Notes on the Aramaic Part of Daniel. 275 



4 : 33. It might seem, at first sight, that something has fallen out 

 after the word TIISSD) but the supposition is not necessary. In vs. 27 

 of this same chapter, ^"Tin *1p^S means "for the sake of my glorious 

 honor,'''' and it is therefore most natural to render similarly here : "At 

 that time my reason returned to me ; and, for the sake of my royal 

 honor, my splendor and my kingly appearance were restored. Then 

 my ministers and my nobles made eager search' for me, and I was 

 restored to my kingdom." The king tells, in the first part of the verse, 

 in ivhaf condition his ministers found him. It would not be fitting, 

 " for the sake of his ro}'al honor," that they should find him in rags 

 and filth and looking like a madman. On the contrary, his reason was 

 perfectly restored ; his royal apparel (^l^TH) as elsewhere) was returned 

 to him ; and his personal appearance (T*!, as elsewhere) was again worthy 

 of his rank. 



The verbal repetitions in vss. 31—33, which have been objected to 

 by some recent commentators, and because of which extensive alterations 

 of the text are proposed in Kittel's Biblia Hebraica, are eminently 

 characteristic of the author of these Daniel stories. 



4 : 33 ri^'^nn- This ;best attested) pointing probably belongs to one of 

 those" alternative readings " which are frequently encountered in the masso- 

 retic text. That is, there was an attempt to embody both the reading : " and 

 over my kingdom I was established (ri3pnn) " and the other : " and 

 to me '\h'S\) iTiy kingdom was restored" (compare especially the old 

 Greek, aTroxaxEaxaOT) rj ^aaiXeia jiou e|xoO. 



4 : 34. Kittel's Biblia prefers the text of the old Greek version. See 

 on the contrar}^ the remarks on vs. 12, above, the footnote at the end. 



The unusual phrase " King of Heaven " (cf. 5 : 23, " Lord of Heaven ") 

 is found also in i Esdras 4 : 46, 58, in each of the two editorial patches 

 which were composed, probably at just about the time ivhen the 

 Daniel stories ivere written, in order to unite the Story of the Three 

 Youths to the Chronicler's history. See my Ezra Studies, p. 49, 57, 59. 



5 ■• 5 Knti?*133- This hitherto unexplained word is of good Semitic 

 origin, if I am not mistaken. It is compounded from "^^3 " place, 

 put, stand," and the feminine noun rilTX (XtS^K, XntTX, etc.), " fire." 

 The word meant originally " fire-stand " or " lamp-stand," and is probably 

 ancient. The root '^33 is the most common of all roots in Ethiopic 

 to signify " put, place ;" we have no need, however, to suppose that 

 the Aramaeans borrowed the term from the southern Semites, for the 

 verb may once have been in common use in the north. 



* Notice that the unusual pael stem is used here, obviously for its added 

 effect in the picture. 



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