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Re: question



"Niels Peter Lemche" <NPL@teol.ku.dk> wrote on Sun, 14 Apr 1996 16:39:56
GMT +100



>Judith on Daniel in tradition:


>>BTW, I seem to remember reading that the name Daniel (at least with ref. to
>>the "Daniel" of the first half of the book) may be taken from the name of an
>>ancient  sage  renowned throughout the ancient Near East, about whom other
>>writings in other languages exist.  Was THAT Daniel presented as a person with
>>priestly concerns, or merely as a sage in the wisdom literature sense?  BTW,
>>can you tell me where I can read more about that original Daniel, on whom our
>>"Daniel" may well have been modelled?

>>Judith Romney Wegner,
>>Connecticut Colelge

>This is not quite correct. Daniel is mentioned in Hezekiel together
>with Noah and Hiob as one of the three sgae persons from ancient
>times. Otherwise, he is compared to king Danil (Danilu/Danelu) of the
>Ugaritic Aqhat epos, but here he is not a sage but a just king.

>NPL
>Niels Peter Lemche
>Dep. Biblical Studies
>University of Copenhagen
>Phone: 45 49 13 81 24
>Fax: 45 49 13 81 28
>e-mail: npl@teol.ku.dk


This is not quite correct. Daniel is mentioned by Ezekiel twice. In 14:14-20,
together with Noah and Job, as three just men. Then in 28:4 as a great sage.
The Aqhat story opens with Daniel giving the gods food and drink. Presumably
he does that because he wants a favour from them (a son), but I don't know if
we can rule out the possibility that he was acting as a priest.

                                                             Avinoam Mann