THE “WORSHIP” OF THE “ONE LIKE A SON
OF MAN”
There is a third feature of OG-Daniel
7:13-14 that is alleged to indicate the “divinity” of the “one like a son of
man”: the word λατρευουσα (7:14b). Th-Daniel here has δουλευσουσιν. Both are plausible renderings of the Aramaic
verb פלח, which, like the Hebrew עבד, has the broad meaning of “to work” or “to
serve (someone as a slave)” but can also
be used of the cultic service of God or gods. In Daniel it has the latter sense
in at least seven of its nine occurrences (3:12, 14, 17, 18, 28; 6:17, 21). The
remaining two, which require discussion here, are in 7:14, 27. The Greek verb λατρευω, though it had a broader usage in nonbiblical
Greek, is used in biblical Greek (as also in the New Testament) exclusively for
the cultic service of God or gods, whereas δουλευω, though it can be used in this sense, also
has a broader semantic range, referring to service to a human master or
superior.
OG-Daniel translates פלח with λατρευω on seven of its nine occurrences (3:12, 14,
28[95]; 6:17, 21; 7:14). The OG translator’s tendency to vary vocabulary accounts
for the use of φοβεω rather than λατρευω at
3:17. More notable is the OG’s use of υποτασσω to translate
פלח in 7:27 (see table 3). In addition to the seven cases where λατρευω represents
פלח, OG-Daniel also uses λατρευω twice where
there is no corresponding word in MT-Daniel (4:34; 6:27).
Th-Daniel agrees with OG-Daniel in
most of these cases. It translates פלח with λατρευω on
seven occasions (3:12, 14, 17, 18, 28[95]; 6:17, 21). As we might expect of
Th-Daniel, this use is somewhat more consistent than OG-Daniel’s, since it
includes 3:17, but it is less consistent in that Th-Daniel uses δουλευω to translate פלח in both 7:14 and 7:27. It looks
as though in 7:14, where “all the peoples, tribes, and languages” serve the “one
like a son of man,” the Th-Daniel translator thought λατρευω, given its strong association with the worship
of divinities, not appropriate, and preferred the more general word δουλευω, which could refer unproblematically to
serving a human person. In Th-Daniel 7:27, however, the object of service is “the
Most High” (υψιστου), and so we might expect the translator
to revert to translating פלח with λατρευω. If the use
of δουλευω here
is more than an unreflective continuation of the use in 7:14, the reason for
choosing δουλευω may be that it seemed more appropriate for use
in combination with υπακουω (“they will serve and pay heed to him”).
It is striking that, whereas at 7:13 Th-Daniel
diverges from its previous practice in translating פלח, OG-Daniel does not. The
translator must have thought λατρευω
an appropriate word to use for the
service given by “all the nations of the earth” and “every glory” to the “one
like a son of man,” after he was given “royal authority.” Before considering
the significance of this, we should also note that OG-Daniel diverge from its
previous practice in translating פלח at 7:27, where the verb υποτασσω (“to
be subjected to”) is used. In OG-Daniel, different in this respect from
Th-Daniel, the object of the verb may be “the holy people” (λαω αγιω) rather than
“the Most High” (υψιστου). In that case, the OG translator may
have thought that the “one like a son of man” was an appropriate object of λατρευω but
the people of Israel were not. But it is perhaps more likely that, as I have
suggested in the case of Th-Daniel, he thought that in the combination of two
verbs (“will be subjected to him and obey him”) the sense was better conveyed
by υποτασσω.
Th-Daniel’s use of δουλευω rather than λατρευω in
7:14 very likely reflects a monotheistic restriction of worship to the Ancient
of Days. Evidently the OG translator did not feel this restraint. Two other
features of 7:14 in OG-Daniel should be noted. First, the “royal authority” is given
to the “one like a son of man” by (it is implied) the Ancient of Days. It does
not belong to him inherently. It is only as a consequence of this investiture
with authority that he receives the service of all the nations. Second, the
emphatic description of the eternity of the authority of the ”one like a son of
man” in 7:14c-d strongly echoes the description of the kingdom that God will
set up in the future according to OG-Daniel 2:44, but also resembles the description
of God’s eternal authority in OG-Daniel 4:34 . OG-Daniel lacks the descriptions
of God’s eternal rule in MT-Daniel 4:3 and 6:26, but it is nevertheless clear
that it is God’s eternal rule that is delegated to the humanlike figure in 7:14.
No doubt this is why the OG translator thought λατρευω the appropriate rendering of פלח here. It is
God’s sovereignty, exercised by the humanlike one, that the nations will serve.
This is the limited sense in which OG-Daniel uses “divine” language about the “one
like a son of man.”
There is a resemblance here to the
passage in the Parables of Enoch in which “the kings and the mighty” do
obeisance not only to God but also to the Messianic Figure. As in Daniel 7:14,
this represents the subjection of the rebellious powers to the eschatological
reign of God, and the Messianic Figure receives this obeisance as the one who
carries out God’s judgment at that time. The difference between OG-Daniel and
the Parables of Enoch, in this respect, is that the latter makes a clear
terminological distinction between the cultic worship of God, given only to
God, and the political obeisance that is offered to both God and the Messianic
Figure. Th-Daniel also makes such a distinction (distinguishing λατρευω and δουλευω). In
OG-Daniel, on the other hand, λατρευω is used for both the cultic worship of God and the
political subjection of the nations to the “one like a son of man” when he
receives the kingdom. But it is nevertheless true that in OG-Daniel 7:14 λατρευω refers at least primarily
to political subjection. (Richard Bauckham,
Son of Man [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2023], 1:161-64)
Here are the scans of table 3 (referenced above) found on pp. 171-72:
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