Daniel’s Use of ŠBḤ and Its Worship Implication
Keywords:
שׁבח, worship, praise, book of Daniel, AramaicAbstract
Different concepts and motifs have been studied from the book of Daniel by expositors and interpreters without much consideration to the Aramaic terms that have worship nuances, undertones, and connotations. Through a contextual study, this paper contends that the Aramaic שׁבח highlights worship and its implication as integral to the book of Daniel. The study argues that שׁבח is an Aramaic worship expression and its contextual use emphasizes the sovereignty of God. The term’s usage in Daniel highlights the milieu of worship and uplifting either a deity or gods and the God of heaven. However, when idol worship is amplified, the effect is the pronouncement of judgment on the people carrying out such worship.
References
Archer, G. L., Jr. “Daniel.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985.
Archer, Gleason L., Jr. “Daniel and the Minor Prophets.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985. 7:1-34.
Baldwin, Joyce G. Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 23. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1978.
Barr, James. The Semantics of Biblical Language. London, UK: Oxford University Press, 1961.
Brown, Francis, with S. R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic. Based on the lexicon of William Gesenius. Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1952.
Claassen, W., ed. Text and Context: Old Testament and Semitic Studies. JSOT Supplement 48. Sheffield, UK: JSOT, 1988.
Collins, John J. Apocalypse, Prophecy, and Pseudepigraphy. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015.
Collins, John J. Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel. Hermeneia. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993.
Collins, John J. Daniel: With an Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature. The Forms of the Old Testament Literature 20. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1984.
Cook, John A. Aramaic Ezra and Daniel. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019.
Davies, Philip R. Daniel. Old Testament Guide. Sheffield, UK: JSOT, 1985.
Driver, S. R. The Book of Daniel. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Cambridge: University Press, 1922.
Even-Shoshan, Abraham. A New Concordance of the Old Testament. Jerusalem, Israel: Sivan, 1983.
Ford, D. Daniel. Nashville, TN: Southern, 1978.
Hasel, Gerhard F. “Establishing a Date for the Book of Daniel.” In Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series 2, 84-91. Washington, DC: Review & Herald, 1986.
Hasel, Gerhard F. “The ‘Little Horn,’ the Saints and the Sanctuary in Daniel 8.” In The Sanctuary and the Atonement, edited by Arnold V. Wallenkampf and W. Richard Lesher, 177-220. Washington, DC: Biblical Research Institute, 1981.
Hill, Bracy V. “Apocalyptic Lollards? The Conservative Use of the Book of Daniel in the English Wycliffite Sermons.” Church History and Religious Culture 90, no. 1 (2010): 65-87.
Holladay, William L. A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Based upon the Lexical Work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1988.
Kaiser, Walter C., and Moises Silva. An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994.
Keil Carl F. and Franz Delitzsch. Commentary on the Old Testament. Vol. 9. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.
Keough, George A. Let Daniel Speak. Hagerstown, MD: Review & Herald, 1986.
Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Translated and edited by M. E. J. Richardson. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2001.
Lacocque, A. The Book of Daniel. Atlanta, GA: John Knox, 1979.
LaCocque, André. Daniel in His Time. Studies on Personalities in the Old Testament. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1988.
Lacocque, Andre. The Book of Daniel. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2018.
Marfo, Elisha K. “Vessels and Worship: A Contextual Study in Daniel 5.” Sahmyook Theological Review, 25 (2019): 204-228.
Maxwell, Mervyn C. God Cares. Vol. 1. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 1981.
Miller, Stephen R. Daniel. The New American Commentary. Vol. 18. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1994.
Morrow, Laura K. “A Study of the Language Shifts in the Book of Daniel: A Comparative Narrative Analysis of Daniel 1 and 2, 7 and 8.” PhD diss., Andrews University, 2022.
Moskowitz, Nathan. “The Book of Daniel, Part 1, A Theological-Political Tractate Addressed to Judean Hasidim Under Seleucid-Greek Rule.” Jewish Bible Quarterly 38, no. 2 (2010): 97-105.
Nichol, Francis D., ed. Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. Revised edition. Washington, DC: Review & Herald, 1976-1980.
Petersen, Paul. “The Theology and Function of Prayers in the Book of Daniel.” PhD diss., Andrews University, 1998.
Probstle, Martin. “Truth and Terror: A Text-Oriented Analysis of Daniel 8:9-14.” PhD diss., Andrews University, 2005.
Seow, C. L. Daniel. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2003.
Shea, William H. Daniel 1-7: Prophecy as History. The Abundant Life Bible Amplifier. Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1996.
Shea, William H. Daniel: A Reader’s Guide. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2005.
Sprinkle, Joe M. Daniel. EBTC. St. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2020.
Stefanovic, Zdravko. Daniel—Wisdom to the Wise: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2007.
Steinmann, Andrew E. Daniel. Concordia Commentary. St. Louis: Concordia, 2008.
Stelten, Leo F. Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995.
Strauss, Lehman. The Prophesies of Daniel. Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux, 1969.
Tanner, Paul J. Daniel. Evangelical Exegetical Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2020.
Tanner, Paul. “The Literary Structure of the Book of Daniel.” Bibliotheca Sacra 160, no. 639 (2003): 269-282.
Theodoret of Cyrus. Commentary on Daniel. Translated by Robert C. Hill. Atlanta: SBL, 2006.
Van Pelt, Miles V. Basics of Biblical Aramaic. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011.
Walvoord, John F. Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Chicago, IL: Moody, 1971.
Warhurst, Amber. “The Associative Effects of Daniel in the Writings.” In The Shape of the Writings, edited by Julius Steinberg and Timothy J. Stone, 187-205. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015.
Wells, Samuel and George Sumner. Esther and Daniel. Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2013.
White, Ellen G. Prophet and Kings. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2002.
White, J. Benton. Taking the Bible Seriously. Louisville, KY: Westminster, 1993.
Wiseman, Donald J. Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. The Schweich Lectures 1983. London, UK: Oxford University Press, 1985.
