第二圣殿时期的犹太文献与《但以理书》

Second Temple Jewish Literatures and the Book of Daniel

大多数学者同意《但以理书》对第二圣殿时期犹太文献具有重大影响,甚至认为存在着所谓的“但以理传统”著作,如《苏珊娜传》《彼勒与大龙》《三童歌》等,以及启示文学类书籍.多数学者也承认《但以理书》的经典权威性很快就获得认可,虽然其中较保守的人主张该书是由俘囚中的但以理所写,只是在相当长时间后才形成书卷;另一些学者则认为,该书是公元前1世纪的作品,但其中某些片段可能很早就已流传.书中以亚兰文写成的章节很可能是最早被接受为权威的经典篇章.笔者断定,第7章极可能是第2章异象的“再诠释”,是《但以理书》中最早获得权威地位的部分,但它在犹太信仰群体中广为流传,则始于公元前3世纪前后.第8至12章有可能是另一层经典再诠释,也很快就被接纳.第7章的影响力极大,几乎促成后来流行于第二圣殿时期的所有犹太启示文学作品,以致成为启示文学的先锋.在某种意义上,第二圣殿时期犹太文献的持续产生得力于《但以理书》作为权威经典的参考作用.

Most scholars of the Book of Daniel would agree that it has been one of the major influential biblical texts of Judaism of the Second Temple Period,some would term this as a“Danielic Tradition.”The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha bear witness to this in including literature like Susana,Bel and the Dragon and the Apocalyptic books.That the Book of Daniel is viewed as authoritative religious text is beyond doubt,the issue lies with how this comes about and how speedily.Some conservative scholars insist that this must come from the hand of Daniel himself,but allow for a longer period in which the book is compiled with some additions;while other critical scholars insist on the book being a first century BCE product,and yet would not reject the provenance of some portions in the book as more ancient.From our analysis of the book in its Second Temple milieu,it is found that the portion that was written in Aramaic was the first to be viewed as authoritative,in that it is often used for some extended literature about Danielic tradition in both the Tales and Chapter 7.In Chapter 7,there is an obvious“reinterpretation”of the vision in Chapter 2;Chapter 7 then gives rise to the rest of the book,i.e.Chapters 8 to 12,which are some extrapolations and reinterpretations of Chapter 7 into a new age and situation during the second century BCE of the Second Temple Period.It is with these extrapolations and reinterpretations that other so-called Apocalyptic literatures became a popular genre and the book of Daniel exerted its greatest influence.