The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 221

it is llll cllfflcult to imBgine Bny one think- nid thll■ llllto him, l[l.11.f Dar1u■, liYe tor ing of introdudng thBt I\S B logical c,quivB- ner. All the p~1ident1 ot the kingdom, lent. Young men would not be put in the governors, and the prinoe■, the ooun 11uch n l'<'spon~ible plsro, nor would they 1ellor1, and the oaptain■, hAva oon■ulted hBTe thought of Daniel-a man of nbe>ut together to establish a ro:,al etatute, and eighty yE>aTB-as a rolleague with youths. to me.ke a ftrm deoree, that whoaoever ■he.II Tlu•re nre e'l"ident traces of two readings aak a petition of any God or man for thirty lnwing ooalese.ed; thus we hM·e 1,;,-;,,:/1>..ovs days.save of thee, 0 king, he she.11 be oastinto '- i-yo,,.,... followed bv ,f,.av, Bfter the course the den of lions. Now, 0 king, establish the of the nBrrntiYe has been interrupted by deoree, and aign the writing, that it be not an inserted ale.use. As to the punishment ohanged, acoording to the le.w of the llledes to befall the transgressor of this decree, and Per&ia.ns, whioh altereth not. Whore- one statement ie, " If not, he she.II die." fore King Darin& signed the writing and The next Tomion of the punishment is the deoree. '.11le Septne.~nt, in regard to bronc-ht into connection with tho lrnmilia- these verses, is much bnefer, and reveals tion ·to be inflicted on Do.niel, that "be a better text. "Then those men came and ma..- be csst into the den of lions." At the so.id before the king, We have made a Mme time, the fact that wo hear of the decree and a statute, that any man who decree in connection with the consultation o:frereth prayer or presents petition to any of these conspirators in the present text, is god for the space of thirty days, save only in harmony with what we find in the fourth to Darius the king, shall be cast into the chapter. In the original document not impro- den of lions ; and thns Darius decreed, and bably the statement would be given-a.s in confirmed it." The fact that requests to Gen. xii. in regard to Phe.mob's dreams- other men are not forbidden is to be ob- alike when the conspire.tore devise the ple.n, served. The long catalogue of officio.ls is and when they carry it out. In regard to omitted; the whole conspiracy is the work BOme of the differences, an explanation me.y of Daniel's co-presidents. Theodotion and be hnmrded, but we will notdele.y. Notwith- the Peshitta. a.re in practical agreement standing that the Ma.asoretic here ie shorter with the Massoretio text. To understand than the Greek text, we fancy it ie not the point of this decree, that seems to us difficult through it to find a shorter text ao absurd, and comprehend how any one still. The text of Theodotion ie much with Bllfficient mental vigour left to be briefer than either of the other texts, "And placed by Cyrus as governor in Babylon the presidents ( .-a,..,-urol) and the Mtra.ps could be led to yield to confirm it, we must 10Ught to find occasion against Daniel, and recognize the state of matters in Babylon. they found neither OCC&Bion, nor fault, nor During the reign of N abunahid there had error against him, because he was faithful. been many religious changes. The seclu- And the presidents said, We shall not find sion of the monarch had led to the neglect occasion against Daniel except in regard of many of the regular rites of the gods of to precepts (voµ11J-Ovs) of his God." The Ba.bi!. The policy he pursued of bringing Peshitta agrees in the main with the the gods of varions provinces to Babylon Ma.ssoretic. It makes Daniel faithful tended, as did the similar policy in Rome, "towardB God." That these c~preeidents to draw off from the importance of the e.nd the under-governors should be indig- na.tione.l religion by forming rival cults. nant that a Jew, who had actually been One of the first nets of Cyrus's reign was to employed in the conrt of N abuna.hid, should order the replacing of these deities in their be put above those Babylonians who had ancient shrines. This would necessarily admitted the shields of Guti into Esakkil, be most distasteful to the worshippers. of wo.s natural. Of course, they could not these imported deities. There would be seriously plead this before the governor much murmuring among the huge hetero- Gobryae. They could not accuse Daniel geneous population ; and there would be directly of worshipping his national Deity, thus a well-grounded fear of a religious riot. for the Persia.n rule in Babylon, while A bold aoldier as Gobryae (Darius) was, he zealous for the gods of Babylon, did not probably was but a timid ruler, and nothing imply any assault on the deities of other would he dread more than a religious riot. subject races. It is to be noted that in the Would it not be a plausible way of meeting Sq,tnagint the plot is concocted by the this difficulty to order for one month all two" youths," Daniel's co-presidents. They, worship to cease? The British Gove1·nment most likely ruen of high rank, would feel in India. regulates the religion of the in- u, .Sc ke:enly that they were superseded by habitants as summarily, forbidding religions 11 J ,-w, and their feelings would naturally observances that are liable to cause excite- s1sr,,ad to those beneath them. ment in vobuies of rival creeds. 'l'hus \" <ors. 6-9-Tben these presidents and llfoacs assigned, as a reason for refusing pri1Lce5 assembled together to the king, and to s11,Crifice in Egypt, the wrath of the Oil, VI, 1-28,) Tll1<J llOOK Ol!' DANIEt,. 187