Septuagint question
Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 10:54 am
Does the Book of Daniel appear in the earliest known copies of the Septuagint?
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Yes,lsayre wrote:Does the Book of Daniel appear in the earliest known copies of the Septuagint?
No.lsayre wrote:Would this confirm an earlier date of composition than 167 BC for the Book of Daniel?
Andrew is right, as usual. However, 2nd century BCE = 101-200 BCE. I think that the earliest might be 164 BCE, at least for Daniel 9:24ff.andrewcriddle wrote:No.lsayre wrote:Would this confirm an earlier date of composition than 167 BC for the Book of Daniel?
The Septuagint of the Pentateuch dates from the 3rd century BCE but the translation of the other books into Greek is later maybe much later.
Name |
Contents |
Date Copied |
---|---|---|
1QDana (1Q71) | Dan 1:10-17; 2:2-4, 4-6. Language shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic, and omits the phrase ‘in Aramaic’ at 2:4. | 50–68 A.D. |
1QDanb (1Q72) | Dan 3:22-30. Aramaic. Four fragments on vellum. The “Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Men,” between vss 23 and 91 in Lxx or 33 & 34 in RSV, is not present in this fragment, but would fall after it. | 50–68 A.D. or earlier |
4QDana (4Q112) | Dan 1:16–2:33; 4:29-30; 5:5-7; 7:25-30; 8:1-5; 10:16-20; 11:13-16. Note that portions of these verses are incomplete. Language shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic at 2:4. Language shifts from Aramaic back to Hebrew at 8:1. The manuscript has a blank line between the end the Aramaic section and beginning of the Hebrew. | 50 B.C. |
4QDanb (4Q113) | Dan 5:10–12, 14–16, 19–22; 6:8–22, 27–29; 7:1–6, 26–28; 8:1–8, 13–16. Confirms the shift of language from Aramaic to Hebrew. | 50–68 A.D. |
4QDanc (4Q114) | Dan 10:5–9, 11–16, 21; 11:1–2, 13–17, 25–29. Hebrew. The oldest known text of Daniel. | Late 2nd century B.C. |
4QDand (4Q115) | Dan 3:23–25; 4:5?–9; 4:12–14. Aramaic. Fragments, the largest of which contains five partial lines in severe decay. | |
4QDane (4Q116) | Dan. 9:12–14?, 15–16?, 17? … Hebrew. Five tiny fragments from chapter nine. | |
6QDana aka 6QpapDan (6Q7) | Dan 8:16, 17, 20, 21; 10:8–16, 11:33–36, 38. Hebrew. This cave contained papyrus manuscripts rather than leather parchment. | 50–68 A.D. |
"The words of the prayer of Nabunai king of the l[and of Ba]bylon, [the great] king, [when he was afflicted] with an evil ulcer in Teiman by decree of the [Most High God]. “I was afflicted [with an evil ulcer] for seven years ... and an exorcist pardoned my sins. He was a Jew from [among the children of the exile of Judah, and he said], ‘Recount this in writing to [glorify and exalt] the name of the [Most High God.’ And I wrote this]: ‘I was afflicted with an [evil] ulcer in Teiman [by decree of the Most High God]. For seven years prayed to the gods of silver and gold, [bronze and iron], wood and stone and clay, because that they were gods...' "
DCHindley wrote:In the DSS, there is a fragment usually entitled “The Prayer of Nabonidus” (4Q242) that may have served as the base for the story told in Daniel ...
"The words of the prayer of Nabunai king of the l[and of Ba]bylon, [the great] king, [when he was afflicted] with an evil ulcer in Teiman by decree of the [Most High God]. “I was afflicted [with an evil ulcer] for seven years ... and an exorcist pardoned my sins. He was a Jew from [among the children of the exile of Judah, and he said], ‘Recount this in writing to [glorify and exalt] the name of the [Most High God.’ And I wrote this]: ‘I was afflicted with an [evil] ulcer in Teiman [by decree of the Most High God]. For seven years prayed to the gods of silver and gold, [bronze and iron], wood and stone and clay, because that they were gods...' "
The translation of the DSS fragment, I think, is that of Florentino Garcia Martinez.
Ben C. Smith wrote:Hmmm. This is what Martínez has for 4Q242 in his Study Edition:DCHindley wrote:The translation of the DSS fragment, I think, is that of Florentino Garcia Martinez.
1 Words of the pr[ay]er which Nabonidus, king of [the] la[nd of Baby]lon, the [great] king, prayed [when he was afflicted] 2 by a malignant inflammation, by decree of the G[od Most Hi]gh, in Teiman. [I, Nabonidus,] was afflicted [by a malignant inflammation] 3 for seven years, and was banished far [from men, until I prayed to the God Most High] 4 and an exorcist forgave my sin. He was a Je[w] fr[om the exiles, who said to me:] 5 «Make a proclamation in writing, so that glory, exal[tation and hono]ur be given to the name of [the] G[od Most High». And I wrote as follows: «When] 6 I was afflicted by a ma[lignant] inflammation […] in Teiman, [by decree of the God Most High,] 7 prayed for seven years [to all] the gods of silver and gold, [of bronze and iron,] 8 of wood, of stone and of clay, because ht that t[hey were] gods [...]
While the book of Daniel appears undifferentiated in the Christian Old Testament, nestled in amongst the other prophetic books, in the Hebrew Tanach it is not one of the books of the second tier (Nevi'im - "prophets") but in the third tier (Ketuvim - "writings"). This may reflect a consciousness of its relative "modernity".Kris wrote:Even thought Daniel may have been one of the books of the OT, is was a "new" book at that time.