40, 42. The King acknowledges the Lord, sets Daniel free, and delivers his persecutors to the fate intended for the prophet.
[60] In each case it is not clear from the text that the 'worship' consisted in anything else than supplying food.
[Endnote: N.B.—It is unaccountable why the 'heading' in A.V. begins with v. 19. Cf. Sus. for a similar peculiarity.]
Title And Position.
Title.
Βήλ καὶ Δράκων is the usual title of this booklet. It is obviously derived from the names of the two idols destroyed in the two portions of the story. But Cod. Chis. has the curious heading, Ἐκ προφητείας Ἀμβακοὺμ υἱοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Λευί (cf. v. 33). The Syriac also has the equivalent of this. In some Syriac MSS. 'Dragon' is given as a separate title before v. 23; and Luther's version, at the same point, expands this into 'von Drachen zu Babel.'
In Codd. A, Q, the entire piece is headed ὅρασις ιβ´, and is thus treated as an integral part of Daniel, finishing the book, the 12th chapter of which ends in Cod. A with ὅρασις ια´.[[61]] In B it follows, if possible, still more closely, there being no intermediate heading[[62]], In Cod. A, at the end, there is τέλος Δαν. προφήτου, which, except in the case of Ruth, is not A's usual way of terminating works. The Arabic Version in Walton also superscribes it as a 'vision' (Scholz, p. 139).
[61] The title ὅρασις is also used in Q in some of Isaiah's visions, e.g. xvii. 1.
[62] See under Theodoret in 'Early Christian Literature,' and 'Chronology,' p. 224.