Language:
English
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
Four Kingdom Motifs Before and Beyond the Book of Daniel
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2021) 167-190
Keywords:
Hippolytus, Criticism and interpretation
;
Bible. Commentaries
;
History and criticism
;
Eschatology History of doctrines Early church, ca. 30-600
Abstract:
In his Commentary on Daniel (204 CE), Hippolytus of Rome develops his un-derstanding of time and history from Daniel’s motif of the four kingdoms and God’s subsequent eschatological kingdom. This understanding is de-veloped through typological interpretation and is guided by the New Testa-ment reception of the book of Daniel. Hippolytus’s intense interest in time and the last days seems astonishing at first, especially since Hippolytus repeatedly speaks out against calculations related to the events of the last days, which he attributes to unbelief and impatience. This essay investi-gates the seeming contradiction between Hippolytus’s own understanding of time and his outspokenness against end-time calculations by taking into account the structure and communication strategies of the entire work, presenting Hippolytus’s interpretations of Daniel’s concept of the four world eras within the context of the entire work. The four kingdoms that appear in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7–8 in two places in the biblical book of Daniel have a two-fold relevance: (i) Hippolytus interprets DanTh 2 with a hermeneutical interest in reinforcing the authority of the pretext as well as reinforcing the authority of its interpreter (i.e., Hippolytus himself as its commentator). (ii) In his interpretation of DanTh 7–8, Hippolytus—using the argumentative authority thus gained—rejects current trends within his congregation that were probably Montanistic in character and marked by an imminent expec-tation of the end by arguing that the events of the last days would only begin after a period of about 300 years.
DOI:
10.1163/9789004443280_010
URL:
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