Daniel 3:2

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes,.... He sent letters, or dispatched messengers, into the several provinces of his empire, and parts of his dominions, to convene all

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to

This great statue, whether Nebuchadnezzar’ s own, or Bel, or any other of his gods, see , must be solemnly dedicated, and therefore all the peers of the realm are called to it; but whether these ranks of men and officers are truly rendered from the Chaldee words is hard to determine, and not worth disputing; etymologists differ in it: this only is material, that the heads of all that vast empire were summoned, of several nations and languages, to testify their conformity to the emperor’ s will, and thereby give assurance of obliging the people under them to the same obedience, i.e. to the same idolatrous worship. It was the manner of the heathen to consecrate their idol before they worshipped it, and herein, as in many other, Satan imitated the Jews, and their temple dedication, : they held a feast. The popish church do the like, when they dedicate material temples to particular saints, with solemnity and jollity, from whence come the feasts of wakes and revels to this day.

Daniel 3:2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.Ver. 2. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes.] Satrapas, not so called quia sat rapiant, as Lyra doateth; for it is a Persian word signifying such as were near the king’ s person. Superstition first looks to wind in great ones. The Vulgate are "carried away to dumb idols, like as they are led." They are sheepish, and will follow a leader as well into a penfold as a pasture; they also feed most greedily on the grass that will rot them.

(2) Sent—i.e., sent heralds, as appears from Daniel 3:4. (On the Babylonian officers, see Exc. A.)

Verse 2. Sent to gather together the princes] It is not easy to show what these different offices were, as it is difficult to ascertain the meaning of the Chaldee words. Parkhurst analyzes them thus: - The PRINCES] אחשדרפניא achashdarpenaiya, from אחש achash, great or eminent, and דר dar, "to go about freely," and פנים panim, "the presence." Satraps or privy counsellors who had free access to the presence of the king. The GOVERNORS] סגניא signaiya, lieutenants or viceroys, for סגן sagan, among the Hebrews, was the name of the high priest's deputy. The CAPTAINS] פחותא pachavatha, from פח pach, to extend, because set over those provinces that had been annexed to the kingdom by conquest. Pashas - This word and office are still in use in Asiatic countries. By corruption we pronounce bashaw. The JUDGES] אדרגזריא adargazeraiya, from אדר adar, noble or magnificent, and גזר gazar, to decree. The nobles, the assistants to the king in making laws, statutes, c. The same probably in Babylon, as the House of Lords in England. The TREASURERS] גדבריא gedaberaiya, from גנז ganaz, (the ז zain being changed into ד daleth, according to the custom of the Chaldee,) to treasure up, and bar, pure. Those who kept the current coin, or were over the mint the treasurers of the exchequer in Babylon. The COUNSELLORS] דתבריא dethaberaiya, from דת dath, a statute, and בר bar, "to declare the meaning of the law;" for in all ages and countries there has been what is termed the glorious uncertainty of the law; and therefore there must be a class of men whose business it is to explain it. What a pity that law cannot be tendered to the people as other sciences are, in plain, unsophisticated, and intelligible terms, and by persons whose business it is to show what is just and right, and not pervert truth, righteousness, and judgment. The SHERIFFS] תפתיא tiphtaye, from תפת taphath, in Hebrew, שפת shaphath, "to set in order." Probably civil magistrates. And all the rulers of the provinces] All other state or civil officers, not only to grace the solemnity, but to maintain order. My old Bible renders them: Satrapis, or wiise men. Magistratis. Jugis. Duykis, Tyrauntis, or stronge men. Prefectis, and alle the Princes of Cuntreese.

2. princes] satraps, Aram. ’achashdarpan,—both this and the Gk. ἐξατράπης, σατράπης, being corruptions of the Old Persian kshatra-pβwan, lit. ‘protector of the realm,’ but denoting by usage (cf. on Daniel 6:1) the chief ruler of a province. The term, as is well known, is a standing Persian one: in the O.T., it recurs Daniel 3:3; Daniel 3:27, Daniel 6:1-4; Daniel 6:6-7 (A.V. princes); and Ezra 8:36, Esther 3:12; Esther 8:9; Esther 9:3 (A.V. lieutenants); R.V. always satraps. The use of the word here is an anachronism: both the name and the office were Persian, not Babylonian. governors] praefects. The word (segan) explained on Daniel 2:48. captains] governors (R.V.), Aram. pechah, a term also (like segan) of Assyrian origin, often used in Assyrian of the governor of a conquered province. It found its way into Hebrew, and is used in the O.T. both of an Assyrian officer (Isaiah 36:9 = 2 Kings 18:24 : A.V., R.V. captain), of Babylonian officers (Jeremiah 51:57; Ezekiel 23:6; Ezekiel 23:12; Ezekiel 23:23 : A.V. captains, R.V. governors), and especially, in post-exilic writings, of the governor of a Persian province (Haggai 1:1; Haggai 2:2; Malachi 1:8; Ezra 5:3; Ezra 5:6; Nehemiah 2:7; Nehemiah 2:9, and elsewhere); as well as once or twice more generally (1 Kings 20:24; Jeremiah 51:23; Jeremiah 51:28). In Dan. it recurs Daniel 3:3; Daniel 3:27, Daniel 6:7. judges] So Daniel 3:3. Aram. ’adargβzar, in all probability the old Pers. andar-zaghar, later Pers. endarzgar, ‘counsel-giver,’ a title which was still in use under the Sassanian kings (Nφldeke, Tabari, p. 462). R.V. marg. ‘chief soothsayers’ implies a very improbable etymology. treasurers] So Daniel 3:3 : Aram. gedβbar. An uncertain word. It may be a textual corruption, or a faulty pronunciation, of gizbβr, ‘treasurer’ (Pehlevi ganzavar, Pers. ganjvar), which is found in Ezra 1:8; Ezra 7:21; it may have arisen by dittography from the following dethβbar[217]; it may be an error for haddβbar (in the plur., βγαψιΰ for δγαψιΰ), the word which occurs in Daniel 3:24; Daniel 3:27, Daniel 4:36, Daniel 6:7 (see on Daniel 3:24). [217] It is some support to this view that whereas the Aramaic text has in both Daniel 3:2 and Daniel 3:3 eight names of officials, the Sept. and Theod. have each only seven: see Lagarde’s lucid exposition of the facts in Agathangelus, p. 157.counsellers] justices (so Daniel 3:3): Aram. dethβbar, from the Old Pers. dβtabara, Pehlevi dβtτbar, Modern Pers. dβwar, properly ‘law-bearer,’ from dβt, ‘law,’ and bar, an affix meaning ‘bearer.’ Cf. the βασιλήϊοιδικασταὶ of Hdt. iii. 14, 31, Daniel 3:25, vii. 194. This word has been found by Hilprecht (frequently) in the commercial inscriptions belonging to the reigns of Artaxerxes I. and Darius II. (b.c. 465–425, 424–405), excavated recently at Nippur by the expedition organized by the American University of Pennsylvania. sheriffs] Aram. tiphtβyκ; only found besides in Daniel 3:3, and of very uncertain meaning. Bevan thinks it may be the mutilated form of some Persian title ending in pat, ‘chief’; and so Behrmann compares the Sanskr. adhipati, which would correspond to an Old Pers.

Then, Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes - It is difficult now, if not impossible, to determine the exact meaning of the words used here with reference to the various

2. “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges [chief soothsayers, margin], the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs [lawyers,