The tradition history of this
epithet can be outlined according to KEARNS as follows: The epithet “the
Ancient” (‘lm) has its oldest witness in the proto-Canaanite inscription
from Sinai ‘ld ‘lm (“El, this (is) the Ancient”) dated to the end
of the 16th or beginning of the 15th century. In Israelite tradition אל was not
understood anymore as name of an independent god but reinterpreted as
appellative and עולם changed into a noun with adjectival function, resulting in
“the eternal God” (Deu 33:27; Gen 21:33; Isa 40:28). As additional evidence for
this epithet KEARNS adduced: (a) the Palestinian place name bt ‘lm “(city
of the) temple of the Ancient” found in the Shishak List form the 10th century;
(b) the supposedly the pre-Israelite god at Beersheba, אל עילם, which is only
mentioned in Hebrew tradition (Gen 21:33); (c) a disputed (ibid. 171, n. 395)
Canaanite invocation formula from the Phoenician site Arslan Tash, dated to the
7th century which possibly designates El as ‘lm, (d) and late
appearances in Punic colonies in North Africa. In order to explain the change
from the epithet ‘lm to the Danielic אתיק יומן (“Ancient of days”)
KEARNS employed the same methodology he used in his explanation of the origin of
the phrase. Instead of arguing for a simple continuation of the lexem ‘lm
in Aramaic, KEARNS pointed out that Aramaic provided a specific expression for
a very old man (German: Greis”), namely, the Syriac ‘tyq ywmt’ (“ancient
of days”; another Ayriac phrase for an elderly person is qšyš [SMITH
1903: 190]). To support this view, KEARNS adduced three references, i.e., the
homilies of Aphraates, the Syriac translation for πρεσβυτης in Wisdom of Solomon (2:10) and
for πρεσβυτερος in Jesus ben
Sirach (25:4; Syriac: 25:6; references to Wisdom of Solomon and Jesus ben
Sirach were already made by DRIVER [1900: 85]; CHARLES [1929]: 181] referred
only to Wisdom of Solomon). No equivalent could be given from Palestine. KEARNS
concluded: because the epithet “Ancient of days” is not attested in the cultic-mythic
Hadad tradition (idib. 173) the first occurrence in the framework of the Hadad
tradition is in its apocalyptic version, i.e., in Dan 7:9. It has to be asked
whether the epithet ‘lm should indeed be associated with the meaning of
a physically old gold since it would not harmonize very well with the meaning
of an eternal god. In connection with an eternal god KEARNS’ references to πρεσβυτης and πρεσβυτερος would include a shift in meaning,
because the referred-to Aramaic passages speak about aged men. It was
exactly a shift in meaning which KEARNS avoided in his explanation of the
origin of the phrase “son of man” . . . Secondly, the relevant apocryphal
references to not associate a god with אתיק יומן which is also a shift of the
semantic field . . . (Jürg Eggler, Influences and Traditions Underlying the
Vision of Daniel 7:2-14: The Research from the End of the 19th Century to the
Present [Orbis Biblicus et Orentalis 177; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht, 2000], 82 n. 291)