The Economy of Property and Prosperity in Daniel of the Old English Junius Manuscript: A View on the Poem’s Syncretism

Abstract

The heroic economy of treasure subtends both the treasure plundered from the temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the political structure of Babylon in the Old English Daniel. The golden idol that Nebuchadnezzar erects is a sign of the worldly glory and wealth that generates the flow of goods in the heroic economy of exchange of honour. The aim of the paper is to argue that the Daniel poet makes a contrast between the secular flow of treasure, at the foundation of Nebuchadnezzar’s power, and the divine economy of grace, at the centre of the covenant between the Hebrews and God.