Daniel’s Four Kingdoms In The Syriac Tradition

Abstract

Early Christian exegetes identified the fourth kingdom in the book of Daniel as the Roman Empire. According to modern scholarship, it originally referred to the Greeks. The Greek interpretation has been preserved in Syriac sources, including headings that were added in the text of Peshitta Daniel. In the seventh century, in response to the rise of Islam, a number of apocalypses were composed which either tried to fit the Arab conquest into the traditional four-kingdoms model as a temporary trial, or interpreted the Arabs as Daniel's fourth kingdom. This chapter deals with the various ways in which Daniel's four kingdoms were understood in the Syriac tradition, both in historical interpretations and in appropriations in new contexts. It investigates how these ways relate to the reception of Daniel's four kingdoms in other Christian traditions, both Eastern and Western. Keywords: apocalypses; Christian exegetes; Daniel; four-kingdom model; Peshitta Manuscripts; Roman Empire; Syriac tradition