A.E. Gardner, «The «Little Horn» of Dan 7,8: Malevolent or Benign?», Vol. 93 (2012) 209-226
It has been claimed that Dan 7,8 is an addition to the vision in Dan 7,2- 14 and its «little horn» indicates a wicked character, usually Antiochus Epiphanes. By paying close attention to the description of the «little horn» and its context, it is demonstrated that allusions to earlier biblical passages, including Daniel 4, are present. These indicate that the «little horn» is a benign character who should be differentiated from the «other» horn(s?) of 7,20-21.24-25 and the «little horn» of Dan 8,9-11. As the latter represents Antiochus Epiphanes, the little horn of Dan 7,8 must be pre-Maccabean.
210 ANNE E. GARDNER
The later citations of the “otherâ€/ “little†horn, however, differ in
a number of ways from the vision and will be enumerated later. Prior
to doing so, the character of the “little horn†within the vision itself
will be examined. As the focus of the present paper is on the nature
and character of the “little horn†in Dan 7,8, the aspects of that verse
that will be discussed in detail are 8b, d and e 8.
I. The ways in which the text calls attention
to the nature of the “little horn†in Dan 7,8
There are several ways in which the text calls attention to the
nature of the “little hornâ€:
– through the use of wl)
– through the expressions pertaining to the “little horn†which reflect
earlier passages in Daniel and elsewhere in the Bible
– through the differentiation of the (little) horn from the other horns
– through the “arising†of the “(little) hornâ€
– through the specification that the horn is “littleâ€
– through the connection of the “little horn†with “One like a Son of
Man†in Dan 7,13
Each of these points will be amplified in turn.
1. The use of wl)
Some scholars have said that the change from the use of wr) to
wl) is indicative of a later addition by another author 9, and while
such a view still has a following 10, other scholars posit that wl) is
7,8c is not discussed in detail as “the uprooting†was not perpetrated by
8
the little horn. Further, to fully exegete 7,8c would require a delineation of
the fourth beast which would be too lengthy for inclusion here.
E.g. SELLIN, Einleitung, 233-234; G. HÖLSCHER, “Die Entstehung des
9
Buches Danielâ€, TSK 92 (1919) 113-138; H.L. GINSBERG, Studies in Daniel
(Texts and Studies of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America 14; New
York 1948) 11; L.F. HARTMAN – A.A. DILELLA, The Book of Daniel (AB 23;
Garden City, NY 1978) 210.
Particularly in German scholarship cf. R. KRATZ, Translatio Imperii.
10
Untersuchungen zu den aramaïschen Daniel-erzählungen und ihrem theolo-
giegeschichtlichen Umfeld (WMANT 63; Neukirchen-Vluyn 1987) 21-32.
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