The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 181

n ie to be noliced th11t 1111 the versions trane- It seemed to the trnuslator more n:Ltuml ll\te 11fft~ (lzid'qah) "almegiving "-a lo.ta tha.t, after a, survey of the wall• anrl t<iwers mocrning, and one not present in tho M11eeo- o~ Babylon, NebuchfVlnezzar sh,,uld ap"'>k rctio here, H ce.n only be forced upon; thie hie boastful words, hence ho makes tho p11se11ge by giving p~~ (p'mq) 11 mco.ning it suitable changes in the verse before us· "" nover hl'B 1 as Professor Bovo.n o.nd Koil too, with the effect of Danicl's worrl~ rJ~ ahow it to mee.n "to brc11k," and e.s break- the king. The renderin;:, of Thcod,,ti,,n ing B yoko meo.nt "setting free," it thus coincides nearly with the text of the M,isao- mco.nt redeeming a person; but in the retes, s,ive that haychal is trnnslatcrl eoneo of paying B ro.ueom for sine, it never "temple" rather than "palace "-a trans- is usod, oven in the 'l'o.rgwne. There is, hlion which usage quite permits. Till! therefore, o. wide difference between tho P,·shitta retains the double mec,ning. Ono moro.l sto.ndpoint of the writer of D11niel of the great buildings erected by an Assyrian o.nd tho.t of hie tmnslo.tore-so wide that or Babylonian monarch was bis pala.ce, the writer of Do.niel does not see the possi- which 1,ad also the r.haracter of a temple. bility of hie words being twisted to this In the case of the Ninevite monarchs, the meaning. In Eoclesiastious almsgiving is walls of the palace were adorned with made equive.lent to righteousness. The sculptures, portraying the principal events writer of De.niel is on a. different more.I of tl,e monarch's reign. This not impos- ple.ne from Ben Siro.. But more, De.niel sibly might be the case with the palace of must hBve been trBnslated into Greek be- Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon as a city seems fore Eccleeie.stious, as the whole ea.non to have been practically rebuilt by him- was tre.nsle.ted when the gre.ndson of Ben his bricks are the moat numerous of any Sire. had come down to Egypt, and this fonnd in Babylonia. e.t the le.test was e.o. 135 ; on the critical Ver. 30.-The king spe.ke, e.nd so.id, Is hypothesis, not e. score of yea.re separate the not this great :Babylon, that I have built text of Daniel from the translation. The for the house of the kingdom by the might courteous beginning of Daniel's speech is to of my power, e.nd for the honour of my be observed; ha is anxious to win the king majesty 1 The meaning of the Septuagint to repentance. Compare the stern, unre- rendering is the so.me as the above, "This lenting demeanour of Elije.h to Ahab, and is Babylon the great, which I built, and the of Elisha to Jehoram. If we compare this house of my kingdom is it called, in the with the way the Jews of Talmudic times might of my power, to the honour of my regard the memory of Titus, the Roman glory." Theodotion e.nd the Peshitta in captor of Jerusalem, we sea we are in a the main agree with the received text. It totally different atmosphere from that in is one of the characteristics of the earlier which the Jewishfalsarius of any period of Chaldean monarchs who reigned over the Jewish history could have lived. A grand small Chaldea.n cantons in Me~opotamie., impulsive character like Nebuchadnezzar that they named their capital city from could not but at once allure and awe the themselves, as Bit-Dakuri and Bit-Adini; young Jew, but a zealous Jew would have the ce.pitalof Merodach-Baladan was called regarded it as derogatory to imagine this of after hie father, Bit-J akin. We need e. prophet of the Lord, and so we see the scarcely explain that bit represents beth, Septuagint translator drops the courteoll.i! "house." In all ages an imperial power words with which Daniel introduces his he.a expressed its greatness in the splen- advice. Daniel looked upon the fact that dour of its capital, but in the case of the the warning had been given as an evidence Babylonian Empire, Nebucl.iadnezzar was that there might be a place for repentance. the empire, therefore the splendour of the Vers. 28, 29.-All this oame upon the city was a testimony to hie glory. King Nebuchadneizar. At the end of twelve Vera. 31, 32.-While the word was in months he wa.lked in the palace of the the king's mouth, there fell a voice, from kingdom of :Babylon. The Septuagint here heaven, saying, 0 King Nebuchadnez:zar, to has the look of e. paraphrnso. In continua- thee it is s_poken; The kingdom is departed tion of the preceding verse, " Attend from thee, And they shn.11 drive thee from (lt-yd11"7jo-ov) to these words, for my word is men, and thy dwelling shall be with the certain, and thy time is full. And at the beasts of the field: they shall me.ke thee end of this word, Nebuchudnezza.r, when he to eat gre.ss as oxen., and seven times shall hca1·d the interpretation of the vision, kept pass over thee, nntil thou know that the these words in his hea.rt" ( compare with this Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, the phrase inLukeii.19). "And 11fter twelve and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The months tho king walked upon the walls of Septuagint rendering has many points of tho oily, and went about its towers, and interest, "While the word was yet in the answered and said." The va.ria.tions appear mouth of the king-at the end of his speech to be due to e. desire to expand and cxplt,in. -he heard 11, voice out of heaven, To thee  H-4 'l'HE BOOK OF DANIEL. [err. IV, 1--37.