1.

1 Introduction
The book of Daniel is a paradox among the scriptures. It is at the same time one of the best know
and yet least understood of all the books of the bible. Some of its stories, such as Daniel in the
lion’s den, are among the first bible stories learned by children because they are so easy to
understand other parts of the book, however, make use of a great deal of symbolic language
dreams, and visions , and scholars are still struggling to understand them.

There are two completely different ways of interpreting the book of Daniel. At one extreme are
those who see the book as a map of the ages or as a kind of crystal ball that reveals the events of
world history to the end of time. At the other extreme are those who insist there is nothing
predictive in the book1

So far as the date of composition of the extant work is concerned the book of Daniel is generally
regarded as the latest of the canonical Hebrew Scriptures. That some, if not all, of the stories
found within the first six chapters have a lengthy prehistory is acknowledged, but so compelling
is the evidence in favor of placing the promulgation within the period of the persecution of the
Jews under Antiochus IV Epiphanies that it is possible almost to pinpoint not only the year, but
the month when it reached its present form2

1.2 Place In Canon

In the Hebrew canon Daniel does not figure among the Nehi’im (‘prophets’), but towards the end
of the third division, kethubim (‘writings’), viz. Daniel, Ezra – Nehemiah, I, ii chronicles.
Although in the later Jewish lists of the order of the Biblical books there are some variations in
this third division, the position of Daniel never varies, it always comes immediately before Ezra-
Nehemiah, almost at the end of the list.3

1.3 Historical Background

The books of Daniel open with Nebuchadnezzar on the throne in Babylon. The Babylonian
dynasty had replaced the Assyrian as the dominant power in the eastern Mediterranean region
during the last quarter of the seventh century BC, and was firmly established when
Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish in 650 BC. In 604 he had succeeded his
father on the throne. He still continued his father’s conquest, and according to the account we
have in the book of kings, in 587- 586 he finally subdued Judah and sacked Jerusalem, carrying a
large section of the population back with him to Babylon. The book of Daniel assumes that there
had been an earlier invasion of Judah in which he carried of some captives including Daniel.

After Nebuchadnezzar’s death in 562 his sons and grandsons proved worthless, and in 556 a
revolution ultimately placed on the throne an outsider called Nabonidus. His son was Belshazzar,

1
F.B Huey, Jr, Layman’s Bible Book Commentary, Ezekiel, Daniel; Vol 12 (Broadman Press:Nashville,1983)121
2
Robert. A. Anderson, Signs And Wonders (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, 1984)xiii
3
W.O.E Oesterley, Theodore H. Robinson, An Introduction To The Books Of The Old Testament ( The World
Publishing Company: Cleveland, 1958)330
who seems to have been ruling in Babylon as his father’s deputy when the empire fell to the
Persians under Cyrus in 539. After this the near east was ruled for two centuries by a succession
of Persian rulers. Of these, Darius the first was historically the best known. Then late in the
fourth century, came the dramatic overthrow of the Persian Empire by Alexander the great who
established Greek supremacy over the whole area in 331 BC. Some years after Alexander’s death
his near east kingdom was split in two. The Ptolemaic dynasty, named after its first ruler Ptolemy
I soter ruled the area around Egypt, and the Seleucid dynasty, named after its first ruler selevcus
I nicator, tented to dominate Syria and Palestine. Between the two houses there was sometimes
inter- marriage, sometimes plotting and treachery. The Egyptians platemies were dominant till,
in 198, the Seleucid Antiochus the great defeat Ptolemy epiphanies and finally obtained
undisputed ascendancy over Palestine. The most important development, as far as the Jews were
concerned, took place in 175, when after some intrigue Antiochus IV epiphanies secured the
career and ambitions of this one ruler a great deal of attention is given in the book of Daniel.4

The struggle between the Seleucid and pletemaic dynasties for the conquest of Syria ended with
the victory of Antiochus III at the battle of panion over the Egyptian forces led by scopes. We
have but little knowledge of the internal state of Jewish affairs during the reign of Antiochus III
and of his son Seleucusiv; but the little that we do know is significant and highly suggestive and
it is of importance for the understanding of subsequent history. During the later part of the reign
of Antiochus III we have the earliest indications of the rivalry between the houses of onias and
Tobias. The original root of this rivalry is to be traced to the fact that while the high- priesthood
was vested in the family of Onias, the important office of tax- farmer was possessed by Joseph of
the house of Tobias, first under Ptolemy IV, and, after the conquest, under Antiochus III5

1.4 Authorship And Date

Although Daniel is considered to a prophet, his book is not included with the books of the
prophets which form the second division of the Hebrew bible. Instead, it is included in the third
division, called the writings, which include such books as psalms, 1 and 2 chronicles, and Esther.
The Septuagint translators placed Daniel after the book Ezekiel, where it remains in our English
language bibles. Although most of the Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew
language, certain parts in the Hebrew bible have been preserved in the Aramaic language, which
is very much like Hebrew. Many explanations have been proposed by scholars for the use of
Aramaic in Daniel, but none of them has found general acceptance.

Many Old Testament scholars believe that the books of Daniel, or part of it, were composed long
after Daniel lived, probably around 165 BC. Conservative scholars continue to insist that the
sixth century BC date for Daniel is correct and that the book is a unity. The fact that the book of
Daniel was studied by the Qumran community in the first century BC needs to be given more

4
Roland. S. Wallace, The Message of Daniel (inter-varsity press: USA, 1979)13,14
5
W.O.E. Oesterley, Theodore H. Robinson, An Introduction To The Books Of The Old Testament ( The World
Publishing Company: Cleveland, 1958)330,331
consideration by scholars who insist that the book was written around 165 BC. If written that late
it is difficult to understand why it was so well known and apparently considered canonical so
soon after it was written, as evidenced by the number of fragments and copies of the book found
at Qumran6

1.5 The Traditional View Of The Book

The traditional view takes the book at its face value and affirms that it was written in Babylon by
one Daniel who was himself a model of faithfulness, wisdom and piety for his times. Its purpose
was to show how such a man and those around him triumphed by the grace of god during their
exile how the great tradition of their forefathers was kept alive by strict peity and discipline, and
how persecution was overcome by faithfulness, courage and wisdom. Future hope was kept alive
and solver by a series of prophetic visions given to Daniel. These outlined the difficult and
changeable course through which world history would develop, and foretold especially the
severe time of persecution the nation would come through under later foreign domination they
described, too, the tribulations and triumphs the people of god would share in as the days of the
end of the world and the coming of the messiah approached

Among those scholars who hold such a general view of the origin and purpose of the book, there
are great varieties of interpretations when it comes to many of the details. They differ, for
example when they attempt to define which succession of world empires is referred to in the
descriptions of the various symbols of power; for instance, of the colossus in Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream in the second chapter, or of the various beats which succeed each other at the center of
world history in the seventh chapter. There is disagreement, moreover on exactly which anti- god
ruler was originally indented in the description of the title horn which displaced all the other
horns of the fourth beat as it grew to such gigantic proportion and begins to speak such sinister
blasphemies7

1.6 The Language Of The Book

Chapters I-II, VII- XIII are in Hebrew, II, 4B – VII in Aramaic; this fact will be found to raise
some difficult problems, the attempts to solve which differ among scholars; but this whole
question has been so admirably and convincingly blat with by Charles that his conclusions are
likely to be generally accepted we shall return to the subject. A point of less importance, but one
which has been used as an argument for the theory of composite authorship, is that Daniel is
spoken of in the third person in chapters I –VI, while in Chapters VII- XII the first person is
used8

6
F.B Huey, Jr, Layman’s Bible Book Commentary, Ezekiel, Daniel; Vol 12 (Broadman Press:
Nashville,1983)123,124
7
Roland. S. Wallace, The Message of Daniel (Inter-Varsity Press: USA, 1979)16.
8
W.O.E. Oesterley, Theodore H. Robinson, An Introduction to The Books of The Old Testament (The World
Publishing Company: Cleveland, 1958)339,340
1.7 Theme and Purpose of The Book Of Daniel
There are many secondary theological themes in the book of Daniel that are beneficial for study,
such as the role of prayer of Daniel or Daniel’s understanding of the Old Testament prophetic
messages in general. But three themes dominate this book the sovereignty of God, the ultimate
victory of God’s kingdom.

Other prophets of the Old Testament knew that Yahweh, the god of Israel, was sovereign over
the whole world, including the other nations. But Daniel illustrated this fact in graphic new ways.
Through both stories and visions, Daniel demonstrated the lordship of God the whole world, not
just Jerusalem and the Israelites.

A further emphasis of the book of Daniel is the pride and arrogance of human kind and God’s
total condemnation of egotism. In the stories of chapter 1-6, rebellious pride is the issue behind
the problem that introduces each chapter. Daniel also reveals much about the kingdom of god.
The fundamental message of Daniel is that through every circumstance of life, it is possible to
live a life of faith and victory with God’s help. Daniel is a primary source for Old Testament
eschatology. Tighter with the New Testament book of revelation.9

1.8 The Teaching Of The Book

As is generally recognized the apocalyptic literature presents us with two greatly differing
eschatological points of view. For example, while, on the one hand, the kingdom is for Israel
alone, and Israel is to be supreme over all the nations of the world, there are on the other,
passages which certainly suggest that the kingdom is something more than a worldly one.

The main fact in his conception of god is the emphasis he lays upon the divine transcendence.
The almightily is spoken of as “the God of Heaven “, “the heavens”, “the great and dreadful
god”, this is also brought out by the place assigned to angels interpret visions to Daniel and they
act as guardians of nations.10

9
Bryan E. Beyer and Bill T. Arnold, Encountering the Old Testament (Baker Academic: Michigan, 1999) 432, 433.
10
W.O.E. Oesterley, Theodore H. Robinson, An Introduction To The Books Of The Old Testament (The World
Publishing Company: Cleveland, 1958)342,343.