If so, it shews knowledge of the law on their part.
But the connection is one solely of idea, and not of phraseology. There
is a strong connection in phraseology, however, between v. 27 and Deut.
xxxii. 4 in LXX. In any case the religious tone of the whole production
is not inconsistent with what we might have expected.
SOCIAL.
The nature of this piece does not afford much scope for the display of
the social condition of Babylon and its inhabitants. It is to be
expected therefore that it will shew us far less of these matters than
either Susanna or Bel and the Dragon. But so far as it gives any
indications, it is in accord with the canonical Daniel, and with what we
know from other sources of the customs of the country. Evidently Israel
was in a state of subjection to the Babylonian king, who ordered
idolatry to be practised by captives and natives alike. It is shewn by
v. 9 (32) _sqq._ that the former smarted under his tyranny, and appealed
to God for redress, like their forefathers in Egyptian bondage.
The punishment of burning, on which the whole story turns, is quite
Babylonian.
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