256 Charles C. Torrey, 



covered more shades of meaning in western Aramaic than elsewhere, 

 extending through the whole series : " unless, except, but, only, however, 

 then, accordingly, therefore." By supposing this looseness of usage it 

 is possible to account for all the facts connected with the history of 

 the word. The difficulty of the supposition is very much lessened by 

 the fact that in western Aramaic the form of the word has concealed 

 its origin, making the case quite unlike that of Heb. j^") QX and Syr. 

 X^JS{, in both of which the compound is obvious and the range of 

 meaning necessarily restricted. 



2 : 7 n^trSI- This might, of course, be pointed ^_, as in most of 

 the ancient versions. But the preference should always be given to the 

 massoretic tradition in such cases, because of what we know of its 

 relative excellence in the Aramaic of Daniel. As for the occasional 

 writing of final a with ,"[ instead of x, that is one of the many interesting 

 characteristics of this period in the history of the written language. 

 Thus even n^ for J5^, for example, in 4 : 32. 



2 : 8 bsp 73- It is the universal custom, in grammars, dictionaries, 

 and commentaries, to speak of this as a division of the word " mistakenly " 

 made by the massoretes. It is true that the original was 5 + S^pS 

 as has been (or might have been) known ever since Luzzatto's grammar 

 (1865) ; but the shifting of the vowel was a most natural phonetic change, 

 and we have no reason to doubt that it was actually made in the popular 

 speech. As for the custom of dividing the word in writing, those who 

 object to it must refuse to allow "HtTK ^tTD; Eccles. 8:17, the Arabic 



sLyif Juo, etc., and a hundred similar cases in various living languages. 



2 : 8, 9. The interpreters, ancient and modern, have failed to see 

 that the massoretes have made the verse-division in the wrong place. 

 The last word in vs. 8 should be p^ri^T) which now stands at the end 

 of the first clause in vs. 9. The whole sentence from ^^p ^^ to pDni 

 is parenthetical. The translation : " The king answered and said, I know 

 of a certainty that ye would gain time — since ye see that the word from 

 me is sure, (namely) that if ye do not tell me the dream, one fate is 

 for you all ; — and ye have planned to speak lying and corrupt words 

 before me till the time be changed." 



2 : 10 ^5^- This form and ^Din, 5 : 16 kc/lb, are very likely Hebra- 

 isms ; but this is by no means certain, even in view of ^5";, 3 : 29, etc. 

 In any case, by what right is the text " emended " here (as in Kittel's 

 Biblia Hcbraicd) r Is it inconceivable — or even unlikely — that the 

 popular speech of that time should inconsistently have mixed Hebraisms 

 with pure Aramaic forms ? It is better to interpret the text which 



