I. Etymology and Lexical Field. The Aramaic adjective ʿtyq /ʿattīq/ “old” belongs to the common Semitic root ʿtq “to depart, to advance,” which first
occurs as a verb “to age” in Aramaic in post-Christian literary languages. In
the Imperial Aramaic written tradition, the word consistently refers to objects
from earlier times that do not age as people do. Thus, the “Ancient of Days” on his divine throne in Dnl. 7
denotes an age beyond the typical human lifespan. Instead of this term, the
noun → śb /śāb/ or the adjective → rb /rabb/ serves as “old person,” qšyš /qaššīš/ also serves as the
honorific “senior, elder.” The specific age of a person finds expression
through /bar šanīn/ with a number “… years old.”
II. General Use. Imperial Aramaic usages of the adjective ʿtyq generally describe things of
undetermined age. In the formulaic certification of validity in legal texts
such as endowments, which specifically establish their validity for all coming
generations, the word means an “old one,” that is an earlier document that can
no more invalidate the present document than a new one (ḥdt) can. A satrap’s letter from Bactria employs it of old houses,
the harbor register from Elephantine employs it often in the unexplained
expression lq ʿtyq, and a letter
ostracon for qmrʾ ʿty[qʾ “the old wool.” In a Palmyrene
honorary inscription it depicts old wine and in another “old” (παλαιά) gold denari,
probably according to an old weight.
III. The Ancient
of Days in Dnl. 7. Thus, ʿattīq yōmīn “an Ancient of Days” (Dnl. 7:9; 7:13, 22 in the determined state ʿattīq yōmayyā) in reference to the
divine figure before whose throne the “son of man” receives eternal dominion at
the end of time does not mean an old person, but a transcendent figure lost in
reverie that has existed since primeval times. (Holger
Gzella, “עתיק,” in Holger Gzella, ed., Theological
Dictionary of the Old Testament,
16 vols. [trans. Mark E. Biddle; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2018], 16:600-1)
