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Book of Daniel Information

The Book of Daniel (Hebrew: דניאל) is a book in the Hebrew Bible. In the Jewish canon, the book of Daniel is included with the Writings not in the Prophets. The book tells of how Daniel, a Judean exile at the court of Nebuchadnezzar II (605 to 562 BC), the ruler of Babylon, becomes a high government official[1] and delivers various visions.

The traditionalist view dates Daniel to the 6th century BC. In the critical view, "there would be few modern biblical scholars . . . who would now seriously defend such an opinion."[2][3] Many biblical critics date the book to the 2nd century BC:[4][4] "The arguments for a date shortly before the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 164 are overwhelming."[2] Opinions continue to differ, however, in light of apparently early forms of Aramaic language used in the Aramaic portions.[5]

The earliest manuscripts discovered, like the traditional Jewish version, are written partly in Hebrew and partly in Aramaic,[6] and consist of a series of six third-person narratives (chapters one to six) followed by four apocalyptic visions in the first person (chapters seven to twelve). The narratives take the form of court tales which focus on tests of religious fidelity involving Daniel and his friends (chapters one, three and six), and Daniel's interpretation of royal dreams and visions (chapters two, four and five). In the second part of the book, Daniel recounts his own reception of dreams, visions and angelic interpretations.

Contents

Source analysis

Textual sources

A total of eight copies of the book of Daniel have been found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls.[7] All eight manuscripts have been dated within the space of 175 years ranging from about 125 BC (4QDanc) to about 50 AD (4QDanb).[4] There were at least three versions extant: the twelve-chapter version preserved in the Masoretic text and the two longer Greek versions, the Theodotion version (c. 2nd century AD) and the original Septuagint version ( c. 100 BC; see above sections).[8] Both Greek versions contain the apocryphal chapters (c. 100 BC) not found in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel. Theodotion's translaton is much closer to the Hebrew/Aramaic Daniel of the Masoretic Hebrew Bible, and became so popular that it replaced the original Septuagint version of Daniel in all but two manuscripts of the Septuagint itself.[9][10][11] For its part, the older (pre-Theodotion) Septuagint edition sometimes agrees more with the older Hebrew / Aramaic readings of the text of the Qumran fragments, against the more recent Theodotion / Masoretic version reflected in modern translations.

Chapters of the Book of Daniel

1: Induction into Babylon 2: Nebuchadnezzar's dream of an image 3: The fiery furnace 4: The madness of Nebuchadnezzar 5: Belshazzar's feast 6: Daniel in the lions' den 7: Daniel's first vision 8: Vision of the ram and goat 9: Prophecy of Seventy Weeks 10: Vision of a man 11: Kings of the North and South

12: Epilogue
· ·

Septuagint version

In the Septuagint, three additional translations of Daniel are included, with little doubt of being added after the completion of the Hebrew / Aramaic text:[12] These three additional sections are preserved only in the Septuagint, and are considered apocryphal by Protestant Christians and Jews, and deuterocanonical by Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

  1. The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children
  2. The stories of Susannah and the Elders
  3. Bel and the Dragon

Narrative analysis

There exists a broad consensus among scholars that the legendary stories of chapters 1-6 are almost certainly older than the visions in chapters 7-12.[13] The wide differences between the oldest manuscripts of chapters 4-6 suggests that these chapters originally circulated separately from the rest of the book and may have been transmitted orally,[14] and it is clear that the stories and visions that make up the book as we now have it were selected from a wider corpus of Daniel literature available to the author(s).[15]

Use of Chaldean in Daniel

The book of Daniel uses the term "Chaldean" to refer both to an ethnic group, and to astrologers in general. According to Montgomery and Hammer (Compare the later Chaldean Oracles).

Loan words in Daniel

Three Greek words used within the text have long been considered evidence for a late dating of Daniel. All three are terms for musical instruments: κιθαρις (cithara), ψαλτηριον (psaltery) and συμφωνια (symphonia). The existence of the Greek word symphonia was cited by Rowlings as having its earliest known use in the 2nd century BC, but it has subsequently been shown that Pythagoras, born in the 6th century BC, used the term,[16][17] while its adjectival use meaning "in unison" is found in the Hymni Homerica, ad Mercurium 51; both instances date from the 6th century BC, the supposed setting of Daniel.

It is known that "Greek mercenaries and slaves served in the Babylonian and Assyrian periods, some of whom were undoubtedly versed in Greek music and musical instruments." It has been speculated that this would explain the existence of the three Greek musical terms in Daniel's book. On the other hand, it has been claimed that the non-existence of other Greek words is a strong witness against the theory of the writing of the book in the Hellenistic period, since "it is inconceivable that Greek terms for government and administration would not have been adopted into Aramaic by the second century BC"[18] Even John Goldingay, a proponent of the late date, admits "the Greek words hardly necessitate a very late date." [19]

There are also nineteen Persian loan-words in the book, most of them having to do with governmental positions. Judea was under Persian administration for two centuries until the arrival of Alexander the Great in 333 BC.

Literary criticism

Daniel’s twelve chapters may be divided into three major sections:[20]

  1. Part I: Chapter 1-2:3 introduces Daniel and his companions and the circumstances they were in. (Written in Hebrew Masoretic text).
  2. Part II: Chapter 2:4-7 are the Court tales of Daniel and his companions living amongst the Babylonians. (Written in Aramaic).
  3. Part III: Chapters 8-12 are Daniel’s prophetic visions of Israel’s future (written in Hebrew Masoretic text).

Literary structure

Scholars have speculated about the bilingual literary structure of Daniel - Chapters 2 through 7 in Aramaic, the rest in Hebrew. One of the most frequent speculations is that the entire book (excepting 9:4-20) was originally written in Aramaic, with portions translated into Hebrew, possibly to increase acceptance[21] - many Aramaisms in the Hebrew text find proposed explanation by the hypothesis of an inexact initial translation into Hebrew.

According to John J. Collins in his 1993 commentary, Daniel, Hermeneia Commentary, the Aramaic in Daniel is of a later form than that used in the Samaria correspondence, but slightly earlier than the form used in the Dead Sea Scrolls, meaning that the Aramaic chapters 2-6 may 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 portion is, for all intents and purposes, identical to that found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, meaning chapters 1 and 8-12 were in existence before the late 2nd century BC.[22][23]

Contrary to the above, the Expositor's Bible Commentary (Zondervan, 1990) claims that the language of Daniel, in comparison with the Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the Hellenistic period, "prove quite conclusively to any scholar that the second-century date and Palestinian provenance of the Book of Daniel cannot be upheld any longer without violence being done to the science of linguistics." It adds that the serious mistakes of the Septuagint to render many Persian and Accadian terms, as the offices mentioned in Dan. 3:3, proves ignorance of words of the old past, already forgotten in the Hellenistic period, indicating that the Book of Daniel was written in the late 6th century BC.[24]

E.C. Lucas is more cautious in his assessment of linguistic arguments as well. Evaluating Collins' approach, he considers "the wide geographical spread from which the material comes and the implicit assumption that linguistic developments would have occurred uniformly throughout this area" a weakness and concludes, "The character of the Hebrew and Aramaic could support a date in the fifth or fourth century for the extant written form of the book, but does not demand a second-century date." He agrees with Collins that there are "clear differences" between Qumran Hebrew and the Hebrew of Daniel.[25]

Double-chiasm theory

See also: Prophecy of Seventy Weeks#Literary structure

William H. Shea Ph.D. has proposed that the book of Daniel was composed as a double chiasm.[26] Chiastic or concentric structure is a common feature of ancient Hebrew poetry and literature. A. Lenglet's identification of the chiastic structure of chapters 2 - 7 in 1972 is accepted by scholars. Shea expanded on Lenglet's foundation to include the entire book.

Related themes have common label

The sections labeled A, A', A" and A"' are placed in parallel because they all have a similar theme: prophecies about successive kingdoms. God's people suffer trials in all 4 parts labelled B, B', B" and B"'. Sections C, C', C" and C"' deal with prophecies about the actions of different kings. Finally the structure portrays the trial faced by the Anointed One as the focal point of the book (D ).

Language emphasizes structure

The chiastic structure is emphasized by the languages in which the book is written. The first chiasm is written in Aramaic and the second in Hebrew. It explains why Aramaic continues to be used in chapter 7 rather than ending in chapter 6 at what is commonly thought to be the end of the first half of the book.

Structure has precedence over chronology

The first 6 narrative chapters are fit into the structure rather than defining the structure. For instance, chapter 6 (B'), which ought to follow chapter 7 (A') chronologically, is put in parallel with chapter 3 (B) because they both deal with the persecution of Daniel and his friends i.e. "God's people." And chapter 5 (C') should follow chapters 7 and 8 (A"). Instead, it is put in parallel with chapter 4 (C) where divine judgements are pronounced against the Babylonian kings.

Grouping Emphasizes Prophecies

This chiastic grouping of chapters having the same theme has implications when it comes to the chapters containing prophecies (A, A', A", A'"). Not only are they parallel because they contain prophecies, but the prophecies themselves are parallel to each other, which has been recognized for millennia. Christian commentators have not always identified the same kingdoms in each chapter though. Chapters 2 and 7 have generally - though not exclusively[27] - been interpreted as extending to Roman times. Chapters 8 and 11 have been applied to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes.[28] Historicists interpret all four prophecies as extending from Daniel's time, past the present to a future Kingdom of God.[29]

Others like Walton have advocated a combination of both schemes, but in different parts of Daniel.[30]

Content of Daniel

Introduction

Main article: Daniel#Induction into Babylon

The first chapter, written in Hebrew Masoretic text, introduces Daniel and his three companions: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These four young Hebrew men were taken captive in one of the Babylonian raids against Judah in 605 BC. They were placed in special training as court servants to King Nebuchadnezzar. Their names and diets were changed to reflect Babylonian culture in an attempt to take away their Jewish identities.[20] However, Daniel was able to convince the King to allow for a vegetarian diet.[1:11-16]

Court tales

The Great Image

Main article: Daniel 2

The king has a disturbing dream and asks his wise men to interpret it, but refuses to divulge its content. When they protest he sentences all of them, including Daniel and his friends, to death. Daniel intervenes and asks for a temporary stay of execution so that he can petition his God for a solution. He receives an explanatory vision in the night, and then relays the content and meaning of the king's dream the following day. Nebuchadnezzar has dreamed of an enormous idol made of four metals, with feet of mixed iron and clay. The image is completely destroyed by a rock that turns into a huge mountain, filling the whole earth. The idol's composition of metals is interpreted as a series of successive kingdoms, starting with Nebuchadnezzar. Finally all of these dominions are crushed by God's kingdom, a kingdom that will "endure forever".

The fiery furnace

Main article: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Daniel's companions Ananias (Hananiah/Shadrach), Azariah (Abednego), and Mishael (Meshach) refuse to bow to the emperor's golden statue and are thrown into a furnace. As seen by Nebuchadnezzar, a fourth figure appears in the furnace with the three and God is credited for preserving them from the flames.

Madness of Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar recounts a dream of a huge tree which is suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel is summoned and interprets the dream as referring to Nebuchadnezzar, who for seven years will lose his power and mind and become like a wild animal. All of this comes to pass until, at the end of the seven years, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that "heaven rules" and his kingdom and sanity are restored. The recurring image of a tree representing a kingdom appears at least three times in the Bible.

Belshazzar's feast

See also: The writing on the wall

Belshazzar and his nobles blasphemously drink from sacred Jewish temple vessels, offering praise to inanimate gods, until a hand mysteriously appears before the crowd and writes upon the wall of the palace. The horrified king eventually summons Daniel who is able to read the writing and offer the following interpretation: Mene, Mene - God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel - You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Upharsin - Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. "That very night", we are informed, Belshazzar was slain and "Darius the Mede" took over the kingdom.

Daniel in the lions' den

Main article: Daniel in the lions' den

Daniel is elevated to a pre-eminent position under Darius which elicits the jealousy of other officials. Knowing of Daniel's devotion to his God, these officials trick the king into issuing an edict forbidding worship of any other god or man for a 30 day period. Because Daniel continues to pray three times a day to God towards Jerusalem, he is accused and king Darius, forced by his own decree, throws Daniel into the lions' den. God shuts up the mouths of the lions and the next morning king Darius finds Daniel unharmed and casts his accusers and their families into the lions' pit where they are instantly devoured.

Daniel's visions

The four visions of chapters seven to twelve consist of four visions focusing on a fearsome future king who attacks the "saints", and the city and temple of Jerusalem; in contrast to the earlier chapters, they are introduced in the first person. One feature of this section is Daniel's reliance on heavenly figures to interpret and explain his visions. The historical setting of the first chapters does not appear, except in the form of regnal dates. Chapter seven is written in Aramaic while chapters eight to twelve are in Hebrew. This section of Daniel contains the first references to the "kingdom of God" in Jewish scripture, and the first overt reference to the resurrection of the dead.

Vision of the great beasts

Main article: Daniel 7 See also: Four monarchies

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 beast has ten horns representing ten kings. They are followed by a further wicked king, or "little horn", who subdues three of the ten (7:24), speaks against the Most High, wages war against the saints, and attempts to change the set times and laws (7:25); after 'a time and times and half a time', this king is judged and stripped of his kingdom by an "Ancient of Days" and his heavenly court (7:26); next, "one like a son of man" approaches the Ancient of Days and is invested with worldwide dominion; moreover, his everlasting reign over all kings and kingdoms is shared with "the people of the Most High" (7:27)

Vision of the ram and goat

Main article: Daniel 8

The vision in the third year of Belshazzar concerning a ram and a male goat (8:1-27) which, we are informed, represent Medea, Persia (the ram's two horns), and Greece (the goat). The goat with a mighty horn becomes very powerful until the horn breaks off to be replaced by four "lesser" horns. The vision focuses on a wicked king who arises to challenge the "army of the Lord" by removing the daily temple sacrifice and desecrating the sanctuary for a period of "twenty three hundred evening/mornings".

Prophecy of the Seventy Septets

Main article: Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

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) This consists of a meditation on the prediction in Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years, a lengthy prayer by Daniel in which he pleads for God to restore Jerusalem and its temple, and an angelic explanation which focuses on a longer time period - "seventy sevens" - and a future restoration and destruction of city and temple by a coming ruler.

Vision of the kings of north and south

Main article: Daniel 11

Daniel has a lengthy vision (10:1 - 12:13) in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, around 536 B.C.E., regarding conflicts between the "King of the North" and the "King of the South" (= Egypt, 11:8). An angel appears to Daniel and explains that the demonic "prince of Persia" is in opposition, but that Michael "the great prince of Israel" will save them, as the only one who will "stand up."(10:21; 12:1) The vision is for "the final part of the days."(10:13,14) Starting with references to Persia and Greece it, again, culminates in the description of an arrogant king who desecrates the temple, sets up a "desolating abomination", removes the daily sacrifice, and persecutes those who remain true to the "holy covenant".

The visions of Daniel, with those of 1 Enoch, Isaiah, Jubilees, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, are the inspiration for much of the apocalyptic ideology and symbolism of the Qumran community's Dead Sea scrolls and the early literature of Christianity.[31]

Historicity of Daniel

Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC)

See also: Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC)

Daniel 1:1 - "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it." (King James Version)

According to the Babylonian Chronicles, published by Donald Wiseman in 1956, it was established that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem the first time on 2 Adar (16 March) 597 BC.[32] Before Wiseman's publication, Thiele had determined from the biblical texts that Nebuchadnezzar's initial capture of Jerusalem occurred in the spring of 597 BC,[33] while other scholars, including Albright, more frequently dated the event to 598 BC.[34]

Nebuchadnezzar or Nabonidus

William Blake's depiction of Nebuchadnezzar.

Three Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls fragments known as The Prayer of Nabonidus (4QPrNab, sometimes given as 4QOrNab) seem to parallel the insanity suffered by Nebuchadnezzar as described in Daniel Chapter 4.

The fragments describe a Babylonian king (spelled N-b-n-y) who is afflicted by God with an "evil disease" for a period of seven years; he is cured and his sins forgiven after the intervention of a Jewish exile who is described as a "diviner"; he issues a written proclamation in praise of the Most High God, and speaks in the first person.

These tiny fragments turned up in a collection of Dead Sea Scrolls possessed by the Jordanian Government, and were first published by Milik in 1956. Long before this, scholars had speculated that Nabonidus' exile in Teima lay behind the story of Nebuchadnezzar's banishment and madness in Daniel chapter four.[35]

There are also a number of differences between The Prayer of Nabonidus and the account of Nebuchadnezzar's madness:

The "general consensus" of scholars is that Daniel four ultimately draws upon the traditions and legends of Nabonidus.[3] While others feel that the Prayer of Nabonidus shows signs of dependence on the book of Daniel.[37][38] Matthias Henze even suggests that the narrative of Nebuchadnezzar's madness draws on the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh. He argues that the author of Daniel uses elements from the description of the wild man Enkidu, who roams the steppe with the animals.[39]

It is also possible that a reference to the insanity of Nebuchadnezzar is to be found in the cuneiform text: BM 34113.[40][41]

Historicity of Belshazzar

Main article: Belshazzar#Historicity of Belshazzar The Nabonidus Cylinder

New evidence from Babylon has verified the existence of Belshazzar, the name first given in Daniel 5:1, as well as his co-regency during the absence of his father, Nabonidus, in Temâ. However, there is no evidence that Belshazzar ever officially held the title of "king" as he is never called such on the Nabonidus Cylinder. On that cylinder, Nabonidus petitions the god Sin as follows:

"And as for Belshazzar my firstborn son, my own child, let the fear of your great divinity be in his heart, and may he commit no sin; may he enjoy happiness in life". In addition, The Verse Account of Nabonidus (British Museum tablet 38299) states, "[Nabonidus] entrusted the army (?) to his oldest son, his first born, the troops in the country he ordered under his command. He let everything go, entrusted the kingship (Akk. šarrûtu) to him, and, himself, he started out for a long journey. The military forces of Akkad marching with him, he turned to Temâ deep in the west" (Col. II, lines 18 - 29. 18).

In line with the statement that Nabonidus "entrusted the kingship" to Belshazzar in his absence, there is evidence that Belshazzar's name was used with his father's in oath formulas, that he was able to pass edicts, lease farmlands, and receive the "royal privilege" to eat the food offered to the gods.

Historicity of Darius the Mede

Main article: Darius the Mede#Identifying Darius the Mede

The conqueror of Babylon was Gobryas, governor of Gutium, a general of Cyrus, king of Persia. No such person as Darius the Mede[5:31] is known in history. The successor of Cyrus as king of Persia was named Darius. The author of Daniel inherited a schema of four kingdoms in which Media preceded Persia. John J. Collins suggests that it is highly probable that Daniel created the figure of Darius the Mede to fit this schema.[42]

George R. Law, Ph.D., provides this list of candidates, who may identify with Darius the Mede:[43]

  1. Astyages
  2. Cambyses II
  3. Cyaxares II
  4. Cyrus the Great
  5. Darius the Great
  6. Gubaru

Christian eschatology of Daniel

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The "Song of the Three Holy Youths" is part of the Matins service in Eastern Orthodoxy, and of Lauds on Sundays and feast days in Catholicism.

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

The apocalyptic section is important to Christians for the image of the "one like a son of Man" (Dan. 7:13),[44] and Jesus is presented using the same wording in the Book of Revelation in 1:13-15.[45] 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. 26:64; Mark 14:62).[46] According to the gospels, Jesus used the title "Son of Man" as his preferred name for himself (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62). Christians sometimes see this as a claim by Jesus that he is the Messiah. According to the New American Bible and some Christian theologians, "one like a son of man" represents "the saints of the Most High" as interpreted in the vision later (Dan 7:16-18, 21-22, 25-27) and Jesus made the title "Son of Man" a distinguishing self reference.[47][48][49] Later Jewish interpreters interpreted this figure as the Jewish Messiah. Such interpretation appears in the Similitudes of Enoch and 4 Ezra.[50][51]

Traditional Christians have embraced the prophecies of the Book of Daniel, as they believe they were clearly advised by their Messiah, Jesus, to be watchful for their fulfillment in the "end times" of this world. In the Olivet discourse (Mark 13:14, Matt. 24:15) Jesus applies Daniel's prophecy of a desolating sacrilege set up in the temple (Dan. 9:27, 11:31) to a future event—the CE 70 destruction of Jerusalem.[52][53] According to Jesus' words, this event would involve the leveling of the temple, flight from Judea, and would happen in Jesus' own generation (Mark 13: 2-4, 14, 30). Many Christians today re-apply this prediction to a final tribulation immediately preceding Judgement Day. Some consider the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks to be particularly compelling due to what they interpret to be prophetic accuracy.

According to some scholars, Dan. 12:2 is the earliest clear reference in the Hebrew Scriptures to the resurrection of the dead,[54] with many "countrymen" awakening from death, some to eternal life and some to eternal disgrace. This belief is also expressed in 2 Maccabees and is linked, as in Daniel, with the idea of divine retribution.[55][56] The notion of resurrection was to be elaborated in the New Testament and Christian doctrine.

Poly-traditional tomb sites of Daniel

Main article: Daniel's Tomb

There are six different locations all claimed to be the site of the tomb: Babylon, Kirkuk and Muqdadiyah in Iraq, Susa and Malamir in Iran, and Samarkand in Uzbekistan.

See also

References

  1. ^ Daniel 2:48, Mesoretic text. In Jewish tradition Daniel is not counted in the list of prophets.
  2. ^ a b Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy 1999, p. 448 "Until relatively recent years Jews and Christians have considered Dn to be true history, containing genuine prophecy. [...] There would be few modern biblical scholars, however, who would now seriously defend such an opinion. The arguments for a date shortly before the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 164 are overwhelming."
  3. ^ a b Collins 1994, pp. 122–123
  4. ^ a b c VanderKam & Flint 2004, pp. 137–8
  5. ^ Stevenson, Wm. B. (1924). Palestinian Jewish Aramaic. Oxford. pp. 92=96.
  6. ^ Vermes, Geza, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, London: Penguin, 1998. ISBN 0-14-024501-4
  7. ^ Evans, Craig A.; Flint, Peter W. (1997). Eschatology, messianism, and the Dead Sea scrolls. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-4230-5. http://books.google.com/?id=DDUw9mvbq4AC&pg=PA44.
  8. ^ Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible By David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, Astrid B. Beck
  9. ^ Invitation to the Apocrypha By Daniel J. Harrington
  10. ^ Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha By Watson E. Mills, Richard F. Wilson
  11. ^ Eerdmans commentary on the Bible By James D. G. Dunn, John William Rogerson
  12. ^ Collins, John Joseph, "Daniel: with an introduction to apocalyptic literature" (Eerdmans. 1984) p.28
  13. ^ Collins, John Joseph, Flint, Peter W., VanEpps, Cameron (eds)' "The book of Daniel: composition and reception" (Brill, 2001) p.2
  14. ^ Collins, John Joseph, Flint, Peter W., VanEpps, Cameron (eds)' "The book of Daniel: composition and reception" (Brill, 2001) p.3
  15. ^ Collins, John Joseph, Flint, Peter W., VanEpps, Cameron (eds)' "The book of Daniel: composition and reception" (Brill, 2001) p.4
  16. ^ Guthrie, Kenneth Sylvan; Fideler, David R (1987). The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library. ISBN 9780933999510. http://books.google.com/?id=EigQoSZCUAwC&pg=PA334&lpg=PA334&dq=symphonia+GREEK+PYTHAGORAS.
  17. ^ Stimilli, Davide (2005). The Face of Immortality: Physiognomy and Criticism. ISBN 9780791462638. http://books.google.com/?id=dyC1LXCx73QC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=symphonia+GREEK+PYTHAGORAS.
  18. ^ Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, Zondervan, 1985, p. 21.
  19. ^ John E. Goldingay, Daniel, (Word Biblical Commentary, 30; Dallas: Word Books, 1989), p. xxv.
  20. ^ a b Harrison, general editor, Ronald F. Youngblood ; consulting editors, F.F. Bruce, R.K.; Thomas Nelson Publishers (1995-08-15). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary (null ed.). Nashville: T. Nelson. p. 326–327. ISBN 978-0-8407-2071-9. http://books.google.com/?id=jEIAAAAACAAJ.
  21. ^ Hartman and Di Lella, (1990), 408.
  22. ^ Daniel, Hermeneia Commentary
  23. ^ 2 "The Skeptical Review Online". http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/2001/3/013mail.html 2.
  24. ^ "There is no possibility that the text of Daniel could have been composed as late as the Maccabean uprising, and that there is every likelihood that the Aramaic comes from the same period, if not a century earlier, than the Aramaic of the Elephantine Papyri and of Ezra, which are admittedly fifth-century productions. It goes without saying that if the predictions concerning the period of Antiochus III and Antiochus IV (222-164 BC) are composed in language antedating the second-century and third-century B.C., then the whole effort to explain Daniel as a vaticinium ex eventu must be abandoned."
  25. ^ E.C. Lucas, Daniel (Apollos OT Commentary; Apollos, 2002) p. 307.
  26. ^ Shea 1986 Ph.D. in Archeology
  27. ^ Casey 1980
  28. ^ Ford 1978 Ford speaks of 'the almost universal application of [the little horn symbol of chapter 8] to Antiochus Epiphanes'. He also quotes the pre-critical and post-counter reformation view of the Anglican Bishop Thomas Newton in his "Dissertation on the Prophecies..." originally published in the mid 1700s (JF Dove,1838, p247): 'This little horn [of Daniel 8] is by the generality of interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, ancient and modern, supposed to mean Antiochus Epiphanes.' Newton adds that 'most of the ancient fathers and modern divines and commentators' agree with Jerome in identifying Antiochus in chapter 8, while also allowing that "Antiochus Epiphanes was a type of Antichrist".
  29. ^ See historicist interpretation below
  30. ^ "The Four Kingdoms Of Daniel" by John H. Walton, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29.1 (1986): 25-36.
  31. ^ Eisenman (1997), p. 19f. "Daniel's clear association with the Maccabean Uprising and those against Rome are a possible factor in the eventual downgrading of it, to include a redefinition of the role of prophet, keeping in mind that at roughly this time the Hebrew canon was being evaluated and adopted."
  32. ^ D. J. Wiseman, Chronicles of Chaldean Kings in the British Museum (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1956) 73.
  33. ^ Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). ISBN 0-8254-3825-X, 9780825438257, 217.
  34. ^ Kenneth Strand, "Thiele's Biblical Chronology As a Corrective for Extrabiblical Dates," Andrews University Seminary Studies 34 (1996) 310, 317.
  35. ^ Lendering, Jona. "Cyrus takes Babylon: Daniel & Prayer of Nabonidus". self published. http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/babylon04.html. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  36. ^ Peter W. Flint, The Daniel Tradition at Qumran, in Collins et al. (2002), p.336.
  37. ^ Steinmann, A. (December 2002). "The Chicken and the Egg: A New Proposal for the Relationship between the "Prayer of Nabonidus" and the "Book of Daniel"". Revue de Qumran 20 (4): 557–570.
  38. ^ Gaston 2009, pp. 47–52
  39. ^ The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar..., Leiden, Brill, 1999
  40. ^ Horn, Siegfried H. (April 1978). "New Light on Nebuchadnezzar's Madness" (PDF). Ministry Magazine. pp. 38–40. http://www.ministrymagazine.org/archives/1978/MIN1978-04.pdf. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  41. ^ Gaston 2009, pp. 58–61
  42. ^ Collins, John J. (1998). The apocalyptic i magination : an introduction to Jewish apocalyptic literature (2. ed. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich. [u.a.]: Eerdmans. p. 86. ISBN 0802843719.
  43. ^ Law, George R. (2010). Identification of Darius the Mede. North Carolina: Ready Scribe Press. p. x. ISBN 9780982763100.
  44. ^ Parallel translations of Daniel 7:13
  45. ^ Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1995). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: K-P Volume 3 of The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 800. ISBN 9780802837837. http://books.google.com/?id=r7QTYwYvvx0C&pg=PA800
  46. ^ Collins, John Joseph; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron. (2001). The book of Daniel : composition and receptio. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. p. 543. ISBN 978-90-04-12202-4. http://books.google.com/?id=NuZlNCGRaPkC&pg=PA543.
  47. ^ New American Bible
  48. ^ Introducing the New Testament: its literature and theology, Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green, Marianne Meye Thompson
  49. ^ An introduction to the New Testament and the origins of Christianity, Delbert Royce Burkett
  50. ^ Reynolds, Benjamin E. (2008). The apocalyptic son of man in the gospel of John. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. p. 43. ISBN 978-3-16-149726-1. http://books.google.com/?id=S_lMRtGEuAsC&pg=PA43.
  51. ^ Wright, N. T. (1992). Christian origins and the question of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. p. 316. ISBN 978-0-8006-2681-5. http://books.google.com/?id=PuTxOT4syCkC&pg=PA316.
  52. ^ Craig Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels, Apollos 1997, pp.322-326
  53. ^ Wright, N. T. (1992). Christian origins and the question of God. Volume 2, Jesus and the victory of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. p. 352. ISBN 0-8006-2682-6. http://books.google.com/?id=ms-xtRQoLUIC&pg=PA352.
  54. ^ Hartman and Di Lella, 1990, p. 419
  55. ^ Encyclopedia of theology: the concise Sacramentum mundi, Karl Rahner
  56. ^ 2 Macc. 7:14 : "And when he was now ready to die, he spoke thus: It is better, being put to death by men, to look for hope from God, to be raised up again by him; for, as to thee (Antiochus Epiphanes), thou shalt have no resurrection unto life".

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Note: The following list of references are from self published sources on the Book of Daniel. See WP:NOTRELIABLE

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