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Daniel |
BACKGROUND
Click here for links to other Daniel pages.
Daniel is mentioned numerous times in the book as its book (Daniel 1:6-11, 17, 19, 21; 2:13-20, 24-27, 46-49; 4:8, 19; 5:12-13, 17, 29; 6:2-5, 10-11, 13-14, 16-17, 20-21, 23-24, 26-28; 7:1-2, 15, 28; 8:1, 15, 27; 9:2, 22; 10:1, 2, 7, 11-12; 12:4-5, 9). Our Lord also calls Daniel the author of the book (Matthew 24:15). There is no information known about his family. However, Daniel 1:3 indicates he was of royal or noble blood. Daniel means, "God is my Judge (Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, page 193)."
Egyptian King Ptolemy Philadelphia (284-247 BC) caused the Hebrew Old Testament to be translated into Greek. This Greek version, the Septuagint, is the oldest witness to Daniel. For a discussion of the evidences to the Septuagint, see E. M. Blaiklock, Septuagint, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, volume 5, pages 342-344. Daniel had to be written prior to the translation of the Septuagint.
The last prophecy (Daniel 10-12) was received in the third year of Cyrus' reign, 536 BC. The prophecies of Daniel could not have been edited into the book as we have them, prior to this date.
The prophetic nature of the book is best respected if the date of its compilation is determined to be prior to the fulfillment of its first prophecy. Daniel 11:2 prophesies the kings who will follow Cyrus (10:1).
Thus, the book was written between 536 (the third year of Cyrus' reign) and 530 BC (the last year of Cyrus' reign per Harold Hoehner, class notes).
During this time great numbers of Jews remained in exile and about 50,000 Jews had returned to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 2; 538-37 BC per Hoehner, class notes; see also John H. Walton, Chronological Charts of the Old Testament, page 71).
Additional partial returns were allowed once Daniel repented in behalf of the entire nation of Israel (9:4-19) in accordance with the provisions of the Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 27-30). These returns occurred in 458 BC (Ezra 7-10) and 444 BC (Nehemiah 1-13) according to John H. Walton, Chronological Charts of the Old Testament, page 71. Partial returns have also occurred in the twentieth century. We know from Ezekiel 20:32-44 that the ultimate return from exile will happen in conjunction with the establishment of the millennium (i.e., Messiah's kingdom).
Perhaps the task of those who returned to Palestine in the first wave seemed impossible to those who did not return. Those who returned did experience setbacks (e.g., Ezra 4:1-5). In the twentieth century millions of Jews were killed during World War II. During the time this page was being written, Muslim bombers were killing citizens of Israel. The Book of Daniel may have had as its purpose to encourage those who had returned and those who would later return as well as those who would remain in exile.
The book would indicate to them that God has a certain and wonderful destiny for Israel and those who obey Him will participate in the establishment of the Messiah's kingdom.
The following is an outline of interpretative statements of Daniel. The changes in language determine the main divisions of the book. Click on the underlined links to find additional commentary.
to teach Jews that, despite their present circumstances in exile, they should remain faithful and worship God because He is working to establish their desire, the Messiah's eternal kingdom
Food & Drink (1)
to exhort Jews to be faithful to the Lord when tempted to compromise in exile because He rewards the faithful with abilities and opportunities to serve Him
Aramaic (2-7)
to teach Jews that God should be worshipped because He rules with justice over the affairs of all nations in order to establish Christ's eternal kingdom
to teach Jews that the omniscient God should be worshipped because, unlike the leaders of the nations in which they are exiled, He knows how Israel will be eternally established
Furnace (3)
to teach Jews that they should manifest loyalty and worship towards the omnipotent God because, unlike the leaders of the nations in which they are exiled, He has the power to carry out His purposes
Tree Vision (4)
to teach Jews that they should worship the sovereign God because, unlike the leaders of the nations in which they are exiled, He has absolute rule over their destiny
Feast (5)
to teach Jews that the sovereign God should not be blasphemed because the leaders of the nations in which they are exiled cannot resist the just punishment He imposes because of irreverence
Lion (6)
to teach Jews that they should manifest loyalty and worship towards the sovereign God because, unlike the leaders of the nations in which they are exiled, He has absolute rule over the Jews' destiny and is able to use these leaders and faithful Jews in restoring Israel
to teach Jews that, though they will suffer under Gentile rule, ultimately they will prevail over the Gentile nations when the Messiah established His eternal kingdom
Hebrew (8-12)
to teach Jews that, though present circumstances fall short of the blessings of God, He is respecting the desires of righteous Jews by controlling the course of history to establish the Messianic kingdom
to teach Jews that they will be intensively persecuted by a kingdom illustrated by the Mede and Persian and the Greek empires including Antiochus Epiphanes, before God destroys it
to teach Jews that until Israel's Divine punishment is finally resolved in the distant future, relief can only be found in God's unmerited favor
to teach Jews that God is in control, ordering events to respect the Messianic desires of righteous Jews
©
2002, Ken Bowles, September 23, 2002, Edition
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