[350] The phrase is unique and of uncertain meaning.
[351] Exod. v. 2; Isa. xxxvi. 20; 2 Chron. xxxii. 13-17.
[352] Dan. iii. 16. LXX., οὐ χρείαν ἔχομεν; Vulg., _non oportet nos_. To soften the brusqueness of the address, in which the Rabbis (_e.g._, Rashi) rejoice, the LXX. add another Βασιλεῦ.
[353] Jerome explains "But if not" by _Quodsi noluerit_; and Theodoret by εἴτε οὖν ῥύεται εἴτε καὶ μή.
[354] iii. 18. LXX., καὶ τότε φανερόν σοι ἔσται. Tert., from the Vet. Itala, "tunc manifestum erit tibi" (_Scorp._, 8).
[355] Comp. Gen. xix. 22: "_I cannot do anything_ until thou be come thither."
[356] Cremation prevailed among the Accadians, and was adopted by the Babylonians (G. Bertin, _Bab. and Orient. Records_, i. 17-21). Fire was regarded as the great purifier. In the Catacombs the scene of the Three Children in the fire is common. They are painted walking in a sort of open cistern full of flames, with doors beneath. The Greek word is κάμινος (Matt. xiii. 42), "a calcining furnace."
[357] It seems very needless to introduce here, as Mr. Deane does in Bishop Ellicott's commentary, the notion of the seven _Maskîm_ or demons of Babylonian mythology. In the Song of the Three Children the flames stream out forty-nine (7 × 7) cubits. Comp. Isa. xxx. 26.
[358] The meaning of these articles of dress is only conjectural: they are--(1) _Sarbālîn_, perhaps "trousers," LXX. σαραβάροι, Vulg. _braccæ_; (2) _Patîsh_, LXX. τιάραι, Vulg. _tiaræ_; (3) _Kar'bla_, LXX. περικνημῖδες, Vulg. _calceamenta_. It is useless to repeat all the guesses. _Sarbala_ is a "tunic" in the Talmud, Arab. _sirbal_; and some connect _Patîsh_ with the Greek πέτασος. Judging from Assyrian and Babylonian dress as represented on the monuments, the youths were probably clad in turbans (the Median καυνάκη), an inner tunic (the Median κάνδυς), an outer mantle, and some sort of leggings (_anaxurides_). It is interesting to compare with the passage the chapter of Herodotus (i. 190) about the Babylonian dress. He says they wore a linen tunic reaching to the feet, a woollen over-tunic, a white shawl, and slippers. It was said to be borrowed from the dress of Semiramis.
[359] Chald., _haddab'rîn_; LXX., οἱ φίλοι τοῦ βασιλέως.
[360] The A.V., "like the Son of God," is quite untenable. The expression may mean a heavenly or an angelic being (Gen. vi. 2; Job i. 6). So ordinary an expression does not need to be superfluously illustrated by references to the Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions, but they may be found in Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, 128 and _passim_.
[361] LXX., ὁ Θεὸς τῶν θεῶν, ὁ ὕψιστος. Comp. 2 Macc. iii. 31; Mark v. 7; Luke viii. 28; Acts xvi. 17, from which it will be seen that it was not a Jewish expression, though it often occurs in the Book of Enoch (Dillmann, p. 98).
[362] So in Persian history the Prince Siawash clears himself from a false accusation in the reign of his father Kai Kaoos by passing through the fire (Malcolm, _Hist. of Persia_, i. 38).
[363] Comp. Psalm xvi. 12: "We went through fire and water, and Thou broughtest us out into a safe place."
[364] Comp. Gen. xxiv. 7; Exod. xxiii. 20; Deut. xxxvi. 1. The phrase applied to Joshua the high priest (Zech. iii. 2), "Is not this a brand plucked out of the burning?" originated the legend that, when the false prophets Ahab and Zedekiah had been burnt by Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. xxix. 22), Joshua had been saved, though singed. This and other apocryphal stories illustrate the evolution of _Haggadoth_ out of metaphoric allusions.
[365] πνεῦμα νότιον διασύριζον, "a dewy wind, whistling continually."
[366] Song of the Three Children, 23-27.
[367] _Vay. Rab._, xxv. 1 (Wünsche, _Bibliotheca Rabbinica_).
[368] Ecclus. xviii. 16: "Shall not the dew assuage the heat?"
[369] _Speaker's Commentary_, on the Apocrypha, ii. 305-307.
[370] Jos., _Antt._, XII. iii. 3; Jahn, _Hebr. Commonwealth_, § xc.