This speaks well for its
excellence and its consistency.
CHRONOLOGY.
The principal chronological points, concerning which difficulties have
been felt, arise: (A) in vv. 1, 2, concerning Astyages, Cyrus, and
Daniel; (B) in v. 22, as to the destruction of Bel's temple; and (C) in
v. 33, as to Habakkuk being a contemporary of Daniel.
In connection with A, it is remarkable that v. 1 forms in the Vulgate
the last verse of the preceding chapter, _i.e._ the last verse of
Susanna. This arrangement may have been made from chronological reasons,
possibly to escape an apparent difficulty; and in the LXX the verse is
wanting altogether. Either plan, the attachment of the verse to
Susanna, or its entire omission, has the effect of leaving the king in
this piece nameless, and so solves the imagined difficulty of Cyrus and
Daniel acting together as represented.
The text commented on by Theodoret offers the same solution in another
form, viz. by transferring v. 1 to the end of chap, xii., and so
concluding the book. He thus introduces it: ????•?„?‰ ???»?·???????±?‚ ?„????? ??????????¬?»?…??????
??????®???±???µ?? ??? ???????†?®?„?·?‚ ???±??¶ ??? ???±?????»?µ????‚ ??????„?…?¬???·?‚, ??.
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