The Expositor's Bible: The Book of DanielFarrar, F. W. (Frederic William)
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Daniel
Farrar, F. W. (Frederic William)
Bible. Daniel -- Commentaries
represented in the lions' den standing naked between two lions--an
emblem of the soul between sin and death--and that a youth with a pot
of food is by his side.
There is a Persian apocalypse of Daniel translated by Merx (_Archiv_,
i. 387), and there are a few worthless Mohammedan legends about him
which are given in D'Herbelot's _Bibliothèque orientale_. They only
serve to show how widely extended was the reputation which became
the nucleus of strange and miraculous stories. As in the case of
Pythagoras and Empedocles, they indicate the deep reverence which the
ideal of his character inspired. They are as the fantastic clouds
which gather about the loftiest mountain peaks. In later days he
seems to have been comparatively forgotten.[14]
These references would not, however, suffice to prove Daniel's
_historical_ existence. They might merely result from the literal
acceptance of the story narrated in the Book. From the name "Daniel,"
which is by no means a common one, and means "Judge of God," nothing
can be learnt. It is only found in three other instances.[15]
Turning to the Old Testament itself, we have reason for surprise both
in its allusions and its silences. One only of the sacred writers
refers to Daniel, and that is Ezekiel. In one passage (xxviii. 3)
the Prince of Tyrus is apostrophised in the words, "_Behold, thou
art wiser than Daniel_; there is no secret that they can hide from
thee." In the other (xiv. 14, 20) the word of the Lord declares to
the guilty city, that "though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and
Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their
righteousness"; "they shall deliver neither son nor daughter."[16]
The last words may be regarded as a general allusion, and therefore
we may pass over the circumstance that Daniel--who was undoubtedly
a eunuch in the palace of Babylon, and who is often pointed to as a
fulfilment of the stern prophecy of Isaiah to Hezekiah[17]--could
never have had either son or daughter.
But in other respects the allusion is surprising.
i. It was very unusual among the Jews to elevate their contemporaries
to such a height of exaltation, and it is indeed startling that
Ezekiel should thus place his youthful contemporary on such a
pinnacle as to unite his name to those of Noah the antediluvian
patriarch and the mysterious man of Uz.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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