Texts in conversation

Compare Daniel 5:23 and 4Q242 1–3 7

Hebrew Bible · Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings

Summary

In Daniel, Belshazzar praises gods made from silver, gold, and other lifeless materials. In the Prayer of Nabonidus from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the same list describes the gods a sick king prays to for seven years without being healed.

Passages

Daniel 5:23

Hebrew Bible

22 “But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, although you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend. But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways! 24 Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.

200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

4Q242 1–3 7

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · 4QPrayer of Nabonidus

1 The words of the prayer that Nabonidus, king of Babylon, the [great] king, prayed [when he was struck] 2 with a grievous skin disease by the decree of God in Teima. [I, Nabonidus, with a grievous skin disease] 3 was struck for seven years, and when God set [his face upon me, he healed me,] 4 and my sin an exorcist forgave. He was a Jew from [the exiles. He came to me and said,] 5 “Declare it and write it down, to give honor and greatness to the name of God [Most High.” And so I wrote:] 6 “I was struck with a grievous skin disease in Teima [by the decree of God Most High.] 7 For seven years I was praying [before] the gods of silver and gold, [bronze, iron,] 8 wood, stone, and clay, because [I thought] that they were gods […]

160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q242

References

“... In the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple literature, numerous texts refer to the lifeless materials from which idols were fashioned. Infrequently, however, are more than four of such materials listed. The noticeable exceptions occur in Daniel 2:32– 33; 5:4, 20; the Prayer of Nabonidus in 4Q242 1.7–8; Epistle of Enoch at 1 Enoch 99:7; and Revelation 9:20. The sequence of materials in the lists compare as fol- lows: Daniel 2:32–33 – gold, silver, bronze, iron (legs and feet), clay Daniel 5:4, 23 – gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, stone 4Q242 1–3.7–8 – silver, gold, [bronze], [iron], wood, stone 1 Enoch 99:7 – stones, gold, silver, wood, clay Revelation 9:20 – gold, silver, bronze, stone, wood The closest correspondence occurs between the text in 4Q242 and Daniel 5:23, with the former having the sequence of “silver, gold.” The remaining texts differ in number and content with one another, except for the Epistle and Revelation which each list five materials used in the making of idols. Significant, however, is not so much the correspondence of materials, but the combination of these lists with the link drawn between idolatry thus described and the worship of demonic beings; Revelation uniquely shares this among ancient sources with the Epistle of Enoch. ...”

Loren T. Stuckenbruck, The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 302.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Fragments 1-3

4Q2422 chapters

Compare Daniel 5:23 and 4Q242 1–3 7

Summary

Passages

Daniel 5:23

4Q242 1–3 7

References

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