nll lhis lhnt the writing nppea,rs. Tliere ls Ver. 31.-And Darius tb.e Median took next tho calling of the wiso men, who were the kingdom, being about three score e.ud in tho vicinity of tho pa,lnce. On their two yea.re old. It is probable thnt the failure to explnin tho writing, the other wise Mnssoretic division of the chapters here is men nre summoned by procli1mntion; they to be preferred. According to it, this verse assemble, essny the rending, nnd fail. The is assigned to the beginning of the next queen-mother comes-eilher is cnlled, or, chn,pter, hut most of the more ancient henl'ing the tumult, comes in herself-nnd versions, Theodoti,,n, the Peshitta, and tho tells Dclshnzznr of De.niel. Dnnicl is rnm- Vulgate, agree with our English arrange- monecl, nnd rco.ds the writing. Even if we ment. The Septuagint, like the Maa,oretic mnintnin-o.lthough it does not seem the text, assigns this verse to the sixth chapter. natural reading of the po.sse.ge-the.t the Its rendering manifcHts several striking proclume.tion of e. rewe.rd to him who could peculiarities, "And Artaxerxes of the reo.d the writing followed immediately on Medes received (1rap{>.afJ,) the kingdom, and the order to ce.11 in the astrologers nnd Darius was full of days, and reverend other wise men, still, it is difficult to ( lvoo~os) in old o.ge." This is the product imagine all the events, especially the sum- of doublets r:-,~~;:;t,r:,~, Artaxerxes, being sug- moning of all the wise men in Babylon by gested by some. scribe a.a in his opinion a proclamation, and the finding out of Daniel more probable name than Darius. So the and bringing him to the court, taking place one name begins the first clause, and the other in one night, and that in that very night the second. The last clause is evidently was Belshe.zze.r slain. On the other hand, due to ~;i (l<•bar), "a.bout" (" o.s the son the Septuagint makes no snch demand on of"), being read 1;1:::i (kaber), "great,'' our belief. According to it, the prophecy "multiplied "-a meaning this word has in was not so closely connected with its Syr:ac, but not in Chaldee (Gen. xxxv.11). fulfllment. The fee.et recorded here may Theodotion and the Peshitte. o.gree with he.ve taken place six, eight, or ten years the Massoretic text. The uncertainty before the actual fall of Babylon. We as to the name has to be noted. We know that from his seventh year till some shall reserve for fuller discussion the ques- time between his eleventh and seven- tion of Darius the Mede, only we would say teenth yenr Ne.bune.hid was in Terna. This that the name not improbably was modified fee.et might be the inauguration of Bel- from a less-known name to one somewhat she.zze.r's viceroye.lty; in that case it would like it but well known. We know that" Go- be nearly ten years before the capture baru," or" Oybaru. "-" Gobryas," in Greek of Babylon by Cyrus. If that is so, the -was appointed go,-ernor by Cyrus when he supposed contradiction between this verse conquered Babylon, and that, in the script and eh. viii. I vanishes. We need only of the Sindscbirli monuments, Gobrgae, look at the various theories of who Bel• she.zze.r we.a. Niebuhr nsrnmes it as a W099 .\ or '-199 ~, is not unlike Darius, second name for Evil-Merode.ch-a view for \VY Z:'9 C\ • One point to be noted is the which Keil ho.s some sympathy. Niebuhr fa.et that the verb used is wrongly translated ingeniously combines the statement from "took." S:ip really means "received.." When Berosus, thnt his reign we.a av&µws Kal this is so.id, we naturally expect some one, l.<T•>-')'ws. This, however, might mean a either God or man, from whom he has re- favour for the Jews, shown by the specie.I ceived this honour. If this purported to b( honour given to Jehoie.chin-a thing which a history of Babylonia., then it might be would be readily regarded by the Baby- reasoned that the implied source from whom lonians as "lawless and outre.geou's." He the kingdom was received was God; in maintains that the change of dyne.sty im• such a case ~:ip would be used of one who plied in Babylon was the assumption of the supremacy by Astynges the Mede, who, rncceeded to the kingdom by inheritance; according to Niebuhr, is Darius the Mede. this cannot be the meaning here. In this After one year's personal reign, he plnced passo.ge it is merely incidentally mentioned Neriglissa.r on the throne. This view is in order to explain the events tho.t imme- definitely contra.dieted by the contra.et diately follow. The more natw-al. interpre- tables, which have no reference to 11, reign tation is that he was put on the throne by between Evil-Merndach and Noriglisse.r. a.noth1'r person, his superior. The instance The other theory is thnt he is Labasi- quoted by Professor Bevan, in which this Me.rduk. This view is maintained by De- verb is used of the accession of Julian the Iitzsch nnd Ebmrd. All of them o.ssume Apostate, tells really ngninst his conten- the murder of the king the very nigilt of tion. Julinn expected to lie.ve to conquer the fenst-a thing which is in the teeth of the empire; but, by the death of his cousin, probability, and not supported by the he received it as nn inheritance. Nothing Septuagint reading. could be more unlike what occurred m THE BOOK OF DANIEL. [ou. v.1-31.
TIRbylnn, RcMrcling to his theory of wl111t t.he n11thor of Daniel mC'l\nt. He maintRins I conquorcd D!lbylon, aml so nsccndccl tho throno. The example he bringe does not that t.l1e author of Daniel thought Darius ehow that ~:ip could be used in that eense.