The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 295

thE' way. 7?,e eommrrndment came forth. thnlh) instead of /iat.ham; the othar translator Tbe word tm.nslnt!'d "oomm11ndmPnt" ia must have read ma(lah (;ir;,i.,). The phmse, the very common Hebrew word, ~"J (dabar), B,11vo11Biiv111 .,.& 8pa/J-t1., "to understand the "11 word," "11 thing," "11 m11tter," in which vision," seems II doublet of the olauee "to 11ense it O<'eurs in the pennUim11te ol11nse or senl up the vision." There seema to 'have this verse. And I am rome to ehou, t~. been in one of tbo manuscripts used by the The angel Gabriel is the messenger sent LXX. translator a transposition of words; forth ~ int~rpret to DRnial the ways of for one or them must have rco.d 11:~~ God "•lb his people. The angel Gabriel is sent to give Daniel an explanatory oraole (l•hoot.han) instead of tt•;i:;i\ sinco be renders or word thRt he may be comforted oon- Bollijvcu. Thie is an impossible oh11nge, oeming his people. The reason of this is, bot the mistaking of cn;i, for tn;i, is per- "for thon &rt greatly beloved." This fectly easy t,o ima.gine, if cn;i, had been phmse has oonsed oonsidera.ble di1Forenoe written in place of N•::a;i,, and it transferred ol opinion. The LXX. renders, h,nivb, • to the place in the l\111&soretio text occupied Theodotion, o.~p l-.,.a/Jul'-1ow; the Peshit~ r'gee~; Jerome, mr daideriorum; Hitzig's by ,,,,,, then WO ce.n eBBily understand r::in,. rendering is "darling" (liebling); Ewald, In the 111st clause the LXX. translator must "dearly beloved one." l;I<moocwth mea.ns have read nee instead of nll't:>, a clearly "desires," "loves; " hence may either be inferior reading. The impression conveyed un_derstood subjectively or o~jectively; in to one is that the translators were able to this ca.ee, most prob&bly the latter, "a me.n, put no intelligible mea.ning on the pasB11ge, the object of love." Therefore understand I.he &nd rendered the words successively e.e malt.er, and comider the flil1i.tm. The reader nee.rly as they could without attempting to will have observed that the l11Bt clanee is me.ke them sense. We mnet admit, how- omitted from the LXX. There is a false ever, that the phenomena that cause this succellSion here. Da.niel is first comm&nded impression may bP, due to corruption of the •· to understand the matter," and then "to text. Theodotion renders, " Seventy weeb consider the vision." Another rendering of are determined (<T11v,.,.µ-r{871<Ta.,,) upon thy the lllo.ssorctic avoids this by neglecting people and on the holy city, to seal sine and the et/1t1ach, e.nd connecting 1'? with the wipe away unrighteoneneee, and to atone for sin, e.nd to bring the everle.sting right- preceding clause, gives, "thou art greatly eousness, e.nd to seal the vision and the beloved e.nd understanding in the matter." prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies." Ver. 24.-Bevu.ty weeks are determined Theodotion, it will be seen, 11& the LX.X:., npan thy people and upon thy holy aity, to has" prophet" instead of" prophecy," which lillWl the transgression., Blld to make e.n end certainly is more verbally accurate than of sins, and to make rcconciliatic,n for ini- our version; he omits "to finish trans- quity, Blld to bring in everlasting right- gression," having instead, "to seal sine." eousness, and to seal up the vision &nd The Peshitt& has followed the K'thih e.nd prophecy, &nd to anoint the Jlost Holy, renders, "finish transgreesions," and instead The LXX. here differs from the above, of "prophecy" has the "prophets." The "Seventy weeks e.re determiD.ed ( bcpt811<Tav) text of the V ctus, as preserved to us by upon thy people and the city Zion, to me.kc Tertullie.n, is, " Seventy weeks are short- an end of sin, to make unrighteonsnesses re.re ened (brematai) upon thy people, e.nd npon (<T1ravi<ra,), and to wipe ont the unrighteone- the holy city, until sin shall grow old, and nessee, and to understand the vision, e.nd to iniquities be marked (sig11entur), and right- give (appoint) (6o8ijva,) everlastiDg right- eousnesses rise up, and eternal righteousness eousness, e.nd to end the visions and the be brought in, and that the vision and the prophet, and to rejoice the holy of holies." prophet should be marked (signetur), and There seem here to be some instances of the holy of holies (sanct11s sa11ctorum) be doublet: 'TCLS o.611da, 1T1rav!<Ta.1 and o.1r11Ae,,j,a., anointed." Jerome renders," Seventy weeb are shortened ( abbreviatai BUnt) upon thy -rcs o.5udcu e.re different renderings of Clf.llJ? people and upon thy holy city, to end false- riiK~i:; (l•/uitli.a!lm /iaftaoth ), or es it is in the hood (pre1Jaricatio), to end sin, to wipe out Q'ri, l•al,thaym /iatl,ath (nNJ?~ CD~~)- Neither iniquity, to brin% in the everlasting right- of these seems to be the original of the eousness, to fulfil the vision and prophecy, Greek. Schleusner suggests to read <T~pa.· and to anoint the holy of holies (sanotu, ·/rra.1. Age.inst this is the fact that Paulus ,anctorum)." The Hebrew here is peculiar; 'fellensi.s r,,nders l•moz'or, "to bring to the word for " weeks" is in the masculine, llul1,ing" (Jer. x. 2-1, Peshitte.). How Wolf which is unexampled elsewhere in the (' S,d,zigwoehcn,' p. 26) can say the LXX. plural The singular masculine is found, c;,111.irlllii the 1lfasS(Jretic K'tl,ih, is difficult e.g. Gen. u:ix. 27; there is no ce.se of to sec,. The author of the first rendering feminine singular. lllr. Galloway(' Shadow of tl.ii.l pLrfl.8e seeWB to have read nnn (t,.a- on the Sundial,' p. 51) would rce.d □'!7t~ Oil. IX. 1-27,] THE DOOK OF DA NJF,L,