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Place in the Old Testament
In the OT, the book of Daniel follows Ezekiel as one of the four major prophets, being one of the longer prophetic books, in contrast to the mostly shorter minor prophets. However, in the Hebrew Scriptures, Daniel appears towards the end of the third section, 'The Writings', the collection of the works of seers, wise men and priests, and is not classified as one of the prophets.
In the Hebrew Bible, Daniel is described is described as a man of wisdom and vision, and not as a prophet, as he was not a standard prophet who brought God's Word to his people, calling them back to covenant faithfulness. Instead, Daniel served as a statesman in a heathen court, exiled from his homeland of Israel, and unable to address his people directly. He was a was a wise man who interpreted visions and was given some remarkable predictive visions, so Jesus referred to him as a prophet (Mt 24:15). He had the same political position as Joseph, who also served in a heathen court in Egypt, and who also was noted for his supernatural ability to interpret dreams.
Daniel the man
In Hebrew, Daniel's name means 'God is my judge', or 'God is judging'. He is not mentioned in other books of the OT, so all we learn is from the book itself. Ezekiel refers to a well-known and respected wise man called 'Danel' (Ezek 14:14,20, 28:3), almost certainly not the prophet Daniel, as the Hebrew spelling is different.
Daniel was born during the reign of Josiah, probably around 620 BC, during the height of Josiah's reforms.
From the book of Daniel, we know only a few details about his life. He was taken to Babylon as a young man in the first deportation from Jerusalem in 605 BC. He was probably about fifteen years old. This was the third year of Jehoiakim (1:1-2), when he rebelled against Babylon, so enemies came against Judah (2 Kg 24:1-2). Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem, took vessels from house of lord to Babylon (2 Chr 36:5-7). Daniel was included in the group described as, “Israelites of the royal family and nobility, young men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom ... competent to serve in the king's palace” (1:3-4). So, Daniel was either from the royal family, or other nobility in Judah. Josephus wrote that Daniel was related to King Zedekiah, so part of the royal family. In Babylon he and his friends were educated for three years so they could be stationed in the king's court (1:5).
He rose in rank in the Babylonian court under Nebuchadnezzar, and recognised to have special insight to interpret visions and dreams (1:17). They recognised Daniel as one endowed with a spirit of the holy gods, able to interpret dreams. (4:9, 5:11). He was appointed as ruler over province of Babylon, and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon (Dan 2:48). Later he was briefly made third highest ruler of Babylonian empire (Dan 5:29). He retained his position under the government of the Persians, and was appointed as one of three presidents over 120 provincial satraps (6:1-3). The King planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom (v3).
Dates of his ministry
Daniel's ministry spanned all seventy years of Israel's exile in Babylon, from 605 through to 534 BC. He was deported to Babylon aged about fifteen years (ch 1), lived through the Fall of Babylon in 539 BC (ch 5-6), by which time he was about eighty-one years old. His last vision (ch 10) was in 536 BC, when he would have been eighty-six years old. We do not normally think of Daniel being thrown into the lion's den at the age of eighty-one. Daniel lived to see the first group of exiles return to the land in 538 BC, but did not return with them. Perhaps he was too old to travel by that time.
Other prophets at the same time
Jeremiah was about twenty years older than Daniel, and was taken to Egypt after fall of Jerusalem. Daniel probably heard Jeremiah preach in Jerusalem before 605 BC. Daniel was reading from Jeremiah about the seventy years exile (Dan 9:1). Ezekiel was also in exile, but with the Jews by the River Chebar outside the city of Babylon. It is not known whether Daniel knew about Ezekiel.
Structure of the book
Daniel has a straightforward structure:
Chapters 1-6
Six historical narratives describing events in the life of Daniel or his three friends (written in the third person). A recurring theme in this section is the recognition of the supremacy of Daniel's God by pagan rulers:
1. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (3:28-29, 4:34-37)
2. Darius of Persia (6:25-27)
Chapters 7-12
Four visions concerning future world empires (written in the first person).
Languages
Daniel is written in two different languages: Hebrew and Aramaic. It is a mystery why the book is in two languages. However it has been suggested that the author wrote in Aramaic when writing about the nations of the world, and in Hebrew when writing about the future of Israel and the Kingdom of God. Aramaic was the international language of commerce.
| Hebrew |
1:1 - 2:4a |
Focus on Jews |
| Aramaic |
2:4b - 7:28 |
Focus on nations |
| Hebrew |
ch 8 - 12 |
Focus on Jews |
The Aramaic section is in Chiastic form:
A. Four kingdoms & God's kingdom (ch 2)
B. God's power to deliver the faithful (ch 3) - fiery furnace
C. God judges proud rulers (ch 4) - climax Nebuchadnezzar
C. God judges proud rulers (ch 5) - climax Belshazzar
B. God's power to deliver the faithful (ch 6) - lion's den
A. Presenting four kingdoms (ch 7)
Hebrew section
| Ch 1 |
An introduction |
| ch 8-12 |
Three visions that give the future of Israel
| ch 8 |
Antiochus IV Epiphanes |
| ch 9 |
Jerusalem seventy weeks of years from restoration to destruction |
| ch 10-12 |
Israel's future |
|
Message of the book
The book shows the Jews that, although they had lost everything: land, temple, king, Jerusalem, God was still alive and active. Both Daniel and Ezekiel show that God is not limited to the temple in Jerusalem. Ezekiel had a vision of the glory of God in Babylon. He was still with the Jews in exile. They could still worship God and have a relationship with him.
God still had plans and a destiny for his people beyond the exile. God was preparing his people for the 400 silent years, so they were not so silent. They could see God was in control of the destinies of the nations. The overwhelming theme of the book is God's sovereignty over nations: "He removes and sets up kings" (2:21), (Nebuchadnezzar) "may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men" (4:17) and "Until you (Nebuchadnezzar) have learned that the Most high has sovereignty over the kingdom of men" (4:25,32, 5:21)
If the book was written during the Maccabean period, then the purpose of the book was to encourage the Jews during their struggles against Antiochus IV Epiphanes, by describing the examples of Daniel's faithfulness to God.
From a sixth century BC perspective, the book shows that the collapse and destruction of the kingdom of Judah was not the end of God's purposes for his people. The fact that Yahweh had allowed pagan powers to destroy his temple and land, was no proof that he was inferior in power to the Babylonian deities. In fact, God would display his power to show his sovereignty over all history and all nations until the end of time.
The Apocrypha
In the Apocrypha, there is a book called 'Additions to Daniel', which were added to the Book of Daniel when it was translated into Greek. It is very unlikely that these are historically accurate. This consists of three sections.
The Prayer of Azariah, and the Song of the Three Young Men
This claims to be the song that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego sang while in the fiery furnace (inserted between 3:23 & 3:24). It recognises the divine justice of the Babylonian exile, and is similar to Psalm 148.
Susanna
Included as chapter 13 of Greek version of Daniel. Susanna was a beautiful wife of a leading Jew in Babylon. The Jewish elders and judges frequently came to his house, where two of them tried to seduce Susanna. She cried out and the two elders claimed that she was found in the arms of a young man. When she was tried in court, two witnesses agreed, so she was sentenced to death for adultery. Daniel interrupted and cross-examined the witnesses, asking each one under which tree they had found Susanna and the young man. They gave different answers, so were put to death, and Susanna was saved.
The story of Bel and the Dragon
Included as chapter 14 in the Greek version of Daniel. It consists of two stories to ridicule idolatry.
1. King Cyrus asked Daniel why he did not worship Bel, who showed his greatness by consuming sheep, flour and oil daily. Daniel scattered ashes on the floor of the temple. The next morning the king took Daniel to the temple to show him that Bel had eaten the food during the night. Daniel showed the king the footprints of the priests in the ashes, who had taken the food. The priests were killed and the temple destroyed.
2. A mighty dragon worshipped in Babylon is destroyed by Daniel, who is thrown into the lions' den, where he is preserved for six days. On the sixth day, the prophet Habakkuk is miraculously transported from Judea to give Daniel food, and on the seventh day he is released.
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