THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Book of Daniel Translation Notable Scholarly Edition
By ALLEN WARSEN
A new translation of the
Book of Daniel by Rabbi
Hersh Goldwurm with an
"overview" by Rabbi Nosson
Scherman has just been
published (Mesorah Publi-
cations, Ltd). '
According to the preface,
"this book presents an an-
thologized commentary cul-
led from the Talmud, Mid-
rash and classical commen-
taries. It is designed to
make as intelligible as
possible, both the literal
sense. of Scripture, and
philosophical and homileti-
cal interpretations of the
Sages and commentators."
The four letter name of
God, the new translation
renders "Hashem" and
"Elohim;"
The Holy Scriptures
published by the Jewish
Publication Society of
America translates the
Tetragrammaton: Lord
God.
The "overview," subtitled
"A Bridge to Eternity," is
divided into six sections:
historical background; Lev-
ers of History; Israel as
Community; Prophetic Im-
ages; Chananya, Mishael
an Azaryah; The Scripture
and the "End."
In addition, the book in-
cludes an appendix:
"Nebuchadnezzar's Arro-
gance and Punishment";
chronological tables of the
period and Yehoyakim's re-
ign; a table of the Seleucid
Ptolemaic dynasties; and
biographic sketches of the
cited commentators.
The commentators in-
:
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FRUIT
BASKETS
elude Rav Shlomo Halevi
Alkabetz (1505-1576); Rav
Yitzchak Abarbanel
(1437-1508); 13.NT Samson
Hirsh (1808-1888); Ibn Ezra
(1089-1164); Rav Meir
Leibush Malbim (1809-
187 9); the Rambam (1135-
1204); Rashi (1040-1105).
The Rambam inter-
prets -"khokh.mo", - wis-
dom (1:4) "as that which
encompasses all pursuits
of the mind." Malbim ex-
plains it as "knowledge
arrived at through basic
human intuition or
through a higher mental
consciousness such as
holy spirit or revelation."
Chananya's, Mishael's
and Azaryah's rescue from
the fiery furnace, the com-
mentators ascribed to the
angel Gabriel, according to
Jewish traditiOn, the
heavenly prince of fire,
whose rescuing the three
men, they considered "a
miracle within a miracle," a
phrase Rav Zadok HaKohen
of Lublin explained as fol-
lows: "Had the fire been
quenched suddenly by some
phenomenon of nature (e.g.
a flood, rainstorm) the coin-
cidence would have been a
miracle within the bounds
of nature; but to leave the
fire with the power of de-
struction intact and still to
save Chananya and friends
is a miracle which alters the
forces of nature and is there-
fore a miracle within a
miracle."
The commentators inter-
preted Daniel's deciphering
King Belshazzar's vision of
the writing on the wall as a
prediction of Babylon's de-
mise and its division be-
tween the Kingdoms of
Media and Persia.
.
154 SOUTH WOODWARD
BIRMINGHAM * MI 2-4150
Daniel's rescue from
the lion's pit, the Midrash
also attributes to an
angel who came down
from heaven "and as-
sumed the form of a fear-
some lion which so ter-
rified the other lions that
they could not even open
their mouths."
Saadiah Gaon, too, attri=
butes Daniel's rescue to an
angel, who "brought the
prophet Habakkuk from the
land of-Judah together with
his workmen and their food,
and together they ate and
drp.nk with Daniel in the pit
and gave thanks to God for
the great miracle."
There was disagreement
among the commentators
about Daniel's prophecy
concerning resurrection
and the End of Days.
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The Rambam and
Saadiah Gaon agreed that
"the resurrection is de-
stined only for the right-
eous." But Abarbanel be-
lieved "that the resurrec-
tion will include all of man-
kind."
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Since "it would be most
unfair to all the generations
who hoped for the Messiah,
if only those who inciden-
tally had the good fortune to
be alive at the time of the
redemption would be
privileged to enjoy the bene-
fit of his coming. Therefore,
all the dead will be resur-
rected: the righteous to
enjoy the benefits they mer-
ited; and the enemies of Is-
rael will also come alive in
order to witness their ulti-
mate downfall."
It is noteworthy that
the newtranslation of the
Book of Daniel and its
fascinating commen-
taries is a creation of the
Art Scroll Series whose
Friday, June 29, 1919 5
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objective is to present
"the Bible and related
works of Judaica as they
were understood in the
2,000 years of recorded
traditional rabbinic lit-
erature."
Conceived three years
ago the Art Scroll Series al-
ready has 16 titles to its cre-
dit with a circulation of
700,000 copies.
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