A Reconsideration of the MT and OG Editions of Daniel 4 Open Access

Abstract

A Reconsideration of the MT and OG Editions of Daniel 4
This thesis seeks to address the question of the relationship between the MT and OG
editions of the fourth chapter of Daniel. In so doing, I hope to illuminate the textual
history of Daniel 4.
In order to properly address the relevant issues of chapter four of the book of
Daniel, my first chapter will look at the book as a whole. I will begin with a brief
examination of the available Old Greek Daniel manuscripts. Then I will give a short
discussion of the current state of the question of the relationship between the MT and OG
editions of Daniel. I will very briefly outline the nature of this relationship and point to
some relevant scholarship but will follow the line of scholars who view these editions as
secondary reworkings of a no-longer extant Vorlage.
In chapter two, I will seek to identify the material which made up the Vorlage of
the MT and OG editions of Daniel 4. I believe that, through identifying the material
shared by both the two variant editions of this chapter, we can reconstruct this Vorlage. I
will also briefly look at the differing arrangements of material as preserved in each of the
two literary editions.
In the third and fourth chapters, I will turn to looking at the individual pluses and
minuses in the MT and OG editions of Daniel 4 and attempt to classify these as to what
was the Tendenz of each edition. I will identify some of the more significant pluses and
minuses of the later Aramaic and Greek editors of the chapter, and will consider what
these additions or deletions say of the different thematic emphases of the present texts.
Finally, I will examine the overall development of these two editions of Daniel as
a book in order to trace how the text of Daniel 4 evolved over time. I propose that it was
a combination of several factors which led to the ultimate replacement of the OG edition
of Daniel
the MT.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
ORIGEN'S HEXAPLA ...................................................................................................................... 2
Codex Chisianus ....................................................................................................................... 4
Syro-Hexaplar .......................................................................................................................... 5
PAPYRUS 967 ................................................................................................................................ 6
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS .............................................................................................................. 8
THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE OG AND THE MT EDITIONS ............................................................. 9
CHAPTER 2 THE VORLAGE OF DANIEL 4 AND ARRANGEMENT OF MATERIAL . 16
BASIC OUTLINE OF DANIEL 4 ..................................................................................................... 16
THE LETTER ................................................................................................................................ 18
THE DREAM REPORT .................................................................................................................. 23
The Tree Dream and Its Interpretation ................................................................................... 23
The Animal Transformation ................................................................................................... 25
Arrangement of the Dream Report ......................................................................................... 27
RESTORATION AND PRAISE ........................................................................................................ 28
OTHER ELEMENTS IN THE VORLAGE ........................................................................................... 29
Focus on the King .................................................................................................................. 29
The Role of Daniel ................................................................................................................. 30
CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................ 31
CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS OF THE MT EDITION OF DANIEL 4 ........................................ 32
PLUSES AND MINUSES IN THE OG EDITION ............................................................................... 32
TENDENZ OF THE MT EDITION ................................................................................................... 45
Court Competition .................................................................................................................. 46
Kingship and Authority .......................................................................................................... 48
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS OF THE OG EDITION OF DANIEL 4 ........................................ 52
PLUSES AND MINUSES IN THE OG EDITION ............................................................................... 52
TENDENZ OF OG ......................................................................................................................... 71
The Characterization of the King ........................................................................................... 71
The King's Punishment .......................................................................................................... 72
The King's Conversion .......................................................................................................... 75
The Contemptible King to Follow ......................................................................................... 77
Figure of Daniel ..................................................................................................................... 77
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................... 81
DATING OF THE VORLAGE OF DANIEL 4 ..................................................................................... 81
SOCIAL SETTING OF THE TWO EDITIONS OF DANIEL 4 .............................................................. 84
DANIEL 4 IN THE SECOND CENTURY B.C.E. .............................................................................. 88
DANIEL 4 IN THE COMMON ERA ................................................................................................. 90
CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................ 92
APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 93
APPENDIX 1: MT AND OG TEXT OF DANIEL 4 ........................................................................... 93
APPENDIX 2: DANIEL MANUSCRIPTS ......................................................................................... 99
APPENDIX 3: ARRANGEMENT OF DREAM SEQUENCE MATERIAL ............................................ 100
APPENDIX 3: PLUSES AND MINUSES IN MT AND OG DANIEL 4 .............................................. 103
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 115

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Candler School of Theology
Department	Theological Studies
Degree	MTS
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Keyword	Old Greek Daniel
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Newsom, Carol A, Emory University
Committee Members	Holladay, Carl R, Emory University Kraftchick, Steven, Emory University

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