Judgment in Daniel 7

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Judgment in Daniel 7cate nominative ("white," "pure") by way of a comparative preposition("like") in a pattern ofA:B: :A:B in terms ofpoetic form. In verse lOb thenumerical statements ("thousand thousands," "ten thousand ten thousands")ofbothcola areeach followed by theirverbal statements ("served,""stood") in the same pattern ofA:B: :A:B.These parallel and advancing numerological statements of verse lOb("thousand thousands" to "ten thousand ten thousands") are interestingin view ofthe use of this poetic technique elsewhere in the Hebrew Bibleand in Canaanite poetry. For example, the description of the angelic hostin verse lOb proceeds from a smaller numerical statement about them toone that is larger and more comprehensive. The Hebrew Bible uses a numberofsimilar numerical poetic pairs:1. The 1/2 sequence-Job 33:14; Ps 62:112. The 3/4 sequence-Prov30; Amos 1-23. The 6n sequence-Prov6:16; Job 5:194. The 7/8 sequence- Mic 5:5; Ecc111:25. The 60/80 sequence- Song ofSol 6:86. The 70/80 sequence-Ps 90:107. The 1,000/10,000 sequence-l Sam 18:7; Ps 91:7Examples in Canaanite literature ofthe use ofthis type ofpoetic techniqueare seen in the "Legend of King Keret" that has been piecedtogether from a series oftexts found in the thirteenth century B.C. destructionlevel at Ugarit on the Syrian coast. King Keret's story includes the useof2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, and 70/80 sequences. 8It is evident that this kind ofexpression was an ancient poetic way ofexpressing completeness. The ultimate numerical pair in Daniel 7:10,therefore, takes in so vast an assembly in this heavenly assize that even thiskind ofcomparison does not adequately describe in human terms the vastnumerical extent of the assembled throng.C + C'. The two central bicola of this stanza, verse 9c and verse lOa,develop the same theme-the glory surrounding the throne of God. Theexpression of that glory is conveyed through the use of the word "fire"(nar), that occurs in three of the four individual cola ("flames of fire,""burning fire," "streamoffire"). In addition, fire (or glory) is obviously thesubject ofthe verb in the second colon ofverse lOa ("and [fire] went forthbefore it").A minor translation problem is involved in interpreting the masculine8 Compare J. B. Pritchard, ed.,Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 143-48.118
Judgment in Daniel 7pronominal suffIX attached to the preposition "before"in thesecond colonof verse lOa. Is the antecedent of this pronominal suffIX "God" or His"throne"? Since these two bicola are parallel to one another, and since thesubject is clearly identified as God's throne in verse 9c, the literary structuresuggests that the pronoun at the end ofverse lOa should be translated"it" ("went forth before it"), referring to the throne rather than "wentforth before Him" as various English translations have rendered it.When God is described at the beginning of this stanza as sitting, it isnot stated preciselywhere Hewas sitting. The implication ofthe first colonofverse 9 is that He was sitting upon a throne; but as has been seen above,the reference to "thrones" appears to designate the seats the angels wereto occupy when they sat down with Him in judgment. God's own personalthrone is identified and described more specifically in the heart of thisstanza, in the couplet consisting ofverses 9c and lOa.It is both interesting and important to note that this description underlinesthe idea ofmotion onto the scene ofaction. Just as flames offire areactive rather than static, so their use to describe God's throne presents avibrant and dynamic picture of it. The wheels of His chariot-throne aredescribed as a "fireofburning." The implication is that it was through somekind of locomotion related to these wheels that, riding upon His throne,God came into the audience chamberwhere He met with His angelic host.A comparison can easily be drawn with God's chariot throne described indetail in Ezekiel 1. The motion of that chariot-throne also conveyed theDeity to His temple for judgment.The parallelism in the bicolon ofverse 9c is synonymous and completesince both ofits cola consist ofnominal subjects ("thrones," "wheels") followedby predicate nominatives ("flames," "fire"). A comparative preposition("like") could be understood from the preceding bicolon ("likesnow," "like wool").Note that this bicolon, like the preceding one, is an existential statement(a stateofbeing). Thus this pair ofbicola leading to the centerofthepoem have the same type ofverbal structure (existential). The followingbicola-those on the other side of the center of the poem--contain pairsofparticiples and verbs in the imperfect form. These reflect the idea ofongoingaction as the prophet viewed the scene before him.One minor alteration is found in the parallelism ofverse 9c. Both ofits cola involve nominal phrases as predicates ("flames of fire," "burningfire"), but they are written in different ways. The end of the first colon ofverse 9c has the relative pronoun (dt) first, then followed by the word for119
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Judgment in Daniel 7

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