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  • From: Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it>
  • To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Daniel and Late Ezekiel?
  • Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 19:47:32 +0200


At 08.35 22/06/99 +1000, George Athas wrote:
>The mention of Daniel in Ezekiel is almost definitely not of the biblical
>Daniel who rises through the corporate ladder of two empires. The reference
>is almost definitely of the proverbial wise man, Dan'il (or "Dan'el") who
>is also known in some of the Ugaritic epics. Being mentioned alongside Job
>and Noah puts "Daniel" in a very ancient timeframe - in the "a long, long
>time ago, in a land far, far away..." category. He must the proverbial
Dan'il.

It is strange that it is these three that were to get known late interest
from biblical writers: the book of Daniel, the Enochian book of Noah and of
course the book of Job. While the Ugaritic connection through Dan'il is
interesting -- given the Ezekiel spelling --, a trajectory for it is not
easy, besides, the book of Daniel gives a more immediate reference.
(However, the fact that Ezekiel doesn't hint at anything more than Daniel
being a wise man might indicate that Ezekiel was written before the
emergence of the Daniel traditions.)

>Thus, this mention of a "Daniel" in Ezekiel cannot be used to date the
book of Ezekiel to
>Hellenistic times. If we are to do so, we must find other grounds to do it
on.

Definitely.

How about the interest in Tyre when from the time of the Assyrians down to
the time of the Babylonians commercial intercourse between Tyre and
Jerusalem had been precluded? Tyre was not a player in the Jerusalem world
for centuries before the fall, though it came to prominence (again?)
starting sometime after the return. (This is similar to the situation
regarding harangues against Egypt a power whose significance dwindled after
its brief flirt with Josiah.) Of course, if one is a proponent of
predictive prophecy in the case of Tyre, one needs to remember that the
city has had an amazingly long continuity of inhabitation.

How about the geography of the Hellenistic world that includes Tarshish,
Rhodes (Dedan), Cyprus (Kittim) -- all interesting for the little
land-locked canton of Jerusalem --, and of a post-fall of Jerusalem
knowledge of Egypt?

How about the interest in the sons of Zadok and its corollary of reduced
significance of the Levites (as against Deut.), well-known from the DSS? I
also find interesting the daubing with whitewash imagery found in the DSS.

How about the use of a solar calendar throughout the book, a calendar that
Enoch indicates was only coming into vogue in the third century? (You can
use a 364-day DSS-like calendar to show that no vision ever occurred on a
Sabbath.)

I don't know when Ezekiel was written, but the indications seem to me
definitely not the time the text ostensibly deals with.

Cheers,


Ian





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