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  • From: Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Daniel 9:24-27
  • Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:10:08 +0100

Dear George,

I applaud disagreement, particularly substantial disagreement. This is the way science should work, but it is not the way it actually works. A scholar at the university of Oslo made a study of which MA students were allowed to continue with a Ph.D project. He found that in almost all cases those who were allowed to become Ph.D students worked on projects that agreed with the opinions of the University professors. Projects of MA students with theories and approaches which challenged the traditional views were rejected. In all scientific disciplines there are paradigms and axioms that never are challenged. Thomas Kuhn, whose field is the history of science, has written a lot on scientific progress and paradigm change. His conclusion regarding scientific progress is that through time different discoveries contradict the paradigm everyone believes in, and each discovery is explained away ad hoc. Then suddenly the old paradigm is rejected and a new one takes its place. According to Kuhn, the mechanism of paradigm change is not that more and more evidence against the paradigm accumulates, and at last it is proven to be wrong. To the contrary, the mechanism can be compared to a religious revival, and is more based on emotions and belief in authority than on rational thought. We therefore need go to the sources themselves and not just repeat what the authorities say. I know that you go to the bottom of things, so I look forward to read your article.

I would like to give one example showing the problems with following authorities instead of studying the sources. (I give another example in a post to Jason) The example is Daniel 11:20. It is almost universally believed that the verse refers to Antiochus IV who sent Heliodorus to despoil the temple in Jerusalem (2 Maccabees 3). Because Bible translators accept this reference, their translations are colored by it. This is seen in their rendering of NG$ as "tax collector" (or a similar expression), but there is no *lexical* reason for this rendering. Below I quote a paragraph from the book on the dating of Daniel that I work on.


Several Bible translators render noges… as "tax-collector", It is true that the perfect form of the word in 2 Ki 23:35 is used in the sense "demand (tax)". But we should note that what is demanded, namely gold and silver, is explicitly mentioned in the text. The corresponding verb means "to be hard pressed". (1 Sam 13:6; participle: "slavedriver"; Ex 3:7; "to oppress"; Is 3:5; "oppressor" Is 14:4; (participle) "governor" Is 60:17. Thus, the word generally refers "to the taskmaster who urges the people to severe labor, afflicts and oppresses them as cattle." (Keil-Delitzsch 444). Because these characteristics could be connected with a governor or ruler, the word could be applied to such a person, even if he did not force anyone to do something. Thus, the participle noges… could refer to any high official of a king regardless of what his duty was. From the point of view of lexical semantics, the popular rendering "tax collector" is wrong. There is no part of the word that is connected with tax, and this rendering is probably chosen, because the translators see the fulfillment in Heliodorus, who could be viewed as a tax collector.
The Syriac Peshitta uses s…oltan "power, ruler, prince", and the LXX has "a man striking (the honor of the king)," thus taking noges… in the sense "to strike". The only thing we can know on the basis of the use of the word noges…, is that the king mentioned sent one of his officers. We may also infer that since this sending is mentioned, there must have been something special with this situation.

The basic meaning ma'abir "move through; pass over," and the hiphil participle can have the meaning "allow/cause to pass over".
Literally the words h‡eder and malkut mean kingdom/kingship and glorious/splendid respectively. The word malkut is basically an abstract word referring to kingship or kingly power, but because a person having kingly power uses to rule in a particular country, the word can refer to the country itself as well. Two renderings are possible, 1) "who will cause an official (or, exactor, or, governor) to pass through the glorious kingdom." and 2) who will cause an officer/exactor to pass through with royal glory.

NRSV renders the clause different from other translations.: "Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an official for the glory of the kingdom."

When a person reads a Bible translation and finds the word "tax collector " and is told about Heliodorus, there is no doubt about the reference of the verse in the mind of this person. But if the original text is studied, the reference to Heliodorus in this verse is not at all clear.

An analysis of the original text in other verses in Daniel and a careful scrutiny of what we know with certainty and what we do not know regarding Antiochus IV may lead to an understanding of Daniel that is different from the traditional one.

Best regards,

Rolf Furuli Ph.D
University of Oslo



Hi Jason!

I'd disagree with Rolf, and say that most Daniel scholars would be of the opinion that Antiochus IV is certainly the focus of the visionary sections of the book. There is ample support for this view. However, I'd be interested in reading Rolf's view when it is published. I'm not going to dismiss his view out of hand (viz. that Antiochus IV is not the focus), but I daresay he faces an uphill battle.

I've got an article on the 'seventy weeks' which I'm hoping to put the finishing touches on in the next few weeks. It will be published online by JHS very soon. In short, it argues that there are some unwarranted assumptions in the way we view and calculate the 'seventy weeks', and offers a new configuration of the 'seventy weeks' which works with the narrative cues of the book itself and lands smack bang at the time of Antiochus IV.


Regards,
GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney)
Ph: 9577 9774. Mob: 0449 758 100
www.moore.edu.au


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