tho gypeum elo.ba of Kouyounjik. Yet the favour of the Maeaoretic rending here. Dabyloninn monarchs not unlikely followed Thcodotion and the Peehitta agree with the tho snme practices as thoee of Nineveh. Maesoretio text. The omen of " h1tnd 'fho wo.lls wore built and plastered, o.nd then appearing to write on the we.11 of the pall\ce the slo,bs were moved up to them. In the we.s one the.t might easily canse thP, thoughts oase of Delsho.zzo.r, tho po.lace walls might of the king to trouble him. Much more well be fresh ; no gypsum slabs had yet was tl1e omen of importance when the kina recorded his prowess. As he looks to the saw tbe.t the hand which had appeared t~ white ploetor, the fingers of 11, hand come write had e.ctuo.lly left certain words out of tho darkness, and writo opposite him. written. It was but nature.I that the bright- "The king," thus it is in the Massoretic ness of the king's conntenance shonld text, saw the "part" of the hand that depart from him when he eo.w the hand wrote. Paa is the word. F Urst renders it thus awfully coming out of the darkness, "wrist;" GeseniUB, "the extremity;" Winer, and writing, and the.t his knees should vola manus," the hollow of the hand;" with smite one upon another when what was this Bn.xtorf agrees. The balance of mean- written gleamed npon him from the wall ings seems to be in favour of "hollow of before him. He migbt well be sure that the ha.nd," only it is difficult to understand the message so communicated would be the position of the hand relatively to the laden with fate. Fear is naturo.lly the first king when he sa.w the hollow of the hand. emotion occasioned by any mysterious occnr- The smoke from the numeroUB lamps would rence; and then Babylon was, in all likeli- obscure the roof of the ball of the palace; hood, being pressed by the o.dvo.nce of however numerous the lamps, their light Cyrus. If he had any enspicion of the would be unable to pierce the darkness, so treachery that had sapped the power of his out of the darkness came the hand. father, bis apprehensions would be all the greater. Ver. 6.-Tben the king's COUlltena.nce was ohanged, and bis thoughts troubled Ver. 7.-Tbe king cried aloud to bring him, so that the joints of bis loins were in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the loosed, and bis knees smote one against soothsayers. And the king spo.ke, and said another. The Septuagint differs in a some- to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever what important degree from the Ma.ssoretio shall read this writing, and show me the text, " And his countenance was changed, interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with and fears and thoughts troubled him." In scarlet, and have a cha.in of gold a.bout bis this clause not improbably t/)0/30, and rn.&vo,,., neok, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. The Septuagint here R.lso differs are double renderings of J'J11. "And the king from the Massoretic text, "And the king hasted and rose up, and looked at that cried out with a great cry to call iu writing, o.nd his companions round o.bout the enchanters (e,rao,&ou,) and sorcerers him (,co,cl\.rp a~Tov) boasted." It is clear that (4><1pµa,cous), and Chaldee.Dll, and sooth- the text from which the Septuagint had sayers, to announce to him the interpretation repeated the verb ',;:i~ (b'hal), which meaDB of the writing, and they ea.me in for originally " to hasten," and had the word inspection (e,rl e..,p,av), to see the writing.' "king" after it; if the Septuagint Aramaic And they were not able w me.ke known to were the original, we can easily understand the king the interpretation of the writing. how the word repeated might be omitted by Then the king made commandment, saying, 1iomoioteleuton. While op could easily be Any man who she.II show the interpretation read t:lp o.fter the square oho.racter had got of the writing, he eho.11 pnt on him a purple place, t:lp could not in the script of the robe, and eho.ll put roillld his neck a golden chain, and authority shall be given him Egyptian Aramaic papyri be easily read op; over a third part of the kingdom." Theodo- consequently we a.re inclined to look on the tion is an exo.ct rendering of the }Io.ssoretic reading of the Septuagint here as being the text in the sense represented by the primitive one. The king, according to this English versions, save that it wholly verse, saw the handwriting, but not till he omits the conjunctions between the various rose did be see who.t was written. This ole.eees of wise men, so that Xal\.&aiou, might repreeento,tion of the succession of events be an adjective qui>lifying either µ&.-you, or is natural, whereas the statements about -yafap11voo,, and the article is also omitted, his loins being loosed is mere o.mpliflootion. whioh is represented in the Ma.ssoretic text The le.et clause seems to be a .misreading by the statua emphaticus. The Prshitto. bas of the clause which appeo.re iu the Me.seoretio at the end (which see). The first word seoms 1 Schleusner thinks that here two read-
to have been misread h•bereen, and thus e. ings ho.ve ooo.lesced. As Paulus Tellensi.9 mee.ning is violently given to the other gives the reo.ding thus, the co11ksccnce 11arts of the cl11uso. The prob11bility is in must have been early. IG6 THE BOOK OF DANIEL. [on. v. 1-31,