This article is about the Biblical book. For the novel by E. L. Doctorow, see The Book of Daniel (novel). For the NBC show, see The Book of Daniel (television).

The Book of Daniel, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, is a book in both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament. The book is set during the Babylonian Captivity, a period when Jews were deported and exiled to Babylon. The book revolves around the figure of Daniel, an Israelite who becomes an advisor to Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of Babylon from 605 BC - 562 BC.

The book has two distinct parts: a series of narratives and four apocalyptic visions. Three of the narratives involve Daniel, who has the gift of prophecy, interpreting the meaning of dreams and divine omens. Two other narratives feature Israelites who have been condemned for their piety being miraculously saved from execution. In the second part of the book, the author reveals and partially interprets a set of visions which are described in the first person.

The dating and authorship of Daniel has been a matter of great debate. The traditional view holds that the work was written by a prophet named Daniel who lived during the 6th century BC. In contrast, modern scholarly views generally regard the book as having been written much later, during the mid-2nd century BC. According to this view, the author gave the book the appearance of having been written some 400 years earlier in order to establish credibility by including correct "predictions" of numerous historical events which had occurred during the 5th-2nd centuries BC. A third view argues that while parts of Daniel were written during the 2nd century BC, other parts may have been written by other authors at an earlier date.

Narratives in Daniel

The first part, consisting of the first six chapters, is comprised of a series of lightly connected court tales, connected instructive narratives, or miracle tales. The first story is in Hebrew; then Aramaic is used from ch. 2:4, beginning with the speech of the "Chaldeans" through chapter seven. Hebrew is then used from chapter eight through chapter twelve. Three sections are preserved only in the Septuagint, and are considered apocryphal by Protestant Christians and Jews, and deuterocanonical by Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

1. Daniel refuses to eat meat at court
2. Nebuchadnezzar dreams of an idol of four metals with feet of mixed iron and clay, which Daniel interprets as four successive empires (compare Fifth Monarchy)
3. The story of the fiery furnace, in which Ananias (Hananiah/Shadrach), Azariah (Abednego), and Mishael (Meshach) refuse to bow to a golden idol and are thrown into a furnace; God preserves them from the flames
4. Nebuchadnezzar tells of his dreams of a tall tree, and his losing and regaining his mind
5. Belshazzar's Feast, where Daniel interprets the writing mene mene tekel upharsin
6. Daniel in the lions' den
7. Susanna and the elders (apocryphal to Protestants)
8. Bel and the Dragon (apocryphal to Protestants)

Protestant and Jewish editions omit the sections that do not exist in the Masoretic text: in addition to the two chapters containing accounts of Daniel and Susanna and of Bel and the Dragon, a lengthy passage inserted into the middle of Daniel 3; this addition contains the prayer of Azariah while the three youths were in the fiery furnace, a brief account of the angel who met them in the furnace, and the hymn of praise they sang when they realized they were delivered. The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children are retained in the Septuagint and in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic canons; the "Song of the Three Holy Youths" is part of the Matins service in Orthodoxy, and of Lauds on Sundays and feast days in Catholicism.

The narratives are set in the period of the Babylonian captivity, first at the court of Nebuchadnezzar and later at the court of his successors Belshazzar and a 'King Darius' of unclear identity (see 'Historical Accuracy' and 'Date' below). Daniel is praised in Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897, as "the historian of the Captivity, the writer who alone furnishes any series of events for that dark and dismal period during which the harp of Israel hung on the trees that grew by the Euphrates. His narrative may be said in general to intervene between Kings and Chronicles on the one hand and Ezra on the other, or (more strictly) to fill out the sketch which the author of the Chronicles gives in a single verse in his last chapter: 'And them that had escaped from the sword carried he (i.e., Nebuchadnezzar) away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia' (2 Chr. 36:20)."

Daniel appears as an interpreter of dreams and visions in these narratives, though not as a prophet.

Apocalyptic visions in Daniel

The second part, the remaining six chapters, are visionary, an early example of apocalyptic literature, in which the author, now speaking in the first person, reveals a vision entrusted to him alone. The historical setting of the first chapters does not appear, except in briefest form, consisting of regnal dates. This section too consists

1. The vision in the first year of Belshazzar the king of Babylon (7:1) concerning four great beasts (7:3) representing four future kings (7:17) or kingdoms (7:23), the fourth of which devours the whole earth, treading it down and crushing it (7:23); this fourth kingdom produces ten kings, and then a special, eleventh person arises out of the fourth kingdom that subdues three of the ten kings (7:24), speaks against the Most High and the saints of the Most High, and intends to change the times and the law (7:25); after a time and times and half a time (three and a half years), this person is judged and his dominion is taken away (7:26); then, the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven are given to the people of the saints of the Most High (7:27)
2. The vision in the third year of Belshazzar concerning a ram and a male goat (8:1-27); Daniel interprets the goat as the "kingdom of Yawan" that is, the Hellenistic kingdom (8:21)
3. The vision in first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus (9:1) concerning seventy weeks, or seventy "sevens", apportioned for the history of the Israelites and of Jerusalem (9:24)
4. A lengthy vision in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia (10:1 - 12:13)

The prophetic and eschatological visions of Daniel, with those of Ezekiel and Isaiah, are the scriptural inspiration for much of the apocalyptic ideology and symbolism of the Qumran community's Dead Sea scrolls and the early literature of Christianity. "Daniel's clear association with the Maccabean Uprising in Palestine was undoubtedly one of the reasons why the Rabbis, following the uprisings against Rome, downgraded it from its position among the 'Prophets'" (Eisenman 1997, p 19f).

In Daniel are the first references to a "kingdom of God", and the most overt reference to the resurrection of the dead in the Tanakh.

Historical accuracy

Certain statements in Daniel are considered to be in conflict with known history. This is one reason why modern historians of Babylonia or Achaemenid Persia do not adduce the narratives of Daniel as source materials. Other reasons for reservations are given in Dating below.

The four objections given below represent, in order of significance, the major instances of error historians generally find in Daniel.

"Darius the Mede"

According to H.H. Rowley in Darius the Mede and the Four World Empires in the Book of Daniel, "he references to Darius the Mede in the book of Daniel have long been recognized as providing the most serious historical problems in the book."

Rowley refers to the personage whom Daniel describes as taking control of Babylon after Belshazzar is deposed. Daniel describes this personage as Darius the Mede, who rules over Babylon in chapters 6 and 9. Daniel reports that Darius was 'about 62 years old' when he was 'made king over Babylon'

Historians have criticized this account for three reasons. First, no secular history speaks of any 'Darius the Mede,' and second, the Persians at that point in history had the upper hand in their ongoing war with the Medes. Third, the contemporary history given from cuneiform documents of the period, such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Babylonian Chronicle leave no room for any Mede occupation of Babylon before the Persians under Cyrus conquered it.

Historians such as Rowley and Burtchaell tend to posit that Daniel is mistakenly referencing Darius the Great, who ruled Persia from 521-486 BC, though the Persian Darius was very young (while Daniel specifically attributes an old age to Darius the Mede), and ruled many years later.

Additionally, an analysis of variant texts, particularly the Septuagint, reveals that the names "Darius" (DRYWS in Hebrew) and "Cyrus" (KRWS) are reversed in 11:1, and may have been miscopied elsewhere, who were of the same race. Even more curious is the fact that the opening line of "Bel and the Dragon" references Astyages, who was indeed the last king of the Medes before Cyrus, but a nearly identical verse is added in the Greek after the end of chapter 6, only reading "Darius" in place of "Astyages".

Belshazzar

For many years Belshazzar, the Babylonian who ruled the city the night the Persians successfully besieged the city, was an enigma for historians. Daniel writes that he ruled the city and calls him the son of Nebuchadnezzar. Prior to 1854, archeologists and historians knew of no Belshazzar, let alone one that ruled the great city of Babylon. This led Ferdinand Hitzig to claim in 1850 that Belshazzar was a "figment of the Jewish writer's imagination." Later evidence verified the existence of the person as well as the plausibility of his co-regency during the known absence of his father, Nabonidus (Nabuna'id). This evidence involved the use of Belshazzar in oath formulas, his ability to pass edicts, lease farmlands, evidence that Nabonidus was in Teima the night of the siege Sea Scrolls a fragment known as The Prayer of Nabonidus (4QPrNab) discusses a disease suffered by Nabonidus, and it is thought () that the insanity of Nebuchadnezzar discussed by Daniel is actually evidence that an oral tradition of one strange disease was actually transmogrified through retelling into a tale mistakenly recorded by Daniel.

Date of Nebuchadnezzar's First Siege of Jerusalem

The Book of Daniel begins by stating:

In the third year of the reign of Jehoi'akim king of Judah came Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoi'akim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. (King James Version)

This appears to be a garbled description of the first siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, which occurred in the 12th year of Jehoiakim and into the reign of his son Jehoiachin. (see 2 Kings 24 and 2 Chronicles 36). The third year of Jehoiakim (606 BC), saw Nebuchadrezzar not yet King of Babylon, and the Egyptians still dominant in the region. Advocates of an early date of Daniel generally explain this by positing an additional, otherwise unmentioned, siege of Jerusalem in 605 BC, shortly after the Battle of Carchemish.

Dating

Traditionally, the book of Daniel was believed to have been written by its namesake during and shortly after the Babylonian exile in the

This division is mainly one due to theology: conservative Bible scholars accept the Bible's claim that prophets can see into the future and then describe what they saw in spoken or written language. Liberal Bible scholars, who descend from the school of German Higher Criticism, reject the Bible's notion that prophets can see visions of the future, that in fact Daniel had no such vision. This raises more issues than it solves. Many of the metaphors used in Daniel's visions are quite vivid, pointing to specific individuals and kingdoms. The specificity of these visions is the dividing line between the two camps. Liberal scholars must then, to get around the issue of Daniel's specificity, date the writing of the book of Daniel much later (see below) and attribute it to an unknown author who posed Daniel as the author of the book bearing his name.

Liberal scholarship on the dating of the Book of Daniel largely falls into two camps, one dating the book in its entirety to a single author during the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple (168-165 BC) under the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ruled 175-164 BC), the other seeing it as a collection of stories dating from different times throughout the Hellenistic period (with some of the material possibly going back to the latest Persian period), with the visions in chapters 7-12 having been added during the desecration of Antiochus. John Collins finds it impossible for the "court tales" portion of Daniel to have been written in 2nd Century BC due to textual analysis. In his 1992 Anchor Bible Dictionary entry for the Book of Daniel, he states "it is clear that the court-tales in chapters 1-6 were 'not written in Maccabean times'. It is not even possible to isolate a single verse which betrays an editorial insertion from that period." Some scholars disagree with this, and still date this section to the Maccabean revolt along with the vision chapters.

Content

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Most interpreters find that references in the Book of Daniel reflect the persecutions of Israel by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC), and consequently date its composition to that period. In particular, the vision in Chapter 11, which focuses on a series of wars between the "King of the North" and the "King of the South," is generally interpreted as a discussion of Near Eastern history from the time of Alexander the Great down the era of Antiochus IV, with the "Kings of the North" being the Seleucid kings and the "Kings of the South" being the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt. This conclusion was first drawn by the philosopher Porphyry of Tyros, a third century pagan Neoplatonist whose fifteen-volume work Against the Christians is only known to us through Jerome's reply. Jerome accepted much (but not all) of Porphyry's interpretation of the vision, but held to the traditional view of Daniel's date and held that the similarities to actual history were due to Daniel's being a true prophet, rather than to a late date for the book. Porphyry, then, was the only known critic to doubt Daniel's early date until the 17th century. Many historians hold that the book was written to influence Jews living under Antiochus' persecution. They believe that the events described in the visions match well the events during the Maccabean era while the book errs on major points of Babylonian history.

Four Kingdoms

Most biblical scholars assume that the four kingdoms beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, mentioned in the "statue vision" of chapter 2, are identical to the four "end-time" kingdoms of the vision in chapter 7, and usually consider them to represent (1) Babylonia, (2) Media, (3) Persia, and (4) Greece (Collins). Some conservative Christians identify them as (1) Babylonia, (2) "Medo-Persia," (3) Greece, and (4) Rome (e.g. Young); others have advocated the following schema: (1) the Babylonian, (2) the Medo-Persian, (3) the empire of Alexander, and (4) the rival Diadochi, viz. Egypt and Syria (Lagrange).

Language

The final major area of debate regarding the dating of Daniel regards the language used. The two reference points used for dating the Aramaic are the Samaria correspondence (4th century BC) and the Dead Sea Scrolls (2nd century BC-1st century AD). According to John Collins in his 1993 commentary, Daniel, Hermennia Commentary, the Aramaic in Daniel is almost universally held by scholars to be of a later form than that used in the Samaria correspondence, but is regarded by many as slightly earlier than the form used in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Consequently the Aramaic tales in chapters 2-6 are held by some to have been written earlier in the Hellenistic period than the rest of the book, with the vision in chapter 7 being the only Aramaic portion dating to the time of Antiochus. The Hebrew in the book is, for all intents and purposes, identical to that found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, suggesting a 2nd century BC date for the Hebrew portions of the book (chapters 1 and 8-12).

Loan Words

There are 3 Greek words used within the text which have long been considered evidence for a late dating of Daniel. All three Greek words are used for musical instruments. The existence of the Greek word 'symphonia' was cited by Rowlings as having its earliest use in second century BC, but modern scholarship now knows its use much earlier, both in the sense of a specific instrument and as a term referring to a group of instruments playing in unison. Pythagoras used the term to denote an instrument in 6th century BC, while its use to refer to a group performing together is found in the sixth century BC 'Hymni Homerica, ad Mercurium 51' Despite their early use in Greek however, there is no evidence for the use of these instruments in Mesopotamia in the Neo-Babylonian period where they are said to be used in Daniel, and their mention in the book is generally taken as an anachronism.

There are also 19 Persian loan-words in the book, most of them having to do with governmental positions.

Use of the word 'Chaldeans'

The book of Daniel uses the term "Chaldean" to refer both to a Babylonian ethnic group and to astrologers in general. According to Montgomery and Hammer, Daniel's use of the word 'Chaldean' to refer to astrologers in general is an anachronism, as during the Neo-Babylonian and early Persian periods when Daniel is said to have lived it referred only to an ethnicity. Compare the later Chaldean Oracles.

Unity of Daniel

The scholarship concerning the question of unity in Daniel differs greatly from the scholarship concerning the dating. Whereas almost all scholars conclude a 2nd century dating of the book in its final form, scholarship varies greatly regarding the unity of Daniel. Many scholars, finding portions of the book dealing with themes they do not believe fit with the time of Antiochus, conclude separate authors for different portions of the book. Included in this group are Barton, L. Berthold, Collins, and H. L. Ginsberg. Some historians who support that the book was a unified whole include J.A. Montgomery, S.R. Driver, R. H. Pfeiffer, and H.H. Rowling in the latter's aptly titled treatise The Unity of the Book of Daniel

Those who hold to a unified Daniel claim that their opponents fail to find any consensus in their various theories of where divisions exist. Montgomery is particularly harsh to his colleagues, stating that the proliferation of theories without agreement showed a "bankruptcy of criticism." They also charge that composite theories fail to account for the consistent thematic portrayal of Daniel's life throughout the book of Daniel.

Christian uses of Daniel

As mentioned above, the prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Children from the deuterocanonical parts of Daniel are widely used in Orthodox and Catholic prayer.

The various episodes in the first half of the book are used by Christians as moral stories, and are often seen to foreshadow events in the gospels.

The apocalyptic section is primarily important to Christians for the image of the "Son of Man" (Dan. 7:13). According to the gospels, Jesus used this title as his preferred name for himself. The connection with Daniel's vision (as opposed to the usage in the Book of Ezekiel) is made explicit in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark (Matt 27:64; Mk 14:62). Christians see this as a direct claim by Jesus that he is the Messiah.

Influence of Daniel

Due to the specificity of its prophecy and its place in both the Jewish and Christian canons, the book of Daniel has had great influence in Jewish and Christian history.

The Book of Daniel is included in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, in the section known as the Ketuvim (Hagiographa, or the "Writings") . Daniel was considered a prophet at Qumran (4Q174 ) and later by Josephus (Antiquity of the Jews 10.11.7 §266) and the author (the "Pseudo-Philo") of Liber antiquitatum biblicarum (L.A.B. 4.6, 8), and was grouped among the prophets in the Septuagint, the Jewish Greek Old Testament, and by Christians, who place the book among the prophets. However, Daniel is not currently included by the Jews in the section of the prophets, the Nebiim.

The Jewish exegete Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon, sometimes called simply RaMBaM and later called Maimonides, was so concerned that the "untutored populace would be led astray" if they attempted to calculate the timing of the Messiah that it was decreed that "Cursed be those who predict the end times." This verbiage can be both found in his letter IGERET TEIMAN and in his booklet The Statutes and Wars of the Messiah-King.

Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel lamented that the times for the fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel "were over long ago" (Sanhedrin 98b, 97a).

Traditional Christians have embraced the prophecies of Daniel, as they believe they clearly illustrate that Jesus Christ of Nazareth must be the Messiah, and also because in Matthew 24 Jesus himself is quoted as describing Daniel's prophecies as applying to future events immediately preceding Judgement Day, and not to Epiphanes who had lived some 175 years earlier. They consider the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks to be particularly compelling due to what they interpret to be prophetic accuracy. Many Orthodox Jews believe that the prophecy refers to the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. Secular scholars however, believe that the prophecy better fits the reign of Antiochus, and that it is an example of vaticinium ex eventu (prophecy after the fact).

Medieval study of angels was also affected by this book, as it is the only Old Testament source for the names of two of the archangels, Gabriel and Michael (Dan 9:21; 12:1). The only other angel given a name in the Old Testament is Raphael, mentioned in the deuterocanoncial Book of Tobit.

Traditional tomb sites of Daniel

A tomb said to be the last resting place of the prophet Daniel is located in the Kirkuk Citadel in the city of Kirkuk in Iraq. There is a mosque built on the tomb, the mosque has arches and pillars and two domes on a decorated base and beside it there are three minarets belonging to the end of the Mongolian reign. The mosque is about 400 square meters, it has four illusions tombs of Daniel, Hannah, Ezra and Michael.Another tomb in Susa, Iran, also claims to be that of Daniel.

See also

• Book of Revelation
• Apocalypse
• Biblical archaeology (reference to Nabonidus cylinder)
• Christian eschatology
• Summary of Christian eschatology

• Christian translations:
  • (New Revised Standard Version)
  • (various versions)
  • (Authorised King James Version)
  • (Full text from , also available in )

Related Articles:

• Daniel
• - An analysis of the book's origins, from a skeptical perspective.
• - online study of the Book of Daniel, from a Christian perspective
• A summary of conservative answers to objections to Daniel's historicity.
• by W.D. Jeffcoat, M.A. (PDF), from a conservative Christian perspective
• - A Q&A format defense of Daniel's early dating.
• - Skeptical analysis of the book.
• Detailed dictionary-style article.

References

• E. J. Bickerman, Four Strange Books of the Bible, 1967. ISBN 0805207740.
  • A standard analysis.
• Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus, 1997. ISBN 014025773X.
  • "Eisenman here sets out a fascinating and controversial theory that puts St. James at the center of the story as the heir to Jesus' teachings."
• John F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 1989. ISBN 0802417531.
  • "A detailed, systematic analysis of the Book of Daniel with emphasis on studying and refuting nonbiblical views."
• • A conservative rebuttal to secular viewpoints on the dating of Daniel.
• • An atheists viewpoint of errors in Daniel.
• • One of several articles on attacking a conservative viewpoint.
• • A symposium of Daniel by conservative scholars.

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. Kniha Daniel

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