Daniel 2:12–14 — Semitic Language Study
כָּל־קֳבֵ֣ל דְּנָ֔ה מַלְכָּ֕א בְּנַ֖ס וּקְצַ֣ף שַׂגִּ֑יא וַאֲמַר֙ לְהֹ֣ובָדָ֔ה לְכֹ֖ל חַכִּימֵ֥י בָבֶֽל וְדָתָ֣א נֶפְקַ֔ת וְחַכִּֽימַיָּ֖א מִֽתְקַטְּלִ֑ין וּבְעֹ֛ו דָּנִיֵּ֥אל וְחַבְרֹ֖והִי לְהִתְקְטָלָֽה בֵּאדַ֣יִן דָּנִיֵּ֗אל הֲתִיב֙ עֵטָ֣א וּטְעֵ֔ם לְאַרְיֹ֕וךְ רַב־טַבָּחַיָּ֖א דִּ֣י מַלְכָּ֑א דִּ֚י נְפַ֣ק לְקַטָּלָ֔ה לְחַכִּימֵ֖י בָּבֶֽל׃
For this reason the king was furious and very angry, and he commanded the destruction of all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went forth, and the wise men were being killed, and they also sought Daniel and his companions to be killed. Then Daniel responded with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the chief of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.
The first phrase כָּל־קֳבֵ֣ל דְּנָ֔ה kal qabel denah is an interesting construction, unique to Aramaic. Its literal rendering would be something like “before all this [matter]”. The main root in this phrase is קבל which is used slightly differently in its application across the Semitic language family. In Aramaic and Arabic, it refers to being “in front" or “before” something. In Hebrew, it often refers to “receiving” something like a “hand-me-down”. It is from this function whence we get the word קַבָּלָה qabbalah referring to Jewish mystical tradition. It is something that occurs as a result of other actions, hence the rendering “for this reason”. In other words, it always relies on what came before. This is a powerful technical term in the Qur’an, where the root ق ب ل refers similarly to “what came before”, but also the “Qibla”.
From surah 2:
وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَبِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ
And they who believe in what was revealed to you, and in what was revealed before you (qablika), and with regard to the Hereafter, they are absolutely certain. — Q. 2:4
The link with the Qibla is fascinating in the context of the Qur’an, because it too appears to be linked with tradition “handed down”. In 2:142–145 there is a controversy about the “change of Qibla” to the “sacred place of worship”, which we know is the House of Abraham (2:125–127) and indicative of the Abrahamic example of faith and submission from Genesis 15.
سَيَقُولُ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُ مِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَا وَلَّىٰهُمْ عَن قِبْلَتِهِمُ ٱلَّتِى كَانُوا۟ عَلَيْهَا قُل لِّلَّـهِ ٱلْمَشْرِقُ وَٱلْمَغْرِبُ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا لِّتَكُونُوا۟ شُهَدَآءَ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ ٱلرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا وَمَا جَعَلْنَا ٱلْقِبْلَةَ ٱلَّتِى كُنتَ عَلَيْهَآ إِلَّا لِنَعْلَمَ مَن يَتَّبِعُ ٱلرَّسُولَ مِمَّن يَنقَلِبُ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ وَإِن كَانَتْ لَكَبِيرَةً إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَى ٱللَّـهُ وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّـهُ لِيُضِيعَ إِيمَـٰنَكُمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ بِٱلنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ قَدْ نَرَىٰ تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَىٰهَا فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُۥ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ لَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ وَمَا ٱللَّـهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ
The foolish among the people will say, “What has turned them away from their Qibla, which they used to face?”Say, “To God belong the east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a straight path.” And thus, We thus made you an impartial community so that you may be witnesses over mankind, and the Apostle may be a witness over you. And We did not make the Qibla which you used to face except to distinguish those who follow the Apostle from those who turn back on their heels. And indeed, it was a great test except for those whom God has guided. And God would never let your faith go to waste. Truly, God is Most Kind and Most Merciful to the people. Indeed, We see your face turning toward the sky, so We shall turn you toward a Qibla that will please you. So turn your face toward Al-Masjid Al-Ḥaram. And wherever you are, turn your faces toward it. And indeed, those who were given the Writ know that this is the truth from their Lord. And God is not unaware of what they do. — Q. 2:142–144
From the context, it appears that the Qibla refers not to literal prayer direction (since that would contradict the 2:142 which undermines the regulation of praying in a particular orientation) but actually refers to the tradition one follows. Do you follow the Qibla of your forefathers and co-religionists or will you follow the Qibla of Abraham that God is reorienting you to? That becomes the central question of al-Baqarah. The Masjid al-Ḥaram, i.e. the reoriented Qibla, is simply the tradition of Abraham’s submission to God in Genesis 15:6. The community of Muḥammad is dubbed an “impartial community”, signifying that the change in direction from the sectarian religions to Abraham’s islām is channelled through the outside ḥanif (pagan) group, meant to reflect the long standing biblical tradition of prophets being rejected by the insiders, but accepted by the outsiders. That is why the “fools” of 142 are scandalized by the change of Qibla, as any deviations from tradition would scandalize any orthodox religionist. And so we are led to the crown jewel of this section, which solidifies this reading of Qibla:
وَلَئِنْ أَتَيْتَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ بِكُلِّ ءَايَةٍ مَّا تَبِعُوا۟ قِبْلَتَكَ وَمَآ أَنتَ بِتَابِعٍ قِبْلَتَهُمْ وَمَا بَعْضُهُم بِتَابِعٍ قِبْلَةَ بَعْضٍ وَلَئِنِ ٱتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَآءَهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ إِنَّكَ إِذًا لَّمِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
Even if you show the followers of the scripture every kind of miracle, they will not follow your Qibla. Nor shall you follow their Qibla. They do not even follow each other’s Qibla. If you acquiesce to their wishes, after the knowledge that has come to you, you will belong with the transgressors.— Q. 2:145
As God’s reorientation of the Qibla was a result of the sectarian behavior of the ahl al-kitāb, Nebuchadnezzar’s anger is a result of his subjects’ inability to interpret his dreams. In both cases, קבל functions as a reactionary mechanism.
Next we have the expression בְּנַ֖ס וּקְצַ֣ף שַׂגִּ֑יא benas u qeṣaf sagi’ — was furious and very angry, corresponding to the King’s response. The word בְּנַ֖ס ultimately derives from the verb נוּס nūs meaning “to flee”. This root tends to have a much harsher connotation in Hebrew, where it is tied to warfare. It is intensified with the next word, קצף which can be thought of in a few ways. It is very common in the Hebrew Bible where it similarly refers to anger. The root in Arabic, قصف qaṣafa, properly means to “break violently”. In other places in the Hebrew Bible it can refer to the “breaking of the waves”, and thus the foam of the water, leading to its function in modern Hebrew as “foam”.
The next lexical item is הֹ֣ובָדָ֔ה hōbadah from the verb אָבַד ’abad — to destroy. The Arabic ابد ’abd can refer to “being angry”, but oftentimes refers to something in perpetuity. In this sense, we have yet another instance of the same root in Hebrew/Aramaic and Arabic presenting opposite functions of each other. The next word נֶפְקַ֔ת nefqat is the participle form of the verb נפק nafaq meaning to “go out” or be “sent out”, referring to the decree. In Arabic, we have the verb نفق nafaqa which means “to expend, use up” or “to go out”.
The participle מִֽתְקַטְּלִ֑ין mitqaṭlin is from the verb קָטַל qaṭal which generally refers to “killing” or “slaying” across the gamut of the Semitic languages. It is linked here with the verb בְּעָא be‘a meaning “to ask” or “to seek”. This verb is applied in the context of seeking out Daniel and his “companions”, which is חַבְר֖וֹהִי ḥabrōhi from the root ח-ב-ר connoting friendship/ companionship but also means to “join” or “tie”. It is the source of Abrahams abode in the book of Genesis, חֶבְרוֹן ḥebrōn which eventually becomes the inheritance of the outsider Caleb. Interestingly, this root is used in the Qur’an to describe religious scholars (both Jews and Christians), perhaps drawing on the fact that حبر ḥabara in Arabic can refer to embellishment.
From surah 5:
لَوْلَا يَنْهَىٰهُمُ ٱلرَّبَّـٰنِيُّونَ وَٱلْأَحْبَارُ عَن قَوْلِهِمُ ٱلْإِثْمَ وَأَكْلِهِمُ ٱلسُّحْتَ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَصْنَعُونَ
If only the rabbis and the scholars (al-aḥbārun) enjoin them from their sinful utterances and illicit earnings! Miserable indeed is what they commit. — Q. 5:63
This connection with ח-ב-ר and ḥebrōn as well as with the 7th century religious scholars is fascinating, and relates very closely to the study of the Qibla mentioned earlier. The “direction of prayer”, or more properly, the tradition is to be reoriented from the traditions of the Christian priests and back to the ḥebrōn of Abraham.
The construction בֵּאדַ֣יִן be’edayin literally means “and then”, which is followed by the phrase הֲתִיב֙ עֵטָ֣א וּטְעֵ֔ם לְאַרְיֹ֕וךְ רַב־טַבָּחַיָּ֖א דִּ֣י מַלְכָּ֑א hatib ‘eṭa u ṭe‘em le’aryōk rab ṭabaḥaya malka. The first word, הֲתִיב֙ hatib is the Aramaic version of the verb יָשַׁב yašab — to dwell/ remain but here refers to abiding in Arioch for counsel. Next, we have עֵטָ֣א from the Aramaic verb יְעַט ye‘aṭ — to counsel which is in turn related to the Hebrew verb יָעַץ ya‘aṣ of the same function. The word טְעֵ֔ם ṭe‘em is translated here as discretion, but literally refers to taste. That being said, the function here is particularly to communicate Daniel having the wisdom to seek proper counsel. The name אֲרְיוֹךְ ’aryōk is an Aramaic-Persian hybrid of a word, where it’s a mix of אריא ’aryā — lion and the Persian adjectival ending “ka”. So אֲרְיוֹךְ would literally mean “lion-like”. And this Lion-Like individual is the lord of the butcher, טַבָּחַיָּ֖א ṭabaḥaya, but is rendered here as the guard (of the king).
(LXX)
τότε ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν θυμῷ καὶ ὀργῇ πολλῇ εἶπεν ἀπολέσαι πάντας τοὺς σοφοὺς Βαβυλῶνος καὶ τὸ δόγμα ἐξῆλθεν καὶ οἱ σοφοὶ ἀπεκτέννοντο καὶ ἐζήτησαν Δανιηλ καὶ τοὺς φίλους αὐτοῦ ἀνελεῖν. τότε Δανιηλ ἀπεκρίθη βουλὴν καὶ γνώμην τῷ Αριωχ τῷ ἀρχιμαγείρῳ τοῦ βασιλέως ὃς ἐξῆλθεν ἀναιρεῖν τοὺς σοφοὺς Βαβυλῶνος.
Then the King, in fury and great wrath, said to destroy all of the wise Babylonians: and the decree went out and the wise were killed, and they sought for Daniel and his friends to take away. Then Daniel answered with counsel and purpose to Arioch the head chef of the King, he who left to kill the wise of Babylon.
An interesting feature of this Greek translation of Daniel is the use of ἀρχιμαγείρης archimageirēs — head chief to translate טַבָּחַיָּ֖א ṭabaḥaya — butcher. It renders the original Aramaic in quite a literal way. The Vulgate takes a different path and renders it as principe militiae regis which means the “head of the King’s militia”. It is also interesting that the Greek renders the Persian word data to δόγμα dogma which can be effectively rendered as “decree”. The use of φίλος filos is also particularly striking in conjuction with the Aramaic ḥebrōn. The use of that word is interesting when one could use Greek words for fellowship or communion. φίλος is important because it is the word that evokes “brotherly affection”, hense the church of Philadelphia which is the only church in the book of Revelation that is not critcised. In that sense, Philadelphia and ḥebrōn are two peas in the perverbial pod.