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4 up. Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,

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4.

And the herald cried aloud] lit. with might: so iv. 14, v. 7; and in Heb. (though the substantive is a different one) Jonah iii. 8.

peoples, nations, and languages] the same pleonastic combination, vv. 7, 29, iv. I, v. 19, vi. 25, vii. 14; cf. also Is. lxvi. 18. Similarly Rev. v. 9, vii. 9, x. 11, xi. 9, xiii. 7, xiv. 6, xvii. 16. Here the combination is no doubt used under the idea that strangers from different countries ruled by Nebuchadnezzar, as well as from other parts (such as were always to be found in Babylon: Is. xiii. 146, xlvii. 15; Jer. 1. 16), would be present on such an occasion.

peoples] i.e. nations, a sense not now expressed by the English 'people.' See the remarks on this word in the Preface to the Revised Version of the O.T.

5. cornet] lit. horn: so vv. 7, 10, 15; elsewhere in this sense only in the 'ram's horn,' Jos. vi. 5. The usual Hebrew name for this (or some similar) instrument is shōphār. The word used here (karnā) is, however, common in the same sense in Syriac.

flute] pipe, Aram. mashroķîtha (from the root sherak, to hiss, Heb. P, Is. v. 26), not the word usually rendered 'flute,' and found besides (in the O. T.) only in vv. 7, 10, 15. It occurs, though very rarely (P. S. Col. 4339), in Syriac in the same sense.

harp] or lyre, Aram. kitharos, i.e. the Greek kllapis: so vv. 7, 10, 15. sackbut] trigon (vv. 7, 10, 15), Aram. sabbeka, whence no doubt the Gk. σaußúkn was derived, which was a small triangular instrument, of the nature of a harp, but possessing only four strings (see Athen. IV. p. 175, d, e, where it is said to be a Syrian invention; XIV. p. 633 f.; and the other passages cited by Gesenius in his Thesaurus, p. 935). Sambucistriae and psaltriae (see the next word) are mentioned by Livy (xxxix. 6) as a luxurious accompaniment at banquets, introduced into Rome from the East in 187 B.C. (The mediaeval 'sackbut,'-Span. sacabuche, a sackbut, and also a tube used as a pump: from sacar, to draw out, and bucha, a box,-meaning properly a tube that can be drawn out at will, was something quite different, viz. "a bass trumpet with a slide like the modern trombone," Chappell, Music of the most Ancient Nations, i. 35, as quoted in Wright's Bible Word-Book, s.v.)

psaltery] Aram. psanțērīn, i.e. Yaλτýρlov: so vv. 7, 10, 15. The Greek yaλrnpiov, and the Latin psalterium, was a stringed instrument, of triangular shape, like an inverted ▲ : it differed from the cithara (as Augustine repeatedly states) in having the sounding-board above the strings, which were played with a plectrum and struck downwards1. The number of strings in the ancient psaltery appears to have varied. The 'psaltery' is often mentioned in old English writers: in Chaucer it appears in the form 'sawtrie,' or 'sauterie,' as Manciple's Tale, 17,200,

1 Isid. Etym. iii. 22. 7; Cassiod. Praef. in Psalm. c. iv; Augustine on Ps. lvi. (iv. 539 a-b, ed. Bened.), and elsewhere (see the Index); also Vergil, Ciris 177 'Non arguta sonant tenui psalteria chorda.'

dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same 6 hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

"Bothe harp and lute, gitern and sauterie"; and Shakespeare, for instance, speaks of "the trumpets, sackbuts, psalteries, and fifes" (Coriol. v. 4. 53). The name, in the form santir, passed also into Arabic; and the instrument, under this name, is mentioned in the Arabian Nights, and is in use also in modern Egypt1.

dulcimer] bagpipe: Aram. sūmpōnyāh, i.e. the Greek ovμpwvía. Zuupwvla, which in Plato and Aristotle has the sense of harmony or concord, came in later Greek to denote a bagpipe, an instrument consisting essentially of a combination of pipes, supplied with wind from a bladder blown by the mouth, and called 'symphonia,' on account of the combination of sounds produced by it, one pipe (called the 'chaunter') producing the melody, and three others the fixed accompaniments, or 'drones.' It is remarkable that Polybius employs the same word of the music used, on festive occasions, by Antiochus Epiphanes. Sumpōnyah is found, in the same sense, in the Mishna3; and it passed likewise into Latin, and hence into several of the Romance languages, as Ital. zampogna; Old Fr. Chyfonie, Chiffonie (v. Ducange). In Syriac, it appears in the form NY, which also denotes a kind of flute (Payne Smith, col. 3430). (The dulcimer was an entirely different kind of instrument, consisting of a trapèze-shaped frame, with a number of strings stretched across it, which was laid horizontally on a table, and played by a small hammer, held in the hand,—a rudimentary form of the modern pianoforte.)

worship] lit. bow down to (ii. 46). So regularly.

6. the same hour] Cf. v. 15, iv. 33, v. 5 (also 'hour' alone, iv. 16). The expression is common in Syriac, as in the Pesh. of Mt. viii. 3, xxvii. 48; Mk. i. 42; Acts xi. 11, 16; comp. (in the Greek) Mt. viii. 13, X. 19, xviii. 1, Luke ii. 38, vii. 21, x. 21, and elsewhere. (sha'ah) does not occur in Biblical Hebrew; but it is common in

'Hour

1 Dozy, Supplément aux Dict. Arabes, i. 694; Lane, Modern Egyptians, ii. 70. The LXX used aλrýptov (sometimes) for the Heb. nēbel and kinnōr. Elsewhere in A. V. or R. V. where 'psaltery' occurs (as Ps. xxxiii. 2), it always represents nebel.

2 Polyb. xxvi. 10, as cited by Athen. v. 21, p. 193 d-e (and similarly x. 52, P. 439 a) Antiochus Epiphanes associated with very common boon companions-öre δὲ τῶν νεωτέρων αἴσθοιτό τινας συνευωχουμένους, οὐδεμίαν ἔμφασιν ποιήσας παρῆν ἐπικωμάζων μετὰ κεραμίου (or κερατίου) καὶ συμφωνίας, ὥστε τοὺς πολλοὺς διὰ τὸ παράδοξον ἀνισταμένους φεύγειν; and xxxi. 4 (Athen. x. 53, p. 439 d) καὶ τῆς συμφωνίας προκαλουμένης ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀναπηδήσας ἀρχεῖτο καὶ προσέπαιζε τοῖς μíμois woтe Távτas aioxýveolai. (Kepáμtov is a jar [of wine?]; Diod. Sic. xxix. 32 has κερατίου, lit. a little horn [κέρας denoted the Phrygian flute]. Συμφωνία means very probably not a band, but-as in Dan., and in the passages cited in the next note but one-a musical instrument.)

3 Levy, NHWB. iii. 492a (Kelim xi. 6, xvi. 8); cf. 513a.

4 As Pliny, H. N. viii. 64 (=the avaòs of Athen. xii. 19, p. 520 c), ix. 24; Prudentius, Symm. ii. 527 'signum symphonia belli Aegyptis dederat, clangebat buccina contra'; Fortunatus, Vit. Martin iv. 48, 'Donec plena suo cecinit symphonia flatu.'

7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

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8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebu10 chadnezzar, O king, live for ever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs

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Aramaic (Targums and Syriac) and later Hebrew. Originally it denoted any small interval of time, and was only gradually fixed definitely to what we call an 'hour.'

shall be cast, &c.] Cruel punishments were in vogue among both the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In Jer. xxix. 12 allusion is made to two Jews, Zedekiah and Ahab, whom (for some reason not stated) 'the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.' (The statement, sometimes made, that Asshurbanipal's rebel brother, Shamash-shum-ukin, was punished in this manner, appears to rest on a misconception: see KB. ii. 191 [Annals iv. 50 f.], and Maspero, Passing of the Empires, p. 422.) 7. sackbut] trigon.

8-18. The accusation brought against the three Jewish youths, and their answer to the king.

8. certain Chaldeans] probably, though not here necessarily, the learned class among the Babylonians (as i. 4, ii. 2 &c.). See p. 12 ff. accused] The figure in the original is a peculiar one, lit. 'ate the (torn) pieces of the Jews.' The expression has commonly in Aramaic the sense of falsely accuse, or slander, as Ps. xv. 3 in the Targ., and in Syriac (e.g. Luke xvi. 1 for diaßáλλeiv; and 'ākhēl ķarzā for ò diáßoλos, the false accuser, or 'devil,' Mt. iv. 1, and regularly): here and vi. 24 it is used at least in the sense of accuse maliciously.

9. spake] answered (R. V.): see on ii. 20.

the king Nebuchadnezzar] Nebuchadnezzar the king,--the regular order in Aramaic (vv. 1, 2, 5, 7 &c.), and often in late Hebrew (as Hag. i. 1, 15; Neh. ii. 1, v. 14). In early Hebrew the order is almost uniformly 'the king David,' 'the king Solomon,' &c.

O king, live for ever] Cf. on ii. 4.

10. sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer] trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe. 12. whom thou hast set, &c.] See ii. 49. The 'Chaldeans' were, no doubt, jealous of the Jewish captives being promoted to high positions ; and accordingly took advantage of their refusal to conform to Nebu

of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded 13 to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake 14 and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at 15 what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, 16 and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If 17 it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from

chadnezzar's edict, in order to represent them as ungrateful and disloyal to their royal master.

regarded] The Aram. phrase, which is peculiar, recurs in vi. 13 (14). 14. Is it true] Probably this is right (cf. Theod. ei ảλnows; Pesh. in truth), though it requires a slight change in the text (NTIN [see ii. 5, 8] for 7). R.V. (with Ges.) of purpose (Hitz., Keil, of malicious purpose): upon this view the word would be a Hebraism1, from the rare root found in 1 Sam. xxiv. 11; Ex. xxi. 13; Num. xxxv. 20, 222: this however rather means to lie in wait (see R.V. of the passages quoted), being used of one aiming at the life of another, and the word found here would not be derived correctly even from this verb.

15. sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer] trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe. well] an aposiopesis, as e.g. Gen. xxx. 27, Ex. xxxii. 32, Luke xiii. 9; Il. i. 135 f. (von Lengerke).

who is the God] The sense is not appreciably affected; but 'that' is not philologically correct (comp. on ii. 38). The question is a defiant challenge, like those of Sennacherib, and the Rab-shakeh, Is. xxxvi. 19 f., xxxvii. 11 f.

16. are not careful] have no need (R.V.).

17. If it be so, &c.] If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and out of thine

1 The Syr. verb gda with derivatives, cited by Ges. in his Thes., is not recognized by Payne Smith (who has only gedad, from which the word found here could not be derived).

2 Levy, NHWB. iv. 170, quotes also three examples (in the sense of lying in wait, or capturing) from Talmud and Midrash (cf. Chald. Wörterb. ii. 316).

the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine 18 hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

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Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was 20 wont to be heat. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed21 nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their

hand, O king, i.e. we shall be harmed neither by the fire, nor by any other punishment which the king may decree.

18. But even if He cannot, or will not, do this, still we can never fall down and worship thy gods. The three men shew the same courage, the same unflinching determination not to compromise their faith, which were shewn by the loyal Jews in the age of the Maccabees (1 Macc. i. 62, 63; 2 Macc. vi. 18 ff., vii. &c.).

19-27. The three youths delivered from the flames.

19. full of] filled (A.V. marg.) with would be both more accurate and more forcible.

than it was wont, &c.] than it was proper-or, the rule1- for it to be heated.

20. the most] certain (lit. men: cf. in Heb. Dt. xiii. 13 (14); Jud. xix. 22 ; I Ki. xi. 17).

21. coats] The meaning of the Aram. sarbāl (only here and v. 27) is uncertain (see the very full discussion in Ges. Thesaurus); but on the whole mantles is the most probable. This is the sense which the word has in the Talmud2, in which it occurs frequently (Ges. p. 971; Levy, NHWB, s.v.), so that it has ancient usage in its favour. On the other hand, Aq. and Theod. (σapáßapa), LXX. in v. 27 (94), Symm. (åvağvpldes), Pesh., express the meaning trousers (though of a looser kind than those worn by us),-an article of dress known independently (from Herod., and other authorities) to have been worn at least by the ancient Scythians and Persians, and to have been called by them σapáẞapa. The word, in the same sense, passed into Arabic, in the form sirwal (e.g. in Saadyah's version of Lev. vi. 3), as well as into several of the Romance languages. In both these senses the word may be originally Persian in that of mantle, meaning properly (according to Andreas) a head-covering (* sarabāra), for which in Persia the peasants often use their mantle; in that of trousers, corresponding to the Mod. Pers.

1 See in Onkelos Lev. v. 10, ix. 16, Num. xxix. 6, 21 (for Heb. the Targ. of Jer. xxii. 13, xxxii. 11.

); and

2 And so also, as a loan-word from the Aram., the Arabic sirbāl: see Fränkel, Aram. Fremdwörter im Arab. (1886), p. 47.

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