The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 172

count of hie first dree.m, oe.Ue t.ogethM the Theodotion, II.PX"'" ,,&,., 111"110,~G.11. It is o.lso wise men-thnt when he he.d e. dream to be observed that the writer of thcRc that tronbled him itWBE natnml that Nebn- verses docs not make Daniel rob-mag, which che.dnezze.r Bhould do aB the Septu11.gint so genern.lly was anciently understood t\> declareB he did, summon "Daniel, the ruler me11.n "master of the magicians.'' Avoid- of the wise men, and the ohief of the inter- ing e.n alluring blunder is often as clen.r n, preters of dre11,ms." One result of which proof of know ledge as a directly correct follows, if we discard these verses, i.e. the.t statement. "Spirit of the holy gods;" not we get rid, in this pass11.ge, of the class of "the Spirit," hut "a spirit." The Autho- •· Che.\dee.ns." ttnd further, of the etymology rized Version is here correct in trn.nslo.ting of" Belteshazzar," both of whioh have been "gods," not "God," as the adjective is made objections to the e.uthentioity of plural; not e.e Theodotion, who renders, "a Daniel. holy spirit of God," roe.ding, nrfi,R n,N r:i1,. Ver. 9.~ Jleltesh--.-, muter of the Ver. 10.-Thua Wero the visions of mine m&gici11n1, because I know that the spirit head in my bed; I saw, and behold e. tree of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret in the midst of the ee.rth, o.nd the height troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my tJ:iereof was great, The Septuagint is dream that I have seen, and the interpreta- different here, "I we.s sleeping [on my tion thereof. Thie verse is also owitt.ed couch], and behold a lofty tree epringin.., in the Septuagint. Thcodotion and the out of the ee.rth, and its appee.ranoe we.~ Peshitta both have this pBSSage, but with great, e.nd there was not another like to it." slight rnriations from the Massoretic text. The words, "on my couch," e.re marked Instead of "No secret troubleth [o).1$, 'aMy&, with an asterisk, denoting that they have 'compel,' Esth. i. 8] thee," Theodotion been added, probably from Theodotion. renders, "No secret (µ.vtr'T~pwv) baffles (&llv- There o.re indications here of a text slightly vaui) thee." The Peshltte. renders," And no different from the Me.ssoretic, even in the secret is hid ('ethcasee) from thee," ree.ding, latter portion of the verse, where the LXX. instead of u).1$, probably •~:;>J:1 0. Behrmann, and the lfosrnretic text come closest. Jn. who translates the word by· <oerborgm, thinks stead of b•go' (tt\J:;i), "in the midst of," the the choice of the word occa.sioneci. by Ezek. LXX. reading lie.s been saggee• (N'¾i,), :u:viii. 3, "No secret is hid from thee " " great." The l8J!t clause is most widely ("'f'=,Jii'.), this last word, he thinks, occasion- different from the Me.sEoretio text ; instead ing th·e use of CJJtt; but mip_ is used in .Are.- of "and the height thereof was great," we me.ic (see Lev. xiii. 6, "cui.rk" of the spot have, "e.nd there was no other like it." It of leprosy). It seems more probable that is not easv to imagine how the one read- there is some mistake in the reading. The ing gTew from the other. Roomeh (;i!:)11), Ma.ssoretic reading of the last clause seems "height," might easily be mistaken for ;ip-, modelled on the situation in the second (d•mal,), if roomeh were written defec: chapter, where N ebucb.a.d.nezze.r demands of tively; but the rest of the clause cannot the magicians the.t they not only give the easily be explained. The Massoretic text interpretation of the dream, but tell the h8J! a certain redundancy of meaning, dream itself. The versions here do not which is suspicious. In this verse we are &gTee with the Massoretic. Theodotion ren- told the tree was "great ; " the opening ders, "Heo.r the vision (lipatr,v) of the dream clause of the following says the tree grew; which I saw, and tell me its interpreta- whereas the Septuagint, while asserting its tion." The Peshitta has, "In the vision loftiness, asserts also that it was " gi·owing " of my dream I was seeing viEions of my ( qw&µ.,vo11 ). On the whole, we prefer the head, and tell me the interpretation." The Septus.gint, as it does not proceed to assert Massuretic reading contra.diets the situation, further that the tree "grew great." Theo- and the variety of reading in the two ver- dotion, wbile in the latt.er portion of th€ sions ccnfirlllS tbe suspicion of this verse verse agreeing with the Masrnretic text induced by its absence from the Septuagint. omits the introductory clause. The Pe, "lla.ster of the magicians" (rab-/,artu,n- shitta is a briefer recension of the lfosso- maya ). There is nothing in eh. ii 48 about retic text, "The vision in my conch was- the promotion of Daniel over the "magi- a tree in the midst of the earth, the heigh! ci.an.s," but only over the "governors great." The reference here may be to the (signeen) of the wise men (IJ,akaymeen) of sacred tree of the Assyrie.ns, the symbol ol B::i.bvlo~." This is not to be in itself re- life, which is so perpetually introduced intc go.rdc,d as e. proof of antagonism between the sculptures of Nineveh, and soen olsc thest Vtrses and the earlier portion of the in some Be.by Ionian cylinders, especially iI book, Et.II Daniel might have been promoted connection with royal acts of worship. Ir in the interval. The Peahitta calls Daniel Lenormunt (' La. Magie,' p. 27) we fine raL-1,a/,meen. " chief of the wise men ; " tha.t a sacred tree--11, conifer of some sort OH, IV, 1-37.] THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 135