Daniel 2:36–45— Semitic Language Study
דְּנָה חֶלְמָא וּפִשְׁרֵהּ נֵאמַר קֳדָם־מַלְכָּא אַנְתְּה מַלְכָּא מֶלֶךְ מַלְכַיָּא דִּי אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא מַלְכוּתָא חִסְנָא וְתָקְפָּא וִיקָרָא יְהַב־לָךְ וּבְכָל־דִּי דָיְרִין בְּנֵי־אֲנָשָׁא חֵיוַת בָּרָא וְעוֹף־שְׁמַיָּא יְהַב בִּידָךְ וְהַשְׁלְטָךְ בְּכָלְּהוֹן אַנְתְּה־הוּא רֵאשָׁה דִּי דַהֲבָא וּבָתְרָךְ תְּקוּם מַלְכוּ אָחֳרִי אֲרַע מִנָּךְ וּמַלְכוּ תְלִיתָאָה אָחֳרִי דִּי נְחָשָׁא דִּי תִשְׁלַט בְּכָל־אַרְעָא וּמַלְכוּ רְבִיעָאָה תֶּהֱוֵא תַקִּיפָה כְּפַרְזְלָא כָּל־קֳבֵל דִּי פַרְזְלָא מְהַדֵּק וְחָשֵׁל כֹּלָּא וּכְפַרְזְלָא דִּי־מְרָעַע כָּל־אִלֵּין תַּדִּק וְתֵרֹעַ וְדִי־חֲזַיְתָה רַגְלַיָּא וְאֶצְבְּעָתָא מִנְּהֵן חֲסַף דִּי־פֶחָר וּמִנְּהֵין פַּרְזֶל מַלְכוּ פְלִיגָה תֶּהֱוֵה וּמִן־נִצְבְּתָא דִי פַרְזְלָא לֶהֱוֵא־בַהּ כָּל־קֳבֵל דִּי חֲזַיְתָה פַּרְזְלָא מְעָרַב בַּחֲסַף טִינָא וְאֶצְבְּעָת רַגְלַיָּא מִנְּהֵין פַּרְזֶל וּמִנְּהֵין חֲסַף מִן־קְצָת מַלְכוּתָא תֶּהֱוֵה תַקִּיפָה וּמִנַּהּ תֶּהֱוֵה תְבִירָה וְדִי חֲזַיְתָ פַּרְזְלָא מְעָרַב בַּחֲסַף טִינָא מִתְעָרְבִין לֶהֱוֺן בִּזְרַע אֲנָשָׁא וְלָא־לֶהֱוֺן דָּבְקִין דְּנָה עִם־דְּנָה הֵא־כְדִי פַרְזְלָא לָא מִתְעָרַב עִם־חַסְפָּא וּבְיוֹמֵיהוֹן דִּי מַלְכַיָּא אִנּוּן יְקִים אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא מַלְכוּ דִּי לְעָלְמִין לָא תִתְחַבַּל וּמַלְכוּתָה לְעַם אָחֳרָן לָא תִשְׁתְּבִק תַּדִּק וְתָסֵיף כָּל־אִלֵּין מַלְכְוָתָא וְהִיא תְּקוּם לְעָלְמַיָּא כָּל־קֳבֵל דִּי־חֲזַיְתָ דִּי מִטּוּרָא אִתְגְּזֶרֶת אֶבֶן דִּי־לָא בִידַיִן וְהַדֶּקֶת פַּרְזְלָא נְחָשָׁא חַסְפָּא כַּסְפָּא וְדַהֲבָא אֱלָהּ רַב הוֹדַע לְמַלְכָּא מָה דִּי לֶהֱוֵא אַחֲרֵי דְנָה וְיַצִּיב חֶלְמָא וּמְהֵימַן פִּשְׁרֵהּ
This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory — and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all — you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. “And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. “Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. “And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. “As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. “As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. “Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold — the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”
In his book, Seen and Unseen, Fr. Marc Boulos explores the systematic Scriptural critique of Baʿalism, which is to be understood as the institutional corruption of husbandry (from the Semitic root bet-ʿayin-lamed meaning husband or lord). It takes the beautiful function of Elohim creating man to serve the ground, his mother, like a slave (עָבְדָהּ ʿabdah) and turns it into something ugly; a function of institutional control and the abuse of the innocent by the Ezekelian evil shepherds who devour their own flocks instead of feeding them. There is no greater betrayal. This is at the heart of the anti-monarchical stance of the Abrahamic scrolls.
The triliteral at the heart of this discussion is m-l-k which connotes propriety. It is rendered in English as king, although the best translation would be “owner” or “proprietor”. A similarity to how the Semitic triliteral functions here can be drawn with Latin terminology. The verb regere means ‘to rule’. From this same Latin root, we have the word regio referring to a ‘region’ or a place that is marked off by a boundary. Similarly, the noun regula‘rule/boundary’ is also from this root. We also have the noun rex, which is commonly glossed as ‘king’ but more readily refers to a ruler, or someone who sets the boundary. By contrast, the English word ‘king’ is cognate with the same Germanic root whence we get the word ‘kin’, and therefore, refers to the ‘leader’ of a tribal group. While the Semitic m-l-k and the Latin regere overlap with this function, they are notably distinct. Therefore, to best understand m-l-k when studying the language of Scripture, we cannot merely think in terms of the English ‘king’ or even the Greek βασιλεύς.
Daniel, in channeling the prophetic function to Nebuchadnezzar, informs him that he is the מֶלֶךְ מַלְכַיָּא (melek malkaya), that is ‘king of kings’. At this point in time, the ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire would have been the most powerful man in the known world of that time, comparable only to the Pharaoh of Egypt. This designation makes sense. The tension has to do with history, as the book of Daniel is clearly aware that the Neo-Babylonian Empire is on its last leg, and that the Persians are on the horizon to snatch the malkuta (dominion) away from them. That is why Daniel qualifies his statement. Yes, on the one hand, Nebuchadnezzar is ‘king of kings’, but that dominion (malkuta in Aramaic) is given to him by elah šemaya (the God of Heaven). The kingdom clearly does not belong to Nebuchadnezzar. He is living on borrowed time, and the lease is about to run out.
The king represents a distortion of the original role of man. In Genesis, God gives man the dominion (radah) over the fish, birds, and land animals.
וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹהִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤תהַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכָל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen 1:27–28)
The meaning of what this dominion entails is explicated definitively in the Qur’an.
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
And when your Lord said to the angels: “I am placing in the earth a successor,” they said: “Will you place in it one who will do harm, and shed blood, while we give glory with your praise and hallow you?” He said: “I know what you do not know.” (2:30)
In other words, mankind was set as a khalifa, one who works in the shadow of the one authority. The Arabic root خلف (kha-lam-fi) is cognate with the Hebrew חלף ḥalaf which refers to ultimately with something that passes or succeeds something else. It can refer to something passing away, or something being renewed/changed.As a shadow is dependent on its host, a khalifa is dependent on the one who precedes it. Interestingly, the word used in Hebrew that is rendered as “image” is actually צלם ṣelem which refers to a shadow. Man is set as God’s shadow. He is not God, but depends on God. In other words, the dominion he is handed is not to be mulk which only applies to God, but to be a prince (nasi’), reflecting God’s full dominion on the earth. This is the Ezekelian vision of God’s beloved (dwd) slave, who is not ‘King David’ but ‘Prince David’.
וַאֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֗ה אֶהְיֶ֤ה לָהֶם֙ לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים וְעַבְדִּ֥י דָוִ֖ד נָשִׂ֣יא בְתוֹכָ֑ם אֲנִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה דִּבַּֽרְתִּי
And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken. (Ezek 34:24)
The book of Daniel solidifies this scriptural thesis, by upholding God’s judgment (the meaning of Daniel), and smashing the succession of earthly kings. By the end, God appoints that beloved servant, the eschatological David, as the one he has given dominion to. In Daniel 7, the successive kingdoms are presented as “beasts”.
וּשְׁאָר֙ חֵֽיוָתָ֔א הֶעְדִּ֖יו שָׁלְטָנְה֑וֹן וְאַרְכָ֧ה בְחַיִּ֛ין יְהִ֥יבַת לְה֖וֹן עַד־זְמַ֥ן וְעִדָּֽן חָזֵ֤ה הֲוֵית֙ בְּחֶזְוֵ֣י לֵֽילְיָ֔א וַאֲרוּ֙ עִם־עֲנָנֵ֣י שְׁמַיָּ֔א כְּבַ֥ר אֱנָ֖שׁ אָתֵ֣ה הֲוָ֑ה וְעַד־עַתִּ֤יק יֽוֹמַיָּא֙מְטָ֔ה וּקְדָמ֖וֹהִי הַקְרְבֽוּהִי וְלֵ֨הּ יְהִ֤יב שָׁלְטָן֙ וִיקָ֣ר וּמַלְכ֔וּ וְכֹ֣ל עַֽמְמַיָּ֗א אֻמַיָּ֛א וְלִשָּׁנַיָּ֖א לֵ֣הּ יִפְלְח֑וּן שָׁלְטָנֵ֞הּ שָׁלְטָ֤ן עָלַם֙ דִּֽי־לָ֣א יֶעְדֵּ֔ה וּמַלְכוּתֵ֖הּ דִּי־לָ֥א תִתְחַבַּֽל
As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. (Dan 7:12–14)
The son of man, functioning as God’s khalifa, is the one who has gone through the pedagogy of Isaiah’s suffering servant. He is the ’adam who has been destroyed and rebuilt, just as the dry bones in the wilderness were reassembled by God’s word. This is the Pauline word of the cross. Even then, dominion is ultimately God’s, not the son of man’s. That is why Paul is adamant in his letter to the Corinthians that Jesus, God’s khalifa in the New Testament, will deliver the kingdom back to his Father at the end.
εἶτα τὸ τέλος ὅταν παραδῷ τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί ὅταν καταργήσῃ πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ πᾶσαν ἐξουσίαν καὶ δύναμιν
Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. (1 Cor 15:24)
Paul is merely explaining Isaiah 40–55 and Daniel 7 in this verse. It is totally magisterial. Jesus is the ’adam as he ought to be, and as he was created to be. As is explained by Paul, death entered the world through the disobedience of one man. But life entered the world likewise through one man. This was not the doing of man, but of God, who deigned to raise Jesus from the dead and to sit him at the right hand of the divine throne, to judge those who mistreat the poor and the needy. It is all about balance. The existence of human monarchies, where man plays God on his own accord, disrupts that balance. Where man exalts those who he deems to be powerful, God exalts the lowly Nazarene in Roman Judea to his seat of judgment to be the advocate of those who look just like him. This is the message of Daniel and the “messianic Psalms” which the New Testament is merely a restatement of.