^^. 'Thy holy mount' = Ps. 15^, etc., cf.
'thy holy city' v.^"*. 'Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers'
= Neh. 92, cf. the lid Commandment, Jer. ii^°, etc. 'A re-
proach,' etc. = Ps. 44^* ("\ etc. 17. And now "hearken, our
God, to Thy servant's prayer and supplications," and "cause Thy
face to shine upon" "Thy desolate sanctuary," "for Thine own
[with 0] sake," YHWH. 'Hearken,' etc. = i Ki. S^\ Neh. i^- n.
For 'thy servant's prayer' cf. the case of Abraham, Gen. 18,
Moses, Ex. 32, etc., and Ja. 5^^, 'the prayer of a righteous man
avails much.' This and the similar prayers in the O.T. and
Apocrypha are testimony to the sense of the power of prayer
in Judaism; it continued with the Pharisees, s. Herford, Phari-
saism, c. 6, 'Ph. as a Spiritual Religion,' a very sympathetic
study. 'Make thy face shine,' etc. (for the physical expression
cf. 'soften the face,' v."), as in the Priestly Benediction, Nu.
6", Ps. 8o*- ^- 20^ a similar prayer, etc. 'The desolate sanctuary'
= Lam. 5I8, I Mac. 438. For 'desolate' cf. S^^, 9", xi^\ j2^\ 'the
abomination of desolation,' etc. At the end of the v. 1^ reads
'for the sake of the Lord,' which is most awkward; 0 'for thy
sake, Lord' = v.^^, Bar. 2"; this is preferable as the orig. text,
and so vLeng. (citing Houbigant), Pr., Kamp., Ehr., Lamb. For
this phrase cf. Is. 48", Jer. 14^, etc. This correction is simpler
than (g's rdg. 'for thy servants' sake,' = Is. 63^^, accepted by
Bev., Mar. But the error in |^, if it be one, is ancient. The
368 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
appeal ' for the Lord's sake ' is the only possible argument of the
sinful people; it is identical with Ezekiel's appeal to the divine
'holiness,' practically God's honor. 18. ^^ Incline, my God,
Thine ear and hear, open Thine eyes and see" our desolations and
"the city upon which Thy name is called" ; for "we present not
our supplications before Thee" for our own righteousness but for
"Thy great compassion." 'Incline . . . and see' = i Ki. 19^^
(Is. 37^^), Hezekiah's prayer. 'Upon which thy name is called'
= v.^', i.e., as proprietary; cf. 2 Sa. 12^*, 'lest I take the city
and my name be called upon it,' i.e., 'I have conquered it.' The
expression is often used, esp. in Deut. writers, of Israel, Jerusa-
lem, the temple, as Dt. 2810, Jer. 710, 149, 259, i Ki. 8«, Is. 6319.
'Present supplications,' lit. 'cause to fall s.,' as v.^", Jer. 38^^
(before a human potentate), 42* (before God); cf. the use of
intrans. K]al with 'prayer' as subj., Jer. 37^0, etc. Bar. 2^^ lit-
erally fcaTa^dWofjieu rov eXeov, and H prosternimus. The ex-
pression arises from the humble prostration of the petitioner.
'Thy great compassion' (s. at y.^) = Neh. 9"- 2^- ^1, cf. 2 Sa.
241", Ps. iig^^. 19. "YHWH, hear; YHWH, forgive; YHWH, at-
tend and do ; defer not for Thy sake, my God, because Thy name is
called upon Thy city and Thy people." The Kyrie eleison of the
O.T., suggested, as Dr. remarks, by Solomon's prayer, i Ki.
830b. 34.36. 39^ 'Do^' i^^^ 'act,' cf. Jer. 14^ 'do for thy name's
sake.' 'Defer not,' i.e., 'procrastinate not' = Ps. 40". HI, fol-
lowed by RVV JV, puts a stop after this impv., but the balance
of the rhetoric and sense rather requires construction as above,
and so the punctuation of the VSS, AV. For the final clause s.
at w.i^- 18.
4. nS'TDHNi] So edd., exc. Bar n7?fint<i^ g. his note. The Hithp. has
mng. of 'interceding for self,' if it is to be combined with the Piel, *to
intervene as judge,' and so BDB, Kon., Hwh. GB finds two distinct rts.
with primary mng. 'pray ' for the Hithp. — ^^5*] = ah-iia, also in Mishna;
cf. ^r'^'^ Jer. 431. 0 om., (g tSo6 (= Arab, huia?). Or? d) lii,» behd'H
= 'H ohsecro. — lonm] Neh. i^ lom in the same combination. — 5.
iJ''ij?] Kal late, also Est. i". — uytrnni] Kr. om. 1. The series of vbs.
is cited from i Ki. 8^', where MW^. Hif. of T^~\ in this operative sense
is late, so 121"; Job 34'-, Neh. 9'', etc.; inf. v.^* the Kal. In the revisions
of 0 (also in E) there is shufHing of the vbs. — ■''"':''J For this compara-
tively late use of the inf. abs., continuing finites, s. GK §113, z; re-
peated v.". AV RVV erroneously render by gerunds. — ^v^??] PI. de-
fectkus, so Ps. ii9»^ cf. IH^^ v.'«, and s. GK §91, n.— 6. D^NOjnJ
9'-'' 369
Bar prefers D''i<3jn, and so v.*. — Sni] Without ma^^ef, exceptionally,
so Jos. 7-^, Is. 36'^. — 7. ffiwzb -[- [»oJJ5 awie^^j = x. if)[jLtv] e/ patribus
nostris, a gloss intended for v.^, where the phrase is omitted.^^'''?]
Occ. rdg. (Gin.), Or. rdg. arnD = Ezr. 9^. — -\2] Lohr carelessly notes
that 0 om.; but 0 expresses it by Iv aot punctuated as in the next v.
B 87 (not m (Cs) have following plus [ev aot xupte] saxlv tjij.wv t) Stxotto-
auvT), repeated negligently from beginning of the v. This gloss was
accepted by OrC (A 106 A), which, finishing v.'' with TjGeTTjadtv as,
starts v.* with arA, xupts (+ r^iawv) tj Siy.atoauvT]. — 8. nin>] So Bar,
Gin.; Mich., Kit. '■jin; s. Bar's note. Here and vv.'^- i*- i'*'"- i' (also
3^', Sus.^) ® has S-axo-TT);, otherwise xupios. Asa. represents the cases
where the Tetragrammaton was carried over into the Gr. and proves
the orig. Kt. The variant use of Ssa. and xup. indicates that there was
variation in the Heb. copy before (&. — ijna>S] So MP" (Gin.) = U;
MP' ^\r-\^yh^ = Grr. §>. — l':'] 0 aoi; 147 230 c A ev aot, doubtless
following Aq. in expression of *?. Some Gr. mss, e.g., Or? 106 and A,
construe aot with foil, v., and so H, tihi autem Domino Deo. — 9. "'Jin'^]
M^"; nin^-? ilor._.-nn'^Dn] So Bar, Kit.; Gin. nin^Son.— u] 0 Lu.
om.; OrC dtxb xupt'ou, <§ xxo aou = II. — 10. iim.-i] So Bar; Mich.,
Gin., Kit. rmin.— 11. iiDi] So edd., exc. Bar idi.— IDi?^] Elal in-
trans. The vb. occurs in similar combination in the Hadad Inscr., 1. 23
(Lidz., NE p. 440, Cooke, NST no. 61), naniS n-\n inni, where Nin =
O.T. ■'T,; s. Nold. ZDMG 1893, 98. 3MSS Ken. rnm; Grr. sxfiXesv <
n^m (Q* exXTjGuveT)); g> waitU < l'?''^!; "B = % Cf. the similar variants
to inn v.".— 12. inaT Kt., ^T: Kr.] The VSS = Kt., cf. the pi. Neh.
9^ but Bar. 2^ = Kr. A similar variation in i Ki. 8-^ — nns'yj nS t^'n] 0
xaTo; to; y£v6iJLeva; A Q 106 by error ysypotfxtjLiva = Bar. 2-. — 13. ns
nN3 nxrn n-;-\n- . o] px jj^s been understood as sign of nom. with the pass.
3in3, so Kran., Bev.; or after later usage as emphasizing a nom., in
which case rT;-\r\ is subj. to hnj, on which use s. GK §117, i-m, so
CBMich., Mein., Lamb.; Behr., Mar. find an ace. to x^anS v.^-, in
which case n>sa must be a ppl., to be pointed milra', while the absence
of the article would be irregular. It appears, however, to be a case of
staccato construction; the phrase 'all this evil' is introduced as a
quasi-citation from Moses and then continued as nom. to the foil. vb.
— 1.-i::n] 05 StxatoauvT), as (S 0 at 8'-.— 14. r^';-\n S;] 0 (B 35 87 130 132
149 229) om., this corroborated by Aug., Ep. cxi, uigilaiiit Dominus
Dens ad omnem sanctum suum (!); suppl. Or^c Lu. exl T-fjv xaxt'av
(also + -^ixciv); Bar. 2^, Ix'. toI? xaxot?. Yet the subsequent pron. in
0, liroyaYev auxa, would indicate that exl tk xaxdc = (S once stood in
0. — 15. •'Jin] (& SeaxoTa xupts, s. at v.^. — ij;;a'i] But uysrin v.^ (&
TriYvoT^xaixev, error (?) for t)voI^V'==!^s'^ = ®; several mss add -^StxTjaaptsv,
cf. v.^ II connects with foil. v. — 16. ^^,->^x-'?^^] <& read 3, xaxi, but
0 3, and so mss Ken., de R., & H; similarly Bar. 2'-, attaching to foil. v.
24
370 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
The sing., T'l'^"'^, is read by some mss and all VSS, exc. Bar. For the
spelling c/. imxn v.^. — u^xana ■^o] 0, ignoring d, oxt T)tJ.dpTO|j.£v xat,
so Or^c, but om. xat. — 17. pjunn] For (6 read SsTjaswv aiixou with
C5S, D^. (gG S. jxou.— la'ipD '7J?] Mor ^^ (Gin.).— DDiTn] CS 0 sptjiJiov, r
230 spYjiAwOev = Aq. (?).— ^J^^< ^ynS] ^ as nin-i Ti-i^y 7;dS, 0 = -ijjjd'?
"ijix = Bar. 2'*; ^ = ijix lau' ji-nS; s. Comm. — 18. -inSN] (6 xufis
= mri'', as in 2 Ki. 19", Is. 37". The foil. Kt. nnpc, i;^. Kr., may in-
clude reminiscence of ''^t^'', as in the cited passage 2 Ki. = Is. —
U'lncD-v:'] = V.-*, cf. Is. 49", 61* (|| nonn), properly ppl. of Kal. 0 xbv
difayic^xhv fjpLwv, anticipating similar rendering with itpavtaixd;;, acpotvt-
l^stv vv.^^- ^''j 11''; otherwise with (S epT)ii.os, lpif};jLoOv. — unjx] B al.
cm., OrP-c Lu. suppl.; but Cds read fj^jisls, which may have early
dropped out after -rjpiwv. — 19. For the VSS CS connects rirho = IXaxsuaov
with prec. v. and om. ^•'•^'p.T; 0 (B al.) om. na-yi but (£.^ hab. The
punctuation in mss has variously affected xijpts in relation to the
accompanying impvv. It has domine but twice. The division of the v.
in M is at inx.-i. — \n':N] (6 Seaxoxa. For the triple ■'JIN in this v. mss
Ken. have nin\
20-27. The angelic revelation. 20-23. The coming of Ga-
briel. 20. Ajtd while I was speaking, and was praying and con-
fessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my
supplication before YHWH my God for the holy mount of my God,
• — ^21. while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I
had seen in the vision at the beginning, borne in swift flight, was
drawing nigh to me at the time of the Evening Oblation. 22. And
he came [so ^ §>; 1l^ he made to understand], and talked with me
and said : Daniel, now am I come forth to skill thee in under-
standing. 23. At the beginning of thy supplications a word went
forth, and I am come to declare it, for thou art most dear. And
so heed the word and give heed to the vision. The repetition of v.^^
in V.22 can be due to the need of resuming the line of discourse
after the long parenthesis in v.^^. Ace. to v.^^ the angel 'came
forth at the beginning ' of the prayer, and as it takes time even
for an angel to 'fly fast/ v.^^, to earth, the prayer was dramati-
cally introduced to fill up the interim. 21. It was during this
prayer that Gabriel, called 'the man' to identify him with the
being in S^^'^-, was seen rapidly 'approaching' the prophet in
swift flight. The vb. has been generally translated, since 0, by
'touched me,' so B and EVV exc. JV. But the former mng. of
the participial vb. is alone possible, and it is supported by ^ ^;
the vb. itself is used in both senses. The phrase 'borne in swift
flight,' literally 'caused to fly swiftly,' is the best rendering of
9''-'' 371
an obscure phrase in |^; so the VSS, early Jewish comm. The
variant tr. which introduces the idea of weariness (e.g., AV and
RWmg.) as affecting the angel is absurd; s. Note for the
various attempts at interpretation. Whether or not the angel's
flight involves wings may be an open question; angel wings are
first referred to in En. 6i^; both Mesopotamian and Egyptian
reliefs present winged genii, and cf. the two women with wings of
a stork in Zech. 5*. A flying angel now appears on a relief from
Ur, 2500 B.C., s. Museum Journal (Univ. Penn.), March, 1925.
'At (not the literalistic 'about' of EVV) the Evening Oblation':
for this the chief time of prayer, about 3-4 p.m., in Judaism and
the Muslim Orient, s. Comm. at 6"<io). 22. The first vb. in |^,
]2'''\, means 'he made to understand/ which is suspicious for
lack of an obj., and this is accordingly supplied by the trr. But
($ ^ with a change in one letter read 'and he came,' which alone
is sensible. The change from this to the other text, appearing in
0 m, prob. came in with the understanding of the angel's ' touch-
ing' Dan. in v.^^ (so 0 H), which of course rendered further 'com-
ing' unnecessary. 'Now' — i.e., in response to the emergency,
cf. Jos. 5" (Ehr.) — 'have I come forth,' correctly AEz., 'from
the array of the angels or from the heavenly palace.' 'To skill
thee in understanding': the two words of the Heb., ^'•^tlTl,
n]''^, are used accumulatively, not with precision; the para-
phrase in AV 'to give thee skill and understanding' depends
upon B (= ^). There may be reminiscence of Jer. 23^° = 7,0"^^
'at the end of the days ye shall understand it.' 23. 'A word
went forth'; the same phrase of a human command. Est. 7* (cf.
'the decree went forth,' sup. 2"), of the divine word, Is. 55"; cf.
Is. 9'^^^ The 'word' is the oracle of revelation in response to
Dan.'s study of the Scriptures, v.^; till then it was a mystery
even to Gabriel, cf. Mt. 24^*, 'of that day and hour knoweth no
man, no, not the angels of heaven.' 'Dear': AV 'greatly be-
loved,' RWmg. 'very precious'; a similar noun of the same rt.
is used in lovers' language. Song 5^^. 'Heed the word and give
heed to the vision': so with Mar.; the two vbs. differ as stems
of the one rt., l^a\ and Hif. ; the second vb. has the more exact
mng. of ' understand ' as elsewhere. JV's tr. of the first clause,
'look into the word,' is not comprehensible. Mar. interprets
here to the point: the two sides of revelation are represented,
the word of God and the human vision; he would paraphrase
'vision' with 'revelation.' The word 'vision' here, nS'"lD, like
372 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
the more usual jITfl, refers to auditory as well as to ocular
vision.
20. i^^^O bis] VSS as pi.— ■-njnn] The frequent term in i Ki. S^^ff-;
cf. D'junn stip.—'rihi< 2°] 0 om., ffls OrPC Lu. hab.— 21. For par-
allelism of the two participial sentences in vv.^°- ^' cf. GK §116, u. —
"'?£?'??] Also MSS '1^3 (s. Bar, Gin.).— -^"xn] (g (Sod h (Jvrjp, 0 iSou
dtvTjp = 1 ecce uir, i.e., n as Aram. ? 3=5.— nSnna] = S^.— 1>;'? 1>;?] (g
Tc4x£t <pep6ixevo<;, i.e., paraphrase of 1^ = B cite uolans, 0 iceT6(Jievo<; =
Tert. uolans, Or^ + ev t:£xxg[iCo; & moD ma (representing 1| by abs.
inf. construction) plus 'and he flew and came from heaven.' The an-
cient and the most general interpretation, followed by Sa., Ra., Jeph.,
EW, is that the two words are identical in rt. and mng., i.e., 'fly.' The
vb. is then Hof. ppl. of ^r;, cf. the Hif. Pr. 23^ Kr. (the pass, construc-
tion is common in Aram, diction), and ']><,], as Pe'al form, must then
be deduced from a supposed kindred rt. iy\ 05 is witness to the early
existence of both words. AEz. first explains ni"" as from ly 'be weary'
— "he was weary from his long flight." This view was accepted by
Montanus, et al., and appears in mg. of AV RVV. JDMich. under-
stands 'd as from ^y and l^vl as = Arab, waghafa 'hasten,' i.e., 'wearied
by haste'; but then better Hav., vLeng., Stu. with the derivation of
both words from the Arab. rt. We may at the most admit the possi-
bility of an ancient dittograph. — '' ** 3?J.J] For 'j (& icpoCTiQyyias = &
anp, but 0 ritfaxo = U tctigit. The former mng. is now generally ac-
cepted, after vLeng., cf. Geier, despite the use of vb. as 'touch' in 10";
but cf. Ss yuD 8^ and Mi. i', Jer. 51*. — nyo] Also mss n>'3. '3 of time
'at which,' so here 05 & H, not 'about which,' with© wael wpav. Ace.
to Kon., Hwb. s.v., the nuance is 'as soon as,' e.g., i Sa. 9^^. Luke, in
translating his Aram, original at Acts 9', has rendered incorrectly as 0
here, wail xepl copav S£xdTT]v. — 22. I?^] = 0 ouvsTiasv [jls = U; (S
'jcpoafi>.62 = &, i.e., ^'^\ or ^'^l; the emendation is accepted, after Berth.,
by recent comm. exc. Mein., Kamp. — 23. '"^"icn] por the pi. as ab-
stract and unlimited and so superlative, cf. Song 5'^ D"'l':n?, and for
other exx. s. GK §141, c. At lo"- •' appears '" ^"''^, and so here 0dv?)?
lTttGu[jn(I)v = H S*; Sym. avJ)p extOutJLTiTi^. Bev. suggests that <&
eXeeivo? in the present passage represents the mistaken rdg. '^''"'"'^O,
eft. Mishnaic niT'Dn ■>::'jn 'men of piety,' Solah ix. — nxina pni] 05<^
om., but it is represented by the corrupt xotl SievoiqOtjv ib xpoaxaYiAa
of (gs.
24-27. The seventy hebdomads (year- weeks). 24. Revela-
tion of the time that must elapse before the consummation of
the several elements involved in the restoration.
9^^ 373
24. Sevejity weeks are decreed : against thy people and thy holy
city,
For finishing transgression
and completing sin
and absolving iniquity :
And bringing in everlasting Tightness
and sealing vision and prophet
and anointing the Most Holy.
The Kr. is followed in two cases, i.e., 'completing' (cnn^)
for 'sealing' (cr,"^) and the sing, 'sin' (ns'tsn) for the pi.
(rilSUn); also the article with 'transgression' (y w'S") is elided.
The display of the gerundial clauses above (so Hav.) represents
the progress of thought: first the reiterated theme of the filhng
up of the measure of sin, cf. 8^ 'the completing of sins,' and
Comm. there; and then the consummation of the divine pur-
pose; Israel is to be everlastingly 'right' with the Lord, past
prophecy, particularly that of Jeremiah (v.^), is to be ratified,
and the holy place is to be reconsecrated with the entailed re-
sumption of the whole cult. Cha. attempts, without resulting
benefit, a rearrangement of the gerundial clauses, ordering them
in this sequence: i, 4, 2, 3, 6, 5.
For the general discussion of these w. s. Note at end of the
chap. Here, with most recent scholars, it is held that with the
Seventy Weeks a definite, not intentionally indefinite, datum of
time is meant, for how else would the divine 'word' satisfy
Dan.'s inquiry, v.^? The word usually translated 'week' is pri-
marily 'hebdomad,' a seven of things, esp. of units of time.
Inf. lo^ we have 'a seven of days,' i.e., a week, while on the
other hand the unit may not be expressed where it is evident,
e.g., Gen. 29^^, 'fulfil this seven,' i.e., the hone>Tnoon week.
The term is not used absolutely of years elsewhere in the Bible,
although the seven-year periods culminating in a 'sabbath,'
Lev. 25. 26^*^-, would easily suggest such a use; cf. the similar
usage of hebdomas in Varro et al. (Pole, Bert.). It occurs with
this meaning throughout Jubilees, in the Mishna, Satih., 5, i,
etc. Hence the term is 4Q0 years. The mng. of the following
vb., 'are decreed' (JV), i.e., judicially (AV 'determined'), is
hapax leg. in the O.T., but is found in the Talm., and of its
mng. there is no doubt. We may note 0's tr. a-vvejfn^Orjaav^
which went over into 51 as breuiatae sunt, and was rendered
374 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Standard by U abbreuiatae, 'are shortened.' 'Against thy people
and against thy holy city': 'Against' in the sense of legal debit,
cf. Arab. 'ala{y). On the pronouns Jer., after Eus., Dem. ev., viii,
2, remarks that they are parallel to Dt. 32^, 'Go down, for thy
people has sinned,' i.e., indicating the divine abhorrence; rather,
it is a tribute to Dan.'s affection, with Grot., 'tibi adeo ama-
tum,' similarly Calv, 'For finishing transgression': The paral-
lelism requires this mng. of the vb. S?^, but the metaplastic
spelling of the rt. Tlb^ induced the early Prot. comm. to follow
the form literally, i.e., 'to restrain,' and so mg. of AV RW,
following GV 'wird verwehrt,' after Calv., Grot. For the
phrase cf. S"^, as corrected, 'the completing of the sins.' The
three nouns expressing 'sin' in this and the following clauses
are used quite synonymously. 'Completing sin': As noted
above, the tr. follows the Kr., which is supported by Aq. ^H,
and is given in the text of EVV. The parallelism demands the
Kr., while Kt. may have been induced by the occurrence of 'to
seal' in the second following clause. The vb. of the Kr. is that
in the passage cited above, 8-^ The Kt. 'to seal' is supported
by & and followed by GV, appearing in mg. of AV RVV. Some
early Prot. comm., also vLeng., followed the Kt., attempting
various interpretations, 'to shut up' and so remove, or follow-
ing an Arab, use of the rt., ' to complete'; s. Note. But, as Bev.
remarks, the identical phrase 'sealed up is my sin,' Job 14", cf.
Dt. 32^'', signifies 'to reserve it for punishment,' and indeed the
use of the same vb. in quite different mngs. in the one v., v.
inf., would be intolerable. 'And absolving iniquity': As Bev.
notes, the term 'absolve,' ^S3, as also pTi, 'righteousness,' in
the next clause, are legal terms. See Dr.'s note on the use of
kipper. "When, as here, the reference is to sin, or iniquity, the
mng. differs, ace. as the subj. is the priest or God; in the former
case the mng. is to cover cr screen the sinner by means (usually)
of a propitiatory sacrifice, and it is then generally rendered
make atoneincnt or reconciliation for . . .; in the latter case it
means to treat as covered, to pardon or cancel, ^^ which last word
Dr. prefers here. And so in this absolute sense (SU JV ('for-
give'); in the other sense 'make propitiation for,' © GV AV
RVV. The tr. 'absolve' adopted here may represent both the
religious and the legal implication of the vb. 'Bringing in ever-
lasting Tightness': With this begin the three positive elements
9'' 375
in the restoration of Israel. This 'righteousness/ pl^, or
'rightness,' to express the legal implication (s. at v.''), is, as
Stu. remarks, the Pauline ScKacoavvi] Oeov^ which is of God's
giving. Cf. 'everlasting salvation,' Is. 45^', 'righteousness' and
'salvation' being synonyms in the Second Isaiah. This right-
ness on its religious side is hoUness, cf. Eze. in general, Is. 4^'-,
etc. 'Sealing vision and prophet': In the sense of 'putting seal
to,' i.e., ratifying, exactly as acfipayi^eLv is used in Jn. 3^^, 6",
and so frequently in Syr. Cf. 1 Ki. 21^, Jer. 32^°. So Clem.
Alex., Strom., i, 21, AEz. and most comm. Another interpreta-
tion of the vb. is 'to conclude,' so Jeph., PsSa., on the ground
that "no prophet has arisen since the second temple." The
VSS, also Aq., exc. 0, appear to have read Dr.n^ for Drin^, cf.
the variation between the two vbs. just above, translating 'to
finish,' or else they gave this interpretation to DriH^. 'Vision
and prophet' is taken by Grot., Bert, as hendiadys, = 'pro-
phetic vision,' but the prophet as well as the vision through
him calls for justification, n.b. the sealing of the Messiah in the
Johannine passages cited, cf. Is. 8^^, Jer. passim. GV and EW,
exc. JV, have 'prophecy' for 'prophet,' following U, an exegeti-
cal makeshift, defined by some comm. as enallage of the con-
crete for the absolute (s. Pole); the same variation appears
sporadically in other VSS and some Gr. mss. 'Anointing the
Most Holy': Literally, 'holy of holies,' i.e., 'the holiest.' The
term is used always of sacrosanct things or places: of the tent
of meeting, the temple, its debir or adyton, of the territory be-
longing to the temple, the altars, holy vessels, incense, sacri-
ficial flesh, etc.; s. BDB s.v., the convenient summary in. GB
and Dr.'s excellent note. Only once is it possibly used of a per-
son, I Ch. 23^^, 'And Aaron was separated to sanctify him as
most holy/ which latter clause, however, may mean 'that he
should consecrate the most holy.' This well-nigh universal use
of ' the holiest ' compels us to interpret the term as of either the
temple or especially the altar of burnt offerings ; s. the narrative
of the rededication by Judas, i Mac. 4. For the anointing as
the act of consecration {cf. G. B. Gray, 'Anointing,' EB) cf.
such passages as Ex. 29^^, 30^6 ^-^ 40^^-, where the prescription
of anointing always precedes an allusion to a holy of holies. It
was natural for the Church to understand the indeterminate
afytov ar^Lcov of ^ 0 (in Gr. O.T. most often a^i^a, dyioov) as
376 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
masc. and to refer it to Christ; so Hipp, iv, 32*, 017409 Be dyicov
ouSet?, el firj fi6vo<i 6 vlb<i tov deov^ and S in Tert. ungatur
sanctus sanctorum = B; and so definitely in ^ ti'llp SIT'DO^
(••trnp ('D^ for ^ ntTD^) 'the Messiah the holy of holies.' This
Messianic interpretation was in general adopted by the Prot.
comm., so Luther (GV 'der Allerheiligste'), Calv., etc. The
same interpretation was also at home in the Jewish exegesis.
Aq. possibly favors it with his riyLacrfievov rutaa/xevcov. AEz.
identifies 'holy of holies' with Messiah. Schottgen, Horae hebr.,
2, 264, cites Nachmanides: "The holy of holies is nought else
than Messiah, the sanctified one, of the sons of David." With
this cf. Ber. R., xiv, 18, "What is the Eternal Righteousness?
It is King Messiah" (cited by dEnv., 2, 909). Of the comm.
who still refer it directly to Christ there may be named Pusey,
p. 182 jf., dEnv., pp. gis ff-, Wright, Dan. and Ids Prophecies,
199^. (these with stress upon the N.T. Messianic title, 'the
holy one'), Christ being, ace. to Wright, the sacrificial 'holy of
holies.' This mediating position is found in some early Prot.
comm., referring it to the earthly temple which was to be con-
summated in Jesus, or to the heavenly temple he was to conse-
crate, Heb. 8, etc., or to the Church; s. Pole. Stu., Keil, and
Zock. ring various changes on this exegesis. Note that the sim-
ple term tl^Hp, 'holiness,' at v.^*^, refers without question to the
sanctuary.
24. °''^.^j^'] For the form cf. '^'^H, and s. Haupt, OLZ 16, 531; out-
side of Dan. the pi. is always niya-^, the differentiation in pi. being in-
tentional.— "lC7v] Sing. vb. with a pi. subj., which itself represents a
single idea, cf. GK, §145, h; or possibly the subj. is to be treated as
ace. to the pass., e.g., *????. 1^^^° Ex. 13' (Mein.), c/. GK §121, i. The
rt.jt in O.T., = 'cut off' and so 'determine'; frequent in both mngs.
in Talm., and hence play on n.pr. ^nn Est. 4^ in Meg. 15a, "all the
affairs were decided on his opinion" (Jastr., Diet.). Bert. eft. rlixvrtv
zdiq Sixot?. (S correctly interprets with sxpiOTjaotv; 0 more literally
auveT;i.T)0Y]aav, which was understood by ?G (Tert., DePascha) as breuia-
tae sunt and so It ahhreuiatae sunt. It does not appear, against
Bert., dEnv., that Jer. interpreted this vb. from the short reckoning as
of lunar years, a theory which he presents from a long citation from
Jul. Africanus. ^ misread and tr. pnijnnj 'will rest,' which Aph. Syr.
exegetes by 'thy people will rest.' — **^?:] Also mss nSaS. For exx. of
n"S treated as N'/'? s. GK §75, rr. Lohr would rd. nSoS, but that is inf.
abs. Kamp. restores ^"^"^^1. All VSS, includ. Aq., understand rt. ^'73.
Lu. has a prefixed doublet representing a different text, ew? toO TcaXai-
wO^vat xh •napixTWiJ.a, i.e., rdg. i^^h {cf. nS^i 7^5), an early rdg., as it
appears in Tert., Adv. Jiid. viii, quoadiisque inueteratur delictum, cf.
Hilary (cited by HP) oblitteranda quae accepit mala. — ■;^Dr^] (S Tf)v
(i;jLOEpT;av, 0 om. art. But otherwise the nouns are anarthrous, and the
art. here may have been introduced from avt^sn 8-'. — annV 1° Kt.,
2^^: Kr.] Kr. as Kt. in many mss, also Kt. = Kr. in mss. C5 axotvtaac
'make rare,' which may speak for the Kr. (unless we suppose error for
acppxyiGxi, s. authorities cited by Field); 0 toj aqjpaytffott = Kt.; Aq.
Toj TsXetwaat = Kr., and so S» H. As Bert, notes Arab, hatama has
the mng. 'to complete.'— nixan Kt., ^^''^~ Kr.] PI. with Kt. <S 0 », sing,
with Kr. Aq. H, also 42 (Es. The parallel nouns here are sing. —
]r; ~i3dS] (S dxaXsttJ^at t. dcStxfac;, 0 toO e^tXaaaaSat dSixfas, to which
in all exx. of 0, exc. 229 h^, is prefixed (S's rdg. (also in Qis)_ (g; -|-
gloss /.al StavoTQOfjvctt -ub opa[Aa; xb op. is correction of xa 6pa:[i.aTa z«/.;
Stav. may be variant tr. of N'-^nS read as ]-'2r\^. Bev. criticises JH's
punctuation, but the clause is to be connected with what precedes. —
NonS] (5 5o6ijvat, i.e., as < ani; (gs obelizes this clause. — ^^^^7] =
0 ToO aippaytaat; but C5 auvTsXsaOf;vai, Aq. toj TjXsaxt = & H, i.e.,
as though onnS (c/. sm/).). — prn] (gs as sing., but (&^ to: 6p(4txaTa, cor-
rected by gloss, Tb opaiJ.a, v. sup. — X''3j] ^g 7:po9Tf)Tr,v = 0 Aq.; (S^
•rcpo9-^T0£<; = ^. But 230, Eus., Dem. ev., viii, 2, Athan. (cited by HP)
TCpoipTjTetav = (H^ (gsmg JV = U prophctia, by a natural assimilation
to the parallel 'vision.' The asterisk evidence excludes the word from
orig. (&. — n'^rr^S] (S eu(ppavat, i.e., no'^'S, c/. Hos. 7^ in::'>ri error for inB'D\
PsSa. understands Aram. rt. = 'measure,' and eft. Zech. 2^
25-27. The detailed periods of the Seventy Weeks. The
presentation of this most vexed passage aims at interpreting the
text of ^ as it stands. For history of the exegesis and for criti-
cal analysis of the complicated texts of the Gr. VSS ref. is made
to Notes at end of the chap. The writer agrees heartily with
Kamp. in his criticism of the critics who light-heartedly ' emend '
the text. He approves that scholar's dictum at v.^"*: "The more
the difficulties in understanding an important passage of the
Book of Daniel accumulate, the less we are permitted to make
an attempt at overcoming them by mere alteration of the text.
In such cases the text has been transmitted with especial care."
This last remark is fully supported by critical study of the VSS.
Several recent comm. regard these vv. as metrical; s. esp.
Marti for his analysis, which depends however upon radical re-
378 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
constructions of the text. But the attempt to pursue and re-
construct a metrical form merely complicates the study of the
passage. The passage is essentially prosaic and the best that
can be done is to cast it into lines and so obtain the appearance
of vers libre.
25a. And thou art to know and understand. This bidding pref-
aces the following revelation. The two vbs. are practically
synonymous; for the accumulation cf. \}'^, i^. There follows an
analysis of the 70 Weeks into three periods: the first a period
of seven weeks. From the issue of the word to build again Jeru-
salem unto an Anointed-Prince seven weeks. For ' the issue of the
word' cf. 'word went forth,' v.-^ (also a similar phrase, 2"), but
the 'word' here refers to 'the word of Yhwh to Jeremiah,' v.^
We have here a notable early instance of a double interpreta-
tion of a prophecy: the one which regards Jer.'s prophecy of
restoration as fulfilled in the Return in the Persian period and
which calculates this period at 7 X 7 years (the ' first ' sense of
the prophecy) ; the other which interprets the explicit Jeremianic
interpretation of 70 years symbolically (the 'second, or mysti-
cal, sense') as 70 year-weeks. The felicity promised by the
prophet at the consummation of the 70 years had notoriously
failed of consummation; it was necessary to find a secondary,
ultimate meaning — a process of interpretative theory which has
been abundantly illustrated ever since in the interpretation of
this passage. The Heb. vb. D''d°I is here taken as an auxiliary
and translated 'again'; or with EW, etc., it may be rendered
'to restore [and to build].' 'Unto an Anointed-Prince,' Tj;
T'^J rT'w'D: The history of interpretation is marked by the VSS.
• T - • T
(S expresses only the second term T^^lJ = Kvpio<i (s. Note at
end of chap, for suggestion that (B once read %/c»tcrTM Kvptcp) ;
0 ew 'xpicrrov rjjov/ievov^ 0'unto King Messiah'; "Bad Christum
duceni ; GV ' aiif den Christum, den Fiirsten ' ; AV ' unto the Mes-
siah, the Prince'; RW 'unto the anointed one, the prince'; JV
'unto one anointed, a prince.' The nouns, as JV indicates, are
anarthrous. 'Messiah' is epithet of king, of priest (cf. 2 Mac.
i^°), of prophet; and in a spiritual sense of patriarch (Ps. 105'^),
and even of Cyrus, who is 'My Anointed,' Is. 45'; s. Lexx. and
BDD, Kon., Mess. Weissagungen, ^ff. Unless we interpret such
a case as 'my Anointed' in Ps. 2 as directly Messianic, it is
g^^'" 379
never an O.T. name of the Messiah. The second term 'prince,'
qualifying the first, is used of various officers of rank : as a chief
among officials, esp. in the temple personnel, e.g., ii^^ of the
high priest, q.v.; of nobles or princes, e.g., Job 2g^^, 31"; then of
royalty, appearing as early title for the king in Israel, e.g.,
I Sa. 9^^, and also of foreign kings. Hence both terms are am-
biguous, and their combination does not assist identification,
for which three candidates have been proposed: Cyrus, the
'Anointed' of Is. 45^; Zerubbabel, the acclaimed Messiah of the
Restoration; and his contemporary the high priest Joshua b.
Josedek. If masih in v.^*^ is a later high priest (Onias III), it is
reasonable to attribute the title here to one of the priestly line,
hence to Joshua, to the exclusion of the secular princes. The
interest of the writer lies, not in the legitimate royal line, still
less in an accidental figure like Cyrus, but in the maintenance
of the cult. The rites were suspended in 586, at the destruction
of the temple, and were resumed 538 upon the Return, i.e., circa
49 years. For another interpretation which disregards the Mass.
punctuation and reads 'seven and sixty-two weeks,' perpetuated
in "B and some modern VSS, s. Note.
25(2. Ni'o p] p unassimilated, by mostly late usage; s. cases listed
in Kon., Lgb., i, i, p. 292. — ai'^r'n'^] The parallel in v.'', n.njaji ar^T,
supports the above interpretation of the vb. as auxiliary, and so & HI.
For the mng. 'restore,' adopted, e.g., by vGall, Mar., Lamb., cf. Jer.
29". Bev. sugg. ^'''r^'''^-, 'to populate,' eft. Eze. 36". (& and 0 dxoxp'.0?;v£zt
support the pointing of M. — i^jj] S. Lexx. for etymology and use.
Graetz, pp. 396 f., identifies as the Gr. equivalent of this term xpccr-
TaTiQs, used of the high priest in Ecclus. 45-*, x. ayiuv (not in the
Heb.), and xpocjTaaia, used of the high-priestly dignity, Jos., ^/ xii, 4,
2. More apt is the identification with the third term in the title of
Simon Mace, as 'high priest and general and rjYoufisvoc; 'louSotiwv,'
I Mac. 13^-; cf. the title of the high priest Ananus, slain by the Idumae-
ans in the last days of Jerusalem, ap/isp^u? x. -riysiJicov, B.J. iv, 5, 2 (with
allusion to Dan. 9=^- "^). For the combination 'j n'''^'c cf. 'j i^pa Jer.
20'; the second term refers to the actual functioning of the divinely
qualified 'anointed.' — The above interpretation follows the Mass. punc-
tuation, which places alhiah with 'seven.' But the VSS, (S (at v."") 0
& U, construe '7' and '62' as one numeral, followed by GV AV SV,
some comm., e.g., Hav., Boutflower, p. 190; and then the VSS empha-
size this combination by inserting 'and' before the next sentence. But
why then the helpless 7 -|- 62? It is interesting that the early Christian
380 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
exegetes retained the true syntax of the passage despite the Gr. VSS.
Note that (5 made a sad mess by confusing the identical appearing
°'';?3? 'weeks' and °''m 'seventy.'
256. The second period of 62 weeks. And for sixty-two weeks
it shall be built again, street and moat, but in distress of the times.
A succinctly phrased sentence, i.e., Jerusalem shall be rebuilt
and remain so for 62 weeks but in distressful conditions. For
this period of year-weeks = 434 years as covering the age be-
tween the Return and the epoch of the Maccabees, s. Note at
end of the chap. By 'street' (3in"l), properly 'broadway,
plaza,' are meant the broad spaces, generally just inside the city
gates, the centre of city life, and by synecdoche standing for
the city. The word tr. 'moat' (so Ra., followed by RW JV),
vs. 'wall' of GV AV and other attempts by the VSS, has now
been identified with that sense in the mLxed Heb.-Aram. Zakar
Inscr. of the 8th cent. B.C.; the word is also known from the
Talm. As 'street' stands for the interior of the city, so moat
for the line of circumvallation, and the two items present a
graphic picture of the complete restoration. The great cutting
in the natural rock along the northern wall of Jerusalem is a
marked feature of the city's defences. For the final clause, lit-
erally, 'and in the distress of the times' (EW 'even,' JV 'but'),
we have the illustration in the story of Ezr.-Neh.
25b. I'nni 21m] For the adverbial construction cf. i Ki. 18" mpnn
nni Dia;?. — f''"'"] Ra. identified with Talm. vnn '(garden) trench,
water channel,' and tr. 'moat,' and was followed by some early Prot.
comm., and so AVmg. The word is now known also from the ZKR
Inscr., i, 11. 9 /. : ' they made a wall higher than Hazrak and dug a
trench (fin = haru§ or harts) deeper than its trench.' The word is
corroborated by Akk. harisu, 'city moat.' The VSS did not know the
word. @ rendered the two terms by xXaxoc xal [xfjxo";, the latter prob.
a guess to obtain the two dimensions; some have suggested the rdg. of
I"?.!? for 'n. 0 H have 'walls,' Tst'xfi, muri, if not by guesswork, poss.
with V!l1 'partition,' Eze. 13", in mind; Graetz proposed this emenda-
tion here. OrC has TceptTEtx^s = CH^. ^ has Npiir (Arab. sUk, 'street')
= Heb. Vin, which constantly pairs with ami (Jer. 5', Pr. 7'-, etc.),
and so Bev. would read here, followed by Behr., Mar., Lohr, Cha.,
Lamb. The obscure oracle cited by Jos., B.J. vi, 5, 4, that the city should
be taken when the temple was built foursquare (rsTpayMvov) may de-
pend upon the 'breadth and length' of 05; cf. the 'foursquare city in
9^6^ 38 1
length and breadth' of Rev. 21".— D^nyn piS3i] For the explicative 1
= 'und zwar,' s. BDB, p. 2526. It is a shallow objection against valid-
ity of 'x that it occurs only here, = ^Pr'^'^ Is. 8--, etc. Mar. holds that
if 1^ is to be kept the two nouns should be reversed, eft. n-is n>» 12'. (S
has X. xaxK auvTsXsiav xatpwv = ^''^^ Vi?P\ with which cf. 11", 12".
The comm. who adopt the emendation from (B (Graetz, Bev., vGall,
Mar., Cha.) must delete 'and' at beginning of the next v., although it
is vouched for by all VSS. B supports <g, but B in atigtistia tempomm
= ^. For n;? as of predestined time cf. 'the time of the nations,' Eze.
30', Jerusalem's 'time,' 22', etc. For pix cf. Sta tV Evsaxtoaav avaYxrv
I Cor. 7-'. 0 X. IxxevuO-rjaovTac ol xatpo'! rests on some misreading
(ippai?); Blud., p. no, suggests rt. pn = px\
26. 27. The third and last period of one week. 26a. And after
the sixty-two weeks shall he cut of an Anointed and [Uterally]
there is naught for him. The vb. 'cut off' (ni3) is used of de-
struction of persons, e.g., Gen. 9'^ and technically of the death
penalty, Lev. f°, etc. The subject IT'tl'D 'anointed' is again
anarthrous and used titularly. The interpretation here followed
interprets it of the martyr high priest Onias III, who was foully
assassinated by his Jewish rival at Antioch, 2 Mac, 4^3-28. The
next clause, literally translated above, i^ j''X1, may mean 'and
have naught,' or 'without anything, any one.' It is an unex-
plained crux, and many attempts have been made in forcing the
Heb. or pressing its natural sense without any sure results. The
Heb. is made to produce 'and he is no more,' or 'and not for
himself,' i.e., vicariously; or what he has not is found with or
without restoring a word to the text in sin, justice, helpers,
successors, and what-not. The writer has been inclined to adopt
the sense of 0's paraphrase fc. Kpifxa ovk eariv iv avTO) (which
need not represent a different text), meaning 'there is nothing
against him,' i.e., judicially, with b to be sure against the ex-
pected bl^. The most illuminating note on the phrase has been
made by Nestle, who finds in it a Biblical allusion. In ZA TW
4, 247 he proposes a reminiscence of Eze. 21^2 ^^u'DH \b '^D^<,
which itself is a play upon 1 -t^;, \h*'U Gen. 49^°. It may be noted
that Aq. alone renders tD£l^•a there by KpCixa^ 0 failing at the
passage. It still hangs in the air what is meant by the cryptic
reference; if *h^ was interpreted Messianically, then the allu-
sion implies that the present masth was found not to be Messiah ;
382 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
with which cf. the interpretation assigned by Jer. to the Jews
that the phrase means that Jesus was not the Messiah. The
prevailing interpretation of this passage as of the death of Jesus
Christ is actually late and secondary in Christian exegesis, first
making its appearance in the Christian translations, the Syriac
and the Vulgate, where rT'i^D is translated 'King Messiah/
'Christus.'
23d. ma>] 0 tr. most intensely of all the VSS, l^oXoOpeuO-rjasTat
'shall be exterminated'; S> = 13 occidetiir, more mildly under Christian
interpretation. — ^!''v'5 = (5 0 xpt'cfxa, as though n^'?, and this tr. was
continued by the Gr. comm. If we were to accept '^'^'9 as the original
rdg., then the ritual character of the function is positively meant, not
the Messianic. The earliest allusion to the passage finds in xgic\i-ct. a
personal content; Jos., BJ. iv, 5, 2, identifies this event with the
death of the last high priest Ananus, when the Jews -rbv dpxtep^a x,
TjYsyLOva {cf. w.-'") Tfj<; tSt'a^ awTYjpfa^ auTwv sxl \i.i(3-q<; xfji; tcoXsws elSov
ixsa9aY[j.evov. Similarly Eus., Dem. ev., viii, 2, identifies it with Herod's
murder of the high priest Hyrcanus (= -fjYouixsvos XP"^'^0'5 v.-^), ou lidvo?
. . . i 'Ypxotvbs xpt'^'^^s wv -/.al twv iziXxi dpxtepawv uaxaTOi; Ixx6xt),
aXkx T) . . . BtaSoxT), ajxo ts tJ) xaxa voiJioug xP-'^t'-O' ouxeiri xaird:
xpt'aiv Yiv6p.evov. But the Fathers depending upon 0 generally ad-
hered to xp'.<!ii.oi. and referred it to the cessation of the Jewish rites after
the advent of Christ. So Tert., Adv. Jiid., viii: "debellatis ludaeis
postea cessauerunt illic libamina et sacrificia, quae exinde iUic cele-
brari non potuerunt; nam et unctio illic exterminata est post passionem
Christi"; ace. to Theodoret, ad loc, the 'chrism' is the 'grace which
flowered upon the high priests,' while the following v.'?i\Lix oux eaxtv
ev aJxqi means that the so-called high priests were functioning illegally
and assumed their ofiice against the law. Ace. to Polych. the 'chrism'
means 'the anointed high priest,' who would cease with the destruction
of Jerusalem. Some comm. pay no attention to the passage, e.g., Hipp.,
Chr>'S. — "h ]"'N'i] Aq.'s tr. xal oux I'axtv airy is the closest, and Sa. tr.
hterally; cf. Sym., x. ou% uxip^si otj-rw. C6 x. o'Jx saxat =''•2.^^"!. 0
X. xpi'tJLo: oux e'ffxtv iv auxy; this has suggested the omission of P"' after
the similar r**; so Dathe, Thenius. (S's interpretation is followed by
many, Ra. (uj^n iod), Hitz., GV JV 'and be no more'; but the two are
not equivalent, and if that interpretation be taken, uj^n should be
read, as by Ehr. A favorite tr. of Prot. comm., e.g., AV, Geier, Hav.,
is 'and not for himself,' i.e., vicariously; but jin is hardly = n^. The
face value of the words, 'and shall have nothing,' given by AVnig RVV,
is interpreted of possessions (Calv., Hofmann, Heng.), or adherents
(Auberlen, Wright, p. 224), or 'he has none' as helper or witness
(Mein.) or as son or successor (Jeph., Behr.). Some early Prot. comra.
understood TJJ as implied, and similarly Fell's hypothesis {Theol. Quar-
talschrift, 1892, 355 ff.) of restoring I]? ^V^'^^ 'and without his own
sin,' so Mar., Lohr, Lamb.; following Jachiades Graetz supplies l^J'
'helper,' eft. 11". H has a remarkable paraphrase, et non erit eius po-
pulus qui eiim negatiirus est (accepted by dEnv., p. 976, as represent-
ing the original text!), followed substantially by Montanus, Grot.: tion
erit obcdiens popidus ille qiiem redentptiirus uenerat. Some similar inter-
pretation may be represented in &, weld 'it Idh, 'and she (Jerus.) have
him not,' which Aph. Syr. interprets, 'and she has no other Christ.'
The Grr. comm. following the non-Mess, interpretation of the passage
(s. preceding Note) understood the phrase of the illegitimacy of the
high priesthood (Theodt.) or of the cessation of the Jewish autonomy
(Polych.).
266. And the city and the sanctuary shall destroy [= be de-
stroyed by] the folk of a prince that is to come, but his end in an
overwhelming, and even to the e?id war determined with desolations.
The word translated 'destroy,' n''nw'\ is generally taken in the
physical sense, so 8^*, 11", but there was little destruction ef-
fected by the Greeks in the Holy City; it may then be under-
stood in its moral sense, 'corrupt,' and so Eus., Dem. ev., viii, 2.
By 'the folk' is to be understood either Ant.'s army (so QJ?
Ju. 5^, 2 Sa. 10^', etc.) or the Hellenistic group; cf. i Mac. i^^,
'and he [Ant.] put there [in Jerusalem] a sinful folk (e9vo<;).'
*A prince to come,' following ^, must be a hostile prince, and
has been identified by Jewish, Patristic (s. Knab., p. 258), Cath.
and Prot. comm. with one of the Roman conquerors, by the
Jews with Vespasian or Hadrian, by others with Pompey,
Herod, Agrippa. A few Fathers found in this person the re-
turning Christ, e.g., Tert., Isidore, Basil (s. Fraidl, Exegese d.
Siehzig Wochen, pp. 38, 91, 93); some comm. find the Anti-
christ, e.g., Klief. Ace. to the modern interpretation he must
be Ant. Epiph., so Bert, etc. He is distinguished from the local
'Anointed-Prince' of v." by the epithet 'to come,' either as
some new one or in the sense of invader, as the vb. often im-
plies, e.g., i^ 11", etc. 'His end in an overwhelming' refers
then to the final catastrophe of Ant.'s life, the rt. CjlDtl', of an
overwhelming flood, being frequently used of the divine wrath,
e.g., Nah. i*, cf. Is. lo^^ But against this Hne of interpretation
it is objected by Graetz, Bev., vGall, Mar., Cha., Lamb., that
T'iJ, 'prince,' must refer to the same category as that of
384 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
'prince' in v.^^ which category reappears in ii^^ as 'prince of
the covenant.' This interpretation adopts the rdg., Qj; 'with,'
with some VSS, and as a subj. is then lacking, it changes the
act. riTIyi^'' into the pass. nntT'', with the resultant, 'and the
" T •
city and the sanctuary shall be destroyed along with the Prince,'
i.e., the Anointed one of v.'^^. Then, after (g, the following words
1^'pl N^n, 'the one to come, and his end,' are corrected to
read l^p i^^l, 'and will come his end [in overwhelming],' with
recurrence to the fate of the Anointed already depicted. The
initial objection made by these interpreters to the text of ^
that 'prince' cannot be applied to other than the category of
the Anointed-Prince is not conclusive; nor is it felt by the Jew-
ish comm.; the distinction is made by the epithet, 'the one to
come.' Further, it is somewhat de trop to pick up again the
thread of the fate of the Anointed, who has disappeared from
the stage in v.**; if he were continued as subj. in v.** we should
expect 'with him' or 'with the Prince,' a point that Bev., an
advocate of the change, admits. Also the expression 'over-
whelming' appears little appropriate to the fate of the Anoint-
ed, whereas it corresponds to the 'pouring out of a determina-
tion' against the sacrilege in v.". It is true that 11^-, which
includes both 'overwhelming' and 'prince of the covenant,' sup-
ports the emendation theory here; but that passage may be
but a literary reminiscence of this. The chief objection to ^ is
that it anticipates the ruin of Ant. which is described in v.^^. It
is possible that the ref. of 'his, its end' is to 'the city and the
sanctuary' (with attraction of the masc. pron. to the latter
antecedent) ; and so Geier has proposed.
The last clause of the v., while sufficiently clear in its general
sense, is troubled by ambiguity of syntax. The VSS, exc. Aq.,
Sym., and M construe: 'and to the end of war determined are
desolations,' or the like, so AV JV. But Aq., Sym. treat 'war'
as the subj.: iroXefxb^ jeTfiriraL eprjiioicrewv^ which appears pref-
erable, so RW and as above. The war is ' determined for [Heb.
has construct state] desolations'; this is better than devising a
new sentence with RW, 'desolations are determined.' 'Deter-
mine' means 'predestinate,' as also in the Midrashim, and cf.
11^®. Mar. may be right in regarding these last two words as a
gloss from v.^^ and may claim support from their absence in (g.
9" 385
266. D>-] = Aq.; 0 auv = dK. (g has a conflate text (s. Note at end
of the chap.) and bears witness to both interpretations, and B is simi-
larly conflate: ciuilatem el sanctuariutn dissipahit populiis (= °>-) cum
(= ajj) cLiice uenturo. Also ims de R. reads °J?. — N^n n^jj] C/. similar
defective use of the art. Gen. i'', Ps. 104I', and, as Bev. notes, in CIS
i, no. 166. — ixpi] 0 texts sxxoxTjaovxat i.e., ixp''; xat is pref. by
Or^c, also Clem. Alex., Strom., i, 21, Eus., /.c, E^"* Tert., prob.
orig. 0. — mcDiy nxinj] Const, st. with 'c as gen. of specification. For
rt. V"in of divine predetermination cf. the use of the semantically similar
rt. "\iJ, e.g., 4'^. For 'v s. at v.-^. The plus -ua^si [acpavtaiiot] appear-
ing in 0 MSS, exc. Or^ Lu. (but Lu. has it bis in v.^'), also absent in 51 ffis
Clem. Alex., Eus., is from 0^»' at end of v.-' [axouSTjc;] xa^st, error for
ora^et = inn. Cod. B. solus aipaviaiJiot, al. -[louc; (also variously
-jAou, -(Aov, -(Awv), which latter is supported by the oblique case appear-
ing in |j (ds.
27. The final week and the end. Aiid he shall make strong a
covenant for the many for one week. And for half of the week he
shall cause to cease sacrifice and oblation, and upon the wing [i.e.,
of the temple] shall be an Abomination-Appalling, even until end
and determination shall pour upon the Appaller. 27a. If the sub-
ject is that of v.2^^, i.e., Ant., the first sentence is intelligible.
There is no intrinsic objection to the tr. of the vb. 'make strong'
= 'confirm' 'maintain,' vouched for by almost all the VSS. As
with the dispute over 'prince,' v.^^, the crux lies in the word
'covenant' n'''ni. It has been urged by many, from Graetz on,
that ''2 is elsewhere used in Dan. of the Covenant Religion
(jj22. 28. 30. 32)^ q^^^ must bc SO interpreted here. But the secular
sense of '"2 continued until late; cf. Job 5", 'a covenant with
Stones'; Mai. 2'^, Pr. 2^^ of the marriage contract; BSir. 41^^ of
a sworn contract. 'The many' are then the majority of the
Jews = ot TToXXot; for these renegades cf. ii^°- '2, 12^°, i Mac.
i^*"^-, etc. The historical background of the sentence so inter-
preted is clear: the clever diplomacy whereby Ant. made his
bargain with the worldly majority, at least of the aristocracy, in
Jerusalem. It may be noted that the Jewish comm., Ra., AEz.,
Jeph., do not hesitate to interpret the covenant as of the treaty
between the Jews and the Romans. Those who insist that '"2 =
the Religion as also those who do not find Ant. in v.^^, are com-
pelled to manipulate the mng. of the vb., e.g., ' he will abolish
the covenant' or to venture upon its emendation, pass. vbs.
being speculated in. At least seven emendations have been pro-
25
386 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
posed; s. Note. The 'half-week' when the tyrant shall cause
the cult to cease = 3^ years, corresponds so closely with the
3 years during which the temple suffered sacrilege under Ant.,
168-165 B.C. (c/. I Mac. i^'*^- with 4^^^), that, whether we re-
gard the present statement as prophetic or post evenkim, the
identification fits in satisfactorily with the theory of allusion to
the Mace. age. The first half of the week then refers to Ant.'s
earlier treatment of the Jews, on the chronology of which we
are ill informed. In i Mac. i^°^- the datum of the accession of
Ant. is followed by the statement about renegades of the Jews
who received special license from the king, c. 170 B.C. By 'sac-
rifice and oblation ' is meant the totality of the cult, bloody and
unbloody sacrifice, cf. 1 Sa. 2^*, Ps. 40^ In v.^i ' oblation ' nnJD
has a later, more specific denotation.
27b. The next clause contains an obscure word which is fur-
ther complicated by an unintelligible syntax in M- The text of
M is thus expressed by RW: 'and upon the wing of abomina-
tions shall come one that maketh desolate ' = JV ' and upon the
wing of detestable things shall be that which causeth appal-
ment.' This syntax of 'wing' is found in none of the VSS exc.
Sym. (also Aq. ?) and 0, the former translating riJ3 (const.
state) [eVt] 7779 apx^]'i tmv (SSeXvyixuTcov (s. Note at end of
chap.) ; and # ' upon the wings of the abomination ' ; all the other
authorities treat the word as an absolute. Only one other VS
correctly renders the word 'wing,' that contained in the variant
in 0, which reads eco? Tnepvyiov airo a(f>avLafxov. For the word
the other VSS make apparent substitutions. (^ and the 0 text
found in B al. have the very plausible tr. eVt to Upov^ which
is repeated periphrastically by B, in templo. It is easy enough
with vGall, et al., to tr. this back into Heb., ^TpH ^J?, but the
simplicity of such reversion offers no assurance as to its correct-
ness. It may be partly corroborated by the allusion in the Gos-
pel, Mt. 24!^ the Ab. of Des. standing eV tottw dym^ which
however is doubtless a paraphrase, similar to Jer.'s, who doubt-
less had our Heb. text. The parallel in Mk. 131^ ottov ov Set,
appears to stand for some cryptic sense of r]]3. The rdg. sug-
gested by Kuenen, Hisforisch-critisch Onderzoek, 2, 472, cited
and accepted by Bev., ii2 h]^ 'upon its place' = 'instead
thereof (c. ii^o- 21- 38)^ jg ^^g most plausible of the emendations
9" 387
proposed; the pers. pron. then refers to the double antecedent
'sacrifice and oblation.' But there is an interpretation of C]J3
which had occurred to the present writer before he discovered
that it had already been proposed and maintained with very-
respectable support, although it has disappeared in comm. sub-
sequent to dEnv. A clew to '3 = G"" irrepvyiov is found in
TO 'TTTepvjiov Tov lepov Mt. 4^ = Lu. 4^. For views concerning
this 'wing' in the Story of the Temptation s. 'Pinnacle' in DB ;
ace. to that review scholars have differed much as to which part
of the roof of the temple the 'piimacle' was. J. Lightfoot, on
Mt. 4^ (ed. Pitman, 1823, 2, 83), suggested the D^*lN or porch
of the Herodian temple, the Royal Portico on the S side, the
E end of which overlooked the giddy abyss which Jos. so
grandiloquently describes, AJ xv, 11, 5. Others have suggested
other parts of the roof, some its topmost point. That article
and most, if not all comm., overlook the use of the same term
in Hegesippus' story of James the Brother of the Lord, whom
his opponents made to mount upon to irrep. r. lepov that he
might expound his doctrine to the people (Eus., H. e., ii, 23, 11).
Accordingly the place must have been an accessible elevation,
like the top of a portico, thus corroborating Lightfoot's explana-
tion. The term means structurally a wing of a building, and this
meets the objection of those who argue at our place that 'wing'
never means the top, can refer only to extension {e.g., Bleek,
Jahrb. f. deutsche Theologie, i860, pp. 93 f., cited by Zock.).
We may suppose a heathen image or emblem — an acroterion, to
use the architectural term — set up by Ant. upon the pediment
or gable of the porch of the temple; the abomination felt by the
Jews toward the most trifling of emblems appears in Jos.'s
statement that not even the Roman standards might be brought
into the holy city, AJ xviii, 3, i. This identification by no
means depends upon descriptions of Herod's temple, which
would be anachronous, for the temple always had its Ydam.
Indeed, there is reference to this porch, irvXoiv^ in the Epistle
prefixed to 2 Mac. i^ The first, so far as I can discover, who
made this combination, is a Lapide, who cfl. Mt. 4^^; he has been
followed by Bert., vLeng. (tr. ' Grauelzinne'), Heng. {Christologie,
3, 103 /.), Ges. (Tlies., Lex., thinking of an image of Zeus placed
on the roof), Maur., Pusey, Zock., dEnv. (who suggests that
lEPON of (g 0 is corruption of HTEPON). The N.T. lexica
388 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
ignore this O.T. case of TrrepvyLov. For current explanations of
Hi reference may be made to Pole and early Prot. comm. ; equally
fanciful is Behr.'s attempt. If the above objective interpreta-
tion cannot be accepted, the writer can only suggest that CjJS
is an original or secondary crypticism similar to the following
'Ab. of Des.,' and that then what it stood for was recognized
by (B 0, etc. With the correction of ^'s syntax the group of
words becomes a predicate statement, 'upon the wing is'; it is
not necessary with Mar., after Ruben, to prefix jflj!'''! (?) 'and
shall be set,' eft. S'\ ix^\ 12".
'Appalling- Abomination,' for which the classical term, inher-
ited from the VSS, is ' the Abomination of Desolation,' is doubt-
less a satirical word-play in the Heb. The orig. here is □"'^iirsty
DD17i2, but comparison with ii^^, 12", where variant forms are
given, indicates that we should read here DDty ppti^. Nestle,
ZATW 1884, p. 248, has given the one adequate explanation of
this cryptic term, accepted by Bev., Dr., Mar., Cheyne, but still
ignored by some subsequent comm. It is a contemptuous surro-
gate for the name of the highest Pagan deity, in the Phoenician
U'd'^ ^>?3, pronounced ace. to the transliterations of Philo of
Byblos and others Baal samem, the Lord of Heaven, appearing
in the Aram, as pDti^ h'^'2 (s. Lidz., NE 239, Eph., 2, 122,
Baethgen, Beiirage, 23 J^., Montgomery, JBL 28, 66 ff., etc.).
Philo of Byblos (Eus., Praep. evang., i, 10, 7) says: "this god
they named Lord of Heaven, calling him ^eeXaa^r^v^ which is
with the Phoenicians Lord of Heaven, and with the Greeks Zeus."
'Ba'al' was replaced by ^'^'D'C! 'abomination,' a common term
of detestation for a Pagan symbol, e.g., i Ki. 11^, etc.; this term
replacing 'Ba'al' here as r\'^'Z 'shame' often does elsewhere, in
proper names, e.g., Mephibosheth, and in such passages as Jer.
11^, where the doublet riw'^ || h']^'2 is in the present text, vs. (g,
which has the simple 'Baal.' The second word Idmem by the
^imale or broadening of d became somem, which is also a ppl.
mng. 'appalling, desolating,' etc. The exact equivalent appears
in 813, Qj21tr^ ytr^Sn 'the Appalling Sin.' The phrase then refers
to the installation by Ant. of rites to the Olympian Heavenly
Zeus in the temple sanctuary, ace. to i Mac. i^''- ^^ And Nestle
notes that g> at 2 Mac. 6^ actually renders Zew 'OXvfiino^ by
9'' 389
pDtt' b]!2. I Mac, tells only of the heathen altar that was
erected; but it is indifferent whether only an altar or also an
image were reared, for either was symbol and bore the name of
the deity.
'And until end and determination shall pour upon the Ap-
paller': An ambiguous way of stating the fate expected to be-
fall the arch-enemy. For the vb. cf. v.^^, where it is used of the
operation of the divine wrath, like the outpouring of liquid fire.
The initial words constitute a hendiadys, 'a determined end,'
and are cited from Is. lo^^, 28^-. The construction of 'I J? as
conj. 'until' is preferred by the minority of scholars, e.g., Bert.,
Dr., Mar., Cha., with GV AV JV; others, including all the VSS
and evidently M, with RW, take IJ? as a prep, governing the
foil, nouns, or else only the noun 'the end,' with 'determina-
tion' construed as subj. of the vb.; but the last construction
destroys the unity of the period.
27. On the Gr. VSS for this v. s. Notes at end of chap., esp. for the
duplicate in texts of 0; I argue there that the variant given in the margin
of Swete's apparatus is a primitive variant in the text of 0. — Ti^jn]
Absence of actual testimony to a trans. Hif. of n^J (Ps. 12* Hif. =
'show strength') does not deny the mng. 'make great,' which is the
tr. of all VSS exc. (S: 0 Aq., Sym. SuvatAwuet, It confirmahil, ^ ne'assen.
(& offers var. trr.; in v.^ Suvaaxeuaai with 'covenant' as subject; in v.^
the orig. text of the passage prob. read similarly, 'in the prevailing
(xaTtaxiJi^aO of the covenant against many one week.' Proposed
emendations are: Graetz, i^jyn 'shall abolish' or 'cause to transgress';
Kraetzschmar, Die Bundesvorstellung, 233/., T'aon, or better, as Kamp.
suggests, Tiaon 'make difficult'; Behr. iT;r\ 'cause to abandon'; Ehr.
n^arn. Of those who desiderate nna as subj. Bev. proposes "iflin 'be
broken,' Mar. -\2)}7\ 'pass away.' — inx j?n';'] 0's exegesis made 'v subj.
of the vb., epoo[jLi4<;, and so Aq., Sym. H (so clearly B^" hcbdomas una ;
the vulgar text hebdomada una may be nom. or abl.). This construction
has been maintained by some moderns, e.g., Heng., Hav., vLeng., Hitz.,
and naturally the Cath. comm. dEnv., Knab., on the basis of a poetical
conceit that the time in which a thing happens can be regarded as the
active agent. — noa'i] (S 0 ipO-rjusTac, Aq., Sym. xajaerat, B deficiat
= '^^F., which is preferred by vGall, Mar., Cha., al. But & has nehaUel
and so also the ancient Q"'^'^, xaTaicautjet. & has conj. before the vb.,
thereby combining 'week' and 'half- week,' and so Aph. Syr. with ref.
to the time of Christ's activity. — 1^^ ^J?] The rdg. attributed to Aq.,
Sym., in <j|Gmg^ ^o Sym. alone in CS^mg^ |^\ ^^q, ipx^js twv pSeXuy-
390 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
lx(iT6)v lpY)[iw6i^ffeTat, can be explained from Sym.'s tr. of V^^^] ^^? Is.
19", by ipx-fiv xal -ciXo?; Aq. tr. otherwise there, and we may infer
that the ascription to Sym. alone is correct. Sym. analyzed nsD as from
rt. 1J0. Heb. cod. Ken. 313 has for Disip-i' r\:o hy the unique rdg.
yip>tf nin'i hyn hy. It has been lauded as an original rdg. by Ken., Disser-
tatio getieralis, 95; JDMich., De hebdomade Danielis, 207, and Biblio-
theca orientalis, 20, 82; de R. ad loc. But it appears to be one of the
cases where the orig. has been emended after a version. There may be
noted finally the Arab. mng. of the rt., 'protect, cover,' with nouns =
'protected, covered place,' a sense agreeable to the proposed mng.
'portico'; cf. the popular use of Solomon's Porch in the N.T. — nnipu^
°?''^'?] So edd., exc. Bar asia'n. Cf. ii^^ x^^av-a yipa'n, 12" DDiy yipt?
and sup. 8" aDtf yu'sn. The participial osi" = 3::'i'D; for rejection of d
in such ppls. s. GK §52, a. This d may have been desiderated and then
have been supplied in duplicate, so causing the pi. a-'Sipi''. The pi.
appears in the Grr. only in Sym. ace. to (SSmg, gu^ (g^ 0 ^ext in B,
Lu., I Mac. i", and N.T. have the sing., pSiXuYpia. Sym. offers a ver-
bal rendering to ''^"a, kgr\\x.u>^-'q<:zxa\.. The OLat. texts vary: Tert. has
the sing., Chron. pasch., and Iren. the pi., while ffi^^e has a conflate
text, et supplicaiio (?) desolationum interiius et ad sacrificium ahomi-
natio, on which depends Aug.'s citation, Ep. 79, of Hesychius of Salona,
desolalionis interiius; s. further Burkitt, Rules of Tyconius, p. Ixix.
AEz., PsSa. take ddcd as ppl., 'desolator,' Ra. as 'desolated,' of the
dumb idol, and so Stu. and others. Of modern views we may note that
of Bev., who finds a pass. ppl. of Dili' = 'set up,' and Winckler's notion,
KAT 303, that the phrase = Qshc; iTUKpavT)^. — ""JI] For use as conj. s.
Lexx.; the one objection, that exceptionally the vb. does not imme-
diately follow, with Mar., is not a decisive reason. Bev. would read
"]'}}, translating 'afterward,' but hardly with improvement. — lOP] Sup-
ported by Sym., Aq. (?), ©''", ord^ct, appearing in © texts erroneously as
Ta^ei (and so glossed into texts in v.^^, e.g., B, v. sup.) ; (B @ SoOrjaExat
= jnn, understood as a pass.; & 'until the end it [the Abomination]
will rest, nijnn, upon the Desolation'; similarly, perhaps, H perseverabit
desolatio.
NOTE ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SEVENTY
WEEKS.
There has been assumed above the interpretation of the Seventy Weeks,
which would bring down that era to the Mace, epoch. Justification of that
position will now be given, to be followed with a sketch of the exegesis of
the vexed passage.
However the 70 Weeks are to be interpreted, whether historically, apoc-
alyptically or mystically, certain principles must be followed, if the writer
meant anything sensible. The total of the 70 should be obtained in the
CHAPTER 9, NOTE ON THE SEVENTY WEEKS 39 1
addition. The denomination must remain the same: 'week' cannot be a
variable quantity, as now a septennium and now some other quantity of
time. We should expect from the circumstances of the chap, a definite ter-
minus ad qucm, because the immediate encouragement of the seer and his
readers is demanded. The round number 70 is no contradiction to this
demand. The round number of 480 years from the Exodus to Solomon's
construction of the temple (i Ki. 6') was also meant as a precise number.
And that the present number is to be taken literally appears from its divi-
sion, not into symbolical aliquot parts, e.g., 7 X 10, but into an irregular
series, 7 + 62 -(- i, a half-year within the last year also being specified.
Otherwise the aliquot division of the 70 Shepherds of Enoch 85-90 into
12 -f 23 -|- 23 + 12. And finally we must not expect an exact historical
chronology according to the approved data of modern historical investiga-
tion; Jewish historiography was affected by a remarkable oblivion as to
chronology and sequence of events.
The term, a quo is given explicitly, 'from the issue of the word,' i.e., the
Jeremianic word, cf. v.-, 'the word of Yhwh for completing the ruins of
Jerusalem.' The prophecy is that of Jeremiah, specifically the one given
in Jer. 25. Entirely out of order, therefore, although enjojang great favor
with the interpreters, is the exegesis which would find this terminus either
with the chronologically fictitious 'Darius the Mede,' as though the com-
putation was to be taken from the date of the present chap. (cf. v.^ ; or with
year i of Cyrus; or with the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus. These arbi-
trary projections of the term, a quo are due to the discovery by the early
Christian chronographers that otherwise the desired term, ad quern, the
epoch of Jesus Christ, could not be obtained.' When we fall back on a Jer-
emianic date, we find various dates proposed: 586, the destruction of Jeru-
salem; 597, its first capture by Nebuchadnezzar; and 604 (also given as 606),
year i of Neb. This latter date has been urged by Behr., now supported
by Konig, Die Mess. Weissagungen, 311, against the majority of the comm.
The date is urged on the ground that 604 (" 606 ") is the date of the prophecy
of the 70 weeks of exile, Jer. 25'- ". This date less i Week, i.e., 49 years, =
c. 558, the date of Cyrus' accession; Cyrus would then be the 'Anointed-
Prince.' Behr. thus obtains a fairly exact period of 49 years. Cyrus is hailed
in the Bible as the Lord's Messiah, but there is no Biblical datum as to the
beginning of his reign, and indeed no room for his historical 30 years' reign
is found with the Biblical assumption of a preceding Darius the Mede."
' E.g., Clem. Alex, finds the first week, 49 years, from the 2d year of Cyrus to the
2d year of Darius Hystaspis; Hipp, from year i of Darius the Mede to year 2 of
Darius Hyst. Africanus introduced the dating from the year 20 of Artaxerxes, in
which case the seven weeks are ignored as a distinct quantum of time, as indeed is
the case with the translation of ©. This became the favorite dating of the Medixval
theologians, e.g., Bede, Nicolas of Lyra.
' Behr. has been attracted to the date 604 (606) because by again starting the next
datum of 62 Weeks = 434 years from the same date he obtains the epoch of Ant.
392 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
But if Jeremiah were exactly followed, there should have been a period of
70, not 49, years, these 70 years being described as years of service to the
king of Babylon. The desolation, as our writer well knew, was less than
the 70 years, and, if we may grant him a correct chronology here, he was
working between the two striking epochs of Jerusalem's ruin, 586, and the
Return, c, 538, or circa 49 years. In this case it must be admitted that the
dating is not exactly 'from the issue of the word,' i.e., the word of Jer. 25^ in
year i of Neb.; but also the desolations of Jerusalem did not begin in that
year, not until 586, which certainly must be the epochal year, not the
cursorily mentioned datum of Neb.'s first year in the introduction to the
prophecy of Jer. It is from the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 that the
Bible itself dates the 70 years, s. 2 Ch. 36-". If the 7 Weeks terminate at
the Return, then of the three candidates proposed for interpretation of the
'Anointed-Prince,' as argued at v.-**, the high priest Joshua is to be de-
cisively preferred.'
The Christian interpretation of the chronology in v."* was sadly misled
by the original error of 0 in construing the ' 7 Weeks ' with the following
'62 Weeks,' as though 69 Weeks were the first figure intended. Jerome
unfortunately followed 0 in perpetuating this error in the Western Church,
and its traces are still found in the Eng. VSS (s. Notes). This tr. of 0 and
H was agreeable to the Jewish and Christian interpretations which found
the fulfilment of the prophecy in events of the ist cent, a.d., and so needed
a larger figure than the 62 Weeks = 434 years to fill up the interim. But
taking 538 B.C. as the starting-point for calculating these 434 years we ob-
tain 105 B.C., an impossible date for anything of prophetic value.* This
does not suit at all the early Jewish and Christian identification of the term,
ad quern with some epoch in the ist Christian cent.; nor does the attempt
Epiph., and so claims to justify the Jewish chronology, which is discredited by most
scholars. But he is absolutely unjustified by starting afresh at that date for the
62-Weeks period.
' The identification with Joshua goes back to the very original treatment of the
passage by Hipp., iv, 31, who says: "What xpityzbq does he mean but Jesus son of
Josedek, who then returned with the people and in the 70th year upon the rebuild-
ing of the temple offered sacrifices according to the law ? For all kings and priests
are called xf\<yioi," etc. This view was adopted again by Calvin, and taken up in
recent years by Graetz, Bev., vGall, Mar., Cha. Rashi understands Cyrus as the
Messiah followed by some early Prot. comm., the view still preferred by Mein.,
Behr., Dr., Schiirer (pJV 3, 266), Cornill, Konig, et al. Julius Hilarianus, of the
end of the 4th cent. {v. inf.), identified the Messiah with Zerubbabel. AEz. found
him in Nehemiah. Eusebius, who used Hipp., regarded the 'Anointed-Prince' as
the whole list of high priests from the Exile till Christ's advent, Dem. ev., viii, 2,
cf. Fraidl, pp. 58^.
* Eusebius, I.e., in one of his calculations, boldly accepts the consequence of dating
69 Weeks from year i of Cyrus to the death of the Hasmonsan prince Alexander
Jannaeus, 76 B.C., and understands the prediction of this terminus event as of the
prelude of the anarchy which ushered in the Roman dominion.
CHAPTER 9, NOTE ON THE SEVENTY WEEKS 393
fare any better with the shoving down of the term, a guo as far as possible,
into Artaxerxes' reign, etc.
To be sure, a similar objection may be made against our identification of
the final Week of the Seventy with the period of Ant.'s tyranny, for the
62 Weeks would then take us down some 65 years too far. We can meet
this objection only by surmising a chronological miscalculation on part of
the writer. For the first 49 years he had exact Scriptural information; he
was profoundly conscious of the epochal character of his own age; there
was the necessity of extending Jer.'s 70 years into a much larger figure in
order to bring it up to date (the natural process of all interpretation of
prophecy), and the 70 years became 70 Year- Weeks = 490 years, too high
a figure indeed, but he was not embarrassed, in the absence of a known
chronology, in squeezing these 434 years between the Return and the Anti-
ochian persecution. Schiirer, GJV 3, p. 266, has capitally illustrated this
chronological fault from the Jewish Hellenistic historians; he cites from so
learned a man as Josephus various reckonings of Cyrus' reign, which are too
high by 40-50 years, and notes especially the datum given by the historian
Demetrius (in Clem. Alex., Strom., i, 21, 141 — before 200 B.C.) of 573 years
between the Return and the accession of Ptolemy IV in 222 B.C., i.e., 70
years too much.^ Cornill, Die Siehzig Jahrwochen Daniels, pp. is ff- {cf-
Dr., p. 147), has offered the ingenious suggestion of finding twelve high
priests (their names drawn from the Bible and Josephus) from the Destruc-
tion to Onias IH; rating these generations at 40 years we obtain 480 years,
which plus the last week of our reckoning = 487 or almost the 490 years
required. But s. Guthe, Gesch. Israels, 276, Mar., p. 73, for criticism of this
hypothesis; and indeed it is not necessary to demonstrate any exact basis
for the figure. Below, in treating the early Jewish exegesis, is given the
ancient chronology preserved in the Seder Olam ; according to that scheme
the Persian period, from the Return to Alexander, is boiled down to 34
years !
The last Week is introduced by the 'cutting off of an Anointed,' the de-
struction or depravation of city and temple, accompanied by an unholy
'league with the majority'; for the (last) Half -Week there is to be cessa-
tion of the Jewish cult and its replacement by Pagan abominations. This
Half -Week equals in round figures the '2,300 mornings and evenings' of
8" = 1,150 days. The whole argument points to the Antiochian persecu-
tion and it can be claimed that no period in Jewish history so neatly fits
the cryptic allusions of our passage. We may satisfactorily identify the
'Anointed' with the high priest Onias III, who was foully murdered when
guest at the court of Antioch (2 Mac. 4'-'^), which ace. to Schiirer, i, 195/.,
' See, however, Behr., p. 65, for criticism of this alleged datum from Demetrius,
on basis of uncertainty of Clem.'s text, and with defence of the Jewish chronology;
cf. Dr., p. 147, n. 3.
394 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
happened about 171 B.C. The Week would then terminate prospectively at
about the time when the temple was recovered and purified by the Jews,
165 B.C., and the Half- Week would represent the three years of the profana-
tion of the temple, 168-165. The Abomination of Desolation is the heathen
altar, with its accompaniments, which Ant. reared in the temple (i Mac.
i"). We may respect the spiritualizing exegesis which can find fulfilments
of the striking figure of the Abomination of Desolation in many a subse-
quent act of sacrilege, the attempted profanation by Caius, the destruction
of city and temple by Rome, the erection on the temple site of Hadrian's
Pagan shrine, but this natural process of thought should not interfere with
our recognizing the primary and most obvious interpretation of the passage
as one with a contemporary bearing which was intelligible to its age despite
its cryptic phraseology.*
For the history of the elder (pre-Reformation) interpretation of the 70
Weeks we can mark out several distinct progressive phases: (i) The inter-
pretation as of a prophecy of the Maccabaean distress, the 'contemporary'
interpretation; (2) the apocalyptic interpretation, as in the Gospels, Paul;
(3) the application to the destruction of Jerusalem — so by Josephus, and
since him the regnant Jewish interpretation; (4) the ultimate 'Christian'
exegesis which found in the passage more or less explicit, chronologically
verifiable predictions of the advent of Christ. This last exegesis is again
variously crossed with the other earlier strains of interpretation. And (5)
there is the rationalizing interpretation, instituted by Porphyry and now
largely accepted. The writer will content himself with sketching the devel-
opment of these successive phases; for the detailed history he must refer to
the many monographs.'
' In the application of this last Week to the history of Jesus Christ there has
always been embarrassment. In the elder interpretation of the Gospels the Sa-
viour's ministry lasted but one year; the subsequent extension of it to three years
entailed comparison with the Half -Week of Daniel = 3>2 years. The middle of the
Week was then naturally placed at the termination of the Lord's ministry on
earth, but the problem arose what to do with the balance. Without any adequate
explanation such authorities as Eusebius, Polychronius, Theodortt, postulate a ^J/2-
year period after Christ left the earth. A favorite modem interpretation is to iden-
tify the termination of the second Half- Week with the preaching of the Gospel to the
Gentiles in the episode of the centurion Cornelius. Similarly the early Jewish in-
terpretation in the time of Jerome found a correspondence for the Half- Week in the
three or four years of 66-70 A.D., and for the second Half- Week the three years or
so of the Hadrianic war.
' I refer primarily to three works which taken together would fairly well sum-
marize the whole history: Fraidl, Die Exegese der Siehzig Wochen Daniels in dcr Allen
und Mittleren Zeit (through the Middle Ages), 1883 — an admirable piece of scholar-
ship, covering equally the Patristic, Oriental, and Western, and Jewish comm.; the
invaluable Synopsis of Pole for the early Prot. comm.; and Zockler's Appendix to
his comm. on the chap. (Eng. tr., pp. 205-213). To these may be added for their
useful summaries: Bert.'s 'Erklarende Uebersicht' to the chap., pp. 541-626; vLeng.,
pp. 469-482 ; Hav., pp. 392-399. For older monographs Zock. notes those by Calo-
CHAPTER 9, NOTE ON THE SEVENTY WEEKS 395
(i) The 'contemporary' interpretation. The earliest immediate inter-
pretation of this passage is in i Mac. i^^: 'On the 15th Chislev [read, 25th],
year 145 [Sel. Era = 168 B.C.] they built Abomination of Desolation upon
the altar (pSs^uytJi-a spTjpiwcjcWc; ii:\ to Oufftaa-nfjptov).' i Mac. was written
in Hebrew at the end of the 2d cent., only two generations removed from
the age of Ant. Epiph. ; the passage is of prime importance in showing how,
as far back as we can go, the earUest tradition interpreted the 70 Weeks.
The second of the Dream Visions of Enoch, i.e., cc. 85-90, presents, 89*'-
90-', a series of 70 Shepherds covering the period from the destruction of
Jerusalem until the Messianic Kingdom; these Shepherds are evidently dis-
tributed as follows: the Captivity 12, the Persian age 23, the Alexandrian-
Ptolemaic age (c. 200) 23, the Syrian age 12 (the arbitrary character of this
numerical series is obvious). We have here then an evident replica of our
70 Weeks, with the same term, ad qiiem, i.e., the Mace. age. The Visions
are generally regarded as among the earliest portions of Enoch, Cha. dating
this Vision before the death of Judas Mace.
Again, the translation of (8 may be taken, with FraidI, pp. 4 f., as prob-
ably definitely precising the end of the period as coinciding with Ant.'s
reign. In v.-^ (& om. 'weeks' 1° and then reads '7 and 70 {i.e., ^"'JJ^V' read
as ^'i'^'f) and [a plus] 62'; this is repeated in the variant interpolated in
<8 v.^^, 'after 7 and 70 and 62 years,' years being specified, i.e., 139 years.
Ant. Epiph. came to the throne 137 Sel. Era (i Mac. 1'°), and the trans-
lator may, whether intentionally or accidentally, have hit upon a combina-
tion which actually expressed quite accurately Ant.'s date in terms of the
current era. Further, the variant in v.-^, 'and the desolation (spTj[jLwat<;)
will be removed in the enforcing of the Covenant for many weeks,' doubtless
refers to Judas' triumph.
To these pre-Christian references should be added Test. Levi 16-17, if ^^
may regard it, with Charles, as Judaistic and reject obviously Christian
material. Ace. to this passage a period of 70 weeks is prophesied when the
priesthood and sacrifices shall be polluted and profaned, terminating at the
end of the seventh {sic) week with the advent of 'a new priest,' which can
then be interpreted of the Hasmonaean dynasty. The Christian interpola-
vius (1663), Wieseler, 1839, Baxmann, 1S63, Rosch, 1868. Of more recent mono-
graphs the following titles should be noted {cf. Marti, p. loi, Schiirer, 3, 267): van
Lennep, De zeventig jaarweeken van Daniel, Utrecht, 1888; Cornill, Die Siebzig Jakr-
U'ochcn Daniels, 1889; R. Wolf, Die Siebzig Wochen Daniels, 1SS9; H. Vuilleumier,
'Les septante semaines d'annees de Dan. ix,' Rev. de Thiol, et de Philos., 1892, 197-
202; Lagrange, 'La prophetie des semaines,' RB 1904, 509-514; I. Levy, 'Les
soixante-dix semaines de Daniel dans la chronologic juive,' Rev. des eludes juivcs,
1906, 161-190; van Bebber, 'Zur Berechnung der 70 Wochen Daniels,' Bibl. Zeilschr.,
1906, 119-141; E. Bayer, 'Danielstudien,' AlUest. Abhandlungen, Miinster i. W.,
1912, pp. 188, a treatment, literary and theological, of Dan. 9; and Konig, who in
his recent Messianische W eissagungen, 1923, gives, pp. 302-317, a running critical
exegesis of vv. '^'^''.
396 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
tions might, on the other hand, be the earliest direct application of the 70
Weeks to the advent of Jesus Christ. Also in Schechter's Zadokite Frag-
ment, text, p. I, 11. 5. 6, there is reference to a period of 390 years from
Nebuchadnezzar to 'the end of the wrath,' which figure Schechter would
amend to 490. But this would be merely a classical allusion. In general,
then, the eldest interpretations of the 70 Weeks identify their climax with
the Antiochian persecution.
This original historical interpretation of the 70 Weeks passed into oblivion,
not to be taken up again until modern times, except for the drastic criticism
of Porphyry of the Christian interpretation and for the highly ingenfous
interpretation oilered by a Christian writer of the end of the 4th Cent.,
Julius Hilarianus, who in his De miindi duratione libellus (PL 13, no f.)
finds, with remarkable originality, the term, ad quern of the 70 Weeks in the
year 148 Era Sel., and refers the Half- Week of the Abomination to Ant.
Epiph.'s sacrilege — "Abominatio desolationis facta est super altare statua
louis quem Olympium uocant illic collocata." Following the example of
Hipp, he punctuates after the first 7 Weeks (against the s)mtax of 0, whose
text he follows in the OLat.), discovering Zerubbabel in the 'Christus dux,'
for he says, "omnis rex populi Dei in diuina lege Christus appellatus est."
(2) The apocalyptic interpretation of the prophecy appears in the sole
direct citation of it in the N.T., Mt. 24^^, 'When ye see the Abomination of
Desolation (rb PosXuyixa T-f)? epYipiwaswi;), that spoken of through Daniel the
prophet, standing in the holy place (ev Tiictp ayi'w), let him that readeth
understand!' = Mk. 13'^ with the variant, 'standing where it ought not.'
Without deciding as to the authenticity of this word, or as to its objective,
whether it anticipates Antichrist or the destruction of the state by the Ro-
mans, we find in it a patently apocal3T)tic use of the DanieHc prophecy,
which could be made to fit the prospect of any great calamity which should
strike at the heart of the Jewish religion. The dating down of the long-
spun-out 70 Weeks into the first century must have been in vogue and have
contributed to the inspiration of the various fanatical and transcendental
movements of the Judaism of that age. Similarly Paul in his early apoca-
IjT^tic epistle, 2 Th. 2^, has the Danielle utterances against Ant. Epiph. in
mind, this passage as well as the more specific description in c. 11, when he
speaks of the Son of Destruction 'sitting in the temple of God, showing him-
self that he is God' (= epiphanesi).
(3) The first direct application of our passage to the destruction of Jeru-
salem in A.D. 70 is made by Josephus in his usual cryptic fashion. Fraidl,
pp. 18-23, discusses the possible reff. We may note especially AJ x, 11, 7,
where, after having summarized Dan. 8, the vision of the Ram and the
Buck, Jos. proceeds: "and these things, it happened, our nation suffered
under Ant. Epiph., and many years in advance he [Dan.] wrote up what
was to take place. And in the same manner also he wrote about the empire
of the Romans and that it [impersonal ? ] would be desolated (IpiQiJLuOiQasTai)
CHAPTER 9, NOTE ON THE SEVENTY WEEKS 397
by them." Cf. also the passage cited above (Note to v.^'') from BJ. iv, 5, 2,
in which he refers to the murder of the high priest Ananus in the last days
of Jerusalem as the real beginning of the end, for then they beheld "the
high priest and governor (dp/tspea x. TjYsiJLova) of their salvation slain in
the midst of the city," with evident allusion to our passage. This interpre-
tation became the dominant Jewish exegesis almost without e.xception ; and
it passed over into the Christian exegesis, which along with the advent of
Christ equally saw the downfall of the Holy City predicted in the prophecy
of the 70 Weeks.
The chronology involved in this termination of the 70 Weeks is impUed
in the ancient Jewish historical work Seder Olam (2d cent.; ed. J. Mayer,
Amsterdam, 1699) c. 30 = Aboda Zara, 8''-9*. The 490 years appear to be
divided as follows: the Exile 70 + Persia (after the Return) 34 + the
Greeks 180 + the Hasmonasans 103 + the Herods 103 = 490. S. Fraidl,
p. 122, and particularly by way of elucidation of the chronology, G. F.
Moore's note in Jackson and Lake, Beginnings of Christianity, i, 97, n. 2,
and also Konig, p. 313.
At the end of his interpretation of the passage Jer. gives a summary view
of Jewish interpretations, at least professes to do so: "Hebraei quid de hoc
loco sentiant breui sermone perstringam, fidem dictorum his a quibus dicta
sunt derelinquens." The Jews who were his authority found the fulfilment
in the destruction of the city by the Romans, including in the last Week
both the 3>^ years of the war of Vespasian and Titus and the 3>^ years of
Hadrian's war; 'the prince to come' was interpreted: 'cum duce uenturo
Uespasiano.' And it appears, if we may trust Jer., that the Jews admitted
a reference to Jesus Christ in the death of the Anointed One, but cleverly
interpreted the iS i''Xi by 'but the kingdom of the Jews will not be his'
("non erit illius imperium quod putabant se retenturos"). That the de-
struction of Jerusalem was the objective of the 70 Weeks is also the opinion
of the Clementine Recognitions in an interpretation of the Abomination of
Desolation {PG i, 1242).
The subsequent Jewish interpretation (s. Fraidl, pp. 124-134) followed
the traditional opinion of the term, ad qiiem as the destruction of Jerusalem
under Titus (or Hadrian). So Rashi, Abn Ezra, PsSaadia, Abarbanel. The
Messiah of v.-^ is Agrippa, ace. to both Ra. and AEz., the latter citing
Joseph b. Gorion, vi, c. 30 (s. Schiirer, i, 159), who gives the tradition of
Agrippa's martyr-death. AEz. goes his own way in making the first Week
terminate in Artaxerxes' 20th year (Neh. i^ and regarding Nehemiah as
the Anointed-Prince, whereas the others generally identify this person with
Cyrus. In this calculation AEz. was probably influenced by Christian exe-
gesis which had more or less since Julianus Afr. adopted the dating from
Artaxerxes. However, it may be noticed that an apocalyptic, Messianic
interpretation exhibited itself at times. Ace. to Sank., 97a, the Weeks were
divided into seven parts at the end of which was to come the Messiah; and
398 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Schottgen, Horae hebr., 2, 264, gives some instances of similar interpretation
among Jewish commentators, e.g., Moses Nachmanides, "The Holy of holies
is naught else than the Messiah, the sanctified one of the sons of David."
Another rabbi cited by Schottgen, Moses Haddarshan, is reported to have
said: "The eternal righteousness, that is King Messiah," which interestingly
enough agrees with Jer.'s statement that the Jews of his day made the same
equation.
(4) The specifically ' Christian ' interpretation, which found the terminus
of the Weeks in the advent of Jesus Christ, only slowly made its way; it
is not found at all in the New Testament, it is not made use of at all in
Justin Martyr's Apologies, and outside of a passing allusion in Ep. Barnabas,
16 ('and when the hebdomad is completed, the temple of God will be built
gloriously in the name of the Lord' — a spiritualizing interpretation), we have
to come to the Fathers at the end of the 2d cent, to obtain this exegesis.
This development, when it came in, was encouraged by the false translation
in 0, 'unto Christ the chief 7 weeks and 62 weeks,' which made the calcula-
tion up to Christ's advent somewhat more plausible.
Of the Fathers Irenjeus (v, 25, 4) inherits the apocalyptic interpretation
of the New Testament; Dan. 9^', with its 3>^ years, is a prophecy of the
Antichrist; he relates with it Paul's prospect of the Antichrist in 2 Th. 2"-,
and the Antichrist is to take up his abode in Jerusalem. So far then there
is no chronological calculation of the advent of Christ from the 70 Weeks.
Essays at such a calculation set in with the subsequent Fathers: Clem.
Alex. {Strom., i, 21, PG viii, 853), Tert. {Adv. Judaeos, 8), Hipp., Julianus
Africanus (Routh, Reliquiae sacrae, 2, 297 f), Origen (esp. his comm. on
Mt. 24, PG xiii, i6s6ff.), Eus. {Dem. ev., viii, 2). Of these it may be noticed
that Hipp., to a great extent Irenaeus' scholar, includes in his chronological
argument also Iren.'s theme of the era of Antichrist (comm. iv, 30-35; De
Antichristo, cc. 47, 64, etc.). Also Tert. and Origen, while pursuing chrono-
logical interpretations bearing upon the Advent, continue to find prophe-
sied the destruction of the Jewish state. But several of these Fathers were
chronologers of highest standing, e.g., Hippolytus and Africanus, and it is
not strange that they betook themselves to the task of computing the Weeks
so as to find their exact terminus in the advent of Jesus Christ. Accord-
ingly, these masters ushered in a development ominous, although one to be
expected, for all subsequent exegesis. From the beginning the masters dis-
agreed, as they have done ever since. For example, the term, a quo was
found by Clem. Alex, in year 2 of Cyrus; by Hipp, in year i of Darius the
Mede; in Africanus in year 20 of Artaxerxes; by Eusebius ace. to one reck-
oning in year 6 of Darius Hystaspis (s. Fraidl's Tables, pp. 156 f.). The
climax of the Weeks is generally found in Christ's death, in which there was
the cancellation of the Jewish ritual, but with a balance of 3^2 years left
over which is treated most vaguely; it is often regarded as representing the
period down to the destruction of Jerusalem, or, after ancient precedent, it
CHAPTER 9, NOTE ON TliE SEVENTY WEEKS 399
is understood as of the era of Antichrist, or with Polychronius of the teach-
ing of the Apostles.
This specifically ' Christian ' exegesis became definitely crystallized in the
last great Versions executed for the Christian Church, the Syriac and the
Vulgate. The Syriac gave a definite Christian coloring to v.-'' in paraphras-
ing the final words, 'to anoint the holy of holies' into 'to Messiah the Holy
of Holies'; in v.-* it turns 'unto an Anointed-Prince ' into 'to the coming of
Messiah-King.' And in v.-^ we have the clear-cut tr. 'the Messiah will be
killed' over against the vaguer 'will be destroyed' of ^ and the cryptic
'chrism will be exterminated' of 0. Jerome has similarly put the Christian
stamp upon his great translation. 'Unto Anointed-Prince' becomes 'ad
Christum ducem,' and the Syriac is followed in 'occidetur Christus.' Jer.
also unfortunately follows the tr. of 0 in definitely combining the figures
'7 weeks and 62 weeks' in v.-^ as one numeral, as over against ^ (& can be
read here as agreeing with 1^). It is to be observed, however, that the early
Christian exegesis, that of the Greek Fathers and of the early Latins, work-
ing with XF'tJiJLa of d 0 in v.=^, made this crucial passage refer to the aboli-
tion of the Jewish cult, not to Christ's death; s. Note ad loc.
While the tendency induced by the Christian chronographers to find the
exact terminus of the 70 Weeks in the Advent became universal among
Christian exegetes, we have to note the immense variety as to details among
the Fathers, a variety which has been in part noticed above. Some of the
Fathers honestly enough present more than one calculation of the times, so
Africanus three different theories, Eusebius possibly four (FraidI, pp. 45 f.,
SSff.). Variant opinions as to the term, a quo have been noticed above. And
there was widest contradiction in other details. Thus the 'Anointed-Prince'
of v.=^ generally identified with Jesus Christ, is ace. to Eus., the Jewish
priestly line down to Alexander, or Hyrcanus, Herod's victim. Tert., follow-
ing the text of 0, boldly interprets the 'extermination of anointing' as of the
destruction of the Jewish ritual, and so Commodianus (11. 266/., CSEL xv).
With TertulHan the ' prince to come ' is Jesus Christ, and so the usual ex-
egesis, but with Origcn Herod or Agrippa, with Eusebius Herod. Against
the apocalyptic view of v.", interpreting it of the Antichrist, Africanus finds
reference to the New 'Covenant' in Jesus Christ and the latter's removal of
the Jewish cult. This anti- Jewish theme of interpretation is very prominent,
and as in Irenasus, Eusebius, Theodoret, the contrast is made between the
Jewish cult and the new liturgy of the Eucharist. By the 4th cent, all pos-
sible varieties of interpretation had been reached and it remained for sub-
sequent exegetes to make their arbitrary choice, with actually no room for
any novelties.
(5) The rationalizing, critical interpretation. The Prot. Reformers and
their immediate successors added nothing to the kaleidoscopic results of the
Patristic and Mediaeval comm.* An entirely fresh direction to scholarship
' See Pole's Synopsis ; and Zock., p. 208, for a concise survey.
400 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
was introduced by the Deists and Rationalists of the 17th and i8th cen-
turies, with the premise that the objective of the 70 Weeks is the Mace, age
and that the 'prophecy' is accordingly a vaticinium ex evenlu.^ But the
first credit for this critical position must be given to the Pagan Porphyry,
of whom Jer. in the Preface to his Comm. says: "Contra prophetam Da-
nielem duodecimum librum scripsit Porphyrins, nolens eum ab ipso, cuius
inscriptus est nomine, esse compositum, sed a quodam qui temporibus An-
tiochi qui appellatus est Epiphanes fuerit in ludaea, et non tam Danielem
uentura dixisse quam ilium narrasse praeterita. Denique quidquid usque
ad Antiochum dixerit ueram historiam continere; si quid autem ultra opina-
tus sit, quia futura nescierit, esse mentitum." In Patristic exegesis a strik-
ing exception is found in JuHus Hilarianus, s. above at the end of (i). In
modern scholarship that trend was first adopted by two Englishmen, John
Marsham, Canon chronicus, Frankfurt, 1697, pp. 610 f., and A. Collins,
Scheme of Literal Prophecy, London, 1726, and also the CathoUc scholars
Hardouin and Calmet; s. Bert., pp. 596^., Pusey, pp. 197^., Knab., p. 270.
These were followed, inter al., by Corrodi {Krit. Gesch. d. Chiliasmus, 1794,
3, 253), Eichhorn {Allgeni. Bihliothek, 3, y6ijff.), Bert., Bleek, Rosen., Rosch,
vLeng., Maurer, Hitz., Ew., Wieseler, van Lennep. This view-point came
to be practically admitted by some conservative theologians, who "regard
the events of the era of the Antiochian persecution and the Mace, revolt as
types and prefigurations of the founding of Christianity" (Zock.), with a
general assumption of the final Week as of indefinite length, from the Advent
to the end of the world; so Hofmann (Die 70 Jahre Jeremias u. d. 70 Jahr-
wochen des Daniel, 1836), Delitzsch (RE-), Kranichfeld, Keil. But equally
'conservative' scholars, as Stu., Zock., adopted the radical theory in a very
straightforward way. With them are to be associated almost all recent
comm., and in general the writers of the several O.T. Introductions and
Theologies, and the Encyclopaedia articles on Dan.
For the directly Messianic interpretation in the past century we have to
note Hav., Heng., Auberlen, George Duke of Manchester (The Times of
Dan., 1845), Pusey, Kliefoth, and the Cath. comm., dEnv., Knab. For the
most recent works we note Wright (Dan. and His Prophecies, c. 7), Wilson
(passim in his several monographs), Boutflower (In and Around the Bk. of
Dan., cc. 16-19, 'The EvangeUc Prophecy'). We must pass over the exu-
berant Millennarian interpretations, which have come into great vogue
again in England and America. For a critical display of these developments
s. S. J. Case, The Millennial Hope, igi8.
To sum up: The history of the exegesis of the 70 Weeks is the Dismal
Swamp of O.T. criticism. The difficulties that beset any 'rationalistic'
treatment of the figures are great enough, for the critics on this side of the
' See Bert, in his int. to c. 9, Zock., pp. 209 #., Knab., pp. 262-275 (a digest of the
Messianic, Eschatological and Non-Messianic interpretations).
CHAPTER 9, NOTE ON GREEK TEXTS OF W.^^'^'^ 401
fence do not agree among themselves; but the trackless wilderness of as-
sumptions and theories in the efforts to obtain an exact chronology fitting
into the history of Salvation, after these 2,000 years of infinitely varied in-
terpretations, would seem to preclude any use of the 70 Weeks for the de-
termination of a definite prophetic chronology. As we have seen, the early
Jewish and Christian exegesis came to interpret that datum eschatologically
and found it fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem; only slowly did the theme of
a prophecy of the Advent of Christ impress itself upon the Church, along
with the survival, however, of the other earher themes. The early Church
rested no claims upon the alleged prophecy, but rather remarkably ignored
it in a theological atmosphere surcharged with Messianism. The great
Catholic chronographers naturally attacked the subject with scientific zeal,
but their efforts as well as those of all subsequent chronologers (including
the great Scaliger and Sir Isaac Newton) have failed.
NOTE ON THE GREEK TEXTS OF W.-^",
(i) OS.
For special studies on these texts s. Blud., pp. 104 jf., Behr., pp. xxxiv seq.
Yy_24-25a can be easily equated with ^ and a summary treatment of them
is sufficient. The following passage, vv.''*''--', requires detailed analysis.
24. TT]v itoXtv Stwv: 2. = oou (?).
xctq czBtxtac; 1° = Kt., Tir^v otSixtav (|s = ^j-,
axavtaat = onnS Kt.: s. Note ad loc.
X. SiavorjOrjvat to opapLa: x. Stav. a var. tr. of foil. NonS read as V^nh, cf.
gloss in ^s V.-5; to op. gloss to foil. opaiAaTct, where CS^ opa[i.a.
SoGifjvat = xonS read as from A.ram. rt. 3n\
auvTeXeaOrjvai = onn'? read ann'^.
XpOyifjTlQV, (fiS xpOipifJTa^, ^Smg TTpOqJTjTEtaV.
eu(ppavat = ntfcS read as nnty"?, (B^mg ^ou xpjuat.
25a. X. e'J9potv6T)aT): var. to sucppavxt v.-*?
eupTjaetq = «XD JD > nsd:: > Nsnn.
(gSmg _[- y__ ^Qu StavoT)6rjVat = gloss in (B^ v.^*.
xoXtv xuptw = ^^JJ ni'j'D •\'; -.t; as "IV, xuptu = ^''3:, and poss. xgiaxoi
[xupiu] = nitt'D was once read. An identical loss mav have occurred at 11".
In the following comparison for vv.-^**--' I have followed the order of ?l^;
the equivalents in 05 are enlisted in the same order, with a numeral prefixed
which indicates the place of the word or phrase in (6, and the doublets are
arranged in parallelism. The Gr. begins at v.-° of Swete's text.
25b. ^^'^'■^ a''j:ri' j) y^^ \i.£-zix exTa xat s^So(n(]xovTa
°''J'3iJ'l la) (gSmg + [Suo] epSofxaSa?
Dija»i Ditt'iy 2) X. EsTjxovTa Suo
2wn 15) X. xaXtv extorpetj^et
26
402 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
nnj3Ji 1 6) X. avotxoSo[ji,Y)GT)(jeT«t
]'nni 3im 17) eiq icXaTo? x. [ayjxo?
Dinyn pixai 18) x. xara ouvreXstav xatpwv
26. nnNi 19) x. (xsTa
c;?^!^''"! 20) sxTa X. spBo[XTjxovTo( xatpoui; xat
a^nn av^'if 21) ?^' exwv
17 pxi IT'B'D mo'' 3) axoffTaOrjasTat xP^^lJ-ot x. oux eaxat
B'npni Tiym 6) x. . . . tiqv xoXiv x. xo aytov
n>nir^ S) <p6£pet
4) ^aatXeta eOvuv
J) [IS-Za. TOU XP'OTOU
«pi t<3n 8) X. Tj^si TQ auvTs>.sto! auTou
ntaB'3 9) ii,£T opyTj<;
10) X. xottpou auvxsXeta?
I. 22; ewq xatpou aTVTEAEiai;
L r 11) «xo xoXeaou iroXsunnOTiasTat
niDDtt' nxnnj nnnSn < ( .
t 23) xoX£[Jiou X. ayatpeorjasxat itj epr^^uaK;
__ r 12) X. SuvaffTsuaei
27. lOJni <^ (
1. 24; £V TO) xaxtaxutJat
/ 13) T) Staei^xY)
L 25; XT)V 5taoT)xiQv
L f 14) St? xoXXou?
I, 26) exi xoXXa?
nns }}^yi' 27) e^SopLaSa?
The balance of the v. follows the order of l|; the necessary citations of
its rdgs. are given in the Notes.
The cause of this complication of text is evident. Two blocks of a par-
allel tr., nos. 15-21, 22-27, have been intruded, doubtless from the margin
of a MS, solidly into v.^'. The second block is a doublet to nos. 10-14; the
first fills up a lacuna which had befallen the primitive text; the gap was prob.
due to haplography induced by the numerals for the Weeks in vv.^*- ^'. The
following detailed notes are added. No. 4 ^aacXeta eOvwv is a Grascizing
understanding of the nominal phrase. No. 10 xatpou is Aramaizing, cf.
P'J; (S^ revises, pref. ew<;. No. 11: is the tr. a makeshift, or witness to
another text? Nos. 26. 27 eici xoXXac; ep5o;xa3a;: the orig. text was doubt-
less ext xoXXouc; {cf. no. 14) ep5o;i.aB3t a', which became £pSo;xaSa;, so at-
tracting the gender of xoXXoug.
(2) THE TEXTS OF 0.
A doublet of parallel translations appears in v.'^ in the great majority of
Mss, in all but B 42 130 229 230 231 232 and the text in Eus., Dem. ev., viii,
2. The parallelism, which can be followed in Swete's apparatus, may be
thus exhibited :
CHAPTER 9, NOTE ON GREEK TEXTS OF W
24-27
403
B = 0.
X. SuvatAWffct 5taOY)XT)v izoXkoiq
apOTjCTsxat [jLou Guata x. aTcovSit]
X. eict TO tepov
p3cXuy[JlX TWV SpT][lU<JSWV
X. £Ws TT)s ffuvTsXstas xatoou auvT£>>s'.Q:
SoOrjaETat e-rci tiqv spTgiiWatv
A (Q etc.) = ©var.
xaxaxauCTst GuataaxTjptov x. Ouatav
X. £(l)i; xTspuytou
axo ayavia^iou
X. ew? auvT£XEtaq x. CTCOuSigc;
X. 5uva[JUi)a£t 5[a6T]XTr]v xoXXoi? E^Sopia^
[jLia X. ev Tw Tj^jLtaEt xrys s^SoiJiaooi;,
X. T. X., as in B, col. i.
Note. — In the rdg. of 0™"- II. 2.3 eioq = t; for 1^ S;?; Dixipa' was not read
or ignored; and ociii'o understood as D::yy p, Lu. has em xxEpuytov. —
The Constanz fragment published by Dold for vv.-=-" agrees with B. But
for the passage cited above there is entered a doublet for 'abomination of
desolations': 'tolletur sacrificium meum et supplicatio (error for libatio)
desolalionum interitus et ad sacrificium ahominatio et usque,' etc.
The doublet in A, etc., has been clumsily entered into the text with the
repetition of x. Suva;xwffEc . . . E^SopLaSo?. A simpler form of the com-
bination appears in Clem. Alex., Strom., i, 21 (ed. Potter, p. 393). He follows
B, through £pTj[jt,waiv, and then proceeds directly to the var. without the
joint. In the double occurrence of 'the half of the week,' with which the
parallels begin, Clem, has against 0 texts, exc. V -f- 8mss, the literal tr.
T)[Atau TT)s E^SoiAaSos. Another variety of insertion is found in (t^, which
enters the var. at the beginning of v.", omitting x. SuvayiwaEi ScaOtjxTjv
xoXXot?, thus: 'A week, and the middle of the week,' etc.
These various methods of insertion argue to parallel blocks of translation
appearing on the same page, that of the var. being probably on the margin.
What is the origin of the var. ? The simplest explanation is that it is the
Origenian revision. But I was balked in this opinion by the fact that the
doublet has acpavtatxo? twice in place of EpT^piwati; = B and also (S, since
acpavtfffAo? 'evanishment' and its vb. = DDtt* are peculiarly Theodotionic,
cf. 9'*- 2^, 11^', while the common term of (S appears only in 8'^ 12" (only
in the former passage for rt. oca'). With the use of otipaviaixos in the var. in
V.-' the section fits in with its occurrence in v.^^. Further for the var. tr. of
1^3 by TCTEpuYtov I was struck to find that Tert. in Adv. Jiid., viii, vs. the
usage of all H texts, which he also cites in the same chap, {et in sancto exse-
cratio uastationis) , twice uses the true tr. destruere pinnaculum usque ad in-
ieritum. But further both Clem. Alex, and the old Coptic know the doublet.
These facts make a demonstration of the pre-Origenian e.xistence of the
404 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
doublet, a proof reinforced by the fact that Eus.'s own careful citation of
the passage follows B, avoiding the doublet. We are forced to think of an
ancient variant in the 0 tradition giving a more exact tr. of ^:d. Whether
it is older than the rdg. of the Textus Receptus of B it is impossible to de-
cide. The use in its context of iipavtXstv argues for the Theodotionic charac-
ter of the variant, but the more exact tr. for a secondary origin. It is to be
observed that the excellent master codex B simplified the doublet by reject-
ing one of the pairs.
CHAPTERS 10-12. THE FINAL REVELATION.
These chapters constitute one 'Vision,' the breaks introduced
by our chapter divisions being fairly modern (s. Comm. at end
of cc. lo. ii). The long narrative falls into three dramatic parts:
C. 10-c. 11, 2a. Prologue: An angel's appearance to Dan. and
the introductory colloquy; C. 11, 2b-c. 12, 4. The Revelation;
C. 12, 5-13. Epilogue: another dramatic scene and the angel's
concluding words to Dan. The length and ponderous detail of
the Revelation have properly motived the long introduction in
C. ID.
PROLOGUE 10- IP.
In the first year of Cyrus Dan. prepares himself by religious
exercises for the boon of a revelation (1-3). Beside the Great
River, after a three weeks' fast, he is vouchsafed the vision of a
brilliant and awful personage, which completely unmans him
(4-8). The being's voice casts him into a swoon, from which he
is aroused by a celestial hand, and the being announces that he
has come, as he was desired, with explanation of his delay
(9-14). Still speechless, Dan. is restored by another celestial
touch, he apologizes for his failure to respond; a third touch,
to enable Dan. for the revelation, is followed by the being's
announcement of the duties in which he is engaged, but of his
purpose first to make the revelation (15-c. 11, 2a). The scene
is dramatically constiucted and with psychological verisimili-
tude.
1-3. The introduction. 1. In the third year of Cyrus king of
Persia a word was revealed unto Daniel, who was called Belteshaz-
zar. And the word was true, but a great task ; and he understood
the word and there came to him understanding in the vision. For
lo^ 405
the introductory 3d person in v.^ cf. 7^ The date at first appears
to contradict the statement of i^^ that 'Dan. remained until the
first year of Cyrus'; but s. Comm. at i-^ (g has here 'first year/
which may be a harmonizing change to agree with i^i (ace. to
Cha. made after the addition of the latter v., as by his theory),
or rather a primitive error, s. Note. We cannot control the
datum of the third year any more than the third year of Bel-
shazzar's reign, 8^; it implies that Dan. did not return to Pales-
tine with the first Return, Ezr. i, while ace. to v.^ he was still
in Mesopotamia. The designation of Cyrus as 'king of Persia'
was not contemporary usage; the Pers. king was entitled 'the
king,' 'the great king,' 'king of kings,' or after his conquest of
the Babylonian empire 'king of Babel,' 'king of the lands'; s.
Dr., Int., 345 /. Cyrus was ' the Persian king' only later ace. to
Hellenistic use. The repetition of the cognomen 'Belteshazzar,'
while superfluous, was according to the usage of the day; cf. the
frequent repetitions of cognomens in the Gospels. For the terms
'word' and 'vision,' cf. 9-^, upon which passage the language
here depends. The 'word' is the divine utterance, the 'vision'
the revelation; the word is impotent until divine grace unfolds
the mystery. And so a progress is prob. implied in the last two
sentences of the v., lit. 'and he understood the word and under-
standing [was] his in the vision,' with the repetition of the rt.
]''3; cf. in 9"^ the paralleUsm of p2 Kal and Hif. with similar
nuance of progress. The word here translated 'task' has been
a notable crux in consequence of its ambiguity. The VSS tr. on
the basis of N2^' = 'army, force' by 8vvafXL^^ fortitudo, etc.
Jewish comm. developed an interpretation as of 'appointed
time,' so Ra. here (JCT), on the basis of Job 7^, etc., where Kimhi
(s. Dr.) similarly tr.; and so most early Prot. comm., e.g., Calv.,
AV, 'the time (appointed) was long,' like Job 7^. But GV with
originality 'eine grosse Streit,' and so, e.g., Geier, of the militant
future of the Church, CBMich., with ref. to the wars human
and divine foretold in the foil, prophecy; so Bert., ah, Dr. =
RW JV ' a great warfare.' VLeng. offered ' the trouble is great,'
rightly substantiating this tr. from Job, and so, e.g., Stu., Zock.,
Mein., Behr., Pr., Cha. But most pertinent is Hav.'s tr., mak-
ing the word refer to the ' Anstrengung ' of the prophet as de-
picted in V.2 and implied in the long and exhausting revelation
following. And so Bev. suggests that possibly it means an
4o6 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
'obligation' or 'charge' laid upon Dan. The prophet was com-
mandeered for a great service in behalf of the divine revelation.
1. zn'^-z'] (5 Tup(oT([), error for Tpfxw, as ip. for xp. in B at 7'. CS's rdg.
is preferred by vGall, p. 55. — nsN'i'jSj] So correctly Mich., as above
i^, q.v.; Bar, Gin., Kit. li-^'NaSj. — sipj] 0 IxsxXtjOt]; 230 om. = ffiwng
ctii nomen Bal.; Or^'s order BaXt. sicex. indicates latter as secondary.
— nsx] Cf. similar use 8-^ — I3in] (g doublet, ih opatAa x. -zh xpcoraYfj-a,
the former gloss from Aq. = to pfjpio;. — -i3-in rx p^i Snj N3ii] 0 v..
8uvcz;ai.; -^ pLSYaXf) (= IMS Ken.), by abbreviation; C5 x.. rb xXf)Oo^
(Blud., p. 79, c/L Mai. 4'' (S xX. = ;jxa read as n^s) xb Eaxupbv 5ta-
voT)6TJa£t xb xp6ffxaY(Aa; Aq., x. axpaxsfa [leyaXTj auvTjjst xb pfi[xa; #
NDJno JOHD N3T N'S^nai (helping out sense with a prep.) ; U et fortititdo
magna intellexitque sermonem. Thus C5 Aq. S* disagree with H^ in rdg.
]0\ In connection with the tr. proposed above of N3i' as 'task' it
would be plausible to emend to pa (/;;/.) or paS, i.e., 'a great task to
understand.' pa as usually interpreted as of a pred. statement gives
trouble; Hitz., Mar. take it for an abbreviated Hif., but s. on \"iJo
9"; Kon., Lgb., I, p. 504, as a variant form of the Kal; Bev., Behr. as an
abs. inf., although the comparison with ib 9" is fallacious, as there the
inf. follows a series of finites.— N^i'] Lamb, practically agrees with the
interpretation suggested in the prev. Note. He understands 's =
Aram. 12s 'thing,' and paraphrases, 'it was a great, i.e., hard thing for
Dan. to understand the vision.' Sa. has a similar etymology for 's,
mardd, i.e., a 'great meaning' in the revelation. It may be noted that
's is used of sacred tasks, as those of the Levites. Jer. offers two inter-
pretations, that 'strength,' fortititdo, is either God's or the prophet's,
who had to understand. — nN-i::^ iS nrai] (& x. Stevo-^9T)v ctjxb Iv hp&-
piaxt; error of the ist pers. maintained by & 'and I understood.' U
paraphrases, intelligentia est enim opus in uisione.
2. 3. The seer takes up his story. 2. In those days I Daniel
was mourning for three whole weeks; 3. pleasant food I did not
eat, nor did flesh and wine come into my mouth, nor did I anoint
myself at all, until the fulfilling of three full weeks. Aph. Syr. calls
attention to the identity of this 'mourning' with fasting and
cites Mt. 9"f-, where vqcrreveLv = irevOelv^ cf. the Biblical
and Jewish terms for fasting, Hiynn, ri"'jyn 'affliction,' on which
s. at v.^^ The 'pleasant food (bread)' is the opposite of 'the
bread of affliction,' Dt. 16^ (''ij? Dn^). For the omission of
anointing in times of 'affliction' s. DB i, 100, EB 1, 173. There
is a reminiscence of this v. in Test. Reuben, 1, 10. With this
lo^-^ 407
act of fasting cf. the similar story in 9^ But that is an act of
contrition by the saint for himself and his people; while here,
as Hitz. observes, there is a psychical preparation for receiv-
ing a revelation. Cf. the seven days' preparation of the seer
in 2 Esd. for his second vision, 5"- 2", also 6^^, etc.; Apoc. Baruch
5^ (s. Cha. ad loc), 9-, etc.
2. O'lD'' D-'jjaa'] = calendar weeks, cf. Gen. 41*, Dt. 21", 2 Sa. 13",
and s. GK §131, d. — 3. nnnn onS] For 'n s. 9-^ ms c has (5?tov
■Jjpispwv, i.e., for a. TjtiEpov, and so = Tert., Adv. Fsychicos, panem
suauem ; whence this correspondence ?
4-8. The angelic vision. 4. And on the twenty-fourth day of
the First Month, as I was beside the Great River [^ which is
Tigris], 5. then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man
clad in linen, with his loins girt with gold and fine-gold, 6. and
with his body like beryl, and his face like the appearance of light-
ning, and his arms and feet like the glance of burnished bronze,
and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. 7. And
I Daniel alone saw the vision, and the men who were with me saw
not the vision ; but a great trembling fell upon them and they fled
hiding themselves. 8. And I was left alone, and I saw this great
vision ; and there remained no comeliness in me, for my comeli-
ness was turned in me into disfigurement, and I retained no
strength.
4. It is not apparent what significance there is in the dating
of Dan.'s long fast of three weeks terminating on the 24th day
of the First Month. The period includes the Passover festival
and its Ma§§oth accompaniment. The first month is Nisan, and
here the elder, numerical designation is used as against the later
use of the Bab. names; s. Morgenstern, 'The Three Calendars
of Ancient Israel,' in Hebrew Union College Annual, 1924, p. 19
et passim. For the seer's haunting the riverside cf. 8^, and inf.
12*. As by 'the Great River' is always meant elsewhere the
Euphrates, Gen. 2^^, Josh, i*, it is advisable, with Behr., Mar.,
Cha., Ehr., to regard the following clause, ^plPI SIH = ^i.e., Hid-
dekel,' as an early gloss {cf. a similar gloss in Ju. 5^, 'this is
Sinai'). Otherwise we must attribute a solecism or gross error
to the writer. ^ silently corrects to 'Euphrates,' and HP 34, a
MS with many peculiar rdgs., to X(u/3a/3, i.e., the Chebar of Eze.
5. 'Then I looked and saw,' cf. 8^ The word a''12 'linen' is
4o8 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
SO translated by <B (Sva-aiva, as also i2«- 7, i Ch. 15", but 0
transliterates, and other VSS variously tr. The word represents
some distinguished kind of clothing (so Aq. g* H A)- It was the
dress of the priests, e.g., Lev. 6^°, and of the angelic man in Eze.
g2. 3. 11^ jo^- ^- '', distinguishing him from his comrades. Cf. the
angels clad in pure, shining ' Hnen ' (\ivov^ not ^idov with many
Mss) in Rev. 15^. T. C. Foote, The Ephod, 1902, 47, explains
'2 as of the antique, ritual loin-cloth. In Eze. 9 it is translated
by tpoSt;^?;?, a long garment reaching to the feet, which is re-
peated Rev. i" in reminiscence of this passage; and this is the
prob. mng. of the word here. For the tr. *gold and fine-gold,'
representing two rare words for 'gold' on basis of an emended
text, the EW have, after H, 'fine gold of Uphaz,' TS^S DHS.
Comparison is made with Jer. 10^ TSISQ 0113, 'gold from Uphaz.'
But there is no place Uphaz known. Accordingly the word has
been emended by some to "iSiS 'Ophir,' on basis of ^ Targ. at
Jer. 10^; so still Mar., Kon., Hwb. But TS is a term for (some
kind or quality of) gold, used in parallelism with DHT (the com-
mon word), p"in, DHD; in Song 5" appears TS Cro, prob. to be
corrected to TS1 On^, and similarly in the present form IX is a
spelling for I. S. Lexx. for occurrences of the terms and dis-
cussions, Behr., and esp. Haupt, Book of Canticles (— AJSL 18,
193 J".; 19, I f.) at 5", p. 63, cf. p. 40, and his paper, 'Gold and
Silver in Hebrew,' JAOS 43, 116-127, pp. 123/., for ketem and
paz. 6. The passage is reminiscent of the Theophany in Eze. i.
The 'beryl,' also Eze. i^^, as EW here tr., = {^''tl^in, i.e., Tar-
shish-stone, has been variously identified: with the chrysolith
(as in renderings of ^ elsewhere), topaz, etc.; s. DB Petrie,
'Stones, Precious,' and EB Myres, 'Stones, Precious,' and arts.
' Beryl,' ' Chrysolith,' ' Topaz,' ' Tarshish ' ; also for a recent study
of the precious stones and stufifs of the Bible, Schoff, ' The Ship
"Tyre"' (Macmillan, 1920), p. 121, etc. A good review of the
elder literature is given by Blud., p. 93. Here Aq. and B alone
give a translation, 'chrysolith.' The description continues the
reminiscence of Eze. i from v.": 'their appearance was like coals
of fire and burning like the appearance of lamps, . . . and out
of the fire went forth lightning'; and, from v.'', '(their feet)
sparkled like the glance of polished brass.' And finally our
phrase, ' the sound of his voice was like the sound of a multitude,'
lo^"^ 409
reproduces Eze. i^^: 'I heard the sound of their wings like the
sound of great waters, like the sound of Shaddai, in their going
a sound of a multitude ("^12") like the sound of an army,' For
T *• ~ :
the vision cf. that of the Risen Christ, Rev. i"^-. To the seer's
as yet untuned senses the angel's reverberant voice seemed in-
articulate. For the terror of Dan.'s companions, v.'^, cf. the
story of St. Paul's vision, Acts 9^, 22^; they had some sense of
the mystical apparition. The word inadequately translated
'comeliness,' lin, means the natural beauty of a living thing,
its appropriate strength and grace. The rt. of the word trans-
lated 'disfigurement' appears in Is. 52", 'so was his appearance
disfigured (AV marred) from human form.'
4. 62 147 introduce the v. with x. eysve-uo (= ^) Iv tw oV.tw x.
BexciTCj) £T£c = HWng. Wzb g/ factiim est in XVI (sc. XVIII) anno,
and so A; a primitive gloss, repeated from the gloss in 01 0 at beginning
of c. 3, surviving in widely distributed mss. — "^pin] 0 (exc. Lu.) Tiyptt;
-t" ESSexsX, OrC EvojxcX; the gloss attributed by annotator in Q to
Sym., but it appears in Sl^ng et decel. — 5. Dna] A pi. of extension.
0 paSS(£)tv(-[j.), m baddiii; Aq. s^atpsxa (for this constant tr. s. Hatch-
Redpath and Field's note) = H praecipua; 26 89 Arm. (HP) So^xv,
and so g- A 'honorable.'— 'Pi'^ =•■:??] 0 ev xput^'V '0.:,<xC, = J]; Aq. Iv
PafAtxaT! (s. Field) 'Q?a!l; "Baiiroohrizo (?); ^ Nnm^cn ipij 'in honor of
praise.' (S a doublet: Puacrtvy ('3 as p^) x. Ix [/.iaou aj-uou ipwc; {i.e.,
IDIN ano3 as iix 13ns — evidence for the early existence of n) ; cf. Blud.,
p. 69. — 6. i.T'ij] (5 Tb GT:6;j.a auTou, error for a(I)(j.a. — Ciiinn;] 0 ujsl
Gotpaetc;. & has the remarkable paraphrase, 'and his appearance was
different (^JJiir) and there was no likeness to him.' (& wasl eaXacjairic;,
poss. a phonetic development from a transliteration; Blud., p. 93, notes
that 'n tr. OaXxcatos in Jer. Meg., iii, 74a. — pi3] This might be the
'"'i?.'?? of Ex. 28*'', etc., the smaragdos or emerald of tradition. — nis'^]
Properly 'torches,' it may well be translated by 'lamps' with Grr., H,
etc.; the Talm. uses it of the fire vessel. — rnSjic] = Ru. 3^'^t- —
h^\^\ Eze. I'f. The mng. is unknown, the VSS in both places 'shin-
ing,' and Targ. to Eze., 'burnished.' This is supported by the inter-
pretative citation in Rev. i", ol tioSs; aJToG ofiotot x'^^'^-o^'P^vy,
w; Iv xottAivo) TrexupuyLcvfiq. — jinn] Cf. ^i'^p.. Eze. i-* (also Jer. 11'^).
N.h., Dan. supports the text of ^ for those two words, suspected by
some critics. SI tubae, error for tiirbae. — 7. ■^¥1?] = 'vision,' as vv.^- '^,
distinguished from '^?1? 'sight' v.'^. 0 preserves the distinction with
JiTTxcj'a and opaat?, as also logically so rendering ^^^p. v.^ by h%-z.;
otherwise in ^, ^^''^^ — xannj] The prep, is supported by the VSS,
4IO A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
but h of purpose is expected, cf. i Ki. 22^*. 05 ev axouSfj, understand-
ing rt. hr\2 as at 4^' (i*>; 0 sv (fo^cp = #; Aq. xpuq;^ = ^ in ahsconditmn.
— 8, nin] (g iSoi xveO(i.a, for nn (?); 0 56?a; ^ mj 'my inwards'; H
species. — 'i'?;?] After common Bibl. language psychological experiences
come from without upon the subject; cf. 5^, 7^', and the expression
above 'fear fell upon them'; also s. at 2^. — '^''^■f'D] An act. Hif. ppl.
passing from the idea of the agent or agency to the result effected.
Barth, Nbg., §173, could have included this word, and prob. ^I^ 11^'
and ■''?'f P, along with his sohtary Heb. example ^r^^°. — "3 imxj?] A
late idiom found else only v.'*, 11* and in Ch. In the ' Weitschweifig-
keit' of the diction there is hardly reason, with Behr., Mar., Cha., to
regard it as interpolated from v.'^.
9-14. Daniel's stupor, and the angel's introductory address.
9. And I heard the sound of his words, and when I heard the
sound of his words then I fell in a swoon on my face, with my face
to the ground. 10. And behold a hand touching me; and it shook
me up upon my knees and the palms of my hands. 11. And he
said unto me: Daniel, dear man, give heed to the words I am
going to speak to thee, and stand upright, for now I have been
sent to thee. And upon his speaking to me this word I stood up
trembling. 12. And he said to me: Fear not, Daniel, for from the
first day that thou didst set thyself to understand and to afflict thy-
self before thy God, thy words were heard, and so I have come be-
cause of thy words ; 13. but the Prince of the kingdom of Persia
was standing against me for twenty-one days, and lo, Michael,
one of the Chief Princes, came to help me, and I have left him [|^
/ was left] there with the kings of Persia. 14. And I have come to
make thee understand what shall befall thy people at the end of
days ; for there is a further vision for the days.
9-11 are directly dependent upon 8^^-^*, 921-23. with v.' the
seer's attention becomes possessed with 'the sound of his (the
angel's) words,' cf. v.^; and as the voice seemed to become artic-
ulate, he swooned, cf. 8^^. The clause 'then I fell' is taken by
Bev., Kamp., as circumstantial, 'now I had fallen'; but a new
moment, not a circumstance is presented, that of the loss of
consciousness, requiring divine recuperation; for the syntax of
the clause, s. Dr., Tenses, §128. 10 admirably depicts the return
to consciousness; 2 Esd. 5"'- recalls the passage. The Hand
' shook him up ' (GB ' auf riitteln ') to semi-prostrate position ; cf.
GV 'riihrte mich und half mir.' In the process of the scene this
lo^"^^ 411
tr. is preferable to that adopted by Behr., Dr., Mar., Cha., RW
JV, 'set me tottering.' The Grr. do not support Cha.'s proposed
eUsion of 'upon my knees,' etc. The affectionate address in v."
is from 9^^; for the expression 'stand upright' s. 8^*, and for
'now {i.e., at last) I have been sent' cf. (f^. The Heb. vb. 'send'
involves the notion of a message. 12. Dan.'s quest had been
known in heaven from the very beginning of his fastings and
prayers, and so the angel has come. For similar responses to
pious exercises cf. the vision to Zacharias, Lu. i" ^-j and to Cor-
neHus, Acts 10^ ^■. 'To understand and to afflict thyself is prac-
tically a hendiadys, with Bert., the self-mortification being a
preparation for a desired revelation; this despite the ultra-
Protestant objections of Hav., who argues that it was Daniel's
words that were heard. The vb. translated 'afflict thyself,'
n^ynn, is a technical one, cf. Ezr. 8^^, parallel to the phrase
' afflict the soul (seK) ' in the regulations for the Day of Atone-
ment, Lev. 16^^, etc., cf. Ps. 35". In Ezr. cf' ri''iyn is a general
term for seK-mortifying exercises, and it became later the tech-
nical term for fasting. Luth. bravely tr. 'kasteien,' which AV
copied with 'chasten,' more weakly RW JV 'humble.' 'Self-
mortification' would be the corresponding term in Christian
language. Of course prayer was included in these exercises, and
so the angel came 'because of thy words.' 13. For the ' Princes '
who are here introduced {cf. 8'^ 'the Prince of the Host'), s.
discussion after ii^ The v. explains the delay of the speaker
in coming to Dan.; he had been prevented on the way by the
Prince of Persia, who desired to impede the divine oracle before
it had been irrevocably published. 'There was war in heaven,'
the present divine speaker requiring the assistance of Michael,
one of the Chief Princes, to assist him in what were else a pro-
tracted and indecisive duel; cf. Rev. 12^, where Michael with
his angels has become the protagonist against the Dragon.
There is a problem in regard to the vb. of the last sentence in the
V. If we would follow |i ''ri'imi 'I was left,' the various in-
terpretations of the vb. are unexemplified from the use of the
rt. "in'' or its more classical equivalent 1i<ll^. Such interpreta-
tions are many and diverse: H remansi, 'I remained behind' =
AV RW 'remained'; or 'was left alone,' which Bev. helps out
by making the clause circumstantial, ' I having been left alone ' ;
412 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
or 'was delayed' with ^, for which we should expect the com-
mon rt. *int<, which g> adopts; or various nuances of being 'left
over,' i.e., surviving (generally after a calamity!), as being left
alone on the field, so Aq. irepieacxevOr^v, GV 'behielt den Sieg'
(original for Luther's age) = Geier, the rather banal 'was left
over' of Dr., JV, and 'was not needed' of RWmg = Ehr.
'wurde iiberflussig.' The one recourse is to be had in the rdg. of
<g e 'I left him {i.e., Michael) alone,' rdg. ITinnin with most
emendators, e.g., Bert., Mein., Behr., Gin., Kamp., Mar., Lohr,
Cha. (Lamb, halting between this and Bev.'s syntax); or bet-
ter, following the order of the Grr. avrov KaTe\(e)i'irov correct-
ing 'mj ''JK to ••n'lri'in ins, with Graetz, for there is no rea-
son to emphasize the ego of the speaker. Further, i!f reads
'near the kings of Persia,' but (S Aq. ^ B the sing, 'king'; the
evidence of Aq. (if correctly reported in (S'"*"') might favor this
change, but the following chap, has too many similar variations
on this score {e.g., 'king' vs. 'kingdom'), while the 'three, four
kings' of 11^ corroborates || here. The king is the 'Inbegriff'
of his empire. But it is not necessary, with Bert., Mein., Behr.,
Dr., Mar., Lohr, Cha., to follow (g 0 -f [jJ'era] rov (npaTTj'yov
II ap'xpvTO'i^ with their intrusion of 'the Prince [of the kings of
Persia]'; we should expect simply 'the Prince of Persia,' as in
v.^" (Bev.) ; ^ here a conflation, ' the Prince of Persia.' 14. 'And
I have come,' i.e., resuming the end of v.^^, after the parenthesis
of v."; 'to make thee understand,' cf. 8^^, 9^^, also 9^^; 'what shall
befall thy people at the end of days,' cited from Jacob's Bless-
ing, Gen. 49^ The final sentence, 'for there is still (a) vision
for (pertaining to) the days,' i.e., the times to come, follows
Bev.'s tr. of "lij? as 'again,' i.e., this is a further vision; in this
he was anticipated by ^ 'again' (Diri), and by Ra., ' to tell thee
what has not been told thee, and it is yet to come for the many
days which are given for the set time,' and cf. Calv. and JV.
The usual tr. is with AV RW, ' for yet the vision (the vision is
yet) for many days,' with which cf. the end of 8'^, 'for the vision
is for a time of end'; but the parallel does not do justice to Tiy,
unless the sentence is taken pregnantly: 'the time covered by
the vision is yet (indefinitely) to continue for {sc. many) days,'
which requires the loss of the article with the latter word, and
this Kamp. accordingly deletes on the basis of (g 0.
lo^^"^^ 413
9. 05 has the first clause (which it pref. with a gratuitous xal oux),
om. the second, 'and when I heard the sound of his words,' so also 4
MSS Ken., 3 de R., &. 0 om. inaT Sip dn 2°, replacing with ot'jToiJ, which
OrP ignores (=11 audiens); OrC supplies the lacuna. — °1"]P] The VSS
variously tr. (and otherwise at 8^* •'nnnj); best Sym. 1^. xexapw;j.evo<;
'stupefied,' s. Field. — nsix ijsi ijfj h';] 05 i%\ xp6(jw-icov e%\ t. y-^v =
&; 0 X. xb xpoa. sxl -u. yi^v, to which Or? Lu. add k%\ xpoa. ;jlou; H = ilf.
— 10. •'JjJun] OS 0 i^ystpsv [xe = Sl^zb ez-egz/ me, U erex/i ?«e, but
^rjwng cxcitauit me — most originally; Aq. Ixt'vTjaev [xe = &. — ^013 S;?
il> niflDi] (& i%\ Twv yovaTwv exl xa iX'''''2 '^'^^'^ ■rcoSwv piou; 0 exl t« yovaxi;
ixou; Aq., Sym. (as superscribed in Q) Or? Or^ + x. -rapaous x^igGyy t^ou
(appearing also in OJsmg); Lu. (48 231) x. ix\ to: i/vt] t. x^'pwv [xou, Q^s
assigning this rdg. to 0; H & = ^. — 11. TV^^^] Cf. Ezr. 10^ for the same
vb. and construction; for this pred. use of the ppl. cj. Dr., Tenses, §135,
Obs. at end, Kon., Syn., §412, a-f. — 12. i^S n>s nnj] A late idiom, found
only in Ch., Ecc. (Dr.); but c/. aS dv.:'. \^'zr\. (5 with another idiom in
mind xb •7cp6awjcov = 62 147. — r^nS] B al. auvetvat, Or^ (V), Or^ (O 106
al.), Lu. auvtevat. — inana] 31133 Ken. T^aia, so CS, which Geier, Bert.,
Behr. prefer, = 'on thy account,' but unnecessarily. — 13. maSn] (&
(^oLt^Ckidic,. — Ssx -\ny\ = Sy Dip in adverse sense, s. at 8"; similar use of
SxN at 8'. 1C here stahat et for eaTT) xat < ^tt^xei. — B Met/aTjX, cf.
MetaaT]>. il — DU'i'K-i.-i] 0 texts, also iC, om., by haplog.? 05 Ox^- c Lu.
hab. — B 26 233 sXefrcev, error for iXixev, so 21 relinqui. — '•jSd] C5 t.
paatXsw?, so Aq. & U (s. Comm. further); 0 PajiXsta? = hidSd, so
2m;ss Ken.; ^ om. — 14. iJ''3nS] 21 has expanded, ut aperire^n tihi in-
tellectiim ut scienl. — '^"^iT] The vocalization may depend on the parallel
'^T"' Gen. 49^ 0 texts axavTrjasrat, -Get, but 130 auiA^TjcjeTat. — pin]
05 wpa, error for opaat? [ec? rp..]. — D>D>S] 3MSS Ken. h'id'?; ^ 'to the
end of the days.'
15-c. 11, 2a. Dan. struck dumb is restored by a divine touch;
the angel's colloquy with him. 15. And upon his speaking to
me after these words I set my face toward the ground and was
dumb. 16. And behold, like the similitude of a son [^ sons] of
man touching my lips. And I opened my motith a'nd spake and
said unto him who stood before me: My lord, by the vision my
pangs are turned upon me, and I retain no strength. 17. Atid how
can my lord's servant here talk with that my lord, when for me now
no strength can remain in me, with no spirit left in me? 18. Then
there touched me again like the appearance of a man and strength-
ened me. 19. And he said: Dear man, fear not! Peace to thee!
Be strong and stout 1 And upon his speakitig with me I was
414 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
strengthened, and I said : Let my lord speak, for thou hast strength-
ened me.
15. Despite Dan.'s return to consciousness, the ?i.ngel's words
struck him dumb, cf. 8^^ 16. But his consternation is dissi-
pated, as in that earher vision, v.^*, by another touch {cf. v.i°)
as of a human-Hke being; cf. ' hke the appearance of a man,' v.^^,
and 'the like of a son of man,' 7^'. 'Simihtude,' mD"!, is fre-
quent in the visions of Eze. (i^*'"", 8^, 10^^'"), presenting ap-
paritional forms which are not actually substantial; Bert. eft.
Raphael's words in Tob. 12^^, 'In those days did I appear unto
you, but I did neither eat nor drink, and ye saw a vision.' In
the present instance, as with the hand of v.^", the subject of the
vision is fearful even of identifying the one who touched him;
it simply was, as it were, a human-like touch. With similar in-
direction he speaks of his visitant as 'the one standing before
me.' The divine touch restored Dan.'s speech, even as it gave
voice to the prophets. Is. f, Jer. i^. The phrase 'my pangs
turned upon me' (with the figure of a flood), the language of
childbirth, is repeated from the story of Ichabod's birth, i Sa.
4^; this figure of extreme desperation, frequent in the O.T., ap-
pears also in Is. 21^ in the presence of another 'hard vision,' v.^.
The last clause of the v. is repeated from v.^. 17. The Eng. of
the opening sentence attempts to tr. an idiomatic use of a par-
ticle repeated correlatively, like Germ, da, Fr. qa, for contrast;
erroneously AV RVV ' this my lord . . . this my lord,' rather
with JV 'this servant . . . this my lord.' The tr. of the par-
ticle nriyD as argumentative, 'accordingly,' 'now,' follows an
ingenious suggestion by Ehr., adducing the frequent dialectic
use of the term in the Talm. The usual lit. explanation as 'from
now' and on, or 'straightway' with EVV, is properly criticised,
e.g., by Bev.; but Ehr.'s explanation removes the difficulty.
The foil. vb. is impf., and so tr. here by a potential, the next
clause being circumstantial. There is reminiscence here of Ju.
2"; similar is the loss of 'spirit' to the Queen of Sheba through
amazemicnt, i Ki. lo^ 18. For this third 'touch' cf. vv."- ^'.
The 'strengthening' of the Heb. is always primarily psychical
or spiritual, after the genius of the ancient psychology. 19. Cf.
vv.ii- i2_ < Peace to thee!': generally the initial salutation in the
O.T., e.g., in the address of letters, 3^^ (y^^, etc. = x^^P^'-^ in
lo^^'^^ 415
the letters in Mac, Acts 15^^ Ja. i^ (I does justice to this with
its usual tr. of m^t^ = vyiaLve. Cf. with the present passage
the angelic salutation at the Annunciation, %atpe, Kexapi-
rajxevT] Lu. i^^ Here 'peace' involves both salutation and its
fullest connotation. The foil, vbs., 'be strong and stout !' (with
correction of |^, s. Note) are the usual form of farewell, =
rcSI pTPI Dt. 3i7-23 = eppcoao^ eppcoaOe of Class, writers (cf.
the double eppcocro k. vyiaive of Dio Cassius, Ixi, 13, cited by
Thayer), of letters in the Gr. Bible, 2 Mac. ii^i, Acts 1529, mss
23^°; cf. the scribe's farewell at end of books of the Mass. Bible,
ptn or pTnnJI ptn. Thus the Alpha and Omega of friendly
greetings are given in these phrases, for the rendering of which
modern trr. are inadequate. The seer forthwith is fully em-
boldened to receive the revelation.
15. TD'-Nj] B (WH fails) ?C om., al. xal xaTevuyrjv; prob. early lost
in texts by haplog. with foil, i-zi t. ytjv. — 16. din ij3] Ken. 170 p for
'}2, and so 0 13 (S» 'of a man'); Kenn. 607 'x •<:^ n>, and al. ^jd for
1J2. (S x^'P^'? livOpcoicou, as though -\\ This rdg. is preferred by vGall,
Mar., Lohr, but the ppl. should correspondingly be made feminine, cf.
v.", while ^ is supported by dtn hn-idj v.'^. For ija we might read
p with VSS, supposing that •> represents an annotated ni or double
rdg. — nnfix] B i^voi^a, 230 i^vot^e = ffi aperiiU = &. — ^^'^^] (8 0 xupts,
but 62 + p^otJ = & B; 3i dme dnie. Doubtless so ijin Gen. 18' was
pronounced in the orig. form of the story. — ^^'^'^] See at v.'. — usnj]
Cf. the Akk. ahdku; the vb. = 'turn upon' adversely, in Akk. = 'de-
stroy,' etc. — ^y^] The lexx. assume a distinct root, Kon., Hwh. com-
bining with "cx 'door hinge.' It should be derived from "iix 'bind,'
with the development ^irr > sir, cf. Syr. hin > her, 'noble,' and
Heb. V^k!, s. on |nm,-i 4=. — For this clause 05 has (b? opaut? ixe-
ffTpxq)T) Ixl "zh xXsupov [aou sx' e\ii = ''^y ns ?;? "[flnj 'D3, with "^? =
xXsupov, as Ex. 30^, etc.; Sym. prob. similarly, saxps^XwOiQ ('were
twisted') Ta(j.aTi.— 17. I'v?] i Ch. i3'"-t,Aram.for Heb.T^*-— "f . . . nr]
For the encUtic use of nt s. BDB, p. 261, for its correlative use
ibid., 262. C5 H ignore both cases, 0 renders only the second. For the
recession of the accent in nt ijin, the nasog 'ahor, s. Bar's note. —
•"'v'>-5] <g -qcUv-qGoc = 'Olii?, cf Ps. i7^S 25^ and so Bev., Mar., Lohr,
Cha. prefer; other emendations in Lohr. ^ om. See Comm. — nni:':]
B 89 xv£u[jt.a, al. xvoTj = 1C flatus ; xvsO(jia is contamination from (g, as
^23 /J = 0 ^^^^^ proves. — 19. ptni prn] 6mss Ken. and de R. vdni 'n,
and so <6 0 avSpil^ou x. 'taxuaat {"'^yy^) = & B, and so Bev. would
emend here (noting that in other cases of the repeated impv. the conj.
41 6 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
is not used), followed by most recent critics, or with variations: Behr.
Pl^r}) 'n, eft. 11^- 23; Mar. Pin^r}] '^. Kamp. objects to the change.—
n^iD] So Bar (as on the best authority). Gin., Kit.; Mich. 'i3, the latter
above vv."- '^; in all cases Grr. Iv.
20-c. 11, 2a. This passage may be arranged provisionally as
follows:
20a. And he said: Knowest
thou why I have come unto thee ?
20b. And now I have to return
to fight with the Prince of Per-
sia ; and when I go off, then he-
hold, the Prince of Greece comes
on;
21b. and there is none co-oper-
ating with me but Michael your
Prince,
21a. But I will announce to
thee what is inscribed in the
Book of Truth.
[c. 11, la. gloss: and I in the first year of Darius the Mede]
lb. standing [^ m,y standing]
as a helper and as a defence for
me [^ hijn]. 2a. And now I
will announce to thee the truth.
By following the lines across and down the page in the above
scheme the te.xt of |^ can be read consecutively. It is at once
evident that vv.^"^- ^'^ read together, as do similarly vv.^"^- ^ib
seq. The present order is certainly chiastic. The conservative
Stu. is forced to put v.^^^ in parenthesis. One might think that
we possess here an actual doublet of primitive origin; both of
the parallel passages terminate with the identical promise to
'announce the truth.' Or else we have to agree with Mar. (after
suggestions by W. R. Smith, Behr.), followed by Lohr, Lamb.,
Cha., in rearranging the parts thus: yv.'^^-^^^, ii^'', io^'", and
regarding ii^'' as a gloss and ii^* as a further gloss that has
entered as a doublet after the disarrangement. The difficulty
of the passage has been recognized since Jer.; translating ii^
after ^ he interprets it as a parenthesis of Dan.'s ego: I was
praying that Michael might be strengthened, with the very
sensible apology that "it belongs to the habit of the Prophets
suddenly to introduce persons without introduction," i.e., he
observed the parenthetical nature of the v., differing from the
Jewish and the usual exegesis of finding in it a continuation of
the angel's address. The *I' fails in (S #; the reference to
year i of Darius {(^ followed by 0 has 'Cyrus' — by intentional
adaptation to history) is trivial, of course to be referred to
Darius' conquest of Babylon, 5^", 6^, while it is entirely similar
to the datings found in the introductions to other chapters.
The similarity of this date to the introductory dates in other
chapters has caused the unfortunate separation of c. 11 as a
distinct chap, of the book. The distinction is not noted as a
separate 'Vision' by the Gr. codices nor by B and its ancient
divisions (although a subtle change introduced by error in Lu.
texts and 21 gave the appearance of a new chap., s. Note). M
has a pasuk sathtlm here, so that M must have been affected by
the date formula. The distinction of a fresh chapter was taken
up in the Mediaeval Bibles. The above tr. further adopts the
change made by Bev., al, changing i^ 'to him' at end of v.^ to
••^ ' to me,' with (i ^ (© om., H with ^ but finding the antece-
dent in one of the angels). Again the syntax of ^ in this v. is
difficult, although not impossible: *I . . . my standing ('•TDJ?)
• ; T
(was) for,' etc. A representative of this gerund was read by all
VSS, but variously: (g as elirev = i^K, ^ as IDj; 'he stood,'
0 by interpretation ' I stood.' The difficulty is relieved by Bev.'s
reading ^Dj? 'standing,' as adopted above. If we follow ^ we
must accept the interpretation of most comm.: There is none
helping me now but Michael, who is returning the kind offices
1 did for him in year i of Darius. But that is a very banal
statement of the relations of the angelic vicegerent and Michael
the prince of God's people.
The interrogative 'knowest thou why I have come,' v.^", is
generally taken as equivalent to 'thou dost know,' e.g., Bev.,
Dr.; but with Stu., it is "rather designed to call attention than
to make inquiry." As with the prophet's questions in Zech. 1-6,
the seer's curiosity is required and stimulated; the colloquy in
Rev. 7^3 is exactly similar. The 'fighting' with the Prince of
Persia is regarded by Jer. as a legal process before God between
the two adversaries, and so similarly many subsequent comm.;
but interpretation must be posited on the ancient world's notion
that human history is but a reflex of the great drama that is
first enacted in heavenly places; for a Biblical mythological
background cf. Is. 2421^-. The vb. in 'when I go off' has been
27
4l8 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
variously interpreted: as from actual Persia (early Prot. comm.);
from God's presence (Jer.); as going out to fight with Persia
(after the common military use, so vLeng.); or coming forth
out of the contest (Jeph., Bert., Bev., Dr., etc.); or Mar., 'so
bald ich los bin,' with the implication that another contest with
the Prince of Greece, who is to 'come in,' will begin. The par-
allel vbs. may best be taken as expressing the exit of the angel
after his success over Persia and the introit of the Prince of
Greece, for whose coming the angel has prepared (so Ra.); so
the apposition of the two vbs., 'go oflf,' 'come on,' of the shifts
of the guard in the palace, 2 Ki. 11^-'^ (Cha.). The adversative
'but' v.^^ (Heb. ^D^s) is best explained with the reconstructed
— I
position of v.^^* at the end of the whole passage, as in opposition
to the speaker's urgent martial duty: however I will wait to give
the revelation. 'I will announce to thee': cf. 8'^, 9^^ 'What is
inscribed in the Book of Truth': the vb. is formal, of registering
decrees, e.g., 5^^, signing a document, 6^. This 'True Book' is
God's record of the past and the determined future, n.h., the
notion of the Book's contents as a ledger of even personal de-
scription in Ps. 139^®, and cf. Comm. on 4^* for the Jewish idea
of predestination. This Book is the same as the Heavenly Tab-
lets of En. 81^, etc., and cf. Charles's note to 47', p. 91; Bousset,
ReL d. Jud., 295^.
20. NXii] (B £^£xop£u6[jLT]v, SO all 0 MSB (=51 praecedebam) , exc.
B 89 233 etaex. by error. For the balance of participial construction
in Kxv and K3 s. Dr., Tenses, §169. — n3] H taking this as perf. tr., cum
ego egrederer, appariiU princeps Graecorum tieniens, and Jer. in his
comm. remarks that the latter Prince had taken the speaker's place in
accusing the Prince of Persia. — 21. aiirin] (S ict xptira = °^"'^'"\v'; ©
evTSTaytievov {cf. 5^^'^), Lu. TSTay. (=21 constitutum?); Q h'"
evYSYpatAiJ-svov. — b;j pinnc] = 'apply one's self stoutly along with,'
i.e., 'co-operate'; cf. auvspysiv (15 at times cooperare), auvspyd? of
N.T., also I Esd. 7-. The same ppl. appears in the 'Ain Duk Aram.
Inscr. of co-operating in the construction of the synagogue. — nSx Sy]
& H as though hSn S3 Sy. — S'?'?] Primarily a human name, cf. ''",'?'?,
etc.; s. Lexx. — C. 11, 1. '•jxi] (S S* om.; for 0 x.al eyto Lu. 34 228 229 c
xal eyevETo (by error) = % et factum est ; ijwib accordingly introduces
the V. with a capital letter. — ncn cim':'] For nnn Ken. 160 iSnn.
(& Kupou T. ^aatXIcoi;, 0 Kupou; this change in name by assimilation
with lo^, correct historically, but counter to the view of the bk. that
CHAPTER lO, NOTE ON THE PRINCES AND ANGELS 419
the Medes overthrew that empire. — '"!?>■] For VSS s. Comm.; there is
no more reason to think that 0 B read vtis;? than that our Bible trr.
have changed the text when translating 'I stood.' For construction
c/. the very dubious '"^t? °'^ of Job 9". & ic>' offers the best sense, but
with foil. iS as \, 'he stood ... for me.' We may best follow S>, on
Bev.'s suggestion, rdg. "'^i'. Assuming a change of orig. "''? to ^ 1'^,
we may suppose a change of i:;>' to ns;', necessitated by the change
of pronouns. Many critics regard it as a glossed var. to ^-\an-, but it is
vouched for in some form by all authorities. — '"'>''? :^ P''-'^^:] This caus.
use of liif. of pin is supported, doubtfully, by v."; the vb. with 3 or t'3
{e.g., Is. 42^ is used in sense of 'support.' As the two nouns are dis-
tinguished by the repeated prep., it is not necessary, as GB suggests,
to regard the first as an Aram, inf.; at most it might be explained as a
ppl. become an abstract noun like n"'n'j'D v.^. (5 takes both as infs., ©
as nouns, '''i'? appears freq. in c. 11, e.g., v.', in natural sense of
'stronghold,' here in sense of 'help, reinforcement,' and so freq., e.g..
Is. 27^. — iS] (B (but harshly construing it with distant elirsv) [jlo; =
^V, so B; 0 om.
NOTE ON THE PRINCES AND ANGELS IN C. 10.
The bk. of Dan. presents a full-fledged doctrine of the Princes of the
nations, i.e., their celestial patrons. On the subject s. Dr.'s excellent note
at v.", Bousset, op. cil. 373, and for later Judaism Weber, Jud. Theologie,
170. For the term we may compare 'the Prince {i.e., general) of the army
of Yhwh,' Jos. 5'^. Foreign influence is not to be alleged primarily for the
rise of this notion of national Patrons. Dt. 32'''- in the text corrected from
(6 reads: 'He fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of
the Sons of God {i.e., the divinities); for the portion of Yhwh is his people';
repeated by Ecclus. 17'. The malicious inference is drawn by Jub. 15"'-
that these spiritual chiefs were appointed to lead the nations astray. The
undeniable existence of the ^' .^ 'divinities' of the nations {cf. Ps. 82) was
assimilated to the Jewish monotheism under the scheme of an imperial
organization in the heavens. After the fashion of the Persian empire God
assigned the several peoples to celestial satraps, our Princes, who, much
after the fashion of the unwieldy Persian organization, quarrelled and fought
with one another, requiring ultimately, tardily enough to the mind of the
Saints, the intervention of the divine sovereign, or of his personal vizier,
such as the angelic person of this chap. The scheme was a clumsy but
inevitable kind of explanation for the mysteries of Providence in history,
allowing room for the liberty of the creature in that drama, as Aph. Syr.
wisely remarks at v.^'. In this chap, we learn of a Prince of Israel, of Persia,
and of Greece; these were later ex-panded to Princes of the Seventy Nations
(Targ. Jer. I to Gen. 11^). Of those in Dan. only one is named, Michael the
420 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Prince of Israel. In Enoch Michael is one of the four or the seven arch-
angels, along with Gabriel. For the vast expansion of theology about
Michael, who later becomes identified with Metatron, etc., s. Lueken's
monograph, Michael, Gott., 1898. Hipp., iv, 40, identifies Michael with the
Angel who was to replace God in leading Israel, Ex. 2,2>^, etc. He reappears
again below, 12^, and in the N.T. in Jude', Rev. 12', in both cases as a con-
testant, ©'s tr. of 'prince' by apxwv links up with the apxwv tou x6a(j.ou,
etc., of the N.T. (Jn. i2^S Eph. i", etc.); cf. the archons of the Gr. astrology.
The identity of the brilliant being described in vv.^ ^- has been much de-
bated. Despite the dependence upon Eze. i he cannot be the Deity, for he
was 'sent,' v.^^ Early Christian exegesis naturally saw in him the Son of
God, so Hipp., Aph. Syr. {cf. the citation of our passage in the description
of the Risen Jesus in Rev. i); and so dEnv. argues at length, pp. 1332 f.
Or he is taken to be some unnamed angel, a third with Gabriel and Michael,
^•g-) by Jeph., Calv., Zock. But it is simplest to identify him with Gabriel,
who, according to En. 40', is the angel 'set over all the powers,' and who
is given the role of divine annunciator, v. sup. at 8'^ The identification is
supported by the repetition of the affectionate salutation, cf. vv."- ^^ with
8^', and by the announcement of 'yet a vision,' v.", as over against the
visions in cc. 8. 9 mediated by Gabriel. Why he is here clad with such
surpassing glory must be left to the genius of the writer; in Kabbalistic
Judaism Michael was identified with the Shekinah (Lueken, p. 42). Gress-
mann, Israel.-jiid. Eschatologie, 345 f., may be right in holding that this pas-
sage, like that in Eze. {cf. also the King of Tyre, Eze. 28" "•), has its tra-
ditional mythological background; but it is not necessary to follow him in
regarding the apparition here as the 'Eschatological Man'; v. sup. on the
'Son of Man,' Note to c. 7. It belongs to the psychology of vision that the
'hand' of v.^" and the 'touch' of 'one like a man,' vv.'^- 1^, are not identified
as to the agents.
THE REVELATION, ll-''-124.
This section presents a survey of history from the age of ' the
four Persian kings' down through the Hellenistic age culminat-
ing in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, concluding with the
prospect of his foredoomed ruin and the subsequent transcen-
dental triumph of the Jews. It falls into several distinct epi-
sodes:
2h. The Persian age.
3. 4. Alexander and the division of his empire.
5-20. The conflicts of the Lagidae and Seleucidae prior to
Antiochus Epiphanes, with these episodes:
5. Ptolemy I Soter and Seleucus I Nicator.
CHAPTER II, PREFACE 42 1
6-9. The tragedy of Laodice and Berenice and the re-
venge taken by Ptolemy III Euergetes.
10-19. Antiochus the Great.
20. Seleucus IV Philopator,
21-45. Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
C. 12, 1-3. The final triumph of the Righteous.
4. Injunction as to the Book.
For the age prior to Epiphanes our writer offers several dra-
matically chosen acts: the passing of Persia; the empire of
Alexander and the rise of the two dynasties between which Pal-
estine was to become a shuttlecock; the tragic scandal of Lao-
dice, involving Palestine; the exploits of Antiochus the Great,
his rise, including the conquest of Palestine, and his fall. With
the latter's sons, Seleucus and Antiochus, the writer enters upon
contemporary history, and all that preceded is introduction to
the figure who now enters on the stage, the God-defying and
man-scorning Epiphanes.
This chapter is the first Jewish attempt at a universal history
since the Table of Nations, Gen. 10; accordingly it has beea
subject of exploitation by profane historians as well as by Bible
commentators. The writer gives the historian no new data
until he reaches his own age, and even then his history is so
veiled that all possible secular help is required for its interpre-
tation; even of the contemporary Antichrist he sketches after
all but an impressionistic view, and his 'apocalypse' is chiefly
valuable historically for its presentation of inner currents of
Judaism in that age. He is the Jewish counterpart of Polybius,
who in 166 B.C. was taken as a hostage to Rome and who then
doubtless, almost contemporaneously with this apocalyptic re-
view, conceived the bold purpose to relate how it was that al-
most the whole world within some fifty- three years (220-168
B.C.) fell under the single empire of the Romans {Hist., i, i, 5).
The Romans do indeed appear in this chap, as people of 'the
Isles' or 'Kittim,' but only as accessory instruments in the
divine drama, which must have its 'catastrophe' (01 728(27)) in
the vindication of God against the ne plus ultra of this world,
Antiochus. The seer's view of the future was indeed foreshort-
ened, he had no inkling that at a distant day emperors of that
same Rome would fill for Jewish minds the role he created for
the Antichrist.
42 2 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Thanks to the coaching of Jerome by the Pagan philosopher
Porphyry a correct historical tradition of exegesis has obtained
in the Western Church, both Latin and Protestant; and the
same tradition has been at home in the Greek and Oriental
Churches. For extensive reff. to the Classical authorities the
reader can consult the comm. of the beginning of the last cen-
tury, esp. Bert., vLeng., Hav., and among the moderns esp.
Driver. Several admirable histories of the Hellenistic age have
appeared in the last third of a century, and it has been deemed
sufScient to refer summarily to them in most cases. The writer
makes his acknowledgment to the following: B. Niese, Geschichte
der griechischen und makedonischen Staaten, 3 vols., 1893-1903,
and the far briefer but most attractively written Griechische
Geschichte, vol. 4, 1894, by A. Holm (also in Eng. tr.); for the
Syrian empire, Edwyn R. Bevan, The House of Selcucus, 2 vols.,
1902, and A. Bouche-Leclercq, Histoire des Seleucides, 1913; and
for Egypt, J. P. Mahaffy, The Empire of the Ptolemies, 1895
(paying special and genial attention to the side-lights from Jew-
ish documents), and Bouche-Leclercq, Histoire des Lagides, 4
vols., 1903 seq. (cited by title for distinction from the other
work). For Antiochus IV we have the invaluable thesaurus of
E. Schiirer, Geschichte des jiidischen Volkes*, the history being
given in vol. i, 1901 (an earlier ed. also in Eng. tr.); and to this
should be added the recent work by E. Meyer, Ursprung und
Anfdnge des Christentums, vol. 2, 192 1, esp. §v.
The commentator must steer cautiously between the Scylla
and Charybdis of over-insistence upon the chapter's worth as a
historical document and depreciation of it. Many problems of
interpretation must therefore be left sub iudice. The inherent
difficulty of the diction is increased by the many substantial
variations in the authorities for the text; M, presents five sub-
stantial differences as between Kt. and K!r., and the VSS have
further served to complicate the tradition.
At the end of the chap, will be given a Note on the history of
its interpretation. We may note B. Szold, 'The Eleventh Chap-
ter of the Book of Daniel,' in Semitic Studies in Memory of A.
Kohut, pp. 562-572; the theme is the character of the chap, as
an 'epical survey' of the history; the writer attempts an ar-
rangement in poetical lines.
2b. The three remaining kings of Persia. Behold yet three
Il''' 423
kings are to stand up for Persia ; and the fourth shall he rich in
riches greater than all; and when he is waxed strong through his
riches he shall arouse the whole, the Kingdom of Greece [sic |^].
The writer finds himself in a small minority in identifying the
four kings of Persia as Cyrus (and the three yet to come),
Xerxes, Artaxerxes, Darius III Codomannus, the four Persian
kings named in the Bible, the last one denoted as 'the Persian,'
Neh. i2^2_ Yox our book distinctly excludes the Median king-
dom with its representative Darius (v.^) as preceding the Persian.
But that position was taken by Saadia, as cited by AEz., nam-
ing Darius the Mede, Cyrus, Xerxes, Darius the Persian, a view
known to Jer., who criticises it as 'in vain.' The oldest inter-
preter, Hipp., iv, 41, found but four kings, Cyrus, Darius, Artax-
erxes, Xerxes {sic). But Jer. interprets the text as of four
kings after Cyrus, making 'the fourth' additional to the 'three.*
And so Theodt., Jeph., AEz., Hav,, Stu., Keil, Del., dEnv.,
Knab., al. But despite Stu.'s argument that 'the fourth' means
'a fourth,' the patent sense of the passage is supported by the
actual four known to our writer. The first to try to equate the
four or five kings with the actual sequence of the Persian line
was Jer., who names Cyrus, Cambyses, Pseudo-Smerdis, Darius,
Xerxes. Most recent comm., agreeing that four kings in toto
are meant, obtain various combinations : Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes,
Artaxerxes, so Bev., Pr., Mar., Cha., also identifying the four
heads and four wings of the Persian leopard in 7^ as four kings;
or Cyrus, Cambyses, Ps.-Smerdis, Darius (so Aph. Syr.) or, as
an alternative, excluding the third and adding Xerxes, so Dr.;
most comm. have preferred, after Jer., to find the great Xerxes
at the culmination, and so Bert., vLeng., Mein. But this is
bald interpretation from Western history; that the Jewish tra-
dition had any memory of Xerxes' wars with Greece it is absurd
to conceive. The crux of but four kings in Persian history was
recognized by Jer., who explains: "non enim curae fuit spiritui
prophetali historiae ordinem sequi sed praeclara quaeque prae-
stringere." Behr. interprets the four as 'cyclic,' and Zock. as
'symbolic' But we must reject this rationalizing and follow
the Veritas biblica ; Ra., true to the traditional Jewish chronology,
notes at lo^" that there were but 34 years between the rebuilding
of the temple and Alexander; on this foreshortening of history
s. Note at end of c. 9.
424 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
' When he is waxed strong ' (an ominous reminiscence of two
evil kings of Judah, 2 Ch. 121, 26^'^): It is no foregone conclusion
that this description must mean Xerxes, despite Est. and the
Greek accounts of his marvellous wealth, e.g., Her., vii, 20^. It
was the wealth of Persia in the possession of its kings that
astounded the world and aroused the lust of Alexander. The
next clause is obscure in the Heb., and we are not helped by
the various interpretations of the VSS, which doubtless possessed
our text. The prevaihng opinion since Jer. that reference is
made to Xerxes' wars against Greece has seemed to corroborate
the usual tr., 'and he will stir up all (the nations included in his
forces) against the kingdom of Greece.' But there is no ' against'
in the text, for which the Heb. has the common ace. particle
nX; we must tr. ^, 'and he will stir up all, namely (?) the
kingdom of Greece.' But the point is not that he made war
against Greece (as far as Asia was concerned, Persia remained
mistress, n.b., the Peace of Callias, 449 B.C.), but rather that
the world was aroused against the king. It is possible to inter-
pret 2| as of the fourth king ' exciting the whole world ' against
himself, an implication which may take too much for granted.
In that case 'the kingdom of Greece' may well be a gloss (c/.
the glosses in the Syriac Bible and s. on 'Egypt,' v.^), introduced
to define the opponent, for through this chap, the kingdoms are
referred to only by veiled allusions. 'The whole,' generally
translated tout le monde, will then mean 'the whole world'; s. on
this phrase W. H. Cobb, 'Note on a Hebrew Conception of the
Universe,' JBL 29, 24-28. If this interpretation, with the criti-
cal excision involved, may not stand, the only suggestion of
value is that proposed by Torrey in his paper '"Yawan" and
"Hellas" as Designations of the Seleucid Empire,' JAOS 25,
302-311. On p. 311 he proposes to insert ^^n ^i^ h^'J?"'], i-^-,
'the Prince of All will raise up [rdg. ^DJ?""] the kingdom of
Yawan [in place of the kingdom of Persia] '; for the vb. in which
amendment I would prefer to retain |^ 'will rouse up,' i.e., hos-
tilely. For the divine title he eft. □"'ntT "\'^ 8^^, Nn^fP! ^^ 8^1
iq.v.), to which may be added the common Syriac divine title
h'2 ^s^D, s. Montgomery, JBL 31, 143 {cf. Acts 10^^). Torrey
also holds that this fourth king can be none other than Darius
Codomannus; "the writer derived his information from popular
Il'-* 425
legend . . . rather than from any authoritative text-book of
Persian history," In the paper Torrey demonstrates that
Yawan here and in similar reff. is not Hellas but the Greek, i.e.,
Seleucide empire in Asia.
2b. Dnsy] (6 as pf. — Sod htii] ]n is in comparison with o not with
iiii-jn. — inprno] Also MSB 'no, so ^ Sym. Iv. — na-jjo] & mnxo under-
standing n:;'NO. — \v nioSn nx hsn •^>•;■'] (^ 0 l-rcavaaTTjae-uat for -)'P,
i.e., as no;?"', for the rest (S -itavrl ^aatXel 'EXXtqvwv, 0 ^(iaatq PaatXsfat?
'EX., both naturally ignoring nx; Aq. Sieyepe! iccivTai; aiv toO? ^aaiXelq
Twv 'EX., Sym. Stsyepel ■jcdivTai; xpbi; ttj? y^? ''^'i^v 'EX. = It aduersum
for ns* (2MSS Ken. "^n); & = Aq., but 'all the kingdoms.-
3. 4. Alexander the Great and the division of his kingdom.
3. And there shall stmid up a valiant king, who shall rule with
great rule and shall do after his will. A, And upon his standing
up [or correct to his growing strong] his kingdom shall be broken
and be divided to the four winds of heaven — but not for his pos-
terity, nor after his rule as he ruled, for his kingdom shall be
plucked up, yea for others apart from these. 3. Alexander is well
depicted as 11^:1 "j^l^ 'warrior king' (Dr.); of. the Messianic
king as "n^)! ^K Is. 9^ We may appropriately cite the historian
Justin, xii, 16: "When he assumed rule he ordered himself to be
called King of All Lands and of the World. ... He met no
enemy he did not conquer, besieged no city he did not take,
attacked no people he did not subdue." This king is the 'nota-
ble horn' of the Buck in 8^^- ^^ His marvellous rise is sketched
in this single v., but to the Jewish mind the tragedy of the fall
of his empire, v.^, is more conspicuous. Are we to charge this
difference of perspective to the provincialism of a hillside sect,
or rather to a proud consciousness which looked farther than
the phenomena of this world? The tragedy is well expressed
by E. Bevan, i, 29: "In the spring of 323 before Christ the
whole order of things from the Adriatic away to the mountains
of Central Asia and the dusty plains of the Panjab rested upon
a single will, a single brain, nurtured in Hellenic thought. Then
the hand of God, as if trying some fantastic experiment, plucked
this man away. Who could predict for a moment what the
result would be?" 'He did after his will': Grot, cites Quintus
Curtius: "By the favor of this Fortune, as it seemed to the na-
tions, he did whatsoever he pleased." 4. Cf. 8», 'And when he
426 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
(the Buck) grew strong (iDi'ys), the great horn was broken; and
instead of it there came up the appearance of four horns to the
four winds of heaven.' In our v. 'upon his standing up,' "nDjJD,
must imply the brevity of his power (Mein.), with a possible
play between the nuances of the rt., 'stand up' and 'stand' (c/.
Dp). Graetz proposed to read after 8^ ID^JJ^, approved by
most recent critics, including Kamp., Dr. It must be confessed
that, if anything, we might expect contamination from c. 8, but
not a stupid error over against that obvious exemplar. The
word 'kingdom' might better be expressed in Eng. by 'empire,'
as denoting primarily imperium and only secondarily physical
extent of the dominion (s. Comm. at 2^^) ; this was particularly
true of jSacTiXev?, (SaatXeia in the Hellenistic age, s. Holm, p.
48, Bevan, i, 57. As noted at 8*, the divisions to the four winds
of heaven are Macedonia, Thrace and Asia Minor, Asia-Syria,
Egypt; but of these only the latter two are further described in
this chap. 'Not for his posterity': Alexander's stupid half-
brother Philip Arrhidaeus, his posthumous son by Roxane,
and an illegitimate son Herakles, who had been held as pawns
by the would-be ambitious successors to Alexander, were done
away with one after the other (in 317, 311, 309 respectively).
'But to others apart from these': the antecedent is generally
understood to be 'his posterity'; but Jer. interprets: in addition
to the four kingdoms of the Diadochi also to the lesser states,
Armenia, Cappadocia, etc., and so AEz., Grot., vLeng., Bev.
The latter argues that 12bt2 means always 'in addition to,' not
'to exclusion of,' and that nnn is to be expected. But we may
have a unique use of the phrase; its Eng. equivalent ' apart from '
can mean addition or exclusion.
4. B al. <5)q (2v axfi, but Q 34 230 h^*^ &><; dvaaTfj, cf. at v.'. 0 exegetes
the difficult vb. by inventing a subject, 'his kingdom.' — V'^'^i] Dr.,
Tenses, §§171 ff; esp. p. 218, Obs., holds that the Juss. mood is here
used 'without any recollection of its distinctive significance'; but it is
better with Kon., Syn., §364, c, to take it as a case of 'consecutive
thought-relation,' i.e., of result. Cf. v^p'\ v.^*. A Uvely sense of the use
of the impf. survived in early Aram.; s. on kjjjn 7^^ — innnNS] (5 ou
xaxA T. d(X/.-fjv auToG (?); & 'not like his sword,' as though mnj nS. —
rhi< -i^Sd annNSi] = 0. (5 x. erspous StSii^st TaQxa, i.e., rdg. nnSn; & 'and
no other {i.e., nnx nSi) apart from these'; 3J paraphrases, exc;e/»iw Aw;
11^ ' 427
Oi^ adds a vb. SoOi^asTat; H construes with next v., et aliis extra haec
ualebit rex.
5-20. The conflicts of the Lagidae and Seleucidae prior to
Antiochus Epiphanes.
5. Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt and Seleucus I Nicator of Syria.
And the king of the South shall be strong; and one of his princes
shall prevail over him and shall ride with a rule greater than his
ride [iJi a great rule is his rule]. The drama quickly passes to
those two successors of Alexander who alone attained among
the many claimants to his empire and whose dynasties alone
concerned Jewish history. The one, Ptolemy, the long-sighted
statesman among the Conqueror's lieutenants, early chose
Egypt, his wisdom confirmed by the maintenance of his empire
for three centuries. The other, Seleucus, inherited his master's
grandiose ambition of an Asiatic empire. At Triparadeisos in
321 he obtained as key position for his dominating purpose the
satrapy of Babylonia. Fleeing from it to escape the despotic
Antigonus in 316 he attached himself to Ptolemy and assisted
the latter in the defeat of Antigonus at Gaza in 312; and hence
he is correctly described in our text, from the Egyptian point of
view, as 'one of his princes.' In the same year he betook him-
self by a forced march to Babylon and recovered his position.
Before his death by assassination in bis homeland of Macedonia
in 381 he had the satisfaction of having obtained his ambition
— an empire which stretched from the Panjab to across the
Hellespont. 'His rule' was indeed 'a rule greater than his
(Ptolemy's) rule,' as our writer says. He was 'the most regal
and the ruler of the greatest extent of territory after Alexander,'
so Arrian, Exped. Alex., vii, 22. 'The South,' properly 'the
Negeb' {e.g., Gen. 12^), the land south of Palestine, used as a
local point of the compass, is in this chap, applied to Egypt, as
(g always translates; cf. poss. Is. 30^. The syntax of the middle
of the V. is peculiar in the Heb., made more difficult by the
pointing of iU, which is followed in EW, but was not known
to the VSS. A correction made by addition of a single letter in
the last word of 1^, anticipated by Lu. and suggested also by
Ehr., gives a much better reading than the rather staccato
phrase of IS. The clause is a notable piece of alliteration: malal
minimal rah {niim)memsaltd.
428 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
5. prnii mir pi] The VSS understand prni, exc. Sym. and &, 'and
Ms princes, and he will prevail.' Mein., Kamp., Mar., al., are inclined
to delete the second conj., but the casus pendens is good Heb. construc-
tion, s. Dr., Tenses, §§196 _/. The partitive use of p to express an in-
dividual object is exceptional, poss. so in Ex. 6"; cf. Arab, ha'd 'some
> one'; cf. also isjd v.'. For mty B al. [twv apx-] aixwv. Or?- c Lu.
auTou = 21 eius, i.e., orig. 0. For the comp. sense of hy after prn, cf.
I Ch. 21^; poss. the writer meant 'to conquer' as in 2 Ch. 8^ For vVj;
0 texts (B A Q V 26 49 87 89 90) ex' aJrwv = ffi a& (< ax) his, primi-
tive error for etc' au-uoO. — inSiyDD ai Sitdd Sb-di] = (5 H; 0 ^ om.
inSu'DD, which suppl. Or^- c |x' (orig. ax?) e^oua(a<; ai-rou, and Lu.
if-zhq kh,. auT., i.e., as though inSiTDDD.
6-9. The tragedy of Laodice and Berenice, wives of Antiochus
11 Theos, and the revenge taken by Ptolemy III Euergetes
against Seleucus II Callinicus (246 B.C.). 6. Arid at the end of
some years they shall make alliance, and the daughter of the king
of the South shall come to the king of the North to effect the agree-
ment; hit she shall not retain strength [ijf + of the arm], nor shall
her seed \^ arm] endure, and she shall be given up along with
those who brought her and her child [|| begetter] and him who ob-
tained her. In the events 7. shall arise a scion of her roots in his
[the king of Egypt's] place, and he shall come to the outworks [M,
army] and enter into the stronghold of the king of the North and
shall do prevailingly with them; 8. yea, even their gods, with their
images, with their precious vessels of silver and gold, shall he bring
in captivity to Egypt [?]. And when he shall desist for some years
from the king of the North, 9. then he [the latter] shall come into
the kingdom of the king of the South, but he shall return to his
country.
Of all the high-handed crimes perpetrated by the supermen
and superwomen of the Hellenistic age, that charged to Laodice,
sister and wife of Antiochus II Theos, grandson of Seleucus I
(262-246 B.C.), was the most outrageous and the most noisome.
For purposes of state Antiochus entered into a marriage alliance
with Ptolemy II Philadelphus and took as wife the latter's
daughter Berenice, so dispossessing the elder wife Laodice, who
retired in high dudgeon to Sardis or Ephesus. The Egyptian
princess was brought in great pomp to Antioch; ace. to Jer. she
was accompanied by her father as far as Pelusium, bringing a
great dower of wealth, which gave her the surname of (pepvo-
11^'^ 429
(l>6po<;^ dotalis. A son was born of the new union. Then a recon-
ciliation was effected between the king and Laodice. He died
suddenly, by common report through poison administered at
Laodice's direction, as the first step in insuring her own chil-
dren's right to the throne. Forthwith she sent her emissaries
to Antioch, murdered the child of Berenice, and while the latter
was able to maintain herself for a while she was finally betrayed
and killed along with many of her Eg^^ptian entourage. Her
straits meanwhile had aroused the power of Egypt, provoking
the so-called Third Syrian, or Laodicean, War. Her father ap-
pears to have died in the course of the tragedy, but his son and
successor, Ptolemy III Euergetes, proceeded with army and
fleet to Seleucia and Antioch, into which he successively entered
in triumph, but too late to save his sister. The son of Laodice
and heir of the dynasty, Seleucus II CalHnicus (246-226) could
make no resistance, and Ptolemy proceeded on a great campaign
into Upper Asia, this vast extent of conquest being corroborated
by the inscription of AduHs, copied by Cosmas Indicopleustes
{Corp. inscr. graec. 5127, the text given by Mahaffy, p. 199),
which boasts of his conquests as far as Bactria. He returned
with vast booty (s. at v.*), but without clinching his success,
historians differing as to the cause, whether prudence or neces-
sity; 'he desisted from the king of the North.' 9 with its ob-
scure reference to a counter-blow of Seleucus against Egypt is
faintly corroborated by the Greek historians. The Syrian king
appears to have come again into possession of his holdings in
Northern Syria, and even ventured an unsuccessful attack upon
Egypt (Niese, p. 152, Bouche-Leclercq, p. 104). The rival kings,
having their several troubles, then determined upon a ten years'
truce. Laodice appears to have fallen into Ptolemy's hands
and to have met her well-deserved fate. It may be noted that
Jer.'s comm. to this passage is of much historical value.
6. 'And at the end of (some) years': cf. 'at the end of days,'
Gen. 4^, I Ki. if. From the death of Seleucus I to the event
described was 35 years (281-246 B.C.). 'Shall make alliance':
the same vb. in v.^^, and similarly of an ill-omened alliance in
2 Ch. 2o^^- ". N.h. the absoluteness of 'king,' which means prac-
tically dynasty. 'To effect the agreement': i.e., to carry out the
terms; the noun means the equitable arrangement of a bargain,
etc. (s. also at v.^O- 'Retain strength': the same expression at
43 O A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
lo^- ^^. ^ has 'strength of the arm,' JJIITH ni3, and continues,
'and not will he (Antiochus) stand and {i.e., with) his arm (i.e.,
force).' So the passage may be interpreted. But in the first
phrase 'strength' always appears absolutely, and so 'of the
arm' is suspicious. Bev., Mar., after (g, make 'the arm' sub-
ject, i.e., 'this resource shall not retain strength' (i.e., the mar-
riage), and then, after Hitz., 'and not will stand his (other)
resources,' rdg. l^yiT HDj;'' for IjjnTI 1^1^^; but the resul-
tant is tautologous. (S justifies 1^ iyiT 'his arm,' but 0 under-
stood it as iyiT 'his seed,' and so Sym., B, a most plausible
rdg., referring then to the child of the marriage (so Montanus,
Houbigant, Bert., dEnv., Knab., Kamp., al.). The present text
may have arisen from contamination by n^ ISJ?'' lo'". 'Shall
be given (up)': this abs. use of jnj as 'surrender, betray' (so
0 ^ B, (5 understanding the vb. otherwise) is unique, and Is.
5 1 12^ SiSofjievov Lu. 22^', which have been compared, are not
parallel; we expect the added fllD^, as Eze. 31". Is influence
of Gr. irpohihovaL to be alleged? The following three aligned
subjects are much disputed as to their mngs. The sequence
which tallies best with history is as follows, 1° 'Those who
brought her' to her husband's court, i.e., the accompanying
embassy and esp. her attendant ladies, many of whom perished
with her, ace. to the stories. 2° Read m^'' 'her child,' with
vGall, Mar., Cha., for m^'TI 'her begetter,' i.e., the desider-
ated item of the murder of the babe; her father died at home at
the same time, and it is gratuitous to allege a gross inaccuracy;
0 Sym., ^ ((^ ignores) do not approve |^, reading m^M and
T : - ~
tr. 'maid' (0 r) veavi'i) or 'maids' (similarly PsSa., 'the maid
whose face (person) is concealed'). 3° 'He who obtained her'
= 00 KaTLa-xvoiv avTrjv^ will then be her husband; for this use
of p'^mD cf. V.21; so vLeng., Mein., Zock., JV. All these per-
ished by Laodice's insane jealousy. ^ H, followed by Prot.
comm., AV RW, understand the third noun as 'him who
strengthened her,' i.e., Ptolemy, after the causative use of the
Hif. The last word in the v., cnj^H 'in the times,' even if ex-
panded into 'in these (those) times' with EW, is hopeless. If
the word is to be kept and translation attempted, it is best with
Mar. to transpose it to beginning of next v., cf. 'and in those
fi-Q
times/ v.^", and to understand the noun in the sense of fated
events (s. GB, p. 629a). 7. 'A scion of her roots': i.e., her
brother and avenger, of her own stock; 'shall stand in his place':
i.e., his father's place, cf. vv.^"- ^i- ^*. 'And shall come to the
outworks and enter into the stronghold': The prep, phrase in
the first sentence has been most variously interpreted ; 0 ' against
the army,' necessarily the opponent's, so Mar., Cha.; or 'to his
(own) army/ vLeng., al. ; or 'into power,' Hav., Behr. The in-
terpretation suggested above would read ^Tin for ^Tin, the
former noun mng. 'outer works,' Tr/aoret^^tcr/ia^ of a fortress; so
Is. 26^, etc. The two sentences would then be complementary
in the expression of military success. The following noun
'stronghold' is generally understood of Seleucia; but as Ptolemy
after seizing Seleucia proceeded to Antioch (s. Bouche-Leclercq,
p. 97), the former may well be 'the outworks,' the latter 'the
stronghold.' The v. concludes with, literally, 'he shall deal
with them and shall prevail,' a hendiadys. 8. The detailed
statement of the booty taken by the king of the South is sup-
ported by Jer., doubtless on Porphyry's authority, relating that
Ptolemy brought home "40,000 talents of silver and 2,500 pre-
cious vessels and images of the gods, among them those which
Cambyses had taken to Persia when he conquered Egypt"; for
which benefaction the Egyptians entitled him 'Benefactor.'
And this item is now corroborated by the Canopus Decree (238
B.C.), lauding as one of the merits of Ptolemy that he "restored
the holy images carried out of the country by the Persians,
when he made his campaign"; s. Mahaffy, pp. 230 _^., for the
Gr. text, also p. 205. Ace. to Jos., C. A p., ii, 5, Ptolemy upon
his return from his victories offered thanksgiving sacrifices to
God in Jerusalem. 'Precious vessels': the same expression, Hos.
13^^, etc. It is only here, until we reach w.^^-^^, that 'Egypt'
instead of ' the South ' occurs. Is this an accidental lapse from
the writer's masked style, or have we here an early replacement ?
8b, which is introduced by a prefixed, emphatic 'he' SIH, I
have rendered as a circumstantial clause to v.^; it is by such
subtle changes of order that the Sem. diction expresses relation
of sentences. 'He shall desist from': lit. 'stand oflf from,' cf.
Gen. 29^=, so vLeng., RW JV; this is preferable to the interpre-
tation of 0 ^ ' he shall stand above him ' with comparative use
of jD, and so H paraphrasing, praeualebii aduersum eum, and
432 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
Behr.; and certainly preferable to the banal 'shall continue more
years than' of Calv., AV, etc. 9. For the ambiguity of the
subject cj. IDy v.fi (with text of 1^) and freq. below.
6. For the text of (& in the foil. vv. cf. Blud., pp. 72 ff. — nann-'] (&
a?£c, error for auvTd^et (?), cJ. auvTaylvxos = nnonnn v.^^ — Dn^'iD]
CS> 0 auvOifjxa? (0 + IJ-sir' auToO), Sym. h<^moia.v. Hitz. eft. Ixl^TjTfjaat
Sfxata I Mac. 7*-. — hid] So only here plene. — ixj?n] 0 Sym. H take
'daughter' as subj., <& 'the arm.' — lyii] For VSS s. Comm. — injn
N-in] <g vapx-^aet, c/. Job. 33" IvapxTjasv = l'"?^; Blud. otherwise. —
n-iNOD] So edd. exc. Bar, nx>aD (s. de R.); the VSS recognize as pi.;
(S read as J^'^??.— '^■;V''^] For ppl. with art. and obj. cf. Dt. 20', etc.,
and s. GK §116, f. As noted above VSS read as '^l:--, which % H
interpret by the pL, nncSj?, adolescentes ; OJ om. — n|-irnD] & 35 as pi.,
qui confortabant earn {cf. v.^; 05 [jievel = nptnn. — ^ goes off into a his-
torical midrash in this v. Hipp. 300, 13 ff., has a paraphrase, x. ou
axYjaovTat f^gaximsc, tou (Syovto? auT'fjv, x. auvrpt^YJasTat x. xeasiTac
X. auT-f) X. 6 (^yuv auTiQV. — 7. The Rom. ed. after mss om. xat 1° and
attaches Iv xol? xacpoI<; v.^ to this v. For foil, idj;! mss dvaaxiQaeTat,
exc. B Lu. xat axTja., i.e., rdg. nDy\ — nis'na' -ixjd] (S 9UTbv ex t^?
^[%T)i; auToO = Vd nsj as Is. 11^; so Bev. would read here; but ixjn
can be explained after ma' p v.^ — ud] Otherwise 'o hy vv.^"- ^i;
here ace. = Arab, makdmahu (Bev.). ® xa6' eauT6v; B 26 34 62 147
T^? kioi\j.(xai(xq, al. pref . sTct (Q V 34 as ace.) ; in Gr. O.T. It. = pjD,
etc.; 13 plantaiio (?), as subj.; at vv.-°- ^^ in loco eiiis ; & 'on his place.'
— Sinn Sn] & H interpret, cum exerciki. — pnnni onj nu>j?i] For the
first phrase cf. Jer. 18", Neh. 9-'' (here H ahutetur eis); the two phrases
constitute a hendiadys, s. SchMMtns, Animcdv., 326, who eft. the parallel
use of ja'ala in Arab.; s. above at 8^- and ef. inf. v.'-. — 05 om. !<3''i 2°,
read vj}T2 (0 read nyn), and tr. ona by -rapaxi^v = noinn, c/. Is. 22^ —
8. Dn>DDj] T'?^ in this sense unique, = ^?!??. — omnn 1^3 ny] Mar.'s
doubt of originality of this item is disposed of by Jer.'s reliable ref. to
'precious vessels' included in Ptolemy's booty. — D-^y^] 0 om. (sttj lost
after axi^ffSTat?); (S earat eto? (error for aTrjaeTai sttq?). 0 read as
dual, pnn in 'twofold,' with foil. ]d = 'stand twice as high as'; simi-
larly at v.". — 9. iSd] Orig. ® 62 147 om.; ]J makes it subj. of vb., so
05 as emended, and also & omitting hidSd. At end of v.^ 05 + iiiiipaq;
Blud. suggests gloss to 'ixoq v.*.
10-19. The exploits of Antiochus III the Great. Seleucus II
was followed successively by two sons, Seleucus III Ceraunus,
227-223 B.C., and Antiochus III the Great, 223-187 B.C. Our
passage opens with a reference to these 'sons' as 'stirring up'
J. J 10-19^ PREFACE 433
against Egypt (it is doubtful whether the elder brother was con-
cerned in any operations), and then passes on to a singular sub-
ject, who must be the redoubtable Antiochus the Great. He was
the one great successor of the first Seleucus; like all the Epigoni
he aspired to the role of an Alexander, and indeed alone of
them all came nigh to achieving it. He was conqueror of Asia
and dictator of Egypt, but he met his downfall in Europe when
he ventured conflict with the Romans. This third of a century
was epochal in the world's history, symbolized by Polybius
taking this period to begin his History of the rise of the Roman
empire, the worthy complement of Gibbon's Decline and Fall ;
and where the fragments of his work survive Polybius becomes
our main authority for the period. The years 219-201 saw the
long course of the Second Punic War with its final triumphant
consummation for the Romans; the remaining years found them
planted securely in Asia with Egypt become a vassal state.
Rome was now mistress of the Mediterranean.
Antiochus' reign was one of unwearied warfare. At first he
was obliged to fight with treacherous aspirants to the throne,
first Molon in Upper Asia, later Achjeus in Asia Minor. Vic-
torious over the former he could proceed to the achievement of
the century-old ambition of his house, the conquest of Southern
Syria ('Coele-Syria'). The prospects were the rosier in that
'the contemptible' Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-203 B.C.) had
come to the throne almost synchronously with him, a dilettante
voluptuary, ruled by vile ministers. The Syrian operations be-
gan in 219 by the retaking of Seleucia, the port of Antioch. In
the following years Antiochus proceeded to a methodical con-
quest of Palestine, waging an extensive campaign in Trans-
Jordan (E. Bevan, p. 317; Bouche-Leclercq, p. 146). These suc-
cesses are summed up in v.^^". But the Egyptian administration
had wit enough to pluck itself up for defence, hiring mercenaries
and even enlisting Egyptian troops (a bit of fatal politics). In
217 Antiochus marched to the Palestinian frontier at Raphia,
where he was met by the Egyptian army, commanded in person
by Ptolemy and his sister-wife Arsinoe. This is the debacle de-
scribed in vv.io''-^^; the 'myriads' destroyed by the king of the
South is true enough literally, the two armies massing toward
70,000 men on each side, and Antiochus' loss being put at 17,000
(E. Bevan, pp. 317 #, Bouche-Leclercq, pp. i^of.). There is a
25
434 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
lively anecdote told of this battle in the opening w. of 3 Mac.
Antiochus lost his Coele-Syria. But the king of Egypt was too
supine to follow up his victory; he did not show himself ' strong,'
v.^^ The years 212-204 were spent by the indefatigable Anti-
ochus in recovering his Oriental domains, and he campaigned
successfully as far as the Caspian and the borders of India.
About 203 B.C. Ptolemy and his queen died in mysterious cir-
cumstances, succeeded by their infant son Ptolemy V Epiph-
anes. The time was ripe for the revenge upon Egypt, and w.
13-" tell the story. The ' many who shall stand against the king
of Egypt,' v.i^", has been understood, since Jer., of Philip V of
Macedon, ally of Antiochus, and native insurrections within
Egypt; s. Mahaffy, cc. 7. 8, Bouche-Leclercq, Lagides, 341 f.
In 201 Antiochus invaded Coele-Syria and took Gaza after a
long siege (E. Bevan, i, 317, Bouche-Leclercq, p. 171); this is
the 'city' taken by 'earthworks,' v.^^ The approaching conflict
between Syria and Rome, which was entering the Oriental fray
in behalf of its ally Pergamon, tempted Egypt to strike back;
the Egyptian condoUiere lieutenant Scopas invaded Palestine,
was defeated at Banias, then finally blockaded in Sidon, which
at last fell to Antiochus, 199-198 B.C. These are probably the
events obscurely described in vv.^^''- ^^, of which there remained
a lively memory with the Jews; for the note that he came to
'stand in the Beautiful Land' we have the parallel information
from Jos., A J xii, 3,3, that the gates of Jerusalem were thrown
open to him. The threatening interference of Rome induced
Antiochus to use his best diplomacy to effect an alliance with
subdued Egypt; he married his daughter Cleopatra to the
youthful Ptolemy, the marriage being celebrated at Raphia (E.
Bevan, 2, 38. 57, Bouche-Leclercq, pp. 177, 184). The quid pro
quo offered by Antiochus was the revenues of Ccele-Syria as
dower for his daughter, of which, however, he reserved half for
himself for administration. 16 presents the datum of this mar-
riage, somewhat in the guise of a means of escape for Egypt
from threatened invasion; v.'' is obscure.
Had Antiochus willed to remain what he actually was, mon-
arch of Asia and suzerain of Egypt, he would have gone down
into history as really 'the Great,' a title prematurely given in
his lifetime. But it was his fatal ambition not only to conquer
Pergamon, the thorn in the Seleucide flesh, but to take position
in Greece and so to reincarnate the great Alexander. 18. 19
tersely depict the consequences. He 'set his face to the Isles,'
the mysterious lands of the distant Mediterranean. He met his
Waterloo twice, first at the pass of Thermopylae, where East
once more met West, 191 B.C. Driven back into Asia he again
made stand, but was utterly beaten at Magnesia by Lucius
Cornelius Scipio (hence 'Asiaticus'), 190 B.C. This is the 'com-
mander' who turned back upon him his own indignities ('his
reproach'). Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Carthage, was
present with the Roman army, even as Hannibal accompanied
Antiochus' western campaign, their presence a symbol of the
world-v/ide character of the struggle. Its import is well expressed
by Plutarch (Comparison of Aristides and M. Cato), in para-
phrase: the great victory at Thermopylae cleared Asia out of
Greece and so opened the way for Rome into Asia. Antiochus
had to retire ' to his own strongholds,' v.^^, a beaten conqueror.
He died 187/6 in trying to loot a temple of Bel in Elymais, ac-
cording to a story exactly similar to that of the death of his son
Epiphanes (s. Bouche-Leclercq, pp. 223/.). 'He was not to be
found ' is the verdict of our writer, as it is of history.
Our writer was contemporary with at least the latter part
of Antiochus' career, and possessed immediate information upon
his reign which enabled him to give the succinct and correct
resume of these w. Jewish historiography in general begins now
to operate with clearer light, after a long eclipse. 3 Mac. (i^"'')
opens with a dramatic and genuine account of the battle at
Raphia, drawn from some Greek historian. The apocryphal
balance of the book deals with the visit of Ptolemy Philopator
to Jerusalem. Josephus also has much to say about the high
favors granted by Antiochus III to the Jews, AJ xii, 3, and in
c. 4 gives the romantic story of Joseph the Tobiade, Ptolemy's
(Philopator) tax-gatherer in Palestine, the father of the re-
doubtable freebooter Hyrcanus, the builder of that remarkable
palace-fortress 'Arak el-Emir near Heshbon. One may com-
pare Mahafify, pp. 216 J"., 267 ff., for an attempt to make the
most of these stories. See also E. Bevan, Jerusalem tinder ike
High Priests, pp. 41 Jf., for a study of the worldly influences
which were bearing down upon the Jews as Palestine became
more and more a pawn of the dynasties.
10a. Antiochus' initial successes in Syria (219-218 B.C.). And
436 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
his sons [Seleucus III and Antiochus III] shall be stirred up,
and shall assemble a multitude of great forces. A nd he [Antiochus ]
shall come on and on and flood and pass beyond. The subj. of
yy_io-i9 jg in general a sing., Antiochus; only at the beginning
of the present v. have we a pi. subj. with two attendant vbs. It
would be convenient to insist on the Kt. lii (Kr. "1^3) and
T T
tr. 'his son' with the change of the two vbs. to the sing.; so
vGall, Mar., Lohr. But the mystifying change of subj. is char-
acteristic of the whole passage, while the VSS support the Kr.
The assumption that hostilities with Egypt occurred in Seleucus '
reign, although corroborated by Jer., is not proved; s. Bevan,
p. 204. 'Be stirred up' is used of passion, e.g., Pr. 28*, and be-
comes a technical term for preparation for war, cf. v.^^, Dt.
2^-^*, etc.; for the psychology cf. Is. ^2^^^-. The figure at the
end of the passage is that of a flood {cf. w.^^- 26. 40)^ ^^d is taken
literally from Is. 8* (symbolically 22>^^^-), cf. Jer. 47^, in both
cases a flood from the North. JV 'as he passeth through' is
not adequate.
10a. 1J3 Kt., i^? Kr., and mss i>j2] PI. in the VSS exc. 05, but its
senseless 6 u\hq auToO xaf represents vj3. — ^•\m<\ mss mjn^, so (&
epiaOi^cTeTat {cf. the erroneous Kt. njni w.^). © ignores, OrP IpiaOT)-
aov-rat; Lu. a gloss after xoXXwv: xal auv(£(|;ouatv, which vb. is used
by 0 for nnjnn at v.^'. Grig. auva^J;. has prob. been lost by haplog. with
foil, auva^ouatv. — nS^n] 0 SuvajA^wv, B 130 ivct fiiffov by error. — ki3 n3]
= v.". Critical objections against the position of the abs. inf. are
not supported, s. GK §113, r, s; the position is indifferent in Aram.,
and my tr. has in mind the parallel 1? 'H.;'. For Nn 0 Sym. Or?- c
lpx6[xsvoc; (& xkt' auTT^v = na; & iniS;; = ir (so mss), preferred by
Mar., Ehr.— 1^? Grr., H tr. as ppl.
10&-12. Antiochus' disaster at Raphia. lOh. And he shall
again be stirred up, even unto his stronghold. 11. Atid the king
of the South shall be enraged, and shall go forth and war [^ -f-
with him] with the king of the North; and he [the latter] shall
raise up a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into
his [the former's] hand. 12. And shall be lifted [^ -j- the mul-
titude] and [with Kr.] exalted his heart; and he shall fell myriads,
but he shall not be strong. 106 is generally translated: 'and he
shall return (home) and be stirred up, even unto his stronghold '
{i.e., Ptolemais, Seleucia?). But vLeng. saw correctly that the
iii3-i« 437
'return' was to the attack, and that the half -verse connects
with the foil, vv. The tr. above follows Bev. in taking the vb.
'return' in its common auxiliary sense of 'again,' e.g., v.". The
usually alleged 'return' to winter quarters is hardly a notable
item. It is disputed whether 'his fortress' is Ptolemy's, e.g.,
Raphia (so Junius, Geier, vLeng., on the basis of Polybius), or
Antiochus', e.g., Gaza (so Dr., proposing a play between riT^D
'fortress' and ntj? 'Gaza'). But the expression 'be stirred up
even unto' would indicate a hostile objective. 11. The same
vb. as for the 'rage' of Ptolemy is found in 8^. ^, 'with him
with the king of the N.' is absurdly tautologous; the VSS om.
'with him'; Mar. would om. the other half. The sequence indi-
cates that the subj. of 'shall raise up a great multitude' is
Antiochus; i.e., the multitude which was 'given into his (Ptole-
my's) hand' (and cf. v.^^), 'Raise up' T»Dyn: as ^^al of ID J?, =
Dip, the Hifs. of the two are synonymous. ^ at end of the v.
and beginning of the next has a tautologous doublet in the repe-
tition of 'the multitude'; the vb. 8ti^-3 'lifted up' is usually ex-
plained as 'carried off,' cf. use of the same vb. at 2^^ One or the
other sentence might be regarded as a primitive doublet. The
tr. adopted above follows the possibility that jIDrin 'the mul-
titude' has been attached to t^t^i 'be lifted up,' by a cross-
reference gloss to 2^^ (IDH Ntyi The vb. is then to be paired with
the foil, 'be high,' with 'his heart' for subj.; cf. 520. The rdg.
of Kir. nm 'and be high' is followed with the VSS vs. Kt. UTW
10b. 3i^M] 0 = ac^;) —njn^ Kt., "^x. and mss mjn>] » has pi.,
other VSS sing. (A pi.); H duplicates, concitabitur et congredietur. —
nt^D n;?] So Sym., 0; ^ abs. fern, noun, which may represent the orig.;
d ix\ TcoXu = HMD nj,'; U cum, robore eius. — 11. "iD-isni] 0 dyptavOTjaeTat,
36^8 TCapo?uve^(j£Tat. — ray] Ken. 80, all VSS om. — 12. jiDnn nu'j]
For 'n regarded as gloss from 2^ {v. sup.), n.b. that there 0 tr. by xX^Ooq.
— an> Kt., Dii Kr.] VSS = Kr.; vLeng., Kamp. defend Kt.— S^sn] <g
Tapi^st = rt. Sna as at f^. — ny] (& (po^YjOfi = rt. jJir.
13-16. Antiochus' victory at Gaza and subsequent successes.
I.Z. And again shall the king of the North raise up a multitude,
greater than the first ; and at the end of the events [|^ + years ] he
shall come on and on with a great force and much equipage. — 14.
And in those times many shall stand up against the king of the
South; and some [ = ^ sons] of the lawbreakers of thy people
438 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
shall lift themselves up to confirm vision, hut they shall stumble. —
15. And the king of the North shall come and cast up siege-works
and take a fortified city, and the forces [|| lit. arms] of the king of
the South shall not stand, yea, even for the folk of his picked (sol-
diers) no strength to stand, 16. so that he who comes against him
shall do according to his own will, none standing before him. And
he shall stand in the Delightsome Land, and in his hand destruc-
tion [?].
13. i^ lit. 'at the end of the times, years' appears tautologous;
the latter noun, representing the 16 years between Raphia and
Gaza, may have been intruded from v.^ (Bev.), or 'the times'
borrowed from v.^'* (Mar.). For the tr. 'events' s. at v.*^, and
for 'come on and on' Note at v.^°. The word tr. 'equipage'
means 'substance, property,' i.e., the baggage of the army; pos-
sibly by assimilation to another word mng. 'horses' it may
refer to the horse and baggage animals, especially to the ele-
phants of Antiochus which he fetched from India and which
played a large part in his operations, esp. at Gaza; s. Note.
145. The historical ref. is most obscure. In 'the sons of the
robbers (violent) of (among) thy people,' as EW tr. the phrase,
'sons' cannot mean 'die sturmische Jugend' with Behr., nor
need it be taken physically as 'sons' as of some family (so Bev.,
Schlatter, al.); but rather as members of the category. The
second noun, ''^''"iS, meant, first, high-handed criminals, but
here the term is one of religious politics, those who 'breach'
(rt. y"lS) the Law. Cf. Ab. Zara Jer., 41a, top (cited by Jastrow,
Diet., sub rad.), 'thou hast not breached their fence,' i.e., trans-
gressed the law of the rabbis; and this is anticipated by the Zad.
Frag., p. 20, 1. 25, 'they breached the bound of the Law,' s. the
text in Int., §2. Confirmation of this interpretation is obtained
from 0, ol viol roiv Xol/jlcov (correct B Xolttwv)^ this being else-
where (^'s current tr. of 'sons of Belial,' also = '\>b, yCl. It is
the hateful epithet applied to St. Paul in Acts 24^ AV 'pesti-
lent fellow.' And Jer. correctly comments, 'qui dereliquerunt
legem Domini.' Jeph. offers as current interpretation that the
phrase refers to the Christians, actually naming the four Evan-
gelists. Schlatter, 'Die Bene parisim bei Daniel, 11, 14,' ZATW
1894, 145-151 {cf. also Dalman, Paldstina-Jahrhuch, 1920, 35),
has suggested identification with the notorious family of the
Tobiadai, of whom were the notorious tax-gatherer Joseph (Jos.,
Ii"-i6 439
A J xii, 4) and his son the bandit chief Hyrcanus (s. Schurer,
I, 195; 2, 65/.)- But as we have seen the sense 'violent' must
not be pressed. Jer., perhaps by a Jewish interpretation, appUes
the passage to the building of the temple at Leontopolis in
Egypt by the refugee Onias (modern Tell el-Yehudiye) , which
was built ostensibly 'in fulfilment of vision,' i.e., the prophecy
in Is. 19^^ This event took place much later, after 164 (s.
Schurer, 3, i44j^.), although the tr. of (^ here may have been
induced by the same interpretation; but Jer.'s parallel is illus-
trative of the various attempts made by Zealot parties to ap-
prove their actions through appeal to prophecy, in the present
case bitterly condemned by our writer. The more natural inter-
pretation of 'to cause to stand = confirm, establish, vision'
(another instance of many-sided meanings of the rt. IDJ?) cf.
Ps. 105'°) is that the party's apology was the fulfilment of some
ancient prophecy. This view is preferable to that of some, e.g.,
Marti, making it a clause of result, i.e., their failure was fore-
doomed by a prophecy, for we should expect the clause then
to stand after 'they shall stumble.' It has not been observed
that the phrase is an exact reminiscence of Eze. 13^, against
the lying prophets, who 'hope to confirm (the) word,' *liT W^pb.
15. The parenthesis of v." has caused the repetition of the
subj., 'the king of the N.,' the subject-matter continuing the
campaign which ended in the triumph at Gaza, 201 B.C., rather
than, as with most comm., that at Sidon over Scopas in 198.
In the phrase translated 'folk of his picked (ones),' EW 'his
chosen people,' the second noun T'lriDD is doubtless a play upon
□"•"nna, which is used of the pick, elite, of an army (AV generally
'young men'), and well denotes Scopas and his trained ^tolian
mercenaries. 16. The rendering of v."* as a clause of result fol-
lows strictly the Heb. vb. in the Jussive (cf. on v.^). 'The de-
lightsome land,' "•n'i'n f-l«, = v.«, cf. v.« (rt. HD^ 'desire'; AV
'pleasant,' RW 'glorious,' Dr., JV 'beauteous'), is based upon
Jer. 313 Wl^ r\M^2)S "'2:; n'^nJ 'an inheritance the most delightful
of the nations' || man |"lt<, and Eze. 20^-''-^, where Canaan is 'a
land of delight to all the nations ' ; the word is similarly used of
Babylon, Is. 13", etc. Similar epithets for Palestine are |^"li<
mon Zech. f', f£n p« Mai. 312. Cf. the description of
Jerusalem, Ps. 482- ^, and of Samaria, Is. 28^ Our phrase is
440 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
cited En. 89^°, 90^". The word ""i^ occurs at 8^, but it has been
argued that the word is not original there. The VSS vary much
in their interpretation of ' and in his hand destruction ' ; the last
noun is most obscure, as we are ignorant of the allusion.
13. In (& -KhXetiiq CTUvaYwyflv [Aeft^ova, icoX. for xolX-^v is doublet to
(leti;. — □•'Jtf] Om. OrP Q Lu. + 11 mss. For g» s. at v.^ — nu Nn^]
See at v.". 0 eiaeXeuasTat slmZlqc (so dative, vs. Swete). For ni3 (g
doublet elq auTTQV || ex' auxdv = 13. — ifui] 0 uxdpsst, 42 uxojTaffst.
For the phrase here & po\":in ]>r\-\s2 'with strong birds,' which Nestle,
Marg., 42, rightly corrects to p^r'iD^, and so 'mit starker Reiterei.'
!i'i3"i may be regarded as identical with ^?T!, so Mar., and s. Comm. —
14. id;? "ixna ija] Bev. objects to the usual interpretation that such
a phrase with the second noun in the pi. cannot mean ' violent persons ' ;
but cf. ons^ajn ••ja (Mar.), a'>nSNn ija etc., and aitt-jn na v."; also
Yevv:^[xaTa IxiSvwv Mt. 3' (Kamp.). Bev. proposes to read 'those who
build up the breaches,' etc., = Am. 9", for which he might have com-
pared (& dvoc/.oBoixTjast to: xexrcoxora t. i'Ovou? ffou. For "'Xna 0
Xot[j.(I)v, for which by error B Q™s 26 130 230 = A Xoixwv. — The first
hand in Q has xotpaPotaewv, marked as 'Sym.' — ^^^^^] For this Hithp.
form s. GK §54, c. Ehr., who would read Nif., eft. the Nif. in^'jH
iSxu Is. 19'^, and tr., 'sie werden sich falsche Ho£fnungen machen,'
denying that the vb. implies rebellion. — p?n TiD;!nS] N.b. H id hnpleatit
uisionem. Graetz proposes tijjdhS, i.e., 'das Gesetz wankend zu
machen.' — For dot <& Stavotat, for which JDMich., Orient, u. exeg.
Bihliothek, 4, 38/., suggests as original ^^2'-' 'Libyans,' cf. inf. v". But
Blud., p. 73, suggests Stav. = av'^, cf. (Si at Ps. 139^. — 15. nSSiD is'.ri]
CS sxtaTpet}'^' '^a Sopaxa auToiJ (?); & 'will devise stratagems' (?). —
nnx3D -c;-] In v.-^ the pi. onxan, the two pis. having different deno-
tations. 0 ^ H tr. 'fortified cities,' and the pi. is quite possible. — 3Jjn]
(S 0 as though 'jn ^SD. — n^\ d 0 lost orig. ou by haplog. after prec,
-ou; Or^- c Lu. suppl. — mnjD n>i] For the pi. Kamp. well eft. nnnnD iSs
2 Ch. 36^^, in disposing of Mar.'s objections; the sense of the lat-
ter's rdg. '•''I'l.? is applied in Comm. above. (S correctly as to sense
IJLET(5; (as °J!) twv Suvacnrwv aixoO. 0 understood d;?! as nnj^i, x. ivajTi^aov-
Tot: (-|- xai B by error) ol £x>.sxto1 ao-roO = & H. — 16. ''axn ynx] For
the Jewish and other comm. s. their notes at 8'; ace. to Ra. this is
a mystic name, e.g., ''3s may mean 'Gazelle'; Sa. prosaically, es-Sdm,
'S3nria.' The trr., at least their texts, differ much among and within
themselves. & tr. ''3xn by 'Israel.' (&^ ignores ^3sn here, but offers
0;XT)5£ti)(; at v.'*^, which ®s gives here (and Jer. notes at this v. that
such is the rdg. of CS). A minority of 0 texts read here aa^aetv (or simi-
lar forms), also exphcitly attributed by Jer. to 0, as in most texts at
Il" 441
w."- *^, exc, Lu. oa^Petp. (A closer form to 2f is found here in 87 89
capsi, and at v." V 36'^e aaPaet.) But here B Or? OrC (A Q 106 al.)
Lu. have toG aap(p)£ip (or similar forms), aa^^sip = Aram. n^D
'well thought of.' This must represent a current Targum and = Aq.'s
ev -^fi svSo^tp, which B took over, in terra inclyta. The basis of Aq.'s tr.
is not evident; he so tr. at Eze. 20^. Nor is the history of the intrusion
of aa^petp into 0 texts (even B) clear. Either it sheerly replaced orig.
aa^astv, or 0 like (S ignored •'3sn here, and ultimately aa^astv and
aaP^sip were variously introduced. Sym. (ace. to Jer.) ttj? Suvijjisox;
= !<3xn. Cf. also the VSS at 8^— nSoi] VSS take as vb. = nS^^; (g a
doublet, extTs^vsaOTjasTat || xavxa. Sa. tr. by 'sword,' interpreting
from Arab, kallat 'short sword.' Ew. tr. adverbially, as at Gen. iS'-',
'it shall be wholly in his hand'; Bert., Hitz., Kamp., with a change of
points, 'it shall all be in his hand'; Stu. 'consummation.' AV 'which
by his hand shall be consumed,' after the VSS, is impossible, for the
antecedent is fern.
17. The marriage of Antiochus' daughter Cleopatra to Ptol-
emy V Epiphanes. And he shall set his face to come with the power
of all his kingdom ; and an agree?ncnt with him he shall make [^
and he shall make], and shall give hirn the Daughter of women to de-
stroy it [or her] ; but it [or she] shall not stand nor avail him. ' Come
with the power of his whole kingdom': so Grr., Calv., EW,
Bev., Dr., etc. The sense 'enter into the strength of his (Ptol-
emy's) kingdom' is accepted by ^ H Jewish comm.; so Hjiv.,
vLeng. To the writer all Antiochus' operations were directed
primarily against Egypt, and indeed his activities at this period,
while directed toward Asia Minor and Greece, nevertheless in-
volved the far-flung colonies of Egypt. 'Shall make' follows
the VSS vs. 1^, which is represented by AV, 'and upright ones
(our 'agreement') with him; thus shall he do.' The betrothal
of this royal marriage took place, ace. to Jer., in 198/7, and the
consummation 6 years later at Raphia. Ptolemy V was still
young (s. Mahaffy, p. 265). The term 'the daughter of women'
(where we would expect 'daughter of man, men,' so (&) is strik-
ing. Still, Hitz. eft. mjiriS ji 'son of she-asses' Zech. 9*. Some
early Prot. comm. understood the phrase as superlative, inter
mtdieres praecellentissima. The term may express the essence
of femininity, i.e., the Woman, par excellence. We have to re-
call Cleopatra's very distinguished position in Egypt, the first
by the way to bear this name in that royal family. When her
442 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
husband died in 182 B.C., she became regent of the kingdom dur-
ing the minority of her children, and had a controlling influence
until her death in 174 B.C. (s. Mahaffy, c. 9, esp. pp. 330-332).
The elder of these, Ptolemy VI Philometor, who repaid the
memory of his mother in his cognomen, and who was one of the
most admirable members of his family, reigned till 146 B.C.,
while his equally abominable brother Ptolemy VII Physcon suc-
ceeded him, continuing till 117 B.C. Thus the memory of 'the
Woman,' as we might say 'the Queen,' was destined to survive
for long. The foil, clause of purpose with a fem. obj. has gen-
erally been translated ' to destroy her,' the woman, which is ab-
surd. The marriage bargain turned out favorably for the Seleu-
cides. The obj. is then to be taken as referring to Egypt implied,
so, e.g., Jer. (ut euertai illud), Geier, Hav., vLeng., Dr., Mar.
The V. is further complicated by a fem. subject appearing in the
final two vbs. The usual understanding appears in AV, 'but
she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him ' ; this follows
Jer., who tells how her husband and his ministers, 'sensing
fraud,' took active steps against Antiochus, leading on to the
war in which Rome came to be engaged. But it is preferable
to take the fem. subj. as impersonal, 'it (his purpose) shall not
stand,' etc., cf. Is. f, 142* (so, e.g., Bert., Bev., Dr., Mar.).
Others, e.g., Graetz, find the fem. subj. in the word 'his king-
dom.'
17. du'm] M points with -^ as 1 is absent; cf. 3!r\ 2-^-^ v.^l — HP"] In
Ws tr. of the phrase, ad tenendum uniuersum regnwn eius, 'n = nflipn
'circle' = uniuersum. — ana'^] PI. of "'^"J, or of "^5'' (Bev.); = ona'iD
v.^, which many prefer to read here; ^ is supported by 0 EjOela xavra
('make all things straight'), B recta. — na-jJi] ims Ken. n!rj?> = all VSS.
— aitrjn] <g § understand as D-iiroN 'men.' Graetz, Mar., Ehr. vari-
ously rewrite the phrase. — inyr] (g xefasTat, by interpretation, or
error for aT-rjjcTat ? — r\''r\7\ i*? nSi ncyn nS] = ninn nSi aipn nS Is. 7', and
cf. nSxn inf. v.". As i'? fails in (5 Mar. deletes it and so equates the
two passages. For the indef. fem. subj. cf. GK §122, q, end.
18. 19. The utter defeat of Antiochus by the Romans and
his miserable end. 18. And he shall turn his face to the Sea-lands,
and shall capture many. But a Magistrate shall stop for him his
insult, [^ -\- except that] his insult shall he pay back to him
[doublet?]. 19. And he shall turn his face back to the strongholds
iii«- 1^ 443
of his own land. And he shall stumble and fall, and shall not he
found. 18. It is preferable to read with Kt,, 'he will turn his
face' (AV) rather than with ^x. 'set his face' (JV); the former
properly introduces a new ' turn ' in the campaigns of the North.
'Isles' is an inexpressive term for □""'S 'sea-lands/ which ap-
pears to mean the indefinite stretches of coast lands; for their
magnitude cf. Is. 40^^ The word belongs to the Mediterranean
geography; it is often defined: coast lands of Kittim, Jer. 2^°
(i Mac. i^, 8^ Kittim = Greece-Macedonia); of the Nations,
Gen. 10^, or, as here, absolutely, cf. Eze. 26^^ A Sem. derivation
is usually accepted for the word (rt. T\y^) ; but cf. AL-jv7rTo<;^ At-
7aio9j etc. 'Will capture many': Antiochus profiting by the
misfortunes of Philip of Macedon and the weakness of Ptolemy
pursued a victorious campaign through Asia Minor, picking up
the Macedonian and Egyptian cities, and reached Thrace as
early as 196 B.C., intent on seizing the Macedonian overlordship
in Hellas. The 'Magistrate' is doubtless Lucius Cornelius Scipio
Asiaticus, the victor at Magnesia, 190 B.C. A somewhat rare
word has been nicely selected to denote the Roman Consul,
kasin 'judge' (our Arabic 'Cadi'), parallel in meaning to taS^
'judge.' The 'reproach' offered by Antiochus may denote the
high-handed arrogance with which he pursued his Western cam-
paign even to the defiance of Rome; it has been specifically
illustrated by his words to a Roman legation bidding the Ro-
mans to abstain from meddling with Asia even as he was not
meddling with Italy (Polyb., xviii, 34). Or it may simply mean
our 'challenge,' for the Oriental challenge is a shower of abuse.
The final sentence of the v. is difficult. It is introduced by an
impossible 'except that,' '^^h^, which cannot mean 'but' after
the usual tr. For proposed emendations s. Note. As the con-
tent of the sentence is tautologous with the prec. one, the writer
must agree with Ehr. in regarding it as a gloss phrasing the
former in a more usual way, 'requite his challenge.' 19. An-
tiochus was thrown back across the Taurus (only Cilicia, always
an appanage of Syria, being left to him of his Western domains),
*to his own strongholds.' His 'stumbling and falling' capitally
expresses his ignominious death. For 'he was not found,' cf.
Job 20^, Ps. 37^ Bert, cites Appian, Syr., 37 : People came to say,
King Antiochus was the Great.
444 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
18. Jf'i Kt., Dirii Kr. and mss] Kt. = 0 & It; Kr. = (5.— d^n"?]
(S elq OciXaaaav = D^S. — ]ixp] = Arab, kdd'", with survival of the
orig. nunation, but the Heb. came to regard ]TSp as the rt.; 0 as a pi.,
Hgyo-jxaq, and with B as ace. ($ read 'p noii'n as ixp Jitrn, lxiaTpi(I;ec
6pYT^v. — h\ This is better understood as ethical dat. than as objective
to insin. — ^nSa] Fairly impossible as 'but' (= 0 xXtjv), s. BDB, GB,
although Kon., Hwb., defends this meaning = 'nur.' ^ = "B at. (Biv
opx.({) has suggested to Bev. a^p^i'if 'sevenfold,' eft. Ps. 79'- (accepted
by Mar.). But (§ read inSa = ev opxtp; so icrh 'the cursed one' in
Sachau's Pap. i, 1. 7, and often in the Ahikar papp. This rdg. of <S
corresponds to Graetz's suggestion of inSi, '[requite him] on the
cheek,' the only objection to which is that this phrase is not otherwise
known. — a^ty] B as 2W\ — 19. 3:^11] Also mss Dii-ii = B. — •'n;?D] (B
as inf., as at v.^; 0 ^ H as sing.
20. The inglorious reign of Seleucus IV Philopator. And
there shall stattd in his place one who sends abroad [lit. causes to
pass through] an exactor for royal glory ; but in a few days he shall
be broken, yet not in rage nor in battle. This reign, 187-175 B.C.,
was of necessity inglorious, whatever the character of the king,
whom Appian, Syr., 60, describes as 'reigning ineffectively and
weakly.' Says E. Bevan, 2, 125: " Of the internal administra-
tion of Seleucus we know only that the necessities of the time
made its first object the replenishing of the empty treasuries."
Appian, Syr., 45, tells how a 'certain courtier,' Heliodorus, plot-
ted against and did away with his royal master and seized the
power, ostensibly in the name of an infant child of the king
(of which more anon). In 2 Mac. 3 we read the following story.
An officer of the temple in Jerusalem gave information to Apol-
lonius, governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, of the wealth in
the temple treasury, which included not only alleged trusts
for widows and orphans but also banking funds of the notori-
ous Hyrcanus the Tobiade. Seleucus sent Heliodorus tov
iirl TMv Trpay/xaTcov {v. sup. at 2*^) to seize these funds, from
which sacrilege he was frustrated by a divine apparition. He
was revived from a lifeless state only by a sacrifice offered not
for charity's sake, as it is explicitly remarked, but lest the king's
anger might be incurred. This Apocryphal item about Heli-
odorus' position, which stood unique, is now corroborated by
two inscriptions on bases of statues erected in his honor at
Delos; for which see at length Deissmann, Bibelstudien, 171^.,
ii^° 445
Eng. tr., pp. 303 f. In these inscriptions he is called a foster-
brother (crvvTpo(f)o<i) of the king, a relative {(rvyyeveta) ^ and
eVl Tcoi/ irpay/xdrcov reraj/jLe'vov^ exactly as in 2 Mac. From
these few facts we learn that Heliodorus was prime minister;
he then is the 'exactor' of our v., whom his sovereign 'made to
go abroad' through his domains to raise the funds, or as the
writer satirically puts it, 'for royal glory.'
The participial phrase describing the king is most variously
disputed. The one chosen above was proposed by some early
Prot. comm. (s. Geier, Pole). The rendering 'cause an exactor
to pass through' is supported by Zech. 9*. Understanding 'glory
of royalty' (without the article, not 'the kingdom') as secondary
object (so RW JV) is indefensible; the abstract character of
the phrase is confirmed by the parallel 'royal majesty,' v.^^ The
'exactor' is he 'of or 'for, royal glory.' 'In a few days' {cf.
Gen. 27^, 292°) prob. refers to Seleucus' short reign of twelve
years as compared with his father's reign of forty; those who
press the reference to Heliodorus' mission suppose a brief time
between it and the king's murder; others interpret it as 'sud-
denly,' which would rather be 'in one day.' 'Shall be broken':
cf. W.22- 26^ 8^^, Pr. 6^^, 29^ 'Not in rage' is a favorite subject
of exegesis and emendation. The interpretation adopted means
that he did not die in brawl or battle; he was killed, but not
'with his boots on,' a disgrace to a king; cf. Saul's death.
20. At the beginning C5 has been conflated from v.^, paaileta? is a
gloss correction to subsequent PaatXIws. 0 text has been interpolated
after dvaoTTQaeTat from <&. — nisSn -nn trjij -ii3;?d] (5 e[<; (^vdtaTaatv
(= ■id;;S) tutttwv (= pj) S6?av ^aaikiu>q, corrected by gloss above,
^aatXefaq. 0 •jcapa^t^at^wv luptiaawv So^av ^(zaCkeiixq: -zxpa^. as else-
where for Hif. of na;?; -Kpiauuiv = 'factor, exactor,' after common
use of Tcpiaaetv. S" and It are wide of the mark: & 'a remover of
power iy^^V'i', n.b. approximation to Eth. use of the rt.) and of glory
of the kingdoms'; H uilissimiis et indigmis decore regni. For attempted
revisions see Kamp.'s note. For "^Iv as const, of "^1? (so Kon., Hwb.)
cf. Tf y. Ex. 19I8; BDB GB make it a distinct noun. — onnx wf^] (6
'nx as it^x&xcxiq = annK; 0 as ixeivaic;, error for exdarati;? — a''SN3]
05 ev 6pYf) = ^ H; 0 Hterally Iv xpoawTiroti;. Graetz proposed d^ajn^
'in battle array,' cf. Eze. 12", 17-', etc. Behr. thinks it means 'openly,'
cfi. 'face to face,' Dt. 5S etc., and Dr. notes the Syr. usage, cfl. PSmith,
col. 278.
446 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
21-45. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 175-165 B.C. Antiochus, the
younger son of Antiochus the Great, was disporting himself like
a true Hellene in Athens when word came to him of the murder
of his brother Seleucus by HeHodorus (s. at v.^o). He had been
a hostage at Rome since 189, but at the close of his father's reign
exchange had been made whereby his elder brother Demetrius
had been taken in his place and he released. He made his way
at once to Antioch; Heliodorus disappears from the scene, and
the new king does away with the puppet king, the infant son
of Seleucus. The Romans had their troubles in Greece with
Macedon and the Leagues, and Pergamon, and desirous of keep-
ing a balance of power in the Orient actually helped Antiochus
to the throne. But the Romans could bide their turn to play,
nothing loath doubtless of the faction in the Syrian house which
gave them the lawful heir to play as a trump at the right time
(the latter ultimately came to the throne, in 162, by murdering
his brother's son and successor). Accordingly the reign falls
into two parts, divided by the Roman victory over Perseus of
Macedon at Pydna, 169 B.C., when Rome came in position to
lay down the law to Antiochus and force him out of Egypt (s.
at v.^°). The history of the first period is taken up with the
Syrian wars against Egypt, the second half, after 169, finds
Antiochus confined to the role of an Asiatic monarch, the his-
tory of which years we know chiefly from the documents of the
Jewish people, with whom he became engaged in petty warfare.
In the last year of his life he pursued obscure campaigns against
Armenia and the Parthians, and was killed ingloriously when
attempting to loot a temple of 'Anaitis' in the Elymais. But
these wars and the king's end are beyond the purview of our
chapter, which makes only vague allusion to the Maccabees
(w. 33 ff.)^ while the inevitable catastrophe of his career is left to
divination of the future, w.^° '^•
The death, 182 B.C., of his sister Cleopatra, the wise regent of
Egypt in the minority of her sons Philometor and Physcon (s.
at v.i^, gave Antiochus free hand to interfere in Egypt. The
first Egyptian War was actually provoked by the young Philo-
metor's foolish counsellors, and resulted in Antiochus' triumphal
entrance into the land (170 or 169 B.C. — for the question of the
exact date cf. Schiirer, pp. 169, 196, and Meyer, Ur sprung, p.
150). Philometor, attempting to escape, fell into the invader's
jj.21-45^ PREFACE 447
hands (s. at v.^^). But Alexandria held out, proclaimed the
younger brother Euergetes II Physcon as king, the upshot being
that after an attempt to take the city Antiochus evacuated the
land. The two Ptolemies now became reconciled and were to
reign conjointly. Antiochus made another attempt at conquest
and the invasion ensued in i68. But near Alexandria he was
met by the Roman consul Gaius Popilius Laenas and given
Rome's effective orders to leave the country. There followed,
in his ill condition of temper, his supreme desecration of the
temple in Jerusalem, which brought on the Maccabaean up-
rising (w.^°^-)-^
For Antiochus' relations with the Jews we have two Jewish
histories, i and 2 Mac, which give narratives difficult to har-
monize. Niese in his classical monograph, ' Kritik der beiden
Makkabaerblicher,' Hermes, 35, pp. 268-307, 453-527; came
forth in outspoken preference for the Second Book. In this he
stands fairly alone; s. Schiirer's judgment, p. 202, n. 42, and
Moffatt in the Int. to his Commentary on that book in Charles,
Apoc. The second book, which properly begins at 2", after a
preface, 2^^-^-, proceeds to the story of Heliodorus' attempted
sacrilege, c. 3 (s. s^ip. at v.^o). The sequences of subsequent
events may be conveniently presented in the following compar-
ative table, with an attempt to show the possible agreements:
2 MAC.
4^ ff- The unabashed machinations
of Simon (c/. 3''), which cause the
high priest Onias to betake himself
to Antioch to use his good offices for
his people with King Seleucus.
ii" Accession of Antiochus, Era 4' Accession of Antiochus.
Sel. 147 = 176 B.C.
> The present almost consensus of opinion is that there were but two Egyptian
Wars, although as many as four have been alleged (Bouche-Leclercq, p. 255; for the
earlier literature s. Niese, 3, i68, n. 2). All the authorities named in the introduc-
tion to this chap, agree in this; s. MahaSy, p. 494; Bevan, p. 2Q7, App. G; Schiirer,
p. 169; and Meyer, p. 151, most positively. The elder comm. followed Jer.'s lead in
finding a distinct campaign in w."-^^ but doubtless only on the strength of his own
deductions. This section is probably only a general introduction to the following
history, as Rosen, first observed, for war against the king of the South is not men-
tioned until v."; that and the war of v." are the two Egyptian Wars of history.
The claim of an additional war at the beginning has been supported from 2 Mac. s>,
'his second campaign'; but as Bev. suggests, pp. 297 JJ., this may count in the
abortive campaign as far as Joppa, mentioned in 4^'.
I MAC.
448
A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
jii-16 ;^se Qf 'transgressors of the
Law,' who introduce a gymnasium
in Jerusalem and forsake the Law.
Yv.16-19 Antiochus' campaign into
Egypt.
Vv.=o-38 Upon his return, E. Sel.
143, he comes to Jerusalem, despoils
the temple, massacres the citizens.
Vv.29-" 'After two full years' the
king sends a chief collector of trib-
ute, who wastes the city and builds
an acropoHs on the site of the an-
cient City of David.
Yv.^iff. Edict of the king to his
whole kingdom that 'all should be
one people and each should forsake
his own laws,' with specific rescripts
against the Jews; and, vv.""-, there
is set up the Abomination of Desola-
4'^- Onias' brother Jason sup-
plants him as high priest by promises
of lavish donations to the king, ask-
ing the boon of introducing Greek
fashions, gymnasium, etc., among
the Jews.
Yv.21-22 -pjjg yjjg visits Jerusalem,
where he is magnificently enter-
tained.
Vv.23ff- 'After three years' Si-
mon's brother Menelaus outbids Ja-
son with the king and is given the
priesthood.
Yy,^°s. Menelaus, coming to An-
tioch, effects the assassination of
Onias, who was lured from sanctuary
at Daphnae; the king upon his return
home condemns the actual assassin
to shameful death.
Yv.39-5c The outrages committed
by Menelaus and his brother Ly-
simachus in Jerusalem.
^i-io When 'Antiochus made his
second campaign into Egypt' (v.^),
a rumor arose of his death, and the
fugitive Jason makes an unsuccessful
attempt to recover Jerusalem.
Vv.""-" The king, thinking that
Judasa is in revolt, sets out against
Jerusalem 'in furious mind' (v."),
assaults it, massacres the citizens,
and loots the sacred vessels and enor-
mous sums of money in the temple.
Vv."'*' Departing he leaves vari-
ous gov&rnors to afflict the people;
one Judas Mace, and a few others
seek refuge in the mountains.
gi-ii <]^ot long after this' ensues
the supreme desecration of the tem-
ple by the governor Geron, its dedi-
cation to Zeus Olympics, etc., and
the stern repression of the Religion.
II
21-45
PREFACE
449
tion on the altar, heathen sacrifices
are ofifered, and a rigorous persecu-
tion instituted of all who 'will not
profane the Holy Covenant' (v.^').
C. 2 The heroic story of Matta-
thias.
C. 3 The beginnings of Judas
Mace.
6'^9 The martyr-stories of Elea-
zar and the Mother and her Seven
Sons.
C. 8 Ditto.
It is to be observed that our chap, alone of the three authori-
ties cites the two campaigns against Egypt and alone refers to
the part of the Romans in blocking Antiochus' purpose in the
second (v.^"). Each of those books relates but one campaign
(as does Josephus), except for the obscure reference at 2 Mac.
5^ Apart from an earlier honorary visit of the king to Jerusa-
lem noted by 2 Mac. 4-^^-, only one visit of his to the city is
noted in either book, the final sacrilege of 168 being ascribed to
his governors. Hence our v.^°, speaking of his actions in the
city in the same terms as in v.^^, which corresponds to his actual
visit, must be understood in the general sense of his royal re-
sponsibility for the final outrages.
Every historian pauses over the enigmatic character of Epiph-
anes, 'the Manifest God,' whose character has been indelibly
stamped by the Bible as the arch-fiend. There is no occasion
here to add to the innumerable attempts at characterization.^
At the end of his description E. Bevan offers a useful summary
of some of the various opinions advanced by historians (pp.
128-132). These opinions draw diametrically apart, according
as the student holds to the Hellenic or the Biblical point of
view. Antiochus is indeed 'a man of riddles' (S^^), possessing
* the fascination of enigma,' as Bevan remarks. A Graeco-Roman
Levantine at home, he had the Hellenic polish and ' ideals ' (he
was elective chief magistrate of Athens at the time he rushed
home), and for fourteen years he had lived a hostage in Rome,
absorbing Rome's Realpolitik. Somewhat of a reincarnation of
his ancestor Demetrius Poliorcetes, he was the first cosmopoUte
of the new era of the Roman dominion. If he outraged the tem-
ple at Jerusalem, Classical art owes a debt to his memory for his
« The classical character sketch is that by Polybius, xxvi, lo; Phillips Barry pre-
sents the ancient authorities in a study in JBL igio, 126 J'.
2y
450 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
temple to Zeus Olympics at Athens, the few remaining columns
of which are one of the glories of that ruined city. And if he
perpetrated the edict that all his subjects should be one people,
one religion — un-Greek enough ! — he was but anticipating the
Roman imperial policy on which the Church ran foul.
The references to his character in Dan. are monotonously
drastic, but true. He is a ' little horn . . . with a mouth speak-
ing great things,' 7^; the same little horn which challenged the
host of heaven, 8^°, cf. inf. ^s »•; 'a king of fierce countenance,'
clever in plots with a cunning that made deceit succeed in his
hand, 8^^ ^■. And these brief descriptions are capped by the run-
ning description in the following w. of this chap., in which is
revealed the writer's fascination not so much for what he did
as for his diabolical character. He was the first precipitant of
the conflict between the World and the Bible Religion.
The passage may be analyzed as follows: 21-24. Introduc-
tion, Antiochus' accession and early years. 25-28. The first
Egyptian War. 29-35. The second Egyptian War, vv.^^- 2"", and
the consequent trials of the Jewish Religion. 36-39. A descrip-
tion of Antiochus' arrogance toward God and man. 40-45. An
apocalyptic account of his end.
21-24. The beginnings of Antiochus Epiphanes. 21. And
there shall arise in his place a contemptible person upon whom
had not been conferred royal majesty; bid he shall come in un-
awares and shall seize royalty by intrigues. 22. And forces shall
be utterly [^ forces of the flood] flooded away before him, and
shall be broken [Ij + and] even the Prince of the Covenant. 23.
And by confederacy (of others) with him he shall work deceit, and
he shall come up and grow strong, with a little nation. 24. And
[plus to ||] unawares [Ij + and] shall he come into the fattest of
provinces, and he shall do what his fathers did not nor his fathers'
fathers, lavishing on them spoil and booty and property; and
against fortresses shall he devise his devices — but until a Time !
21 depicts Antiochus' character — 'a despicable man,' no' a
'manifest god' — and his clever usurpation of the throne. In
the foil, relative clause (as EVV correctly tr. the Heb. sentence
aligned with 'and') the pi. may imply 'men,' or as equal a
passive, ultimately of divine cause; cf. 1 Ch. 29", 'Yirwii con-
ferred upon him (Solomon) royal majesty,' which is cited here.
'Unawares': as at v.^"", 8-^ {q.v.). 'By intrigues' = v.^-*, cf. v.^-:
II21-24 451
lit. 'smoothness(es),' AV 'flatteries,' JV 'blandishments'; con-
cretely the word means 'slippery places/ Jer. 23'-, Ps. 35^
22. Hf has DtDirn mj?^T 'forces of the flood,' but Egypt, even
if referred to, presented no such obstacle; the tr. follows Bev.,
rdg. an inf. abs. ObuiTI, intensifying the pred. vb. The word
'arms' of the Heb., generally military 'forces' in this chap.,
can mean 'resources' in general. In v.'' ^ has the vb. in the
pL, agreeing with the first subject, leaving the final clause, 'yea,
also the Prince of the Covenant,' as a ^ hedeutungsschwere Aposio-
pese' (Behr.). One must hesitate at correcting the often amaz-
ing diction of the chap., but the correction, proposed by Mar.
(omission of the two waiv's), is plausible. 'The Prince of the
Covenant' (a title, lit. 'Covenant-Prince') has been most vari-
ously identified in the sense of 'an allied prince' (s. at 9", cf.
Gen. i4^S etc.); Pole registers four such princes as discovered
here, the favorite identification being Ptolemy Philometor, but
we should expect 'the king of the South.' But Theodt. identi-
fied the person as Onias III, who was assassinated at Antiochus'
court, and this view, revived by Rosenm., is accepted by all
recent comm. That high priest was removed from office c. 175
and assassinated c. 171. If these w. give a general view of the
reign, no anachronism is involved, the usual argument against
the identification. This person is then the 'Anointed' of g'^^.
For ' prince ' as high-priestly title s. at 9-^ The word ' covenant '
ri''"l3, also w.^°- 32 (equally anarthrous), is used almost con-
cretely, as of the Covenant Church; cf. DJ? ri''^]3 Is. 42^, 49*, =
'a covenant institution of a people/ and s. Duhm, ad loc. With
this V. Jer. finds the beginning of the description of the Anti-
christ, honestly parting company with his guide Porphyry.
23. The initial prep., ]D, is ambiguous. The most usual in-
terpretation follows Jer., post amicitias, = EW 'after the league
made with him ' ; but preferable is the causative mng. as above,
with Geier, and so prob. 0. ^ Ra., AEz. understand the phrase
partitively. Explicit historical ref. need not be sought, beyond
the Jews' experience of the king's arts in playing off the local
parties against one another, e.g., Jason against Onias, Menelaus
against Jason. The figurative mng. of H^J? 'go up' ='grow up'
is most suitable in this general sketch of the king's rise to power;
for the vb. cf., e.g., Gen. 40'", and cf. the Tree sup. 4^^-, v/here
452 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
ny[ — n^y, ripn = D^y here. Jer.'s interpretation of the ascent
of the Nile has been a favorite one. Behr., Mar. think of the
military use of the vb., as, e.g., Is. y^ 'With a small nation' is
taken here as referring to the actual reduced Syrian kingdom,
or the actual domain at first controlled by Antiochus; so Grot.
Others understand the small band of his partisans (so Bev.),
or, in connection with the miUtary interpretation of the vb., of
his few troops, so Behr., Mar., the former however acknowl-
edging that such a use of "'li is unique.
24 sums up the opposite sides of Antiocnus' mixed character;
his high-handed avarice and his squandering of the ill-gotten
gains on his friends (so we must understand here the ambiguous
'on them'), and on public works of munificence which gained
for him the applause of the Greek world. For his prodigaHty
cf. I Mac. 3^° ('in expenses and buildings'), Jos., A J xii, 7, 2
('being magnanimous and generous'), and for his cultivation
of the gods Livy, xli, 20; cf. the same chap, for a list of his
public works, and s. Dr.'s note, and the modern historians, e.g.,
E. Bevan, 2, 148^. By this excess over 'his fathers' appears
to be meant his character as an ignoble looter and senseless
spender; cf. w.*^- ^* for a similar reflection on his religious inno-
vations. In the tr. the first 'and' of || has been transferred to
the beginning of the v., with Bev., Cha., and so practically
EW; others, e.g., vLeng., Behr., Kamp., Ehr., attach 'un-
awares' to end of v.^^, and eft. 2P-^. 'The fattest of provinces'
(so also Stu., Ew.): by translation of a good Sem. idiom, s.
Note; so practically %, uberes urhes ingredietur. The usual tr.
sticks to the sing, 'province,' then generally made articulate,
'the province,' which is forthwith identified with Eg}^t. But
the whole passage is of general import, and ref. to the particular
attack upon Egypt seems premature. The point of the v. ap-
pears to be Antiochus' ability in seizing by hook and crook
the wealth of the provinces, in advance of the attack upon
Egypt. For this, followed up in v.^^, the item of his 'devices
against fortresses ' makes introduction. ' But until a time ' : not
indefinite, for some years, with Grot, and most; but ad ierminum,
'the time fixed in the counsels of God,' cf. w."- ^^, so Dr. after
Geier.
21. ntaj] 0 as pf., e^ouBsvweK], obviously construed with v.-", cj. 1C.
In consequence of this Porphyry found the description of Ant. Epiph.
beginning at this v., for which Jer. corrects him. Against Dr. the ppl.
is gerundive. — moSc Us\ Abstract, cj. v.-". — niSa-a] (S l^ixtva, 0 Iv
eu6T)vt'(5t (= ?n in ahundantia copiarmn); & = B clavi. — nipSpSna] d Iv
xXripoSofffqc = v.'*; 0 sv fiXtaOpTjixajtv (?) = vv.^-- ^. — 22. r|a-;.n] For
Bev.'s suggestion of abs. inf. s. Comm. 0 B read as ppl. (& read the
two cognate words as though from rt. na^, and so came to ignore or
lose the foil. nn:i"ii. g> has similarly shortened the v., along with a
strange rendering of the first sentence. — aji naa'''] Read with Mar.
DJ '\2Z'\ — ni-13 n^JJ DJi] 0 X. -fiyouiAsvoi; StaGTjxT]? = ^11; ® x. (aeto:
•u. ScaOif)XT](;, i.e., rdg. ^J'. and with ignoring of tijj or loss of its tr.
xuptou; cf. Note on text of 05 at end of c. 9 at v.-^; @ construes the
phrase with opening of v.^. — 23. nnannn \c\ 'nnn Aramaizing form
of Hithp. inf. {cf. Eze. 242' niyDtrri':'), s. GK §54, k.— 24. nf u-a] (g and
0 as at V.-'; Sym. -Jjauxti?, # B^" om.; B text. rec. et abiindantes [et
uberes], gloss from 1C in abundantia copiarum. — njnn ijDB'Da] 0 (B V
42 62 89 229 232 = m) Iv xfoat x^^P"^"^? 3,1. '7cX(£)tofft; (S lpT](j.wa£t
(rt. Dna*) xoXtv, and om. foil. xia\ For the idiom here as a superlative
cf. D1J3X ip'^n I Sa. 17", nrn yno Is. 35', equally with polarization
of genders; for superlative use of 'trn cf. 3t3"'D Gen. 46^, inan, etc. For
the gen. sing. cf. "i3J ''J3, etc., and s. Kon., Syn., §256, a. This polar-
ization between genders and numbers is well known in Arab, in the ela-
tive idiom, s. Wright, Gr. §§86. 93, e.g., sdlihu (masc.) nisdH Kiiraisi",
'the best of the women of K.' ; 'afdalu rajuli", 'a most excellent man.'
— -n?ai] Ps. 68" f; Aramaizing for usual its; former = Aram, "na, which
& actually saw or heard here, for his tr. -^aij 'shall lead' is a corruption
of i"iai; (^ owaet = iiQ in its sense 'give generously,' e.g., Ps. 112^ —
Dinsac] 0 A'cyuxTov, rdg. ansD. — rnaB'nD] 0 (B 26 89 = E) 'koyiu[i.ouq
= & B (= 2 Mss Ken.); al. + auxou. — n;? iyi] (g £[<; [jiciTYjv (?); ^ at-
taches to v.^, omitting 'and' 1° there.
25-28. Antiochus' first war against Egypt and his action
against the Holy Covenant. 25. And he shall arouse his power
afid courage against the king oj the South with a great army. And
the king of the South shall stir himself up to battle with an exceed-
ingly great army ; hit he shall not stand, for they shall devise
devices against him, 26. and they that eat of his provision shall
break him, and his army shall be flooded away [|| active, shall
overflow] and many shall fall slain. 27. And as for the two kings,
their heart shall be for mischief, and at one table they shall speak
lies; but it shall not succeed, for (there remains) yet an end for
the appointed time. 28. And he shall return to his own land with
454
A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
great property. And with his heart against the Holy Covenant he
shall do ; and he shall return to his oivn land.
25. 'His power and courage' (lit. 'heart'): power in spiritual
sense, cf. Mai. 3*, Job 36^; for this self-excitation to passion s.
at v.i°. For 'with a great army' cf. the citation at i Mac. i^^
o%X&) /3a/>eT. 26. For the royal 'provision,' patbag, s. at i^
These men of his table {o-vvrpd-Tre^oL, Mar.) are identified par-
ticularly with Eulaeus and Lenaeus, Philometor's unwise coun-
sellors who foolishly took the offensive against Antiochus; the
end of the prec. v. suspects them of treachery. ' Shall be flooded
away': as at vv.i"- ^2; ^ has intrans. 'shall overflow,' AV RVV;
but the pass, is required, = g* H, read by Bev., Dr., Mar., Cha.,
and so JV tr. The final clause is cited for the same event in
I Mac. 1I8, the Gr. = Grr. here. 27. 'The two kings,' etc.:
when Philometor fell into the conqueror's hands he was enter-
tained with elegance, dined and wined, but with his uncle's
intention to 'deceive him'; s. Bouche-Leclercq, p. 254, citing
Diodorus, xxx, 21. The reciprocal 'speaking of lies' is what
was to be expected, but a treachery the grosser for Oriental
ethics in that it was carried on at a hospitable table; cf. the
deceit of 'the familiar friend, who ate of my bread,' Ps. 41^".
'There is yet an end for the appointed-time': cf. v.^*, 'but until
a Time!' and the parallelism makes this phrase refer to the
ultimate doom in the counsels of God (so Cha.). Most recent
comm. interpret as that the subjugation of Egypt was not yet
complete, cf. v.^". But the combination of the two terms points
the fact that the king's triumph was short-lived. 28. For Anti-
ochus' return home with great spoil cf. i Mac. i^^, 'he took the
spoils of Egypt.' His consequent actions against the Jews are
expressed in two brief sentences. For 'the Holy Covenant' (the
same term i Mac. i^^- «^) s. at y.^\ 'He shall do': a reminiscence
of 8^^ also inf. v.^o; not so much as 'do his pleasure' with EVV,
but cryptically 'do what he shall do' {cf. the Arabic idiom).
25. -^p] For apparent Juss. form cf. on atf^ v.".— nn;^] 0 U as pi.
— 26. 1J3 no iVdn] 0 read I'^aN and tr. 'd by xol: Slovxa auToO (other-
wise at i^, i.e., 'his necessities,' cf. use in N.T. (K xaxavaT^waoucriv (as
vb.) aJTbv (JiepftAvat auTOu (?).— iS^n] 0 Suvaii-etq, but V 230 -(xi.;, Lu.
+ a'jzo!J.—']m'y<] Also mss fjoa'^; v. sup.— 27. D33S] (g |j.6voi = m^':',
and then a doublet, SetTcvYjaouaiv i%\ i:b auT6 || x. Ixl t. \i.iaq xgasciX^riq,
^^29. 30a ^^^
<f&-fovza'.. — J?n2] Prob. Hif. ppl. {cf. the same Pr. lyS Is. 9'"), in which
case cf. .T'nK'n 10'. — nSsn] Fern, indefinite, s. at v.". — 28. ViiN] Ace,
cf. Is. 52* after ais'; but n.b. ixin*? inf., whence the term may have
been glossed here.
29. 30a. The second Egyptian war and its estoppage by
Rome. 29. At the appointed time he shall return and come into
the South, bid it shall not be at the last as at the first. 30a. For
'ships of Kittiju' shall come at him and he shall be disheartened.
At the 'term' Antiochus launched on his second campaign, in
which he was halted by Rome and sent home a broken-spirited
man. For 'Kittim' as general designation for the lands and
peoples of the Mediterranean (primarily for Cyprus, which is
visible from the Lebanon) s. Lexx. and BDD. In i Mac. i^ 8*
the word is used for Macedon. Cf. Jos., A J i, 6, i, "from it
(Cyprus) all the islands and most of the parts beyond seas are
called Kittim by the Hebrews." Here the Romans are meant,
even as 'the Isles' is used of Greece at v.^^. But further, 'ships
of K.' is a citation of 'ships from the quarter of K.,' Nu. 24.^*,
which explains the use of both words here. The allusion is
pregnant, for we read on in Balaam: 'they shall humble Ashur
(i.e., Syria), and shall humble Eber (Abar-naharaim), and he
(Antiochus !) shall be unto destruction.' The striking scene of
the arrogant Greek's personal meeting with Rome's representa-
tive is told at length by Polybius, xxix, 27, transcribed by Livy,
xlv, 12; a tr. by Mahaffy, p. 339. Popilius presented to him the
written letter from the Senate peremptorily forbidding his war
against Philometor. The king tried to hedge. Whereupon "Po-
pilius did a thing which was looked upon as exceedingly over-
bearing and insolent. Having a vine-stick in his hand, he drew
a circle around Antiochus with it, and ordered him to give his
answer to the letter before he stepped out of it. [Appian, Syr.
66, cites as the Roman's actual words, ivravOa (SovXevov, ' de-
cide there.'] The king was taken aback by the haughty pro-
ceeding. After a brief interval of embarrassed silence, he replied
that he would do whatever the Romans demanded. . . . He
withdrew his army into Syria, in high dudgeon indeed and
groaning in spirit ((Sapvvo/xevo^ fiev k. (xrepcov)." 'Disheart-
ened' (Bev., JV 'cowed') is the usual Heb. mng. of nS3; Behr.,
Mar., Cha. prefer, with (^, the Syr. mng. 'threaten.'
456 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
30a. a\~o c^s i3 ixa] This mng. of 3 Nn is found by some in v.^^,
and correcting the text, in v."; the phrase is prob. a forced correspon-
dence with ajja N3 v.-'. 'a is adjectival; also mss ditd. There is no
need with JDMich., Orient. BiUiothek, 4, 39, Winckler, Altor. Forsch.
2, 422, to emend to on-ix 'ambassadors.' (& Tj^ouaiv "PufAalot x.
e^c&aouatv (as rt. ns'') auxov, a correct historical midrash. For the last
two words 0 ol £x.xop£u6ti£vot (rt. xs') KtTtot. Hipp. 298'^ has a
paraphrase which looks like an independent tr., eiaeXeujstat ev
e^oSiait; (= ai''S"'3 ?); cf. a similar case at v.'. ^ tr. 's by 'camps,'
i.e., as D''N'3X. H has for o 'x tricres et Romani, where et appears to
be secondary, having come in from misunderstanding of Jer.'s comm.;
edd. print Trieres ; equally B at Nu. 24-'', uenient trierihus de Italia. —
nN3j] (B e[j.ppt[jLT)ffovTai auxw, after Aram, use, cf. the equation of
the two in N.T. Gr. and Syr.; but 0 TaxsivwSTjasTat. & 19 as from ri^j,
perciitictur.
30i-35. The persecution of the Religion and the resistance.
306. And he shall {ve)turn and rage against the Holy Covenant,
and he shall do; and he shall turn and have regard to those who
abandon the Holy Covenant. 31. And helpers [Heb. arms] from
him shall take stand, and they shall profane the Citadel-Sanctuary
and remove the Constant (sacrifice) atid set up the A domination A p-
palling. 32. Afid those who act wickedly toward the Covenant shall
play the hypocrite m he shall make profane, or, pervert] in intrigue,
hut the people that know their God shall be sto2it and do. 33. And
the Learned of the people shall teach the many. And they shall fall
[lit. stumble, as so inf. ] by sword and by flame, by captivity atid
by despoilment, for (some) days. 34. And upon their falling they
shall he helped with a little help ; and many shall join themselves
to them in intrigue. 35. And some of the wise shall fall, for refin-
ing among them and purifying and cleansing — until the time, for
the term is yet to come.
The passage, despite its prosaic diction, is weighted with
tragic feeling, and its sentences fall into phrases of ponderous
measure. 306. The two vbs. 'turn' are troublesome. OfiFhand
the first appears to be parallel to the use in v.^^, 'return,' but
the second cannot have this mng.; the tr. of AV RW 'shall
even return' (Dr. 'home to Antioch') as a repetition, is flat.
Cf. efforts of vLeng. and Ehr. It is not necessary to require the
identical sense in a repeated Sem. rt., which may be polyse-
mantic within a breath; cf. the play in Jer. 4^, 'if thou wilt turn
jj30b-35 ^^^
. . . then turn unto me.' Or the vb. may suggest the king's
volatile turning hither and thither. For the king's 'rage' cf.
Polybius' account of his indignation upon Popilius' demand,
and the report in 2 Mac. 5" of his attack upon the city, reOr)-
ptcofievo^ Trj "^/^^x^, a passion however attributed to another
cause than the Romans. There is no evidence that he came
to Jerusalem after the second war. 'Have regard for': the same
vb. in favorable sense at v.". 'Those who abandon the Holy
Covenant' are the TrapdvofioL of i Mac. i", who 'removed from
the Holy Covenant,' v.^; cf. Jub. 23^®, etc. 31. The word trans-
lated 'helpers,' lit. 'arms,' is the same as 'forces' at vv.^^- ^2^
but a change in the gender form (here masc.) suggests an inten-
tional shift of denotation to individuals (cf. Is. 9^^, Eze. 31^^,
but in both cases the text is doubtful). The ref. then is to the
lieutenants who executed the desecration. ' Take stand ' : ^Dy =
Dip, a many-sided word of our writer (cf. at w.*- "). 'The
Citadel-Sanctuary': lit. 'the c, the s.'; the latter word =
'stronghold' above, e.g., v.i°, and the construction the same as
at 8^, 'Shushan the fortress.' The temple was itself a fortress
with its citadel within its holy area, cf. Neh. 2^, 'the gates of
the citadel (m''2ri) of the house' (cf. Neh. 7^), and in i Ch.
29^- ^^ the temple is simply called the Birah, also a frequent
designation in the Talmud (s. Torrey, Comp. and Hist. Value
of Ezra-Nell., 36). We have explicit ref. to the destruction of
the fortifications of the city in i Mac. i^^, upon which follows
the account of the building of a new and lofty Akra in the City
of David {i.e., the Ophel to the south of the temple), which
dominated the temple and remained in possession of a Syrian
garrison until 142 B.C. (s. Schiirer, p. 198). For 'the Constant'
s. at 8^^, and for 'the Abomination Appalling (Ab. of Desola-
tion),' s. at 9". For this desecration s. i Mac. i^^*^-, 2 Mac. 6^^-.
Ace. to the former it took place on Chislev 25 (in December),
E. Sel. 145 = 168 B.C.
32. 'Those who act wickedly toward {in re) the Covenant,'
n''"l3 ""ytyiD: the second word is gen. of specification {cf. a case
at V.20), and the Hif. in trans, as at 9^ Junius took the ppl. as
active, damnantes foedus, then Geier, condemnantes foedus, Hitz.,
'die Verdammer' ('Anklager'); and Bev., 'those who bring
guilt upon the Covenant,' eft. the opposite in 12^, D"'3"in "'p'^l^D;
and so Behr., Mar., Cha. On the other hand cf. n'T'in'' ""ytyiD
458 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
'the evil-doers of Judah,' Zad. Frag., p. 20, 1. 26. The received
interpretation of the sing. vb. ^ITV' is 'he shall make profane,'
i.e., 'make hanef,'' although otherwise the Hif. = simply 'to pro-
fane.' The tr. 'make wicked men profane' is somewhat absurd,
alleviated however by Bev.'s suggestion to tr. ^IH^ 'make
apostates of,' RW 'pervert,' after a Syr. use of the rt. The
renegades proceeded from technical wickedness to apostasy.
But the tr. adopted above follows a clew of U, impii in legem
simulahunt, with a pertinent comment in Jer.'s comm. This
mng. of simulare Jer. must have obtained directly from Jewish
usage, in the late Jewish sense of Wn 'hypocrite, flatterer' (it
is the word used by Delitzsch in his Heb. tr. of the N.T. for
v7roKptTr)<;), Along with H the other VSS, exc. B, have the pi.
vb., which is followed here, and so JV 'shall be corrupt' (!).
If the sing, of ^ be retained we can obtain an equally good
sense with 'he shall flatter them with blandishments'; but the
Jewish use is to be followed as against the Syriac. Those who
take the king as subj. compare the promises held out for per-
version, e.g., to Mattathias, i Mac. 2^^. 'Shall be stout and
do' (cf. the hendiadys at v.'') is a faithful description of the faith-
ful Asidaeans; cf. i Mac. i^".
33. .'The learned' =123; AEz.: 'the Men of the Mishna';
0 avveroC^ H dodi ; cf. the use of (tvv€t6^ in the N.T., parallel
with (T0<^6^^ and as technical term, Acts 13''. Dereser, Hitz.
prefer the act. sense of the ppl., as at 9^^; but the sentence then
becomes tautologous. The term doubtless represents the Asi-
daeans, D'''T'Dn 'the Pious,' which party are said to have
attached themselves to Judas after his early successes, i Mac.
2^^, although not permanently. 'The many': as at 12^ q.v.
The element of education was already deeply impressed in the
Jewish religion. ' Stumble ' : a synonym for ' fall,' ' be destroyed ' ;
cf. v.", Jer. 6^^, etc.; it has not here the moral sense of crKava-
Xi^eaOaLj and the subj. is prob. indefinite (Hitz.), not particu-
larly 'the Learned' or 'the many.' For these persecutions cf.
1 Mac. 1 60 2-, 2^9 ff-, 2 Mac. 6^^-, and the following martyr-stories,
5i8ff.^ 7. 'For (some) days': not 'many days' with EW; cf.
8^^ 34. 'A little help': as recognized since Porphyry, the heroic
defence made by Judas. The passage is the only direct ref. to
that contest in the Heb. O.T., barring of course whatever
passages, Pss., etc., may be critically assigned to this age. The
writer is not a Maccabaean but an Asidaean, for he looks for help
to God alone; cf. the challenge of the three Confessors, 3^^^-.
The ref. is valuable for dating these cc. Judas evidently has
gained sufficient success to win over many adherents of doubt-
ful character, who 'attached themselves' to him 'in intrigue'
{i.e., 'smoothly, speciously,' the same word as at w.^^- ^'). But
no signal victory has been achieved. As every revolution must
learn, popular following depends upon success, and the drastic
punishments inflicted by Judas upon renegade Jews forced a
time-serving adhesion of many; indeed, the honest problems of
religious politics produced a bitter factionalism, so that there
were many traitors, true and alleged. CJ. i Mac. i" ^•, 3^- *, 6-^ '^•
(a citation of our v. in v.^^), 7^^- (the adhesion of the Asidaeans
to the high priest Alcimus, who is condemned by the historian),
8'-* (Judas takes vengeance on deserters). 35 reverts to the
martyrdom of the Learned, and the plan and result of it in the
divine economy; their death is not a judgment upon them, as
in the earlier theology, but a means of testing and purification
for the mass of the people. Cf. 12^, where these same maskiltm
'shall justify the many,' with reminiscence of Is. 53". Their
death will be the testing-stone of their fellows, for elimination
of the faithless, for heartening of the faithful. The v. is the
earhest expression of the thought that ' the blood of the martyrs
is the seed of the Church.' Three metaphors are used for this
purging process: 'to refine,' or 'test,' as of the smelting of
metals; 'to sift' {cJ. Am. 9^), as of wheat; 'to scour,' or 'whiten,'
the word used in NHeb. for cleansing and polishing vessels, in-
struments, etc., also of clothing {e.g., XevKalveiv Rev. yi-*). The
three vbs. recur 121°. Cf. Rev. 3^*, 'I counsel thee to buy gold
purified in the fire and white clothing.' For the final clauses cf.
30&. 'Ji p'] The clause was rendered by Aq. ace. to Jer., cogitabit
ut deseraiur pactum sanctuarii, i.e. (s. Field), Aq. read 3?? infin. — ^31.
Qiy-ii] Above niy-\?, construed there as masc, vv.'^- --, and s. at v.*;
for the gender s. Albrecht, 'Das Geschlecht d. hebr. Worter,' ZATW
1896, 74, and Kon., Syti., p. 165. For a poss. difference in signification
of gender forms cf. nnxaD n>j; v.'^ 'a fortified city,' and anxnc v.^*
'citadels.' 0 axspyiaTa, corrected by Or^ and Lu. to ^pxx'-oMsq; OrC
the two in doublet. — Tipnn npnn] ® 0 U as const, relation; (^ t.
$6^ou for 'nn, as rt. pir. — unj] = rt. aw. — ddcd yipttri] For the
460 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
varr. s. at 9^'; here 0 its peculiar pBsXuytxa Tj^avtafjilvov. See Note on
Text of 0 at end of c. 9. — 32, i;r"iB'iD] The Hif. in this operative sense
as at 12". (5 as though '-13. — T^jni] See Comm. (S tJ^tavoOatv; 0
(B al.) sxa^ouatv = ffi A 'win over,' erroneously A 35 106 al. s^ot^., al.
axa^. For notes on Arab, hanif, 'pious,' s. Wellhausen, Arab. Heiden-
tum, 207^., and for the Jewish sense as 'hypocrite,' etc., Griinbaum,
ZDMG 23, 635; 42, 54. & alone here has sing., aim 'shall condemn' —
textual error for ijnj. — nipSn] = nipSpSn vv.^^- s*; cf. '^"'^'?i?. <S Iv
cx>vT)p(.) \aQ>, error for ev xXrjpoSofft'qt, cf. vv.^^- ^*. — 33. DianS un^] h
Aramaizing sign of ace; also v.^^. — njnSa] 05 xaXatwBiQffovTai ev auT^,
as though na nSa. — aiD> ht^^] One ed. ntaa, and so as rel. const.
(S 0 B; MSS and many edd. + d>2t (s. de R.) ; ^ + ' looc' (S + at end
xTjXtSwO-rjasTat, var. for xaXottwO. ? — 34. nr;?''] (H auva^ouatv, error,
by attraction to foil, vb., for auviaxuaouatv (?). — 35. iStf^i [(& = iS3a'\
— ana] Comm. differ as to ref. : whether to indef. 'people,' 'among
them' (Dr.), or as obj. 'them' (Bev., Behr.); or with ref. to 'the
learned,' 'unter ihnen' (?), so Mar. Cha. prefers the passives of
<S, but these have prob. been induced by 12^". — ??i-] = Hif. pSnS;
Hitz., al. correct to Piel, but LHeb. uses both stems with this mng.;
cf. Kamp. 0 toO d£xo/.aXu96fjvat, evident error for dtxoXeuxaaGijvat, cf.
12^" IxXsuxavat, as Lu. here. & found rt. pa and om. maS. — }>p rij? '\y\
0 sax; xatpou -KigKxq, i.e., xlpac; as indeclinable; s. at v.^°.
36-39. The king's consummate arrogance toward God, the
gods and men. 36. And the king shall do according to his own
will ; and he shall exalt and magnify himself against every god,
and shall speak monstrous things against the God of gods. And
he shall prosper until the Wrath is accofnplished, for the deter-
mination is made. 37. And the gods of his fathers he shall not
regard, nor the Darling of women, yea, no god shall he regard, for
against all shall he magnify himself ; 38. but the God of Fortresses
shall he honor in place thereof, yea, a god whom his fathers knew
not shall he honor with gold and silver and precious stones and
costly things. 39. Attd he shall make for defenders [M fortifica-
tions] of fortresses a-people-of [M with] a foreign god; whom he
will recognize, he shall increase his honor, and he shall make them
rule over the many, and the land he shall divide in fief [Ht. for a
price].
This obscure passage throws novel side-lights upon Antiochus'
religious history. To be a god was no new claim for the Orien-
talized Hellenes, from Alexander down. Antiochus II was pos-
thumously entitled ' Theos ' ; and compare the earlier story of the
1 1 36-39 461
deified Darius, c. 6. But Epiphanes took his godhead very seri-
ously. He was the first to assume 'Theos' on his coins, and the
addition of 'Manifest' (practically 'incarnate') indicated his
self-identification with Deity, he was not merely a god like his
forebears. The ever-increasing obsession of godhead appears
from the sequence of his coins. See Babelon, Les rois de Syrie
(Catalogue of coins in the Paris National Library, 1891), pp.
xcii seg. (cited by Dr.). The portrait is finally approximated to
the features of Zeus Olympios. For light on the god 'his fathers
knew not,' Nestle {Marg., 42) has called attention to the same
work of Babelon, p. xlviii, who notes (as Nestle says, 'ohne
Ahnung unserer Danielstelle') that Apollo (the historic deity
of the dynasty) seated upon the Cyprian omphalos disappeared
almost entirely from the Seleucide coinage after the reign of
Epiphanes, being replaced by Zeus. This replacement of gods,
so contrary to antique sentiment {cf. Jer. 2^1), may suffice to
explain our writer's bitterness. We must bear in mind that our
document was not inspired by first-hand news from Antioch but
by provincial reports, and it is primarily valuable for this reflex
of popular opinion. Yet we may find in it a possible allusion
to the alleged edict of Antiochus in i Mac. i^^*^-, that all his
kingdom should be one people, one religion, otherwise unsup-
ported except for Jos.'s datum that he introduced the cult of
Zeus Xenios on Mount Gerizim. See E. Bevan, 'A Note on
Ant. Epiph.,' Journ. of Hell. Studies, 20 (1900), 27 _^., and his
chap, xxiv, 'Antiochus the God Manifest.'
The epithet 'God of Fortresses,' v.^*, apparently title of the
new god the king came to worship, is entirely obscure. © H
transliterated the second noun, Maozin, i.e., as n.pr., and this
may be implied by the disjunctive accent in M (but the prep, h
for the ace. implies a definite obj., 'the-god-of-M.'). Jeph.,
etymologizing D''Tj;d, thought of el-'Uzza, and so Aph. Syr.,
with the epithet «T''Ty, prob. of the Syrian 'Aziz; and so A
and Sa. the same adj. Grot, suggested Mars, the war god; and
so forth. The identification with Jupiter Capitolinus (a citadel
god) to whom Antiochus erected a great image at Antioch (Livy,
xli, 20), has been maintained by Dereser, Hav., vLeng. E.
Bevan suggests, p. 150, n. i, the goddess Roma, "the goddess
having, of course, as her emblem, a mural crown."
Also 'the Darling (desire) of women,' v.", has been variously
462 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
interpreted (s. Pole, Hav.). JDMich., followed by Gcsenius,
Hav., al., came on the right track m the identification with
Nanai-Anaitis-Astarte-Mylitta, goddess of women and their
passions. And Hav. has ingeniously corrected a word in Aph.
Syr. (rdg. NNI for KNI), showing that he found here the god-
dess Nanai. But Ew.'s identification with Tammuz- Adonis has
now, since Bev., come to be generally adopted. CJ. Eze. 8^^ for
a description of this passionate cult of women. The actual
phrase may be illustrated from Hipp., Refut. haer., v, 9, who
cites as Syrian epithet for Adonis TpL7rodr]To<; 'thrice-desired'
(Dr.). May we think of some attempt of the king to control
or suppress that lascivious cult, in line with his unification of
religion ? For often aesthetes, such as he was, join forces with the
religious against the absurd and barbarous. We may compare
the attempt to abolish the worship of Isis from Rome in the
next century.
In general ' the lack of regard for any god ' may be summarily
explained from the king's many despoliations of temples; cf.
Polyb. xxxi, 4, 10, "he robbed most of the temples." E. Bevan
would find in this objective the practical reason for his assump-
tion of divinity, that he might enjoy the profits of religion.
36. 'The king,' the fascination of the writer, now stands
alone upon the stage. 'According to his will': so of the other
'Greats,' 8" and ii^ (Alexander), iii« (Antiochus IH). For
'exalt himself' cf. 5^^, of Belshazzar, 'against the Lord of
Heaven'; and for 'magnify himself,' Is. lo^'^, a description of
Assyria. For 'the God of gods' s. at 2"; the One God of the
Jews, but there is latent sympathy for 'the Unknown God' of
Paganism, the Lord of Heaven. In general cf. the elegy over the
king of Babylon, Is. 14 (of which city Antiochus was sovereign).
'Monstrous things' (Bev.): the same adj.-noun as adv. at 8^^
(also of Antiochus), where also 'he shall prosper'; and for the
divine 'Wrath' s. at 8'*. The final clause is repeated from
g26. 27. ^}^g Heb. pf. is that of certainty. 37. The word for 'dar-
ling = desire' appears at w.^- ^*, the 'costly' things or vessels,
i.e., the sumptuous works of art donated to the gods, and a
cognate word in the address to Dan. as 'dear man,' 9-^, lo"- ^'.
38. 'In his place' (lit.): indefinite relation, prob. referring to
'all,' v."; in view of the same phrase w.'^- "• ^^ not super basi
sua (as, e.g., Ex. 30^^ of the laver), with some early Prot. comm.
II-^''-'' 463
{cj. AVmg), and vLeng., 'on its pedestal,' thinking of Jupiter
Capitolinus.
39. Hitz.'s emendation of M, reading QJJ 'people' for Dj;
'with,' has been adopted above, in company with Mein., Bev.,
Behr., Mar., Lohr, Cha., Lamb., Ehr. Further clarification can
be obtained by repointing the word 'fortifications' in |^ (''12i30
for ''"ii'2D, following a gratuitous suggestion by Kamp., cjt.
Is. 22"), and so = 'those who block up,' i.e., 'defenders' (Mar.
offhand, 'Besatzungen')- The ref. is then to that prime scandal
to Jewish feelings, the heathen garrison, 'people of a strange
god' ('a sinful people,' i Mac. i^*) in the new Akra (s. at v.'O-
This was a deliberate and effective insult to their religion; cf.,
e.g., I Mac. 14^*^, the 'citadel out of which they issued and pol-
luted all things round about the sanctuary and did great hurt
to its purity.' Porphyry is the first to have made this identifi-
cation :/acig/ haec omnia ut muniat arcem lerusalem. The text of
IH may best be represented by JV, but the allusions are totally
obscure. There follows a statement of the honors and posses-
sions that accrued to the king's mercenaries and favorites; cf.
I Mac. 3^", of Antiochus' plans at the sending of Lysias, 'that
he should make strangers (prob. orig. 13J '^^'2) dwell in all
their coasts, and should divide their land to them by lot,' cf.
Am. 7". At the end 'in fief,' fit. 'for a price,' i.e., by KkrjpovxM:
the land was not so much sold as given in return for services
or rental. Erroneously B gratuito = ^ €i? Scopedv^ 0 iv Boopot'i^
except so far as these terms may be technical for the royal
bounty. We are in general in the dark how the Sem. rendered
customary Gr. legal terminology.
36. I'^sn] Om. by 0 = 51, then supplied, e.g., B after utjjwGTjtjsTat
(al. in other positions); entered in duplicate here by Lu. — acnni] <&
xapopYtaeTjaEirai, the same tr. Hos. i2"(^^>. — cSn hn h';^] 0 (B 26 89
130 = ffi) om. — .-iinSbj] N.b. (S 'i^aXku 'novel,' etc.— nnc'jjj nsinj >d]
(& 0 paraphrase; Lu. doublet [cuvueXetav] x. aTcovSrjv, cf. 9-^. — 37.
inS.s h-;] B 62 i-Ki ivxyzhq GeoO, error for licl xdcvraq 6eo6? = 1C in
omnes dcos, cf. inf. exl icav 6e6v (for itav here s. at 6'*("0> ® ^Iso Oeou?,
but Aq. (ace. to Jer.), (gs 6e6v, and so B H; cf. hSn v.''.— d-'IT'j msn S;?]
B al. i-K\.%<j\).[q. X.T.X., prob. haplog. for exl extG. = Q Lu. al. Tl for the
sentence, et erit in concitpisccntiis feminariim, i.e., avoiding continuance
of the negation; Jer. deliberately contrasts ^'s tr., and proceeds to paint
464 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
a highly colored picture of Ant.'s concupiscence. — ni*?** Sd h}}\] 3MSS
Ken., (5 Lu. om. — 38. DnjjD n'^x] (g here inexplicable; © transliterates,
= U Maozin; Aq. Gsbv /.paxatwpiaTwv (ace. to Field also glossed to 230,
not in HP). Jer. does not further commit himself as to the mng., but
ridicules Porphyry for identifying it with Modin, the home of the
Maccabees. The transliteration in 0 II caused the word to be generally
taken as n.pr. of a god, and in general provoked interminable discus-
sion, cf. Pole; dEnv. makes it surrogate for "PwtxT) = 'force' (!). —
12t] d5 xtviQast, error for Ttti-^aet? — 39. onpr] 0 v.aiaifuy€iv (cf. at
yv 10. 21. 38) = Sym. confugiorum, as with primary mng. of n;?. Jer.
cites 0 as aget haec ut muniat praesidiis cum deo alieno (?), and so ren-
ders, faciei ut muniat Maozin, etc. C6 for the sentence, xottjaei xoXeuv
X. zlc, 6xup(i)tia bxup!)v Y)^£t, where xoX. is gloss to Ea^. — isj^I-Xd;!] Cf.
"I3J hi< Dt. 32'2, and, for emendation to °>1' "'^J '°'>' BSir 2>3> (36)^—1^3^
Kt., ■T'3'' ELr., Mss.; Mich, i-'on Kt. and IgLr.] There is no substantial
difference between Kt. and Kr. The syntax of the clauses . . . icn
ni33 is variously analyzed, cf. EW; best with Ehr. to keep the same
subj. in both vbs. and with iS impUed in the apodosis. B A 106 om.
-i>3n Ti'N; al. = (K ou eav IxtYvw, often in corrupt form, e. g., Q. IS
relates itr'x to mSx, and adds et [multiplicauit] with 0. & goes its own
way in the v.
40-45. The last great effort of Antiochus, then his end. 40.
And at the time of the end shall the king of the South butt with
him ; and the king of the North shall storm against him with chariots
and horsemen and many ships, and he shall come into lands and
shall overflow and pass on. 41. And he shall come into the De-
lightsome Land and myriads [m many] shall fall. But there shall
he delivered from his hand Edom and Moab and the remnant [||
chief] of the Bne-Ammon. 42. And he shall lay his hand on lands,
and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43. And he shall master
the deposits of gold and silver and all the costly things of Egypt;
and Libya and Ethiopia shall he at his heel. 44. But tidings shall
alarm him from the East and the North, and he shall go out in
great fury, to destroy and annihilate many. 45. And he shall
plant the tents of his pavilion between the Sea and the Holy Mount
of Delight. And he shall come at last to his end, and none to help
him.
For the varieties of interpretation of this passage we may
aptly quote Bev. (p. 198): "With regard to these verses there
are, as we have seen [p. 162], three rival hypotheses, viz., (i)
that they relate historical facts which took place after those al-
Il40-45 465
ready mentioned, i.e., after the year 168 B.C., (2) that they give
a general sketch of the course of events from about 171 B.C. to
the death of Antiochus, (3) that they describe, not real facts,
but merely the expectation of the author." To these should be
added (4) the view maintained since Jer., that the end of Anti-
christ is portrayed here. The second theory is based on the
allegation of a fourth Egyptian war attributed by Jer. to Por-
phyry; as we have seen above (note to int. to w.^^-*^), this view
is now wholly discountenanced by historians, however we may
explain Porphyry's datum or the way in which Jer. came to
make the attribution (s. Dr.'s excellent note introductory to
this passage). The present writer agrees with the great majority
of recent comm. — many of them of most conservative tendency,
e.g., Hav., dEnv., who would find in the passage an accurate
forecast of Antiochus' death — in regarding the passage as a
prophecy of the king's catastrophic end. But it cannot, with
those conservative theologians, be taken in any way as an exact
prophecy of the actual events of his ruin. The alleged final vic-
torious war with Egypt, including the conquest of the Cyrenaica
and Ethiopia, in face of the power of Rome and the silence of
secular history, is absolutely imaginary. All attempts to place
the scene of the king's actual death as accurately foretold in
v.*^ are based on misunderstandings, of long inheritance. The
boastful threats of the fearful man after his expulsion from
Eg>^t in 168 B.C. laid the basis of expectation of his return
thither, but with little understanding of the new factor Rome,
which had entered the stage of the Orient; he is to have his
heartful of triumph over Egypt and many lands, but God's
vindication against him is to be made by his overthrow 'be-
tween the Sea and Jerusalem,' v.'*^, i.e., in the Holy Land, as he
prepares to march against the Holy City. For it was on this
holy stage that apocalypse ever depicted the breaking down of
all Antitheistic power; so of Gog, Eze. 39^; also Joel 4(3)^
Zech. 14^, En. 56^^-, 90^^^-, Rev. 20^.^ However, this inaccuracy
' The location ' between the Sea and the Holy Mount ' for the final progress against
the latter might best be taken for the route up from Ptolemais (not Joppa) inland;
this would have passed by the commanding fortress of Megiddo (' the plain of Me-
giddo' ace. to 2 Ch. 35", and & and A tr. UiDN v.''^ by 'plain'), and the combina-
tion of our prophecy with the many historic crucial events at Megiddo may have
produced the theme of Armageddon, Rev. 16''. Is there any association of ideas
in the name of Campus legionis, the modem Lejjdn, hard by Megiddo ?
30
466 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
of the prophetic forecast is of extreme value to the critic; our
book must have been composed \vell before the tyrant's death.
On the other hand, the essence of the prophecy was strangely
justified by Antiochus' miserable death.
40. 'At the time of the end': cf. vv."- 2^, and inf. v.'*^, 'his
end.' 'Butt with him' (reciprocal vb.): the figure as in 8^; and
for 'storm' cf. Jon. i", Hab. 3". Has 'many' been dislodged
from orig. 'many [lands]'? The figure of overflowing is as at
v.i°. 41. For 'the Delightsome Land' s. at v.^^. 'Myriads' is
a correction of one vowel point in M, which reads 'many,' fern.,
sc. 'lands' (?). The exemption of the lands to the east and
south of Judaea is entirely obscure, not satisfactorily cleared up
by the usual appeal to the fact that those peoples were hostile
to the nationalistic revival under Judas {n.b. his wars against
Edom and Ammon, i Mac. 5^*^), and so, ipso facto, exempt. It
must be some local allusion whose significance escapes us, un-
less we regard it as a later insertion. Jer.'s comment, "illuc
sancti ad deserta confugiunt," has in mind prob. the flight of
the Jerusalem Church to Pella. For 1^ JT'w'X^ 'chief is read
here n''*lSw' 'remnant,' with ^, and so GB Mar., Lohr, Cha.,
Ehr., Lamb.; the former cannot be explained by appeal to Nu.
24-°, Am. 6S etc.; cf. 'the remnant of Edom,' Am. 9^-, etc. 42.
'Lay his hand upon': as at Ex. 221° (^\ Est. 8^ The mask is
thrown oflf with the naming of Eg^pt; for its earlier occurrence
s. at v.8. 43. 'Deposits' ''JD3ID (Aram, rt.), lit. 'hidden
things,' i.e., 'treasures.' As treasures were always 'hidden' in
the ground {e.g., Mt. 13*^), or in safe places like temples, we
may render the word technically by 'deposits.' 'Libya and
Ethiopia': the nouns are grammatically pis., but such pis. are
designations of the peoples as a whole, cf. DTlw^^S = 'Philistia.'
The two lands, the Cyrenaica, a possession of the Ptolemies,
and Ethiopia, represent the extremes of the traditional empire
of Egypt, the whole of which shall be conquered. 'At his heel':
lit. 'steps'; cf. 'at his feet,' e.g., Ju. 4^°, i.e., 'in his train,' as
subjects. 44. 'Tidings' or 'rumors,' i.e., news, 'from the East
and the North': i.e., in contrast to Egypt, the South. Antiochus'
last year was actually spent in campaigning against the king-
dom of Armenia and the Parthians; these were the three strate-
gic points of the compass for his empire. ' Alarm ' : the same vb.
in the Aram., 4-^"', etc. The two infins. at the end are found
paired, but in reverse order, at 2 Ch. 20^^; in both passages the
rt. haram, primarily of religious 'ban' and so destruction, is
used in an entirely secular sense. 45. 'The tents of his pa-
vilion': the last word, appeden, is of Pers. origin, apadana, and
came in through the Akkad.; s. Uterature in GB, and add Schef-
telowitz, Arisches im AT, 1901, 79, Tisdall, JQR 2, 370. Ace.
to Maspero, Passing of the Empires, 741, it meant the hall of
honor. The word taken along with ' tents' must signify here the
royal pavilion, a mng. supported by Targ. to Jer. 43^° (Dr.),
where it tr. the obscure Heb. I't'l^u', generally recognized as
'baldachin,' s. Lexx., esp. Kon., Hivb. Of the VSS Aq. and
Sym. alone approximated the mng., the others transliterated
and then their texts fell into error. Hav. cites Polyaenus' de-
scription {Strategica, iv, 3, 24) of Alexander's great audience
pavilion in India. 'Sea' (so RW): Heb. 'seas' (AV JV), i.e.,
pi. of extension, so in poetry, e.g., Ju. 5'^, Dt. 33^^ The word in
all these places anarthrous, = 'the Sea.' 'The Holy Mount of
Delight,' Heb., 'mount of delight of holiness': combination of
the name for the land as above, e.g., v.^^, and the freq. 'mount
of holiness,' e.g., Ps. 2^; for such a series of constructs cf. Is. 28^
One of the usual Heb. expressions for 'between' is used here,
lit. 'between the sea(s) to the mountain,' rightly rendered by
(g ^; but 0 tr., 'between the seas, at (et?) the mount,' and B,
following prob. the suggestion of a Gr. rdg. eVi, tr., inter maria,
super ynontem; this tradition was followed by GV, 'zwischen
zwei Meeren, um den . . . Berg,' and AV, 'between the seas
in the . . . mountain.' This current 'between the seas' has
originated many curiosities of interpretation: the Mediterranean
and the Dead Sea (Jer.); the two rivers of Mesopotamia (Por-
phyry) ; the Euxine and Persian Gulf (Calv.) ; the Caspian and
Persian Gulf (Hav.); etc.; dEnv. explains from the Bab. ter-
minology of 'the Upper and the Lower Sea,' and understands
the centre of the Oriental empire. These latter interpretations,
of course, seek identification with the actual scene of Antiochus'
death at Tabae in Persia, and then generate the absurdity of a
Jew calling a heathen temple 'Holy Mount of Delight,' as Bev.
observes. 'At last to (^J?) his end' = 'bis zu seinem Ende': cj.
the catastrophic end foreseen for Antiochus at 8'^
40. YP p;'3] 0 £v y.atpou xepairi 'at the end of time'; but cf. v.^^ —
N3] (& 0 eiaeXeucexat, B 49 106 130 -aovxat. — TJ;'] 0 auvxpiij'^'j Lu.
468 A COMMENTARY ON DANEEL
pref. doublet Iv tw ■/.azayikduei. — 41. i3xn V"iN3] (& here sic, t. xt^P<^v
jj^ou.—nia-]] Point ^^3"^. = Neh. y", with Sym., de Wette, al., cf.
mK3"\ v.^. 0 as masc, TuoXXot, C& correctly fern. -KaXkai. But the
passage x. xoXXat . . . (v.*-) yaiats is a Hexaplaric insertion; the
omission is due to homoiotel. of •'Jsn yiNa and nis->S3. This insertion
is not from ©, and in view of Jer.'s note, "multas autem corruere,
iuxta Aquilam, uel urbes, uel regiones, uel provincias intellige," we may
assume that the inset was taken from Aq.; n.b. the archaizing yafatt;.
& 'many' = "B nmltae, also edd. miiUi. — 42. mxiN] © as sing.; i.e., the
subj. as Antichrist? — 43. ''JDDd] Rt.f; mng. 'hidden' is supported from
later Jewish use = 0 t. (ixoxpuqjoiq. ^ II properly interpret as thesauri,
s. Comm. ; there is no reason, on basis of Syr. mng. ' lie in ambush,' to
correct to •'Jcan with Kau., Aramaismen, 40, BDB. 05 toO t6xou =
ODD as opD. — inj?SD2] (& is closest to l|, ev tw oxXw auxoO; & nniiya,
i.e., rdg. mya; 0 sv t. Sxupu^i-aaiv aJTwv, rdg. mx2D3, with the
pron. pluralized after syntactical alignment of 'Libyans and Ethio-
pians' with 'Egypt'; B paraphrases with another interpretation, per
Lihyam quoque et Ethiopiam transihit. — 44. inSna^] All 0 mss exc. V
have the doublet axouSaf || Totpd^ouatv; for ax. = Sna, s. 0 2'^, etc. —
0 texts, e? dvaToXwv x. ixb ^oppa, but 33 49 62 87 90 91 228 om. axo.
— C5 + [sv eu(jLW taxupw] X. po(Ji(pa[(jt. — onnnS] 0 om., Or?- c Lu. +
xal ToO d;va6e;j.a-rt'aG(t. — 45. yc^] ;;aj of pitching a tent, Is. 51'*, i.e.,
the 'implanting' of tent-stakes, cf. Ecc. 12" of driving a nail; otherwise
HDj is used. — •'VriKJ ims Ken. iShn, and so all VSS exc. Aq., Sym. —
uidk] <& t6t£ = 1DN or jnN. 0 'EipaSavw, without gramm. construc-
tion, given construction by Lu., Iv^aSavw = ev <l>aSav(p; V 130 1$'
'ASavw, etc. Jer. gives as Aq.'s tr., et plantabit tabernaculum prae-
torii sici in A9£Sva> (al. AxeSvw), on which Field remarks that two
versions of Aq. appear to have been compounded. If follows Aq.,
Apedno (Apadno). Sym. has toQ Ixxoa-uacifou auToO. & N''DB' N^nN3 'in a
level country'; i.e., as po^, 'in a field,' and so A; on this correspon-
dence between & and A s. Gehman, p. 338. — d-'D'' ] g* as sing. — S'np las in]
"M super tnontem inclytum et sanctum follows Aq.; & for ifip ijx 'and
will keep {^^•o:•<) his sanctuary,' which Aph. Syr. naturally interprets,
"God will preserve his temple against Antiochus." — ixp fv] 05 wpa ( =
ny) TT5? CTUVTeXsfa? airoO; & '[shall come] the time [pj?] of his end'; ©
eox; [xipou? au-uou, 'to his destiny,' and so [Jilpoq = nxp 2^.
NOTE ON THE INTERPRETATION OF C. 11.
There appears to be an utter lack of allusion to this chap, in early Jewish
and Christian literature. And subsequently the Jewish comm. with their
characteristic lack of historical sense make the chap, a phantasmagoria of
fanciful allusions, among which appear pell-mell Rome, Ishmael, the Hasmo-
NOTE ON THE INTERPRETATION OF CHAPTER II 469
naeans, the Queen of Sheba, etc. Jephet alone exhibits somewhat of an his-
toric continuity, concluding with the theme of God's overthrow of Islam.^
The comm. of the Eastern Churches go early astray in the historical rib-
work of the chap. Hipp, takes up his exegesis of it at iv, 41; in c. 42 he
interprets vv.' ^- of Antiochus Epiphanes, and then comes the story of the
Maccabees. By c. 46 he has reached the death of Alexander Balas, with
citation of i Mac. ii"^-. With c. 48 = our vv.'^^- enters Antichrist.
But two early commentators, unlike Hipp, and Jer. and most of their
successors, pursue an entirely historical exegesis of the whole chapter, both
interpreting it from the Mace, history. Aphrem (his rubrics are carried
over into & only as far as v.'-) finds in v.^ the marriage of Cleopatra daughter
of Antiochus III. The rest of the chap, is assigned to the reign of Anti-
ochus IV, and the conclusion is interpreted of the latter's death. Poly-
chronius pushes the history still farther forward. At vv.* ^- he sees the vic-
tory of Alexander Balas over Demetrius I, 150 B.C., and his marriage with
Philometor's daughter (yet noting here Porphyry's view that Berenice's
marriage is meant). The history is continued with the wars of Trypho
against the Jews, and his master Antiochus VI is identified with the tyrant
of the rest of the chap.
V^estern scholarship has been delivered from the vagaries of apocalyptic
exegesis through the mediation of Jerome. Porphyry, the heathen commen-
tator of Dan., in his argument against the Christian interpretation of Dan.
as a Messianic prophecy, had given a detailed historical interpretation of
c. II, proving step by step that it is veiled history culminating with the
Mace, period, and hence logically the earlier cc. must be simDarly inter-
preted. He has many characteristics of an ingenious modern scholar, as
when he identifies Maozin v/ith Modin the home of Maccabees, or Ephedano
with a place between Euphrates and Tigris as the scene of Antiochus'
actual death. Jer. honestly allowed himself to follow his reprobated oppo-
nent's excellent historical criticism, only parting company with him at v.^',
when for him the Antichrist appears. But he continues what is one of the
greatest services contributed by any Patristic comm. in still presenting in
parallel Porphyry's adverse views, so that Western scholarship has been in
general committed to a sane exegesis of the chap. Cath. theologians them-
selves have divided in part as between Jer. and Porphyry, some treating
the whole of vv.^i ^- as referring to Antichrist, others introducing this figure
only at v.^^, in this respect following Theodt. (s. Knab., p. 320). Chrysostom,
however, found the Antichrist throughout the chap. {Adv. J ltd., v, 7 = PG
48, 894).
* Jeph. possesses the same tradition for the location of the appeden, v.^^ as we find
in Jer. The latter remarks: "nostri ... sic exponunt . . . ut figat tabernaculum
suum in Apedno iuxta Nicopolim. . . . Deinde se erigens usque ad montem Oliueti
lerosolymarum regio ascenditur" (hence the 'seas' are the Mediterranean and the
Dead Sea). And so Jeph., "it is thought that he will pitch his tents at "Amwas four
parasangs from Jerusalem."
470 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
The early Prot. comm. followed the leads offered by Jer., some finding the
Antichrist at v.-', others accepting Porphyry's historical exegesis to a later
point in the chap. A subdivision appears in this class, of those who find the
Antichrist introduced first at v.'^, e.g., Geier, CBMich.; much later Klief.
proposed that his first appearance is at v.^".
Later the historical, as against the apocalyptic, interpretation of this
final section, w.^^s , advanced more and more to the fore, both with the
conservatives and the radical theologians. The latter, e.g , Bert., found a
vaticiniiim ex eventu and generally the Fourth (or Third) Egyptian War;
vLeng. was the first to reject this hypothesis, descended from Jer.'s pres-
entation of Porphyry, and he regarded the passage as a general summary
of events, such as occurs in vv"^ «■ Of the conservative theologians some
found a true and exact prediction of Antiochus' end, including a Fourth
war, so Hav. {e.g., v. sup. at v.'*^), Stu., dEnv., Knab.; but Kran., denying
this war and confessing the vagueness of detail in prophecy, insisted only
on the truth of the chief objective of the prediction. Withal the ancient
theme of Antiochus as type of Antichrist was still woven in by some with-
out prejudice to an historical exegesis, e.g., Knab., p. 315.
On the other hand, the more theologically minded, who recognized that
their interpretations of cc. 2. 7-9 were logically involved, found still in this
chap, a symbolic prophecy of the conflict of the kingdoms of the World,
with only occasional and indistinct prefigurations of secular events, the
whole culminating in the prospect of the Antichrist; so, e.g., Keil, and
apparently Pusey, who however does not particularly treat this chap.
One conservative scholar, Zock., bravely found his way out by the unique
position that exact historical data in the chap, are due to interpolations by
'a revision in the time of Ant. Epiph., by a pious apocalyptic investigator'
(Int., §1, p. 4, n. 2). Zock.'s theory has been continued by Wright in his
Daniel, cc. 8-10. Wright's position is heartily indorsed by Boutflower, In
and Around the Book of Daniel, 5 f.
The current view of recent comm. is that with v.^" begins a prediction
of the future, the Maccabaan author leaving the ground of past history at
the point where he stands and forecasting the end of the tyrant. This is
the position of Mein., Bev., Behr., Pr., Dr., Mar., Cha., Lamb. The mod-
ern consensus is thereiore a continuation of the ancient historical exegesis
of the chap, as introduced by Porphyry, with the exception that vv." ^■
are a necessarily vague prediction of events subsequent to 168 B.C., after
the manner of much of O.T. prophecy and apocalyptic.
C. 12, 1-3. The final triumph of the Righteous. 1. And at
that time shall Michael stand up, the Great Prince who stands by
the sons of thy people. And it shall be a time of distress, such as
has not been brought to pass since there was a nation until that
time. But at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one
12^"^ 471
found written in the Book. 2. And many of those who sleep in
the ground of dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some
to reproach, to everlasting abhorrence.
3. And the Wise shall shine like the sheen of the sky:
And they who set the many right like the stars for ever and
ever.
The end of the godless tyrant must have its positive foil in
the bliss of the righteous; so the elder apocalypses concluded,
e.g., Eze. 38-39, Joel 4(3). Those prospected the future re-
deemed Israel of earth living free of enemies and of the curses
of earth {e.g.. Is. 4); death was generally accepted in a common-
sense spirit as inevitable, at the best a long life might be ex-
pected (c. Is. 652° ^O- But a new factor had entered now. The
righteous had been martyred for the Religion of the One God,
and what was their meed? The growing individualism of the
age, marked in the piety of saints and the heroism of the Mace,
minority, stung by the sense of lack of equity in the laws of
nature, demanded the personal vindication of the martyrs and
confessors of the Religion. The doctrine of the resurrection of
the dead was the precipitate of the problem; and these vv. are
"the earliest passage where the belief is unambiguously set
forth" (Bev.). From the time of the Maccaboean struggle that
belief entered to become one of the few chief dogmas of Judaism.
The doctrine as expressed here has its marked features and
limitations. Ace. to v.^ the living who are entered in the divine
Register of those whose 'citizenship is in heaven' shall be de-
livered from the present distress. As for those who sleep the
sleep of death iy^) some, only, will be raised up, and of them
two classes: these, the righteous, to everlasting life (the first
occurrence of the term in the Bible), and those, evidently the
arch-sinners, to everlasting reproach, i.e., for their own shame
and the moral satisfaction of the righteous. The rest, who were
neither good nor bad, with whom divine justice had satisfied
itself, are ignored, left in the shades. And, v.^, from the righteous
a higher order is distinguished, 'the Wise,' who knew and prac-
tised the doctrine of the Religion and who by their instruction
and discipline were able to 'set right' or 'make righteous' the
mass of the community, 'the many'; these are to shine with
brilliance like the stars. Further, whether the conditions of these
blest ones is secular or celestial, we are not told. The boon of
472 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
this bliss is given to the seer himself as the climax of the bk.,
V,
13
For the doctrine of the resurrection in general s. above, Int.,
§20, and such authorities as Volz, Jild. Esch., §§26_/., Bousset,
Rel. d. Jtid., 2,'^^ f-i Charles, Critical History of the Future Life,
cc. 3-5, the O.T. and N.T. Theologies, etc. Volz, p. 12, with-
out any convincing reason regards these w. as constituting by
themselves 'a little apocalypse.' V.^ is cited Pss. of Solomon 3^^,
and Test. Levi 10^ with the development that 'all men shall rise.'
1. For Michael s. c. 10; here with the title 'great prince,' i.e.,
later 'archangel.' 'Stand by' or 'over': as in Eng. idiom of pro-
tection, cf. Est. 8", 91^. 'Time of distress' is cited from Jer. 30^
'Such as never was,' etc.: cf. Ex. 91^, Joel 2^ (n%"lJ as here),
cited Mt. 2431 = Mk. 1319. 'In the Book': i.e., the register of
citizens enrolled for the eternal life. It is an extension of the
idea of the book God keeps of the names of Israel in this world;
cf. Ps. 692^^^^) and Ex. 32^^ The present idea is anticipated by
Is. 4^, 'those who are written unto life' in the glorified Jerusa-
lem. So in En. 47^ (where s. Cha.'s note), etc., and freq. in the
N.T., e.g., Phil. 4^, Rev. 3^; s. note on the heavenly 'books' at
71° and Bousset, pp. 295 f. 2. 'Those who sleep': this tender
term is continued in the N.T., Jn. 11", Acts 7''°, i Th. 51" (a
reminiscence of our passage). 'Dust' is the element of the
grave, cf. Job. 20", Ps. 22-^, the natural place of man's ultimate
return, 'for dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return,'
Gen. 3^°. The collocation of the words 'ground of dust' has
troubled translators since (^; it may be noted that "ISJ^ has in
later Heb. the sense of hyle, matter. The otherwise unused word
for 'abhorrence' is cited from Is. 66-'', where there is the first
glimpse of the eternal pains of the damned in a Gehenna. 3.
'The wise': as at 11^^; Baha b. 8b cites the term here as applying
to the teachers of Israel. For the 'sheen' of the sky cf. its
'clarity,' Ex. 24^''. There is the incipient idea of the transcen-
dent conditions of the blest, 'a new heaven and a new earth.'
'Who set the many right,' EVY 'that turn (the) many to right-
eousness': with the Hif. of pllf, but not in its customary legal
sense of 'declaring innocent'; the present text of Is. 53" may
be compared, ' by his knowledge shall my righteous Servant ( ?)
make the many righteous,' of which our v. is reminiscent. Bev.
aptly quotes P. Aboth, v. 26. 27, which depends upon our pas-
12^ 473
sage: "Whosoever makes the many righteous (Jewish n^TH =
Bibl. p''^lf^) sin prevails not over him; and whosoever makes
the many to sin, he is deprived of the power of repentance [n.b.
many parallels in the N.T.]. Moses was righteous and made
the many righteous, and the righteousness of the many de-
pended upon him." 'The many' (= ii^^), as Taylor remarks
ad loc, are practically the community, the public; cf. Rom. 51^
ol TToWoi. Volz's suggestion (p. 12) that the ref. is to the pro-
pitiatory value of the sufferings of martyrs is not impossible.
The theme of these glorified saints shining like the stars is taken
up in En. 39^, 43, 104^, Wis. 3^, Mt. 13^^ ('the righteous shall
shine as the sun'), etc.
1. icy] (& luapeXsuffETac = •\2V; 233 ivaxwpTjaeTat. — n;? nnTii] <&
Ixetvitj f) ^fx^pa = Py^ ">ni.— mx] © GXft^ewq eXtt^ct;; Or? Q* + 8mss
om. eXfi^tt;. Is this a back-reading from Mt. 24^^ = Mk. 13"? Cf.
also the citation in i Mac. 9". — nninj] For the same Nif. s. 2^, 8-^. —
iij] (S om. 0 Xa6q -f- (B 35 106) Iv T73 yfj, al. (exc. 62) -j- Ixl t. y-^?;
the latter form of plus in the citation Rev. 16''; is our plus a back-
reading? — .""yji] B + 5MSS om. the conj. — hSdi] (B utliweifjaeTai, error
for awGTjjETat = 6. — xxDjn] 0 om. — 2. ''^W^] For the prolonged e s.
Earth, Nb., §5, c. d; cf. ""^i?"' 7", ^-V. 2", q.v.—-\s}} nmNJ (g £v tw xXixei
■T- T^?> ® ^v T^"^ xw!J-'''''^'j ^'•^•) with reversed construction = H in terrae
piiluere = EW. S. note by Bev. for a possible nniN 'cairns,' c/i. Ps.
49". — niflnnS] ® a doublet correcting an error, SveiStaixov || Stotaxo-
piv. — px-n*^] = Is. 66-^ B for s'r'i;? 'nS «^ uideant (= pNi^S) semper.
— 3. In 0, B Xczixtl^ouatv, al. e/.X., after the citation Mt. 13*^ — ini]
^ cpwjTfjpe?, cf. Arab, zuhara = Venus. — ^pni'c] 0 as though ^■''"'?'?;
05 misread D"'a-in 'd, as though nan ipiTnn; H qui ad iiistitiam erndiunt
multos.
4. Final injunction to seal the Book. And thou, Daniel, shut
up the words, and seal the hook, even to the time of the end, (while)
many shall run to and fro that knowledge may increase. For ' clos-
ing up the words' cf. 'closing up the vision,' 8^^. For the invio-
labiUty of 'sealing' cf. Is. 29". The opposite injunction is given,
Rev. 22^°, but there the consummation is immediate. By 'the
book' is evidently meant the whole book. 'The time of the
end': as at 8", 11^^; i.e., the climax of the Antiochian crisis.
'Run to and fro,' etc.: the passage is best explained as an allu-
sion to a well-known Scripture, Am. 8^^: 'they shall wander
from sea to sea and from the north to the east; they shall run
474 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
to and fro (the same vb. as here) to seek the word of Yhwh,
but shall not find it'; so Ra. interprets by simply citing Am.
The parallel interprets the clause ' that knowledge may increase ' ;
it is all a vain search until the Book is published. This sense of
'wandering' has been accepted by some early Prot. comm.,
vLeng., al., but with the sense that 'knowledge' must be inter-
preted in a depreciatory sense, as vain or false opinions (Mon-
tanus). The most common interpretation is that given by Jer.,
who tr. the vb. by pertransibunt, and comments, "id est, per-
current; solemus enim dicere, percurri librum, pertransiui his-
toriam." So indeed Jeph., also Geier, et al., and still a prevalent
view, e.g., dEnv., Knab., Mein., Pr., Mar. ('durchforschen').
But there is no support for this meaning of the vb., the parallel
adduced, Zech. 4^", = 2 Ch. 16^, of Yhwh's eyes 'going to and
fro through the earth,' having the sense fixed by the subject.
Hav., after ^ and Calv., explains: only to those who seek is the
grace given to look into God's mysteries; but again the vb.
does not mean 'seek.' Behr. and Bev. have suggested emenda-
tions. V.^ is best understood as dependent, as in the tr.
4. an^in] 0 X6youg, B Xotxou<;; a similar error at 11". — laar-'] 0
I'uq StBaxOwatv (?); (5 ewg av (ixoiAotvoOatv, suggesting to Behr. the
vb. tovj', 'abtriinnig werden,' but ($ had our vb. — :^y\n nann] = 0 @ U,
05 %kqQ^xi T) yn aStxfac;, prob. a doublet, y^ = nyiN, dSixta? = nyin.
The latter is accepted by Bev. in place of n>nn, 'many shall be the
calamities,' aptly citing i Mac. i^ exXtjOuvav y.oe/,a £v t^ yf) as a prob.
quotation of the orig. Ileb.
EPILOGUE 125-"
The Vision was properly finished by the command to 'seal
the Book' v.^. This epilogue is therefore a supplement, a condi-
tion which has induced Barton to regard it as a later addition
to the bk. ; on this criticism s. Mar. here. Two motifs give
authentication to this appendix: (i) The anxious inquiry of the
seer as to the time of the end, on which the Vision had given no
information; (2) the personal promise to the seer of his own
fortunate lot in the future {cf. a similar promise to Baruch,
Jer. 45) ; with this personal touch the bk. quietly but dramati-
cally ends.
5-7. The celestial colloquy as to the end. 5. Aiid I Daniel
looked, and lo, two others standing, the one at this side oj the bank
12^-^ 475
of the stream, and the other at that side of the hank of the stream.
6. And one (of them) said to the man clothed in linen, who was
beside the waters of the stream : How long until the end of the mar-
vels? 7. Ajtd I heard the man clothed in linen, who was beside the
waters of the stream, as he lifted up his right hand and his left
unto heaven and swore : By Him who liveth forever, it is for a
time, times, and a half ; and when an end is made to breaking in
pieces the power of the Holy People, all these things shall have eftd.
5. Two angelic persons are introduced in the final solemn
scene. One of them puts the question as to the end, the query
in the seer's heart which he dares not to utter. It is addressed
to the man in linen, the personage in lo^*^-, i.e., Gabriel. Simi-
larly in 8" two persons appear on the scene, and likewise in
Zech. i'^^-, 2^'-^'>^- there is a duplication of such men. Bev. in-
geniously explains the two as witnesses to the oath in v.'^. 6.
The subj. of 'said' is unexpressed, it must be one of the two;
® et al. with a slight change of lj| have 'I said,' but this is gen-
erally disowned by critics. The locality is still that of the river-
side, as at lo^. The word 'stream' is the word which elsewhere
denotes the Nile, or in the pi. its arms, except at Is. 2)2)^^ {^
Mesopotamian scene) and Job 28^", where, if correct, it must
mean the galleries of a mine; it poss. appears in the Talmud as
'canal.' 'Marvels': a cognate form of the rt. is used of the
'awful' actions and language of Antiochus at S^'*, 11'^. The
query ' how long ' is the same as at 8", where however the answer
is in terms of the 2,300 matin and vesper oblations (= 1,150
days); here, v.^, it is in the terms of 7^^, with the Heb. equiva-
lent of the Aram, there; i.e., three and a half years. For 'rais-
ing the hand' at the oath cf. Gen. 14^-, Dt. 32^°; the two hands
give fullest asseveration. The oath ' by him who liveth forever '
reappears in Rev. 10^, in citation after 0. It corresponds to the
usual 'as Yhwh liveth.' 7. The final sentence is difficult. Bev.,
followed by Mar., Lohr, Cha., Ehr., proposes to follow the order
of (S, exchanging 'power' (lit. 'hand') with the preceding word
|*Si (inf.), which is then read as a ppl. (T*£j), and so, 'the
power of the smasher of the Holy People,' i.e., Antiochus. But
the transposition of nouns in st. const, is a common exegetical
device in the Grr. Behr. accepts the simpler change of |^SJ to
the ppl., 'him who breaks the power.' It is best to remain by
the text of ^, which is intentionally obscure diction. For ' hand '
476 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
= 'power' cf. Dt. 2,2^^, Jos. 8^", Is. 28^, etc.; so here Ra. Some
take it as mng. 'part' (cf. Gen. 47^^^), so Bert., Mein., al., follow-
ing Grot, in seeing a ref. to the dispersion (|^'Si) of the Jews
out of Judaea at this time (i Mac. 5^^, etc.). But the end re-
mains out until almost the destruction of the whole, not of a
part.
5. ix^n nD•.^'S 2°] <S Lu. om.— 6. idxm] (S OrC Lu. B as idni; ^
'and they said.' — S;?dd] = 'beside,' so Ehr.; cf. Is. 6-. — msSDn] Grr.
expand.— At end of v. (& Lu. + x. 6 xa0apta(j,6<; toutwv. — 7. (Si +
[xoTa(Jiou] ewq xatpou auvTsXefaq, a gloss belonging to v.^ — D.i;;n ina]
This pointing is insisted upon (s. Bar), but "'!^ is expected; the former
should mean 'by eternity.' — ■'xm Dn;;iD n;7iDS] Cf. the Aram. 7''^
For the first two words 0 (B 22 26 62) efi; xatpbv xatpwv (f/. accents
of M) = &; (8 OrP- c Lu. xatpbv xal xatpouc; = H. — OV T' I'SJ niSos
hVn Sd nrSon trip] F. ^z*/*. Hitz. proposes ^^'^^P, but an active inf.
can be used in pass, sense; Pr., YPX (§ -f) auvTsXefa xe'pwv iipiaeox;
XaoO (iyfou '<■• auvTsXeaOTjaovxat xdcvra xaOfa. 0 Iv tw auvreXeaO-^vat
Staaxopxta[jL6v yvcoaovrott (py Ti as V^; om. 'n 'p) xdvxa TaO-ua; Or^- ^
suppl. lacuna, + xs'pbs (Aom.) XaoO :f)Ytaa(jLdvou (ayfou); Lu. has in-
dependent tr. of the omitted 'n 'p = ayiov (also aytoi) x. auvTsXe-
aO^QCTovTat, and Lu. texts conflate this with Or.'s rdg. ^ "B take I'dj =
xxs 'deliver' (c/. C5 di^laswi;).
8-13. The seer inquires as to the conclusion of the age; he
is given an answer prospecting a time of purification and the
personal assurance of bliss in the resurrection. 8. And I heard,
but I could not wtderstand. Then said I : My lord, what shall
be the conclusion of these things ? 9. And he said : Go, Daniel, for
the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. 10. Many
shall become purified attd cleansed and refined; and the wicked
shall do wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand ; but
the Wise shall understand. [Interpolation. 11. And from the
time that the Constant (sacrifice) is taken away and the Abomina-
tion-Appalling set up are a thousand two hmuired and ninety days.
12. Happy is he that waiteth that he may attain to the thousand
three hundred and thirty-jive days.] 13. But do thou go [H^ + to
the end], and thou shalt rest, aftd shall rise for thy lot at the end
of the days.
8. 'The conclusion': EW 'the latter end,' distinguishing
n''"ini< 'after part' from ^P 'end,' which has been used through
the vision. It is the word in the technical phrase 'the latter
12^"^^ 477
days,' e.g., 2^8, lo", also of 'posterity' ii*. The phrase signifies
'the closing stage' of the present trial (Dr.). For the seer's
anxiety cf. i Pe. i^°. 9. The sense is that the revelation is now
closed, nothing can be added to it. But, v.^", there follows a
practical intimation which the angel is justified in giving. The
last act in the drama is to be marked by the purification of the
saints through trial and temptation, while the wicked still per-
sist in their wickedness; cf. Rev. 22". But the key of the solu-
tion is possessed by the 'intelligence' of the Wise (cf. ii^^, 12^).
'Here is the patience and the faith of the saints' Rev. 131". The
three vbs. are the same as those in 11^^, but in different order.
Despite the Hithp. stem of the first two, all are to be treated
like the third (Nif.) as passives (so AV) rather than reflexives
(RW JV).
11-12. Cf. 8" ^■. Gunkel's suggestion (Schopfung u. Chaos,
269), accepted by Mar., Lohr, Cha., Lamb., is here followed,
that the two vv. are successive glosses intended to prolong the
term of 1,150 days announced at 8^^; that term was not fulfilled
and these glosses, which must be very early, successively extend
the time to 1,290 and 1,335 days. For the difficulties in the way
of assimilation of the three contradictory figures one need only
glance at the labors of comm. at this point. Gunkel's remarks
give pregnant exegesis of these supplements: "In diesen Glossen
ist eine ganze Geschichte niedergelegt : Die Zeit der Erfiillung
verzog; aber der Glaube wankte nicht. . . . Diese beiden
Glossen sind also ein Denkmal der Enttauschung und des unwan-
delbaren Glaubens der maccabaischen Zeit." 12. The term of
1,335 days appears in Ascension of Isaiah 4^^, s. Charles ad loc.
' Happy (with JV = N.T. fiaKdpi,o<i^ not ' blessed ' with AV RW)
is he that waiteth': a reminiscence of Is. 30^ ^ and cited Ja. i^^
'Attaineth to': i.e., experiences the consummation.
13 is a final word of assurance to the seer; cf. 2 Esd. 13", 14^.
1^ 'to the end' is of doubtful import. It has been interpreted
'to await the end' of life (e.g.. Dr.); but this periphrasis for
death is rather a modernism; or eschatologically (Behr.), which
is preferable. A suggestion from W. Robertson Smith, accepted
by Bev., Mar., is followed above: that yph has been inadver-
tently copied in here after "^h from the similar combination just
below Yph 1^^^- This happy suggestion is actually supported
by the orig. text of CS) 0; s. Note. The 'rest' is that of the grave,
478 A COMMENTARY ON DANIEL
as Is. 57^ and as of the saints cf. Wis. 4^ Rev. lo^'', etc. 'Rise,'
rt. ^DV = Dip: we may at once assume this technical mng. here,
even as Dip is used in Syr. and Arab. Briggs also insists on
this mng. in Ps. i^ For 'lot, assignment' in the spiritual sense
cf. Jer. 132^ = 'destiny'; Mi. 2^, 'lot in the congregation of
Yhwh'; Ps. 1253, contrast of 'the lot of the righteous' with the
wicked; Col. i^^, 'the lot of the saints in the light.'
Finale: " So the best end is given to the book by the announce-
ment of the death of Daniel in the way which alone is possible
in this second half where Daniel appears in the first person"
(Behr.). And Stu. : "An assurance full of comfort to him, who
was now very far advanced in life; and full of comfort to all
who walk in his steps, and are animated by his spirit."
8. nS] B^^ Q + QMSS om. — pax] The nuance of the impf. should be
observed.— ^r**] (& 0 xupis, Or? (62) + [jlou {cf. lo'O = & H-—
hSn nnnx nn] (g -rfveq (with (|s) ^\ xctgaJ^okaX auxaf, i.e., as ^"^"^^^ s.
at s^. — ^9. nDN"'] 0 ekev, (S Lu. + [Aot = &. — YP ^^V "^V] ^ om., exc.
i;; = ew? construed as conj. with the vbs. in v.^"; it appears as a gloss
at v.''. — 10. (& om. unSn^i (so also A Q*), tr. ifi'iif^ by aytaaOwaiv
(as though rt. P^x?); 0 mss, exc. B Q 23 62c Lu., add aytaaO. as a
fourth vb. from (&. 0 treats the vbs. as subjunctives, following the
error in (S; but Or^- c as indicatives. — Ss] B 26 130 om. — 11. n;iD] =
'from the time that,' as Ps. 4*. — nnS] S loosely picks up the prep, idea
in nj7D. (S eTot[ji.(iaOT] (exegetical) SoOfjvat; 0 Soerjssxott; Or^ Lu.
BoOijvat; OrC revised the phrase through nnS from (S, but with cor-
ruption of dcxoaTaOii to dvajxaOfj, etc. & B follow © ooOrjaeTat, B dahunt
abominationem in desolationem, cf. 1 1^1.— 13. VP^ i°] For S Behr. eft.
diSj:''? iSn, i3-T\S 'n. Orig. (g and 0 om.; Or? sXq -ziloq. It has been
introduced supplementarily with a paraphrase (doubtless in <& first,
then in 0) after civaxauou: s'tc ydp ettjtv •f)tJ,lpat /.. wpat e;? IxxXTjpcoatv
auvTeXefa?; this has induced the repetition after it of the impv. in x.
ivaxauqf) in (H and 0 texts exc. B. (The plus was known to Rev., n.b.
6", iva xXr^pwOwatv.) The actual simple text of orig. 0 is vouched for
by Jer., who cites it as, tu aidem uade et requiesce, which is supported
by Iren. v, 34, 2, et tu ueni et sta in sorte tua in consummatione dierum.
— I'^ij'^] (S elq T. Sd^av aou= iSijS (Ehr.); 0 elq t. xXfjpdv aou, 6mss
e. T. y.aip6v a. = & "|jaiS.
INDEXES
INDEXES
I. INDEX VARIORUM
Aben Ezra, io6.
Abomination of Desolation, 388.
Abrabanel, 106.
Abydenus, cited, 221.
accusative case, position of, in rela-
tive clause, 152.
accusative case, survivals of, in
Aram., 175, 176, 271.
adverbial suffix in -d'ith in Aram.,
145, 273.
Ahikar, 100, 136, 259.
'Ain-diik mosaic, 11.
Akra at Jerusalem, 457, 463.
Alexander the Great, 61, 329/., 348,
425-
Alexander Polyhistor, cited, 114, 194.
alternative readings, 135.
'Amwas, 469.
Ancient of Days, 297.
angel in Sem. Paganism, 214.
angels, 278, 306, 340, 37°,37^f-
fl>^ng, 370.
Antichrist, 83, 398 /., 469 /.
Antiochian text, 42, 45, 54/.
Antiochus III, 432^.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 59/., 291
/•, 334, 349, 3^3, 446 /.
Anti-Semitism, 80.
Aphrem Sjtus, 107.
Apocal>T)tic, 78^., 104.
aposiopesis, 207.
Aramaic, Eastern and Western dia-
lects, 17, 20.
Armageddon, 465.
ascetic practices, see piety.
Asidaeans, 87, 458, 459.
'a5r-prayer, 275.
asyndeton in Aram., 138, 152, 204.
Augustine, 31.
Babylon, 243, 252.
banquets, royal, 250.
Barnabas, Ep. of, 48.
bath-kol, 245.
Bathos, 160.
Belshazzar, 66 ff., 249 jff.
Belteshazzar, 123, 129.
Berenice, 428.
Berossus, cited, 69, 77, 114, 136, 195.
Books, Divine, 297, 299, 418, 472.
calendar feasts, 311.
Cambyses, 64.
Cassiodorus, 31.
Chaldasan language, 120/., 144.
Chronicler and Daniel, 3.
Chronicler, Gr. translation of, 38.
chryselephantine art, 168.
Chrysostom, 107.
Church as object of prophecy, 192.
citadel of the Temple, 457.
Clement, I Ep., 48.
Clement of Alexandria, 47.
Cleopatra I, 434, 441.
colossi, 186, 193/.
Commodianus, 31.
Constant Oblation, 274, 336, 343,
371-
construct case with double regimen,
127.
Coptic influence in Cod. Alex., 38, 52.
cumulative expression, 126, 371.
Cyprian, 31, 32, 44.
Cyrus, 405.
Daniel, name, 2, 128.
as Prophet, 4 /., 105.
Darius, 63, 268.
Darius III, 423.
dedication festivals, 197.
Demotic Chronicle, 77.
determinism in Jewish theology, 83.
Diadochi, kingdoms of, 332.
Dinur, 300.
double pointing in M, 329, 353.
doublets in (&, 36.
in ^, 99.
in 51, 170.
in Lucian, 54.
dreams and visions, 103, 132, 139^.,
186, 228/., 282, 324, 404, 355.
dual in Aram., 181, 295, 312.
31
481
482
INDEXES
dualism in Jewish theology, 82.
du l-'arS, 300.
du l-karnain, 330.
Essene influence, 87.
eunuchs, 119, 124.
Eupolemus, cited, 114, 194.
fasting, see piety.
fatahsm, Pagan, 157, 236.
fem. pi. of Aram. vb. in -a, 254, 309.
fem. ppl. of Aram. vb. in -at, 295,309.
fief possession, 463.
Fifth Monarchy Men, 192.
fire as element of Deity, 298, 301.
in capital punishment, 196, 202.
Four Ages, 188.
French argot, Aramaism in, 205.
Gabriel, 345,. 37°, 420.
gate of the king, 183, 184.
God of Heaven, 158.
gold images, 193 /.
Greek influence in Orient, 22.
Gubaru-Gobryas, 64, 69.
Heaven as surrogate for God, 239,
242.
Heliodorus, 444.
henotheism. Pagan, 117, 153, 214,
225.
Herder, cited, 287.
Hermas, Shepherd of, 48, 192.
Herodotus, cited, 68, 71.
Hesiod, cited, 149.
Hippolytus, 35, 41 /., 107.
Immanuel of Rome, 10.
imperfect, syntax of the Aram., 226,
245-
impersonal use of pi., 104, 235, 242.
infinitive, syntax of, 128, 156, 273,
305, 307-
intensification, secondary, in nouns,
170.
Irenaeus, 31, 32, 44.
Jephet b. 'Ali, 106.
Jerome, 32, 56, 107.
Joseph story and Daniel, 185, 253.
Josephus, 5, 48, 61, 63, 69, los, 114,
IIS, iQi, 396.
Joshua b. Josedek, 379, 393.
Judas Maccabee, 458.
Julius Firmicus Matemus, 31.
Julius Hilarianus, 396.
jussive in Aram., 241.
Justin Martyr, 48.
^iblah, 274, 360.
Kimhi, 105.
King of Heaven, 245, 247.
King of kings, 171.
kingdom, 177.
Kingdom of God, 79, 84, 102.
Konstanz OLat. texts, 30.
labial confusion in (&, 347.
Laodice, 428.
law as reUgion, 311.
light as sphere of God, 157.
liquids, exchange of, 134.
liturgical forms, 156, 361.
liver divination, 163.
'Lucianic' readings, 45, 54.
Lucifer Calaritanus, 31.
lycanthropy, 220.
Maimonides, 105.
maktil in noun formations, 410.
Massora, Babylonian, 12.
Median empire, 61.
Megasthenes, cited, 221.
Melchite version, 52.
menageries, royal, 173, 270.
mene tekel upharsin, 261 ^.
Messiah (Anointed), 378, 393 ff.
Messianic interpretations, Jewish,
157, 191, 321, 376, 397-
Michael, 345, 416/., 472.
multiplicative expression, 210.
musical instruments, 201.
MusUm traditions of Daniel, 11, 34,
140, 265.
mythological interpretations, 283,
285, 321/., 334, 354.
Nabonidus- Cyrus Chronicle, 67 ff.
names of Jews, 123.
nasal dissimilation in Aram., 163.
Nebuchadnezzar, 139 jf., 220 f.
New Testament, its influence on text
of Gr. O.T., 49, 182, 473.
Newton, Sir Isaac, 88.
Nicopolis, 469.
Nitocris, 71, 257.
numerals, alleged use of letters for,
141, 267, 343.
INDEXES
483
Oblation, daily, see Constant.
Odenathus, 293.
Odes of Solomon, no. 24, 209.
Onias III, 381, 451.
oral 'targums' in Greek, and Latin,
45. SO.
Pagan background, 75, 83, 232, 236.
Parsee influence, 85, 188, 321.
participle in consecution with finite,
147.
passive construction, 288.
Persian education, 122.
image-worship, 195.
language, slow intrusion into
West, 21.
person, change of, in narrative, 223.
piety, Jewish practices of, 87, 104,
130, 156, 273 ff., 360, 406.
plural for impersonal subject, 154.
Polybius, 421,
Polychronius, 107.
Porphyry, 107, 108, 469 if.
prayer, see piety.
predictive element in the book, 313.
provinces in the Oriental empire,
182, 269.
Ptolemy I, 427.
Ptolemy III, 428.
Ptolemy Philometor, 446, 454.
Ptolemy Physcon, 446, 454.
punishments, barbarous, 145, 196,
270.
queen mother, 257.
Rashi, 106.
resurrection of dead, 84, 471.
romance in Aram. Uterature, 100.
Saadia, 34, 105.
Saadia, Pseudo-, 106.
saints, 307.
salutation formulas, 224.
Sanchuniathon, cited, 77.
sarahalla, sarabara, 212.
satrap, 199, 269.
Scipio, Lucius ComeUus, 435, 443.
sealing of apocrypha, 352.
segholate nouns in Aram., 152.
Seleucus I, 427.
Seleucus IV, 444.
Slavic text of Hippolytus, 35, 41.
Spinoza, 88.
superlative expression, 182, 308, 452,
453-
Susanna, position of, 5.
Tammuz worship, 461,
Tertullian, 31, 32, 44.
Test, of XII Patriarchs, 4.
Theodoret, 107.
'third,' 253, 256.
Thomas Aquinas, 108.
thrones, 296/.
Tigris, 407.
tile work, 165.
transcendentalism, Jewish, 81.
transcription theory for basis of Sep-
tuagint, 27.
Tyconius, 31.
unicorn, 330.
Uphaz, 408.
Victorinus of Pettau, 31.
Watchers, 231, 234.
weeks of years, 373.
Weingarten OLat. texts, 29 _ff.
'Western Readings,' 55.
Wrath, the, 347.
Wiirzburg OLat. texts, 29 ff.
Xenophon's Cyropaedia, cited, 63, 68.
Xerxes, 424.
Zadokite Fragments, 4, 15.
Zeus Olympius, 388.
484
INDEXES
II. PHILOLOGICAL INDEXES
(i)
N and n as final letters, 147, 156, 175.
•'i'Mt, 118.
nrj-nx, igg.
•jaix, 327.
nxiN, 118.
NnrN, 147,
jnnN, 227.
pn'jN hSn, 182.
an hSn, 180.
NiDtt' hSn, 158.
J'hSn as singular, 153, 205, 214, 225,
227, 259.
^hti, 165.
TDN, 338.
niD-iN, 144.
tJDCN, 124.
inN, 170.
|nN3, 302.
m^3, 327.
nxNtt-BSa, 129, 225.
nxNtySa, 251, 266.
I'DB' Sy3, 388.
pni^N 13, 214, 319.
CJN 13, 318.
nn3, 451.
n3j, 204, 211, 318.
n3iJ, 200.
rirj, 163.
nij root, 286.
pm, 277.
n as demonstrative-relative, 168.
nS n, 160.
Vniji, 2, 128.
"lann, 216.
n-in, 142, 325.
Sa^n, 126.
ncn root, 273.
n^jmn, 145, 273.
N3j^Dn, 256.
Nisn, 207.
-nn. nmn, jnn, 226.
JDI, 160, 302.
nun, 230, 331, 338.
ni>n, 260.
Ijn, 458, 460.
ron, 172, 245, 308.
ion, 167, 169.
nxn, 156.
I'nn, 380.
nna
iSS-
nn^, Hif. and Hithp., 363.
nin>, use of, 360, 361.
survival in (S, 361.
n% 205.
3 nominal, 304, 318.
of time at which, 279, 338, 372.
nSs, adverbial, 176.
SapSs, 151.
nj3, 386, 389.
nSais, 211.
X//S verbs in Aram., 171, 241.
vNinS for mn^, 158.
?nS, 150.
nnS, 'curse,' 444.
n:nS, 252.
niND, 126.
n no, 164.
Snb'^d, 128.
INDEXES
485
^SD, Hif., 360.
nx^r, 131, 134.
}D, partitive, 428, 432.
Nin p, 208.
nn?D, 414.
nisyn, 378, 382.
naraj, 150, 264.
NDirnaj, 255.
I'JJ, 379-
NTHJ, 160.
ii>nj, 259.
"hM, 148.
njD, 181.
-idd, 127.
SaiD, 211.
Dno, 124.
}>3-|D, 273.
py, 160, 302.
arr, 208.
-I'-jj, 'watcher,' 231, 234.
N^Sj?, 215, 217.
jrSy. pjrSy, 215,307/.
NHiSy, 276.
ID]?, 126.
ip?, 235-
HB*)? as auxiliary, 340.
D''D' pinp, 297, 300.
-\no, 178.
C1BD, 211.
nho, 205.
rSs, 178.
^jid'^d. •'j'^b, 344.
Po, 255.
r^fl, 438.
pID, 240, 242.
y-o, 337, 342.
DjniJ, 208/.
«<3S, 333. 337, 340, 406
'3S, 339, 439, 440-
•^s, 315.
p-'S, 343, 472.
n|-ns, 239, 242, 364, 367, 374.
1N1X, 256.
n^x, 'pang,' 415.
iiflx, 231.
S'^P, 409.
pxp, 443, 444.
pSo »>«-(, 284.
NHiai, 241, 316.
c'ji, Hafel, 272.
JVJJ1, 164.
NnSutt', 237.
aoty, 213.
nw, root, 219.
o-'tt', Ethpeel, 149.
nSr. iSb*, 219.
njiif, 'moment,' 203, 240.
-\>yy avoided by Grr., 348.
Dr.v vvi*', 342.
a>ji:n,-i, 361, 363.
N.-iSn, ^nSn, 254, 256.
(2)
'A^ceaBpi, 124, 134.
dicoxiiAut^ts, 78.
(ix6xpuipos, 76.
deoTpiiirris Aquilanic = aofrpaTCT)c:,i99.
BaX-raaap, Bapxaaap, 129, 252.
i^&piq, PipTK, 327.
^u^Xo?, 361.
YaliapTf)vo(, 163.
ye as gloss, 316.
■(■vwcic;, 126, 200.
486
INDEXES
Ypif)Y6pT)<jt.;, 259.
BeaicfixTj? = Tetragrammaton, 369.
SiotxT^TTji;, 200.
efp, 234.
25";, 135-
•f)Yo6[ievo?, 379.
^jxKTiaxoxo?, 163
GuTi^C, 163.
'lexovfaq, 113
xatp6<;, 160.
xaxa^oXif), 299.
xaTaffxpoqjTj, 317.
XeiToupyeiv, 300.
^txixav, 179.
^011x6?, 438.
11.4^0?, 139-
(jLEytoravei;, 125.
veavfaxoi;, 125.
v6tio<;, anarthrous, 316.
b 5i, 217.
T^ipaq, indeclinable, 347, 460.
xETaaoq, 212.
icpoa9lpetv, 305.
icTep6ytov, 386.
aap^etp, 441.
aTpiiTiQYO<;, 199.
auv, Aquilanic use, 332.
auvex.Ttx6<;, 271.
auvExdq, 458.
a9paYft;etv, 375.
rdiaaetv, 276.
Tt(Atop(a, 158.
Tupotvvoq, 125, 200.
UXKTO?, 199.
uiJ^ioTot;, 215.
ifCkot as title, 217,
XaXBatffxf, 144, 163.
Xp(a[i.a, 382, 397.
Xptaxbc; xupto?, 401.
Xp6voi;, 160.
III. LITERARY REFERENCES
Genesis
1='
49"
Exodus
23'
Numbers
24'
24"
Judges
4'
1 Samuel
i7'«ff-
2 Kings
23-24 113/-
173
381
208
79
455
204
288
(i) OLD TESTAMENT
2 Chronicles
36'^- 113/-
Ezra
8"
Esther
3^
Job
20'"'
Psalms
8
Isaiah
8«
ii»
62«
327
184
219
173
314
169
232
Jeremiah
25" '•..
29". . . .
SI'
Ezekiel
I"
12"....
13'
I7"'-. . .
21"
28»
31'- «. . .
Amos
8"
114
196
174
409
352
439
2
228
381
2
229
473
INDEXES
487
(2) APOCRYPHA AND OTHER JUDAISTIC LITERATURE
Ascension of Isaiah
4" 477
Baruch
1-2
3"
Bel
V.'
Enoch
i«
45'
46'
S6'
85-90
902°
io4» '•
Epistle of Jeremy
I Esdras
2" 38. 119
49
173
190
352
296
300
273
395
297
352
196
3'
2 Esdras
3'
12"
13
Iff.
199
336
164
77
320
14""- 77,352
I Maccabees
1 447/-
I'" 38
I" 291
I"'- 350 /•
I""- 311
I" 3,38,39s
4" 38
4""- 3^3
13" 379
14" 4
2 Maccabees
3 444
4-6 447/-
9'° 334
3 Maccabees
6* 291
Psalms of Solomon
.3"'-; 472
Sibylline Oracles
4, 388-400 3, 292
Testaments of the XII
Patriarchs
Joseph 2' 133
Levi 10' 472
Tobit
I" 154
Wisdom
3' 4,473
3'-; 310, 316
Zadokite Fragments
cited, 4, 231, 307, 396
(3) NEW TESTAMENT
Matthew
13" 473
19" 297, 310
21" 49, 179, 191
24" 473
24" 304
26" 304
28' 49
Mark
13" 386
13" 473
13" 304
14" 304, 320
Luke
2» 153
2" 317
4" 315
12"' 242
20" 179, 191
21''* 342
John
3", 6" 375
Acts
I' 302
2"..
9».V.
13"
154
272
183
372
276
19" 206, 209
24'--; 438
I Corinthians
I'* 49, 159
I" 49, 237
6= 310
7" 381
13' 218
Colossians
4' 151
I Thessalonians
2" 349
5'° 472
Hebrews
II' 49
II" 279
James
I" 49,477
5" 31S
Revelation
I" '• 304, 409
5'° 316
5" 300
9", 10' '• 49
II' 49
I2« 334
12' 49
12" 316
13' 291
13'° 477
I4"- " 304
16" 49,473
17" 285
19* 49
19' 352
20* 297, 310
20« 316
20" 299
21' 352
21" 381
22« 352
488
INDEXES
Aboda zara
2b 289
Sb-ga 397
Baba bathra
8b 472
14b S
Pagigah
14a 297, 300
(4) TALMUD
Kiddushin
72a 289
Megillah
iia 289
Pir^e Aboth
ii, 1 209
V, 26. 27 472
Sanhedrin
38b 297, 321
97a 397
98a 321
io8a 306
Yoma
20b 246
77a los
Montgomery, J. A.
BS
Daniel.
491
.16
"-
V.22
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