The Book of Daniel

Abstract

INTRODUCTION 1. Title. The book is named after its principal character, Daniel. The practice of naming OT books for their main hero is demonstrated by other books such as Joshua, Samuel, Esther, Job, etc. Such a title does not necessarily indicate authorship, although that may be included as well, as is the case with the book of Daniel. 2. Authorship. The traditional view of both Jews and Christians is that the book was written in the 6th century B.C., and that Daniel was its author. In favor of the correctness of this traditional view are the following points of evidence: a. The claims of the book. The prophet Daniel speaks in the first person in many passages (chs. 8:1–7, 13–19, 27; 9:2–22; 10:2–5; etc.). He states that he personally received the divine order to preserve the book (ch. 12:4). The fact that there are sections in which the author refers to himself in the third person (chs. 1:6–11, 17, 19, 21; 2:14–20; etc.) is not strange, for in works of antiquity such a usage is frequently observed (see on Ezra 7:28). b. The author well acquainted with history. Only a man of the 6th century (B.C.), well versed in Babylonian affairs, could have provided some of the historical facts found in the book. The knowledge of these facts was lost after the 6th century B.C., not being recorded in other ancient literature after that time (see p. 748). Relatively recent archeological finds have once more brought these facts to light. c. The testimony of Jesus Christ. Quoting a passage from the book, Jesus Christ mentions Daniel as author (Matt. 24:15). For every Christian believer this testimony should be convincing evidence. The book falls into two clearly distinguishable parts, the first (chs. 1–6) mainly historical, and the second (chs. 7–12) mainly prophetic; yet the book is a literary unit. In support of such unity the following arguments can be listed: 1. The various parts of the book are mutually related, one to the other. The use of the Temple vessels at Belshazzar’s feast can be understood in the light of the record of how they came to Babylon (ch. 5:3; cf. ch. 1:1, 2). Chapter 3:12 refers back to the political action of Nebuchadnezzar described first in ch. 2:49. In ch. 9:21 reference is made to an earlier vision (see ch. 8:15, 16). 2. The historical part contains a prophecy (ch. 2) closely related in theme to the prophecies found in chs. 7–12. Chapter 7 develops further the theme of ch. 2. Also the historical and prophetic elements are related. The historical section (chs. 1–6) narrates God’s dealings with one nation, Babylon, and its role in the divine plan. This illustrates God’s dealings with all nations (see Ed 175–177). Like Babylon, each successive world power portrayed in the prophetic portion had an opportunity to know the divine will and cooperate with it, and each was measured by its fulfillment of the divine purpose. Thus each nation’s rise and fall in chs. 7–12 is to be understood in terms of the principles set forth in the historical portion as they related to Babylon. This unifies the book and illuminates the role played by each empire. The literary unity of the book, demonstrated in the composition, general channel of thought, and expressions used in the two languages (see p. 748), is generally recognized. The arguments adduced for two authors for the book appear pointless.