An Introduction to the Old Testament - Daniel

Dillard, Raymond B. & Longman, Tremper III. "Daniel."  An Introduction to the Old Testament.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1994. 329-352.

Daniel is one of the easiest books of the Old Testament to read and one of the hardest to understand and analyze.  The narratives, which are not terribly artful, are engaging stories.  Yet people have a great deal of difficulty deciding how to interpret the writing adequately.

One of the biggest issues in dealing with Daniel is the authorship and date.  Until the 20th century the general opinion was that the book was written by the prophet Daniel, probably sometime in the sixth century B.C.  There are some portions of the book which are in the third person which have long been debated, but there was no convincing reason to assign the composition wholesale to anyone else, and there were no other strong candidates.  In the 20th century scholars, primarily disputing the chronology, the names, and the accuracy of the prophecies, have assigned the book a relatively late date of composition, placing it in the second century B.C., so required to explain the actions of Antiochus IV.  The identification of Darius is also difficult.  Dillard and Longman engage in a fairly lengthy discussion of the possibly identification of different characters and dates, eventually concluding that the book was probably written by Daniel, sometime in the sixth century B.C.  They would suggest the burden of proof for another author would rest on those who claim Daniel is not the author, which is necessary only if one wishes to deny the possibility of accurate predictive prophecy.

Daniel contains narratives which are highly symbolic and apocalyptic in nature.  Sometimes he explains the significance of his symbolism, sometimes he does not.  Particularly in the latter portion of Daniel we see apocalyptic visions, including those which have led some scholars to millennial points of view and even numerological predictions of Christ's coming.

Daniel's theology is summed up well on p. 3448, "God is sovereign.  He overrules and eventually will overcome human evil."  Where does this lead us in the New Testament?  We see Jesus as the culmination of all the struggles of the world.  He is the warrior who becomes the king, defeating the powers of evil fully and finally.

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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com and http://alex-kirk.blogspot.com