This addition cannot reasonably
be said in any way to distort or disagree with, though it adds to, the
sacred narrative. It is very well fitted into the main story; and the
non-appearance of Daniel is quite in accord with his absence from the
scene in chap. iii.
An edifying purpose is most conspicuous, and, if we assume that it is
really an interpolation of the original book, we may well suppose with
Bishop Gray, that "some writer desirous of imitating and embellishing
the sacred text" has left us this specimen of his work; that the
veneration of some Hellenistic Jew probably induced him to fabricate
this ornamental addition to the history (_op. cit._ pp. 610, 611).
One aim would be to satisfy the interest awakened by the wonderful
experiences of the three, which afforded a narrative ground-work for
this extension; falling in this respect, as Prof. Ryssel points out
(Kautzsch I. 167), into the same category as the Prayer of Manasses and
the additions to Esther. It may be said that resistance to idolatry,
securing divine deliverance, is, as in Bel and the Dragon, the "motif"
of the piece.
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