Daniel 4:13

A watcher. Aramaic ‘ir, derived from the verb ‘ur, “to watch,” and corresponds to the Hebrew ‘er, which does not signify “keeping watch,” but rather “being watchful,” or “one who is awake” as the marginal annotation to the word in the Codex Alexandrinus explains it. The LXX translates the word by aggelos, “angel,” but Theodotion, instead of translating it, simply transliterates it ir. The Jewish translators Aquila and Symmachus render it egregoros, “the watchful one,” a term found in the book of Enoch and other Apocryphal Jewish writings to designate the higher angels, good or bad, who watch and slumber not. As a designation for angels the term “watcher” would be peculiar to this passage in the Old Testament. It has been suggested that angels may have been known to the Chaldeans under this term, though no evidence for this has yet been found. That the watcher is a heavenly messenger is indicated by the further attribute “an holy one,” and the phrase “came down from heaven.” This much is evident: The watcher was recognized as bearing the credentials of the God of heaven (see PK 518).