다니엘 11:30의 인용 해설

[Daniel 2:39] [The Bronze]: is the kingdom of Greece (Yavan - יָוָן), and their beginning was Alexander of Macedon, as Daniel will explain in the words of his [later] prophecies [cf. Daniel 8]. And the Gaon [Saadia] said that the fourth [kingdom, the iron] is the kingdom of Aram [=Rome/Byzantium]. And [he further interpreted that the element of] clay (cheres - חֶרֶס) [mixed with the iron, Daniel 2:41-43] is the kingdom of Ishmael [Islam]. And furthermore, he [Saadia] said in his book: ‘Do not be astonished that he compared the kingdom of Ishmael to clay. Behold, it is not [inherently] inferior to the aforementioned kingdoms; it is merely the way of one arranging his vessels: first he shows the gold, then the silver, then the bronze, then the iron, and lastly, earthenware.’ But these [Saadia's words justifying clay = Ishmael] are words of emptiness and void (tohu va-vohu - תֹּהוּ וָבֹהוּ)! For there is no correct [descending] order according to his arrangement [if clay doesn't mean weaker]. The proof [that the order implies value/strength] is that Daniel said of the kingdom of Persia “inferior (araʿ - אֲרַע) to you” [Daniel 2:39], just as silver is inferior to gold. And he said concerning the clay: “and part of it (minnah - מִנַּהּ) shall be brittle/broken (tevira - תְבִירָה)” [Daniel 2:42]. And the reliable proof that the clay is part of the iron kingdom is that he explicitly said concerning the toes of iron and the toes of clay: “part of the kingdom shall be strong (takkifa - תַקִּיפָא), and the clay (charsa - חַרְסָא) shall be brittle/broken (tevira - תְבִירָא)” [Daniel 2:42, paraphrased/combined concepts]. Behold, it [the fourth kingdom] is one kingdom! How then can the kingdom of Ishmael be joined with the kingdom of Aram [Rome], when Ishmael never ruled over it [Rome proper], and their religions (toratam - תּוֹרָתָם - laws/religions) are not one?! And since the matter is thus [that Saadia’s identification of Ishmael as the clay mixed with Roman iron is problematic], one must wonder how Daniel did not mention the [powerful] kingdom of Ishmael? And why were there not five kingdoms [if Ishmael is distinct and important]? And now I will explain: Know that Alexander, who was king of Greece (Yavan), is the one who killed Darius the Persian, as Daniel will explain [cf. Daniel 8:5-7, Daniel 8:20-21]. He was also the king of Aram. And Aram itself is Kittim, as Joseph ben Gorion indicated in his book [Josippon]. And in Daniel [it says]: “But ships of Kittim shall come against him...” [Daniel 11:30]. And the Targum translates “And ships from the hand of Kittim...” [Numbers 24:24] as ‘sent from the Romans’ [Targum Jonathan on Numbers 24:24]. And behold, Kittim is a son [descendant] of Yavan (Greece) [along with] “Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim” [Genesis 10:4; I Chronicles 1:7]. Therefore, the kingdom of bronze is the kingdom of Greece. And [thus] the kingdom of Aram [in this prophetic context] is the kingdom of Greece [i.e., the Greco-Roman world originating from Yavan/Kittim]. Therefore [since Greece/Rome is the Bronze], the iron is the kingdom of Ishmael. And the rationale [is this]: Because the kingdom of Persia destroyed the entire kingdom of the Chaldeans, and the kingdom of Greece also destroyed the entire kingdom of Persia, but the kingdom of Ishmael, which is the iron, could not destroy the entire kingdom of Greece [=Aram/Rome/Byzantium]; it destroyed only part of the kingdom. And behold, to this day, there are places where Ishmael conquers the kingdom of Aram [Byzantium], and places where Ishmael is conquered [by Aram]. Therefore, it said: “part of the kingdom shall be brittle (tevira) and part shall be strong (takkifa)” [Daniel 2:42, using Aramaic terms miqtzat malchuta tehveh tevirah umiqtzat tehveh takkifa]. And afterwards it said: “And in the days of those kings...” (uv'yomeihon di malkhayya illein - וּבְיוֹמֵיהוֹן דִּי מַלְכַיָּא אִלֵּין) [Daniel 2:44]. The meaning is: Two kingdoms rule [contemporaneously or interactively in this final phase] – Aram (which is the kingdom of Greece [=Rome/Byzantium]) and the kingdom of Ishmael. And these two kingdoms [exist] in this day. And this fourth kingdom [the iron/clay] is the kingdom of Ishmael, which spread throughout the world. For all of Persia, Media, Sheba, Seba, Egypt, Africa, many from India, and most of the kingdom of Kush converted to their religion (toratam - תּוֹרָתָם).