Introduction to Daniel
SYNOPSIS - An introduction to the Book of Daniel with a brief overview of how the Book of Revelation applies it.
The book of Daniel is a well-structured literary work, not a collection of folk stories and random visions. At the very beginning, the key themes of the book are presented in brief, then worked out in detail in the subsequent chapters.
The
largely historical stories in Chapters 1-6 lay the foundation for the visions and
their interpretations recorded in the second half of the book (Chapters 7-12).
Even the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar interpreted by Daniel in Chapter 2
anticipates the detailed vision of the “four beasts ascending from the sea” - (Daniel 7:1-8).
Each
of the visions from the second half includes several subjects common to all of
them – That is to say, each vision builds on its predecessors to construct a
more complete picture by the end of the book.
For
example, the cessation of the daily sacrifice is mentioned
in the visions of the Ram and the Goat, the Seventy Weeks,
and the Kings of the North and South, as well as in the conclusion
to the book - (Daniel 8:10-13, 9:26-27, 11:31, 12:11).
Likewise,
the “little horn” of the fourth beast that was “speaking great things”
is found in the visions of the Four Beasts from the Sea and the Ram
and Goat - (Daniel 7:8, 7:20-21, 8:9).
The
“abomination that desolates” is central to three of the four dream-visions,
and to the concluding section or “epilogue” of the book. Thus, the visions of Daniel are interrelated and interpret one another - (Daniel 8:13, 9:27, 11:31, 12:11).
The
name ‘Daniel’ means, “God is my judge” or “God is judge.” He
first appears as a Jewish youth just arrived from Jerusalem in Babylon.
No information is provided on his family history, though he was from Jewish
nobility - “Of the seed royal and the nobles.” Nothing is known of his
life prior to this.
At
the time of his deportation, most likely Daniel was a teenager. He received his
final vision in the third year after the overthrow
of Babylon by the “Medes and Persians,”
in approximately 536 B.C. Therefore, his prophetic “career” was spent in the
city of Babylon and spanned a period of seventy years or more. As far as is
known, Daniel never returned to Judah after the fall of Babylon.
Presumably, he died there at an advanced age.
Daniel
was given the Babylonian name ‘Belteshazzar,’ meaning, “Bel protect [the
king].” ‘Bel’ was the Akkadian
form of ‘Baal’
(“lord, master”) and referred to the patron deity of Babylon, Marduk.
Daniel
is classified as a prophet in Jewish and Christian tradition, although the
book stresses that he was a “wise man” with great “discernment” (chakham
– Strong’s - #H2445).
In the royal court, he was a noted interpreter of dreams
- (Daniel 1:17, 2:13, 5:11-12).
He
was a devout Jew living in a pagan culture. At times, certain members of the
inner court were hostile to him and other followers of Yahweh. Despite pressure
and persecution, Daniel remained loyal to the God of Israel. His ability to
interpret dreams won him high praise, honor, and position in the empire. Later,
he served faithfully in the court of Darius the Mede
after the downfall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire -
(Daniel 5:31-6:1).
The
book of Daniel presents the role of the prophet in affecting events at the
courts of Babylon and Persia - (Chapters 1-6), his visions
about the changing World-Power,
and the control of Yahweh over the course of human history - (Chapters 7-12).
Daniel
epitomizes the faithful Jew who lives by divine grace while residing within a pagan society. He perseveres despite the downfall of the Jewish nation and his
vulnerability to powerful forces. Yahweh provides him with wisdom to confound
opponents and to astound kings. Though powerless from a human perspective, God
uses his pronouncements before kings to change the course of history and
empires.
Daniel
served in important positions within the governments of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar,
and Darius the Mede. Nebuchadnezzar made him “chief of the wise men” and
governor of the province of Babylon. Belshazzar appointed him the
third ruler in his kingdom. And Darius placed him over the provincial governors
of his domain - (Daniel 2:48, 5:29, 6:1-3).
All
the events recorded in the book occurred during the captivity of Israel in Babylon.
The stated purpose of the captivity was to punish Judah for her sins -
(2 Chronicles 36:15-17, Jeremiah 25:1-14).
The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria
over a century before the rise of Babylon, around 721-720 B.C. The last
remains of the Assyrian empire were destroyed at the Battle of Carchemish
in 605 B.C. by a largely Babylonian force under the command of the crown
prince, Nebuchadnezzar - (2 Kings 17:7-18, 2 Chronicles 35:20, Jeremiah
46:2).
After
the defeat of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar subjugated the several nations of
northern Palestine, including the kingdom of Judah, and imposed
tribute on each new vassal. This was a region known as the “Hatti-land” by the
Babylonians (“All the kings of the Hatti-land came before Nebuchadnezzar and he
received their heavy tribute” – from the Chaldean Chronicle, quoted from
Exile and Return by Charles Pfeiffer, Baker Books, 1962, p. 12).
In the
case of Judah, this “heavy tribute” included the deportation of a select group
of Jews to serve in the imperial civil service. Thus, in the assessment of the book
of Daniel, the captivity of Judah began after the subjugation
of Jerusalem in 605 B.C.:
- (Daniel 1:1-4) – “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and laid siege against it; and the Lord gave into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, and a part of the vessels of the house of God, and he brought them into the land of Shinar, into the house of his gods,—and the vessels brought he into the treasure-house of his gods. Then did the king give word to Ashpenaz, the chief of his eunuchs,—that he should bring in of the sons of Israel, even of the seed royal, and of the nobles, youths in whom was no blemish, but comely of countenance, and skilful in all wisdom, and possessed of knowledge, and able to impart instruction, and who had vigour in them, to stand in the palace of the king,—and that they should be taught the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.” – (The Emphasized Bible).
The rise of Nabopolassar to the Babylonian throne in 626 B.C. marked the start of the
Neo-Babylonian Empire, which endured until 539 B.C. At that time, it was
overthrown by the “kingdom of the Medes and the Persians,” the Achaemenid Empire under
the rule of Cyrus the Great.
Under Nabopolassar, the Neo-Babylonian
kingdom rebelled against Assyrian sovereignty, a process that took several
years to complete, culminating in the Battle of Carchemish. Daniel includes
chronological references that coordinate key events with the reigns of the kings
of Judah, Babylon, Persia, and Greece - (Daniel 1:1-2, 1:21, 6:28-31, 11:1-4).
The book
applies a theological concept and term to the period it covers, the time of the
“indignation” or za’am - (Strong’s
- #H2195),
a divinely ordained period of correction. When Daniel speaks of the “time of
the end,” he means the end of the “indignation,” not
the end of History. The “indignation” also provides
another chronological marker that connects two or more of Daniel’s visions, for
example:
- (Daniel 8:17-19) – “So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was terrified and fell upon my face, but he said to me, Understand, O son of man, that to the time of the end belongs the vision…Then said he, Behold me, causing you to know that which shall come to pass in the latter part of the indignation, for at an appointed time shall be an end.”
- (Daniel 11:36) – “And the king will do according to his own pleasure, and will exalt and magnify himself against every god, yea, against the God of Gods will he speak wonderful things and will succeed, until exhausted is the indignation, for what is decreed must be done.”
In the
Hebrew Bible, “indignation” refers to the indignation of God with
Israel for her sins, and to her resultant punishment. In Daniel, the “indignation”
began with the overthrow and captivity of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. The book also
describes this as the “desolations of Jerusalem,” a period when
the “little horn” wages war against the “saints”
for “a time, times, and part of a time.” This suppression would continue until the
conclusion of the “seventy weeks” - (Daniel 7:24-28, 9:1-3, 9:18-27,
12:1-7).
Based on
the internal evidence, Daniel was composed after the start of the
Babylonian Captivity and completed by the early years of the Persian Empire.
The range provided is from the “third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim”
(606 B.C.) to the “third year of Cyrus king of Persia,” or 536 B.C.
- (Daniel 1:1-2, 1:21, 5:31-6:1, 10:1).
The
Babylonian Captivity developed over several stages, beginning in 605 B.C. with
the subjugation of Jerusalem. It culminated in the destruction of the city in
587-586 B.C. There were at least three deportations of Jews to Babylon - (in 606,
598, and 587 B.C.).
The
historical sections describe events in the lives of Daniel and three of his
Jewish companions (Chapters 1-6). The dream-visions were received between the
first year of Belshazzar’s reign and the third year of Cyrus the Great (Chapters
7-12).
The
dream-visions are built on a framework of four successive kingdoms
that are to precede the inauguration of the everlasting kingdom of God.
This fourfold structure connects the historical and visionary sections. Three
of the four kingdoms are explicitly identified: Babylon, the “Medes
and Persians”, and Greece. Though not named, the fourth
kingdom is one of the four divisions of the Greek empire that
result from the death of its first king - (Daniel 2:24-45, 8:20-25, 11:1-4).
The
primary theological theme of the book is that God rules over the kingdoms
of this world and gives rulership to whomever He pleases, “even to the lowest
of men.” Despite appearances, human resistance, and machinations, His
purposes are not thwarted. The Prophet Daniel is the perfect example of how Yahweh
directs the course of history through the lowly voice of a man without any
military, economic or political power.
Chapter
1 and chapters 8-12 were composed in the Hebrew language. The section in chapters
2-7 was written in an Aramaic dialect related to the Imperial Aramaic of
the Persian Empire. The switch to Aramaic occurs at Daniel 2:4 when
the “Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language,”
meaning, Aramaic The change back to Hebrew occurs at Daniel 8:1.
This change is too specific to be accidental or the product of later copyists.
The
Hebrew and Aramaic sections point to a date of composition during the
Babylonian Captivity. The man who wrote the book was familiar with both languages
and uses grammatical and idiomatic features specific to the Mesopotamian region.
The change from one language to another serves to mark off major
literary sections.
There
are verbal and literary links between the first and last literary units of the
Aramaic section. For example, Nebuchadnezzar had a “dream and visions
of his head upon his bed”, just as Daniel had “a dream and
visions of his head upon his bed.” The dream of Nebuchadnezzar
left him “troubled,” just as Daniel was “troubled”
by his dream. Both dreams feature a fourfold division of kingdoms, beginning
with Babylon and concluding with the establishment of God’s kingdom - (Daniel
2:1-4, 2:28, 7:1-28).
The several
stories of the Aramaic section demonstrate that God gave Daniel “knowledge
and skill in all learning and wisdom”:
- “And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams…in all matters of wisdom and understanding the king found Daniel and his companions ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers in his realm” (Daniel 1:17-20).
The
accounts in Chapters 2-7 validate this claim. God enabled Daniel to use
the language and learning of the Chaldeans to demonstrate that He rules over
the kingdoms of the world and, additionally, to confound the supposed “wisdom,”
ideology, and the religious practices of the Babylonian elite.
The
use of the Aramaic language fits the historical setting. By the time of
Nebuchadnezzar, it was the de facto standard language of diplomacy and
commerce among the nations of the Near East. It became the common tongue
of many Jews by the end of the Babylonian Captivity - (2 Kings 18:17-37,
Ezra 4:11-22, 5:7-17, 6:6-12, 7:11-26, Nehemiah 8:8).
The
contents of the Aramaic section concern events that occurred during the career of
Daniel in the Babylonian kingdom, and in the first years of the “kingdom of
the Medes and the Persians.” In contrast, the visions of the Hebrew section
are about events that occur after the fall of the Babylonian Empire - (Chapters
8-12).
In the Book of Revelation
Verbal
allusions from Daniel are used repeatedly in the book of Revelation. Source
material from Daniel often sheds light on the symbolism from the visions
of John - (For example, Daniel 2:28 in Revelation 1:1, 4:1-2,
22:6).
The “little
horn” that “made war with the saints and prevailed against them” in
the vision of Daniel concerning four beastly kingdoms is echoed in visions
found in Revelation 11:7, 12:17, 13:7 and 17:14.
The
single great “beast ascending from the sea” seen by John is the amalgamation of the “four beasts ascending from the sea” in the
dream-vision of Daniel - (Daniel 7:1-8, Revelation 11:7, 13:1-2).
However,
the book of Revelation does not simply quote and repeat verses from Daniel
- It reinterprets them in the context of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Events
once predicted to occur in “latter days” become “what
things much come to pass soon.” The enthronement of Jesus signified
that the time of fulfillment has arrived - (“The season is at hand”).
Daniel was told to “seal” the book “until the time of the end.”
In contrast, John was commanded NOT “to seal the book, for the season
is at hand” - (Daniel 2:27-28, 12:4, Revelation 1:1-3, 22:10).
Thus, the events
Daniel saw that were to occur in a distant future John witnessed unfolding in
his day, and often accompanied by more explicit and detailed explanations. The book
of Revelation is intended to “reveal,”
not to conceal or further mystify the saints about what God is doing in the
world about them.
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