The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 106

tin, n.nd m<'rcury. the fifflt fom ooinciding MA.s,orctio text in regard to thie verse, save with the mct11le in Dn.niel's vision. Ewetld thnt tho two Greek versions e.dd, lf 8pour, refers in a note to the poeeibility that this "out of the mountain." Oonoerniug the id<'a might be borrowed from Hcsiod, but Chaldco text, we would remark that in rightlv diemiesce it as irnprobe.blo. A~ to the the dual form )'.1'~ (biydayin), the· dunl motals used. gold ancl silvor were well known h!U! disappeared in the Aramaic of the in n,ncient tim<'e, n,s ~leo ~ron, though, fro':11 To.rgume. Thou saioest till implies somo the difficultv of workmg 1t, later. What 18 time of contemplation l\nd wonder. 'l'hCI here translated" brass" ought to be rendered king se.w this gigo.ntic statue, not pos- " copper : 11 " bronze II certainly was known sessing the o.ttributes of l\ny of his DI\• very ee.rly, but the whole use of th? wo!d, tione.l gods, o.nd ho looks on in his drcetm ~ni (Aramaic), or Ni.7) (Hebrew), 1mphes in wonder and e.wo. Till a stone cut out tl;~t it ie a simple metal; thus Dent. viii. 9, without hands. The Grcok versions make " Out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass 11 an addition which seems neeesso.ry to the (Hebrew, n;:'n); Onkelos, i,:;;·1:i/). In this sense-"outofthe mountain." This o.ddition statue the progreBBive degradation of the me.y ocrte.inly ho.ve been me.de from the material e.nd situation is to bo observed. later verse (ver. 45). The logical necessity, 'l'he head, the highest part, gold; the however, may have prompted this addition. shoulders, lower, silver; the belly and On the other he.nd, the evidence of both the thighs, lower still, brass; the legs, lower Greek versions agreeing in one addition has yet, iron; n.nd the feet and toes, low~st of very considerable weight. It is not im- all a mixture of iron and clay. It lS ob- possible that the word ;J"11f!l7? (mitt_iirah), ee~cd b'!' Iuiefoth tho.t there is further e. "from the mountain," had dropped from growing division. The head is one, without the manuscripts need by the Massoreuis. .Iu any appee.ra.nce of division ; th_e ~:mon favour of the l'lfassoretic text is the fact consisting of the breast and arms IS divided, that the Peshitto. omits the word. On the though slightly, for the chest is more im- other hand, Jerome e.dds de monte. It may portant a.nd bulky than the arme; the belly be noted, e.s e.t least o. curiosity, that the and thighs form e. portion which from the Peshitta, instead of the P,N ( aben),. " e. stone," pluni.l form given to the word translated gives kepha, from which Cephas, the no.me of "belly," •;,1p:i (,r.'ohi), suggests more of the Apostle Peter, is derived. As the monarch dividedneBS than does the.t above. The gazes e.t the huge image, he sees behind lowest portion, that forming the loge and the image e. mounto.in towering above the toes, has tlie gren.test amount of division. image, huge e.s it is. From this mountain Kliefoth e.lso refers to another point-tliat he sees e. boulder detach itself, as if it were wbile tliere is e. progressive degradation of being cut with chisel e.nd wedge, but no the metal, there is also progreBBion in de- hands e.re visible. Once set loose from the grees of hardness, silver being harder than mountain's side, it ce.me by bounds and leaps ..,.old, copper harder than silver, a.nd iron down the declivity, "and smote the image hardest of all; then suddenly tlie iron is upon his feet that were of iron and clay." mingled 'With cley. There is not e. new, Every bound the.t the stone makes down the softer material added to form e. new fiftli mountain is larger, e.nd raises it higher o.nd part; but there is a mingling of "cle.y 11- makes it strike the earth with more of force, cle.y suitable for tlie potter, or rather the.t till with e. bound greo.ter the.n e.ny it he.d has already been baked in the kiln, e.nd made before, it strikes the feet of the image, therefore in the le.et degree brittle. In fe.ct, "which were of iron and clay "-mingled, there is e. progress in frangibi!,ity-gold the yet separate-and at once they o.re broken most ductile of mete.le, and ll'OD the least in pieces: "utterly crushed" is the meaning so then clay when baked, more brittle still of the word pi, (duq). The Septuagint ren- Th.ere e.re ~e.ny other succeBSioDB t~at might be followed, which a.re e.t lee.et m- dering is 1<aT1>..•o-•v, "ground;''. it_ ocour■ genioue. The idea suggested by th,~ Ji>hrase, in Exod. xxxh. 20, of Moses gnndmg the "pe.rt of iron e.nd pe.rt of cle.y, 18 the.t golden calf to powder. Theodotion's word there was not a complete mingling, but the.t is not e. correct rendering of the word; it is portions were seen that wer~ c~early clay, i>..hr-rvv,v " beat into thin see.lee ; " comp. e.nd other portions a.s clearly still l.l'on; there Mo.tt. xxi. (42) 44 (" the stone which the was therefore the superadded notion of the builders rejected"), "on whomsoever it imperfect union of the parts 'l_'l'ith the neces- shall fe.ll it will grind him to powder." It sarv additional wee.knees which follows. is to be ~bserved the.t this outting of the Ver. 34.-l'hou &&west till the.t e. stone stone out of the mountain took ple.ce after we.a cut out without hands, which ■mote the fourth portion of the image WBB clearly the image upon his feet that were of iron visible. In the dream the catastrophe took &nd cle.y, aud brake them to pieoea. Practi- place after the stone he.d been out ~rom _the ce.Hy, the version11 are e.t one with the mountain o.nd he.d bounded down its side. Cll, II, 1-4\J,] nm BOOK OF DAN 11'.:L, C7