It is observable also that the statement of v. 26 (48) is not a mere repetition of that in v. 22, but refers to the scorching of the onlookers, while v. 22 speaks of those who executed the king's order.[[19]]
[19] As to the possibility of the fact, cf. Yorkshire Post, April 12th, 1902, on Coronation bonfires: "Spectators should keep clear of the lee side. The flame of such bonfires has been known to stream in a flash 150ft. out."
The repetition of the same invocation at the commencement of the Prayer and the Song is noteworthy; if the two are not contemporary, it has probably been borrowed by the composer of the Prayer. But the difficulty (often magnified) of reconciling the statements of v. 15 (38) with the Jews' civil and ecclesiastical condition at the time of Daniel iii. wears quite a different aspect if the Prayer is regarded as an interpolation of later date by another hand. Altogether this theory of the interpolation of the Prayer is surrounded with a considerable air of probability.
Five extra verses are interspersed in the Syriac of the Song, calling upon the hosts of the Lord, ye that fear the Lord, cold and heat (the winter and summer of our Benedicite), the herbs of the field, and the creeping things of the earth (Churton's translation). Of these "frigus and aestus" is in the Vulgate, taken from Θ. The source of the others is unapparent, though creeping things would very naturally follow beasts and cattle, as in Gen. vii. 14.
The present ending of the Song, after the usual refrain in the middle of v. 66 (88) is of a laboured nature with a decidedly "dragging" style. It certainly has the appearance of being an afterthought, added by some not very skilful composer, who fancied the original termination to be too abrupt, and thought he could attach an appropriate supplement. But of this theory no external evidence is at present forthcoming.
Θ agrees with the Ο´ text much more closely in this than in the other additions. Most verses are the same, word for word; and many others have but the slightest variations. He makes a few small omissions, as in (Greek) vv. 24, 40, 67, 68; but in general he follows Ο´ exactly. Even vv. 67, 68, are contained in A, in both places, in Daniel and in the Odes at the end; also they are in the Turin Psalter, though omitted in the Veronese (Swete's LXX). As they are found, with a little difference in the Ο´ text, they may have fallen out of B and Q accidentally. The identical refrain at the end of each verse would naturally facilitate an error of this kind.
The principal MSS. available for Θ's text are the same as those for the canonical part of Daniel, A, B, and Q. Γ fails us here, as in other passages, except from vv. 37-52, in which its variations are unimportant.
Taking B as the ground-work, A's changes are not generally of serious moment, excepting in the case of the two inserted verses, 67 and 68, and the transposition of vv. 73 and 74. Otherwise they chiefly consist of small insertions or omissions which do not materially affect the sense (vv. 36, 81); varying forms from the same root such as ὑπεραινετός for αἰνετός (v. 54), εὐλογημένος for εὐλογητός (v. 56). The correctors of B in v. 38, though unsupported by the chief codices, certainly seem right in substituting οὐδε for οὐ. Q's variations not unfrequently agree with A's; where they do not, they are scarcely more important, and often partake of a similar character. In v. 88 a synonym is substituted, viz., ἔσωσεν for ἐρύσατο (2nd). In the few verses covered by Γ, B is generally agreed with; a change of case, αὐτούς instead of αὐτοῖς, appearing in v. 50.