NOTES AND STUDIES

N O T E ON nyrri IN D A N I E L X I I . 4
THE word nS'JJJ in Dan. xii. 4 is generally explained in one of two ways.
Either it is given its usual meaning 'knowledge';' or it is emended to
ni?*}rj 'evil things, calamities' on the basis of the LXX's rendering of the
phrase n r ' p n^tf 1 ] (KOU nXTja&fj 17 yfj dSiiclas).2 The phrase ni?^n m i n i
(om. 17 yrj)3 then means 'and many shall be the calamities'an expecta-

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tion which is well in keeping with the eschatological thought of the
time.4 If, however, 'calamities', or such like, be the meaning required
here for nB*m, such a meaning can, it may be suggested, be obtained
from the Hebrew word as it stands, if nsn here be connected not with
BT 'knew', but with the now well-established root W = c-ij 'became
still, quiet, at rest',5 with the particular meaning of being reduced to
humiliation or submission by means of discipline or punishment. The
phrase nsnn r m m will then mean 'and great shall be the humiliation
(punishment)'. 'The revelation must remain concealed', writes Bevan,6
'because there is to ensue a long period of commotion and distress.' The
sense 'humiliation, punishment' here suggested for flSH suits such a
situation well enough, and is sufficiently near in meaning to the pro-
posed reading nJ?"J as to render unnecessary the adoption of this
emendation. D. WINTON THOMAS

T H E BOOKS O F T H E Q U M R A N C O M M U N I T Y
IN discussions of the identity of the Qumran community the books
which were found in the caves inevitably play an important part. The
method most usually employed is to examine the books (especially the
Manual) for evidence of the beliefs and practices of the community to
1
So Theodot, Vulg., Pesh., A.V., R.V. Cp. K. Marti, Das Buck Daniel,
p. 90; A. Bentzen, Daniel, p. 52; H. L. Ginsberg, Studies in Daniel, pp. 31, 76
(note 8), &c.
2
See A. A. Bevan, A Short Commentary on the Book of Daniel, p. 203; R. H.
Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, p. 333;
Brown-Driver-Briggs, Heb. and Eng. Lex., p. 396; Koehler-Baumgartner, Lex.
in Vet. Test. Libros, p. 216; Baumgartner in Kittel, Bibl. Hebr. 7, ad loc.
1
The words 1) yfj a&uclas may represent a doublet; see J. A. Montgomery,
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Intern. Crit
Comm.), p. 474.
4
Cp. Charles, op. cit., p. 392.
8
For other examples, seeJ.T.S. xxrv. 301 ff.; xxxvi. 411; xxxvii. 59; TTTTT.
273 f.; 1. 177; N.S. iv. 23 f.; v. 56 f.
6
Op. cit., p. 204.