Talmud sur Daniel 2:54

Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: The Syriac language should not be unimportant in your eyes, for it is mentioned in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Hagiographs. In the Torah, it is written: “Laban called it the heap of testimony⁴⁸Gen. 31:47. Since Laban had to translate Jacob’s גַלְעֵד into Aramaic, it follows that he did not speak Hebrew.”. In Prophets, it is written: “So you shall say to them.⁵¹Jer. 10:11.” In Hagiographs, it is written: “The Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic.⁵²Dan. 2:4.” Rebbi Jonathan from Bet Gubrin said, four languages are good for use: The foreign language⁵³Greek. for song, Latin for war, Syriac for elegies, Hebrew for speech. Some people say, also Assyrian⁵⁴“Hebrew” square script, which originally is an Aramaic development of paleo-Hebrew. for writing. Assyrian has a script but no language⁵⁵Since it is used for Hebrew, Aramaic, Mandaic etc., Hebrew has a language but no script⁵⁶Once paleo-Hebrew script was abandoned.. They chose for them Assyrian script and Hebrew language⁵⁷This is a shortened version of a Babylonian tradition (by the “Heads of the Diaspora”) that Moses wrote the Torah in Hebrew script and language, Ezra wrote the Torah in Aramaic translation and Assyrian script, but the people chose Hebrew text and Assyrian (Aramaic) letters: Sanhedrin 21b; also cf. Megillah 1:11 (fol. 71b, line 67).. Why is its name called אֲשׁוּרִי? Because one is made happy in writing it⁵⁸The meaning of the sentence is not clear. One could translate: Because its writing is plain.. Rebbi Levi said, because they brought it with them from Assyria⁵⁹Square script is not found before the return from Mesopotamia, where the exiles lived mostly in the Aramaic-speaking Northern parts..

It was stated¹⁵²Babli 27b.: The people of the watch¹⁵³Meaning the bystanders who do not work in this week. are fasting every day. On Monday they were fasting for travellers at sea; God commanded, there shall be a spread in midst of the water¹⁵⁴Gen. 1:6.. On Tuesday they are fasting for road travellers; God commanded, the waters under the sky shall congregate¹⁵⁵Gen. 1:9.. On Wednesday they are fasting for children that diphteria should not develop in their mouths; God commanded, there shall be lights¹⁵⁶Gen. 1:14.. “Curses” is written¹⁵⁷Reading מְאֹרוֹת as מְאֵרוֹת.. On Thursday they are fasting that pregnant women should not miscarry and that the children of nursing women should not die; God commanded, let the waters teem with living creepers¹⁵⁸Gen. 1:20.. They fasted neither on Friday nor on Sunday in order to honor the Sabbath. It was stated: The Great Synhedrion was fasting with them. Can the Synhedrion fast every day? They split themselves into clans. “One does not fast for two reasons simultaneously¹⁵⁹Babli 8b., from the following: we rose and asked of our God for this¹⁶⁰Ezra 8:23, misquoted. The same misquote is in the Munich ms. of the Babli (Diqduqe Soferim Ta`anit p. 38, Note ס). Therefore the misquote is a Midrash, not a scribal error. Editors of the printed Babli corrected the quote..” Rebbi Tanḥuma said, not because of this but because of the following, to ask for mercy from the God of Heaven for this secret¹⁶¹Dan. 2:18.. For if there were two reasons, such as a drought and locusts, one blows the shofar about them. When Rebbi Ḥaggai went for a fast, he said before them: Our brothers, even though in our hearts are many worries, this is for what we came.

All references to ‘kings’ in Daniel are secular except one which is sacred. Which one is it? O king unto whom the King⁸⁵Understood as referring to God. of kings, the God of heaven, hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory.⁸⁶Dan. 2, 37. E.V. O king, king of kings, unto whom, etc. Others say: My Lord,⁸⁷Interpreted as an invocation to God in Shebu. 35b (Sonc. ed., p. 207). the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine adversaries.⁸⁸ibid. IV, 16.

All references to ‘kings’ in Daniel are secular except one which is sacred. Which one is it? O king unto whom the King⁸⁵Understood as referring to God. of kings, the God of heaven, hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory.⁸⁶Dan. 2, 37. E.V. O king, king of kings, unto whom, etc. Others say: My Lord,⁸⁷Interpreted as an invocation to God in Shebu. 35b (Sonc. ed., p. 207). the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine adversaries.⁸⁸ibid. IV, 16.