Judgment in Daniel 7

Judgment in Daniel 7fire ("flames dE [of] fire"). Thesecond predicate nominative ofthis bicolonconsists, on the other hand, ofa construct chain in which the word for firecomes first ("fire of burning"). Thus the overall pattern of the bicolon inverse 9c is A:B:C: :~:C':B'. A kind of mini-chiasm occurs here at the endof this bicolon leading to the center of the poem.A chiasm ofanother type occurs on the otherside ofthe centerofthisstanza in the bicolon of verse lOa. The first colon of this bicolon beginswith a nominal subject ("a stream"), and it ends with a verb ("preceded").Its second colon begins with a verb ("went forth") and ends with a prepositionalphrase ("before it"). Thus its pattern is A:B: :B:C, in which theverbsare arranged back-to-back at the end and beginning of their respectivecola. Thus a partial chiasm occurs at the end ofverse 9c and another oneoccurs in verse lOa. These two chiasms bridge the center ofthe poem. Thisillustrates the general rule that chiasms in biblical poetry commonly occurat the center of the poems in which they are found.The two bicola from verses 9c and lOa which form this C:C' couplet atthe center of the stanza are written with the same 3:3 meter. They alsoconveycomplimentary ideas. Thefirst describes God's glorious throne; thesecond depicts its movement.A study ofthe verbs in verse lOa gives support to the latter idea. TheAramaicpa tel participle naged. (preceded) which occurs at the end of itsfirst colon derives from the same root as the preposition neged. whichmeans "toward, in the direction of." The idea appears to be thatflames offiery glory flowed or poured forth in front of the throne in a specific direction.The second participle, naIl-eq, expresses the same idea, since it means"to go forth, come forth," and is used here with the preposition "before."Daniel 2:13 uses this verb to refer to the decree that "went forth," and inDaniel 3:26 it expresses Nebuchadnezzar's command to the three Hebrewworthies to "come forth" from the fiery furnace. Even though the morespecific subject ofthese verbs inverse lOa is the fire from the throne ratherthan the throne itself, they nevertheless convey the idea of motion anddirection: the throne ofGod moved and came to the place where it was tobe established.Thus both ofthe verbs ofthis bicola indicate that the flames appearedin front ofthe chariot-throne, flashing "toward" the position to which thethrone was bearing its divine occupant. The emphasis of this stanza uponthe throne of God (rather than upon God Himself) appears to be due tothe prominence ofits activity in bringing God into this scene ofjudgment.120