Watcher

A Watcher is a type of biblical angel. The word occurs in both plural and singular forms in the Book of Daniel (2nd century BC), where reference is made to the holiness of the beings. The apocryphal Books of Enoch (2nd–1st centuries BC) refer to both good and bad Watchers, with a primary focus on the rebellious ones. Good watchers in Daniel In the Book of Daniel 4:13, 17, 23 (ESV) there are three references to the class of "watcher, holy one" ("watcher", Aramaic ; "holy one", Aramaic ). The term is introduced by Nebuchadnezzar who says he saw "a watcher, a holy one come down (singular verb) from heaven." He describes how in his dream the watcher says that Nebuchadnezzar will eat grass and be mad and that this punishment is "by the decree of the watchers, the demand by the word of the holy ones" ... "the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men." After hearing the king's dream, Daniel considers for an hour and then responds: Lutheran Protestant reformer Johann Wigand viewed the watcher in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as either God himself, or the Son of God. He promoted Trinitarian thinking by linking verse 17 ("This matter is by the decree of the watchers") with verse 24 ("this is the decree of the Most High"). Scholars view these "watchers, holy ones" as perhaps showing an influence of Babylonian religion, that is an attempt by the author of this section of Daniel to present Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian gods recognizing the power of the god of Israel as "Most High". The Greek Septuagint version differs from the Aramaic Masoretic Text: for example, the Aramaic text is ambiguous about who is telling the story of verse 14, whether it is Nebuchadnezzar, or the watcher in his dream.