Daniel Introduction

2.The book professes to have been written by Daniel (see 7:1; 12:4), to be an account of a historical individual who experienced the exile and lived in Babylon, and to predict future events (see 2:29-45; 7:2,15-27; 8:15-26; 9:24-27; 10:14; 11:2–12:4).

3.One of the eight manuscripts of Daniel discovered at Qumran (4QDanc) has been dated to about 125 BC and may have been written earlier. Some scholars have argued that there would have been insufficient time for the book of Daniel to have gained such widespread acceptance if it were written only forty years previously.

4.The Septuagint was the Greek translation of the Old Testament produced in Alexandria, Egypt, that came to be used widely by the Jews of the Diaspora. Scholars generally agree that at least the Pentateuch (first five books) was translated in the middle of the third century BC, but it is likely that all the Bible books were translated into Greek about the same time. If so, a second century date for Daniel is impossible. According to the critical view, only thirty years after it was written, the book of Daniel was received into the canon and carried to Alexandria, approximately three hundred miles away, and there translated into Greek. Such a proposal seems unlikely.

5.Ezekiel, the sixth-century prophet, mentioned Daniel three times in his book (Ezk 14:14,20; 28:3)—seemingly clear verification of the traditional view. Critical scholars, however, insist Ezekiel was speaking of a mythological hero named Danel who appears in the ancient Ugaritic epic “The Tale of Aqhat.” A decisive argument against such a theory is that the epic Danel was an idolater, hardly a model of faithfulness to Israel’s God. Ezekiel must have been referring to the author of the book of Daniel. If so, the historicity of Daniel and his book would seem to be established.

Daniel (specifically chaps. 7–12) is the classic example of the apocalyptic genre. The term apocalyptic is derived from a Greek word apokalupsis, meaning “revelation, disclosure.” In this genre (type of literature), a divine revelation is given to a prophet through a mediator concerning future events. Symbolism and numerology are often used. Apocalyptic literature’s major theme is the triumph of the kingdom of God over the kingdoms of earth at the end of time. Critical scholars view apocalyptic merely as a literary technique used to convey a writer’s theology of future hope, not as a record of actual supernatural visions given by God about the future. Evangelical scholars differ on specific interpretations of Daniel’s apocalyptic passages but agree that biblical apocalyptic grants the world an authentic glimpse of God and the future.

An unusual feature of the book is that it is written in two languages—Daniel 1:1–2:4a and 8:1–12:13 are in Hebrew and Daniel 2:4b–7:28 is in Aramaic. Critics insist that the use of Aramaic reflects a late date (when Aramaic had replaced Hebrew) but offer no convincing explanation as to why only a portion of the book is written in Aramaic. Chapter 7 (Aramaic) seems particularly problematic for the critical position since it is the same literary genre (apocalyptic vision) as chapters 8–12 (Hebrew). The most satisfying proposal is that Daniel wrote in Aramaic (the common language of that region in that period) the parts of the book with universal appeal or special significance for the Gentile nations and employed Hebrew in sections more applicable to the Jewish people.

Eight manuscripts of the text of Daniel have survived two millennia in the caves of Qumran. They were produced sometime between the second century BC and the first century AD. These fragments demonstrate the Qumran community’s high regard for the book of Daniel and the faithfulness with which the biblical text was preserved over the centuries.