The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 204

hlm, yet when he comes, Belshazze,r specially fo.vourable to the ,Jews. As tho e.ddreeeee him RB knowing who and whence text of the Septuagint gives the no.rro.tive, he is. 'fhe suspicion that is engendered we have the king eager to h,tve hia terrors by tho mere rending of tho text as wo h":vo laid, and, to lead this opprinent, whom his it is conJlrmod by a study of the Septuagrnt fo.ther, if not also Nerigliasrir, had di8p]neerl, t,oxt where theeo four verses shrink into o.ncl put in oppositir,n to his rule, to look very modest dimensions, "'fhen Daniel fo.vourably on him, he mentions the re,rn.rrl was brought to the king, o.nd the king he offers. answered o.nd said, 0 Daniel, art thou ahlo Vers. 17-23.-Then Daniel answered and to show me the interpreto.tion of the writing? ea.id before the king, Let thy gifis be to and I will clothe thee with purple, and put thyself, and give thy rewards to anothe,; e. gold chain about thy neck, e.nd thou she.It yet I will read the writing unto the king, have authority over e. third part of my e.nd make knowu to him the interpretation. kingdom." 'l'he brevity of this, the utter 0 thou king, the most high God gave Nebc1- want of rhetoric, not to speak of its chadnezze.r thy father a kingdom, and dramatic verisimilitude to the speech of e. majesty, and glory, e.nd honour : and for the me.n beside himself with terror, make it the majesty that he gave him, e.11 people, nations, more probable text. Condeneo.tion was e.nd languages, tremb!ed and feared before re.rely the work of a falaaTiua; he_ 11:'ight him : whom he would he slew ; and whom omit statements that were antagom8tic to he would he kept a.live; and whom he would some preconceived notion, or, if only a l~af he set up ; and whom he would he put dowu. or so remained of a parchment otherwise :But when his heart was lifted up, and hie filled up, he might endeavour to utilize the mind hardened in pride, he was deposed space left him by putting down as much as from his kingly throne, and they took his he could of some work he valued. Then, glory from him: e.nd he was driven from in such e. case, a copyist might really con- the sons of men ; and bis heart was made dense. But neither of these causes can like the beasts, e.nd his dwelling was with explain the omission of the rhetorical the wild asses : they fed him with grass passages here. Wo are compelled, then, like oxen, and his body was wet with the to_ regard the text behind the ~eptuagint dew of heaven; till he knew that the moat in this place e.e the true Daniel: Th~o- high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and dotion, while on the whole agreemg with that he e.ppointeth over it whomsoever he the text of the Maesoretes, is briefer in will. And thou his son, 0 :Belshazze.r, hast some respects. There is one addition, t_he not humble! thine heart, though thou insertion of " magicians " between " wise lmewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself men" e.nd "astrologers." This shows the against the Lord of heaven; e.nd they have 'process of the evolution of the Me.~soret\c brought the vessels of his house before thee, text. The Peshitte., though but little, if e.nd thou, e.nd thy lords, thy wives, e.ud thy et e.ll, later than Theodotion, is in yet ooncubines, have drunk wine in them; and closer agreement with the text of the thou hast praised the gods of silver, e.nd Me.seoretes. Yet the Maseoretic text shows gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which certain peculiarities. The presen~e of i, see not, nor hee,r, nor know: and the God in in the second personal pronoun, which was whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all disappearing from Te.rgumic, but is regu- thy we.ye, hast thou not glorified. We ha,e larly found in Daniel, is to be observed. gathered these verses together, as they all Further, there is ::i11 with the suffix of the relate to one matter and come under one con- first person, which is not Te.rgumic, but is demnation. Long ago von Lengerke, e.nd found in the Sindschirli inscription. In the more recently Hitzig, have shown that such Te.rgums it is 11:111, not •::i11, as in Gen. ix. e.u insultino-0 speech e.s Daniel addressed to 34 Onkclos. Ee.stern Aramaic retained it, as Belshazzar woultl certainly be visited with m~y be seen in the Peshitte. Version of the punishment. The king had no guarantee passage before us, and of that to which we that the promised interpretation of the have referred. This is 11,nother of the many writiug ou the we.11 would be true, espe- slight indications which all point to the cially when the interpreter he.d su1:h an Ee.stern origin of the Book of Daniel. It animus against him. Then th~ fact 10_ the may be observed that we have not here twenty-ninth verse, that Damel received •n'?n (tal'ti), but NJ;\?121 (tal'ta). This is the gifts he had rejected, makes his con- r~g'ii.rded by Behrmnnn as status emphaUous. duct here e.ll the more extraordinary. A The king in his terror mnkcs appenl to one writer of fiction, of even moderate skill, who, perhaps, had been dismissed the court would not make the blunder here made. on suspicion of being opposed to the new It could easily be made by e. falsarius in- dynasty. That dynasty bad displaced _an d terpolating a speech he thought suitable murdered Evil-Morodach, the son of Daniel1 s to e. Jewish prophet in the presence of 11 olil n>Mter o.nd one who had shown himself heo.then king, who had dishonoured tha liO THE BOOK OF DANIEL. [cu. v. 1~a1.