To Train His Soul in Books: Syriac Asceticism in Early Christianity

3. Redeem Your Sins Through Works of Charity

57 Gary A. Anderson 3. Redeem Your Sins through Works of Charity In the fourth chapter of the Book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and the prophet Daniel is summoned to give an interpretation. In this dream, a tree, abundant in foliage and rich in fruit, rises up in the midst of the earth, providing shade to the animals below and a domicile for the birds above. But then, quite abruptly, a Holy Watcher descends and announces that the tree is to be torn down, and only a stump left in its place. The king is to be fettered to it and spend such time as it would take for his mind to leave the realm of the human and enter the domain of the animal. This punishment is to last for “seven seasons” in order to teach Nebuchadnezzar that the “Most High is sovereign over the realm of man and He gives it to whom he wishes” (Dan 4:22).1 But the matter has not been irrevocably decreed. Daniel intervenes to add an admonition to the king that was not present in the dream: “Therefore, O king, redeem your sins by beneficence and your iniquities by generosity to the poor; then your serenity may be extended” (4:24). In this surprising line, Daniel I offer this essay in tribute to Sidney Griffith in view of the numerous conversations we have had over the use of the root h .âb in the writings of St. Ephrem in particular, but in Syriac Christianity more generally. There this root, which means “to fall into debt,” is used to depict the state of fallen humanity. The robust development of this metaphor in Syriac thought would require a lengthy monograph. I hope that this essay will be a first step toward that end. 1. The numeration of the verses follows the order of the Masoretic text. For the most part the translations in this essay are drawn from the NJPS. Minor alterations have occasionally been introduced as needed. 58   G a r y A . A n d e r s o n offers the king the chance to forestall his appointed doom—redeem your sins by beneficence, he exhorts, and your imminent punishment can be kept at bay. I But what is meant by Daniel’s offer of mercy to this haughty ruler? Or, more specifically, what have the “works of beneficence” to do with the power “to redeem sin”? James Montgomery, in his ICC commentary on Daniel, compared this verse with the “rough gospel of repentance” that Jonah offered the Ninevites .2 But the differences are significant. First of all, Jonah makes no offer of repentance; his word is solely that of doom. Second, there is no attempt taken by the Ninevites to undo their sinful state; rather they don sackcloth and ashes in the hope (and no more than that) that God might relent and turn away from his wrathful intentions in spite of their sin. Daniel, on the other hand, offers much more than just hope; his words are more like that of a promise: do acts of beneficence and your sins will be redeemed . As Montgomery notes, this startling formula has been a locus classicus between Catholic and Protestant interpreters over the centuries. As Matthew Pole put the matter in his own tart fashion in 1694: “Pontificii [i.e. Papists] ex hoc loco satisfactiones suas et merita colligunt.”3 We can loosely translate: The Papists gather from this verse their notions of satisfaction and merits. In no small part the dispute has centered on two terms within this verse: s .idqâ and peruq. Catholics have preferred to translate the former “almsgiving” and the latter, “redeem,” whereas Protestants (going back to Calvin!) have tended to prefer “righteousness” and “break-off.” In the course of this essay I hope to clarify what is at stake in the translation of the verb peruq. But to orient this discussion properly let us begin with the problem of s .idqâ. II In 1950, Franz Rosenthal, the noted scholar of Aramaic, argued that the noun s .idqâ in Dan 4:24 is best translated “almsgiving” and asserted that the 2. J. Montgomery, Daniel, ICC (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1927), 239. 3. As cited in Montgomery, Daniel, 239. W o r k s o f C h a r i t y 59 best evidence for this was the parallel term found in...