Having passed safely through
many trials, he now boldly laughs at the idols of Babylon (vv. 7, 19).
His contempt is unconcealed, and he again confidently risks his life for
the true God. In v. 19 we also find him venturing to hold the king
back--????????¬?„?·???µ?? ?„????? ???±?????»??± (??). Long experience in surmounting great
difficulties by divine help had strengthened his nerve and confirmed his
faith.
_Original._ If the LXX be taken as a translation, the original is of
course older than the Greek text, but not necessarily much older. If the
statement at the head, however, be accepted as referring to Habakkuk the
prophet, the original is of course thrown back to a much earlier date,
say _circ._ 600 B.C., and Hebrew, not Aramaic, would be the language.
But this theory will scarcely commend itself to many (_cf._
'Chronology,' p. 223).
_LXX._ There seems no reason to doubt that Bel and the Dragon always
formed a part of this Greek version of Daniel. Pusey (quoted in Churton,
_Uncan. and Apocr. Script_, p. 389) speaks of it as 'contemporary with
the LXX,' while Rothstein (Kautzsch, 178, 9) attributes it to the second
century B.
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