ANCIENT OF DAYS [עַתִּ֥יק יוֹמִ֖ין
‘attiq yomin; παλαιος ημερων palaios hēmerōn]. In his vision of divine judgment, the sage Daniel sees a celestial
court, where a certain “Ancient of Days” sits enthroned to attend to the threat
of cosmic chaos represented by terrible monsters arising from the sea (Dan
7:1-14). The mythological background of the vision is suggested by the
plurality of thrones, which would have been occupied by other deities of the divine
council.
The god ‘El, whose name appears within Daniel’s
own (Dani’el, “My Judge is El”) is the supreme ruler of the Canaanite pantheon
in mythology—El appears as an old god, sitting enthroned in both texts and
iconography. In Ugaritic literature, this gray-haired god is called mlkh av hnm
“king, father of years,” that is, an ancient one. The deity in Daniel’s vision
is a white-haired being, sitting on a fiery, mobile throne that recalls the
vision of Ezekiel (Ezek 1). In mythology, the threat to world order is
represented by various sea monsters, while the young champion in EL’s council,
who arises to meet the threat, is the storm god, Baal, known also as “the Rider
of the Cloud. This champion’s victory over the forces of chaos brought him
kingship and dominion. IT is interesting, therefore, that the champion in
Daniel’s vision is one who “comes with the clouds” (Dan 7:13) and his victory
would also bring dominion and kingship (Dan 7:14). (C. L Seow, “Ancient of
Days,” in Katharine Doob Sakenfeld et al. eds., The New Interpreter’s Dictionary
of the Bible, 5 vols. [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006], 1:146)