Re: CHAT: pacifism

Ray Brown scripsit:

> Connecting Mene/Mane with Aramaic _mena_ (according to one
> source)? Others have suggested connexion with te Greek _mna_ (Latinized
> as 'mina'), a Greek measure of weight.
>
> T(h)ekel - is usually thought to mean 'shekel' (another measurement
> of weight).
>
> 'Parsin' in the extant Hebrew/Aramaic version is the plural of _Peres_
> which is actually given in the KJV of verse 28.  As for _Peres/ Phares_,
> I gather there is an Aramaic word _peres_ meaning 'divided'; but some
> have taken it as _paras_ (a weight of half a mna) and others have seen
> a connexion with _Paras_ (plural _Pharsin_) "Persians".
Of course, a weight is also a monetary unit in the ancient world, and
the _American Translation_ of 1931 by Cyrus Gordon et al. rendered the
phrase "You have been quartered, halved, and cent to perdition".

> Hopefully, the Semiticists on the list can comment on the Aramaic.
>
> What we do have, of course, is Daniel's _interpretation_ of the writing.
It's always been my impression that Nabu-kudurri-usur's wise men didn't
"understand it" not in the sense that the words were unintelligible,
but in the sense that the *sentence* was unintelligible.  Similarly,
when Frodo says to Gandalf "I cannot read the fiery letters", he means
he can't understand the language, not that the letters themselves are
unrecognizable.

--
John Cowan                                   jcowan@reutershealth.com
        "You need a change: try Canada"  "You need a change: try China"
                --fortune cookies opened by a couple that I know

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