daniel class notes 1

8/8/2019 Daniel Class Notes 1

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David J. LarsenNotes Taken from Book of Daniel courseUniversity of St Andrews ± James Davila, ProfessorFall 2010

The following is based on my notes taken in class. This material does not necessarily represent my ownpersonal views of the subjects, nor should they be taken to be an accurate or complete rendition of

Professor Davila¶s lectures.

As there is a lot of material here, I will have to divide it up between a few posts. This first post will give my

notes from Prof. Davila's lectures on the general overview of the book.

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There are four critical commentaries that are important to look at:

y Montgomery (ICC): published 1927; best commentary of its time; some arguments are dated; still

very useful

y Hartman & Di Lella: Anchor Bible commentary;Hartman died before he finished; good critical

commentary; written in 70s; has some eccentricities; lot of discussion about theories of original

language

y Goldingay: published 1989; more up-to-date; good discussion of history of interpretation;

translation; looks at form, genre, setting; more homiletical commentary; a bit long-winded;

some idiosyncratic ideas

y Collins:Hermeneia commentary; definitive statement on everything to do with Daniel; extremely

detailed commentary; one of best commentaries ever written on a biblical book; published 1993

Theodoret of Cyrus: Commentary on Daniel, transl. Robert C.Hill (Atlanta: SBL, 2006) -- an early

Christian commentary on Daniel

O verview :

The Book of Daniel is a library -- a collection of stories; The Bible is a collection of books, but each book

generally is a collection as well.

Modern scholars believe that some editor in theMaccabean period pulled the Book of Daniel together.

There are copies of the Book of Daniel among the Dead Sea Scrolls (these are the earliest knowncopies). There are a number of "Pseudo-Daniel" texts that mention Daniel -- 3 texts. Many other texts

that have connections to Book of Daniel. The "Son of Man" title in the Gospels has some connection to

Daniel's "one like a son of man". The Book of Revelation uses Daniel as a structuring element and

constantly alludes to it -- uses its secret names, etc.

The Book of Daniel was written, in terms of final form, in 167-165 BC. It was set in the mouth of Daniel

during the Babylonian Exile (500s BC).



The purpose of the book: To encourage Jews when they were being persecuted by Antiochus IV

(Epiphanes). This persecution led to theMaccabean revolt of 167-165 BC.

Structure:

y First half of the book: Narrations about Daniel & his three friendsy Last half: First person accounts by Daniel of his visions and dreams, visitations by angels

History :

The late 7th Century BC marked the end of the Neo-Assyrian Empire; the destruction of Nineveh occurred

in 612 BC by Medes. TheMedes were an Indo-European people who lived in Northwestern Iran -- they

weren't really empire builders -- they destroyed Nineveh and went home. The Medes were conquered by

Cyrus the Persian -- but they were closely related peoples in Iran. There was now a power vacuum in the

ancient Near East.

The Babylonians took over territory from the Assyrian Empire for the next few generations -- this becamethe Neo-Babylonian Empire (not old Babylonian Empire). Nabo-polasser (625-605 BC), King of Babylon,

made a treaty with theMedes and took over Assyrian territories.He turned over the empire to his son

Nebuchadnezzar (II) -- 605-562 BC -- who defeated the state of Judah and destroyed the temple in

Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah in 597 BC, plundered the temple in order to show that he, as

king, and his gods were dominant -- and because he needed money.He set up Zedekiah as a puppet ruler.

Zedekiah later revolts and Nebuchadnezzar comes back and finishes the job -- destroyed Jerusalem and

burned down the temple (586/87 BC). The wealthy and educated taken captive to Babylon (10,000 to

15,000 taken) -- the poor were left behind.

The Babylonian Exile -- 587 - 536 BC -- is the setting of the Book of Daniel. But the book was written

centuries after the fact and because of this makes mistakes. It has the order of Babylonian kings wrong.

Historically, Nebuchadnezzar dies and his son Evil-Merodach (Amel-Marduk, "Man of Marduk") takes

over, rules for two years. Then Nebuchadnezzar's son-in-law takes over -- Neriglissar.His son Labashi-

Marduk (Garment of Marduk), succeeded him while yet a boy, but he was murdered after a couple of

months. Nabonidus takes over -- a general, no relation to Nebuchadnezzar.He worshiped the moon-god,

Sin, instead of Marduk. Nabonidus would go away for years at a time to Teima in south Arabia. During

those times, his son Belshazzar ruled as substitute.

Cyrus the Persian defeated theMedes --550 BC -- and created the Persian Empire (Achaemenid Empire).

He added Asia

Minor, Afghanistan, and finally Iraq -- and then in 538, he overthrew Babylon. Cyrus was apretty nice guy compared to the Assyrians and Babylonians -- he didn't use such brutal methods.He was

kind to cities that surrendered -- he just asked tribute. The Cyrus Cylinder, found in the ruins of Babylon,

was a propaganda piece. Cyrus deposed Nabonidus in Babylon. He declared in 536 that any Jews who

wanted to go home could go.

Daniel's history goes from 606-535 BC -- to the third year of Cyrus.



The Second Temple Period is from 535 BC (520 temple built) to 70 AD (2nd Temple destroyed).

The last king of the Persian Empire was Darius III. In 356 BC, Alexander was born to Philip of Macedonia

-- In 336, Philip was assassinated and Alexander inherited the throne. Alexander had been tutored by

Aristotle -- he became king at age 20. He joined up with Greece; conquered AsiaMinor, Syria/Palestine,

Egypt (Alexandrias; "Kandahar" = Iskandriya = Alexandria). Alexander came to Iraq and defeated DariusIII by the Tigris River; He went on to conquer theMediterranean coast; Tyre.He was named Pharoah in

Egypt -- son of God. In 331, he defeated Darius a second time and captured Persia and Babylon.

His soldiers married local women -- made ties to local people and spreadGreek culture. They founded

"poleis" -- Greek city-states. Alexander claimed to have conquered the "whole world" -- actually stopped at

India 327/6 BC.He died in Babylonia in 323 -- age 33 -- under suspicious circumstances.

Alexander appears in the Bible -- Daniel chapter 8 -- he is the "he-goat from the west".

The Diadokoi --"successors" -- of Alexander divided his empire. Ptolemy took charge of Egypt and took

control of Palestine -- great for economy because of trade routes. Palestine was kept by the Ptolemies until

198 BC.

Seleucus started with Babylonia and spread to Persia and Syria. The Seleucids didn't do well until

Antiochus III (223-187 BC) conquered Palestine in 198 BCE. This led to the Maccabean revolt. Antiochus

wanted to make Palestine a polis. In 175, Onias III (the high priest) was deposed by his brother

Jason. Jason set out toHellenize Jerusalem; he built a gymnasium, etc. In book of Daniel, we see Onias

assassinated (Dan. 9); Antiochus IV (called "little horn") plundered temple and looted part of city. In 167,

he outlawed the practice of Judaism (punishable by death penalty), sacrificed a pig on the temple altar

and instituted the worship of Zeus in the temple.

TheMaccabean revolt was started by a priest named Mattathias -- his oldest son was named Judah "the

Hammer" (Macabee). After 3 years, freedom of religion was granted to the Jews.

167-164 BCE -- this is the context of the writing of Daniel (but considerably older material was used).

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Structure of the Book of Daniel:

Chapters 1-6 -- stories about Daniel and Friends

Chapters 7-12 -- visions

Chapters 1-2:4, 8-12 -- written in Hebrew

Chapters 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 -- written in Aramaic

No one knows why it is divided this way -- was it originally all in Aramaic and then some parts translated

to Heb? Why those parts?



Chapter 7 seems to be the central pivot -- the last Aramaic section, and the first vision

Chapters 1-6

These are "court tales" -- set during the Babylonian exile, in the courts of pagan kings. This is a genre in

the Bible -- Joseph, Esther (Jewish hero in court of pagan king).

Daniel & his friends are not narrators -- the story is told in the 3rd person omniscient. Chapter 4 is

narrated by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel and friends are mantic sages on whose behalf God works miracles. Mantic vs. prophetic -- mantic

initiates the revelation; prophet receives from God whether he wants it or not.Mantic sages engage in

divination. Daniel can interpret dreams; read writing on wall -- this comes as revelation fromGod.

In these stories, the hero has to remain true to God in a threatening situation -- he is always delivered by

God in order to remain faithful to religion.

Setting -- the Aramaic folklore of the Persian period; stories gathered by scribes in theMaccabean period.

Chapters 7-12

Apocalypse -- or collection of smaller apocalypses -- a revelation by an angel/divine being to a human --

revelation of heavenly secrets (narrative genre: apocalypse).

There are older themes being used (and perhaps older documents)

Written in first person as Daniel (Daniel is pseudonymous author)

Angels appear to and have dialogue with Daniel

No otherworldly journey precisely (like Enoch) -- although chapter 7 seems to present Daniel in heaven

talking to an angel.

All these visions have vaticinia ex eventu (prophecies after the fact) -- also include reviews of history

(especially chapter 11)-- history of world from creation, leads up to persecution of Jews by Antiochus

Epiphanes, then end of world.

The visions are built on the ancient schema of 4 world empires -- (in Daniel they are) Babylon,Medes,

Persians,Greeks

1970s -- John Collins, et al., collected all of the ancient apocalypses they could find -- published in Semeia

a "master paradigm" for the genre "apocalypse":



y there are key features: narrative framework, otherworldly mediator (angel), human recipient,

revelation of divine secrets (otherworldly realities, future eschatalogical salvation--judgment,

afterlife journey)

y some elements are present, some not -- some common but not universal

y pseudonymity is nearly universal

y some have reviews of history, otherworldly journeys -- some don't

Daniel is "historical apocalypse with no otherworldly journey" -- a rather unusual combination

The development of apocalyptic literature happened generally outside the canon. It's good to know the

Enochic literature to help you understand Daniel. Genesis 5 -- understood to mean that God translated

Enoch to heaven. The Book of the Watchers expands on Gen. 6 -- the writer of Gen 6 knows the longer

story, but doesn't want to include it, but has to include something because it is well known -- the Book of

Watchers is the more original story. The Animal Apocalypse is an ex eventu review of history, from the

creation of Adam to the Maccabean revolt -- the allegory/animal fable is similar to Dan 7 -- they are

interested in the same series of events -- the author of the Animal Apocalypse probably lived at the same

time and place, writing at the same time as author of Daniel. The Similitudes of Enoch was written quite a bit later -- 1 century CE -- it draws extensively on the Book of Daniel, and is one of the first sources we

have of the interpretation of Daniel.

4th Book of Ezra -- 100 CE -- is more or less a contemporary of John (Revelation) -- its visions were

inspired by the Book of Daniel -- another early source for what people thought of the Book of Daniel.

The Book of Revelation and theGospels draw on Daniel.

What is the relationship between the Book of Daniel and the Akkadian apocalypses of Ancient

Mesopotamia? Calling the Akkadian documents "apocalypses" is really an incorrect description -- the

stories they tell are not mediated by a divine being. They present past events as prophetic predictions--

after the fact predictions lead into real future predictions.

Date of Book of Daniel

This is a theologically fraught/controversial issue. The modern scholarly conclusion: it is clearly from the

2nd century BCE, not from 6th Century BCE. The book's claimed setting was first challenged by pagan

thinker Porphyry (3rd century CE) -- he dated the book correctly to the time of theMaccabean revolt. St

Jerome argued against him.

The Book of Daniel does preserve ancient material -- but the prophecies and final form are from theMaccabean revolt.

Arguments:

y The book is full of miracles. This is a weak argument --circular reasoning that assumes that

miracles don't happen--miracle stories can be contemporary with events.



y There are detailed, correct predictions of future events -- astonishing detail, so it must be

written after-t he-fact . This is a weak argument -- again circular reasoning--there is nothing in the

laws of physics that presents information from travelling backwards in time--it would reasonably

be possible for someone in the past to know something of the future--the predictions are not

impossible.

We can dismiss the above arguments as weak. However, there are other arguments that are more

persuasive.

y The stories in t he Book of Daniel are not mentioned anywhere before t he Maccabean Revolt. --

Not overly impressive argument on its own -- it is an argument from silence -- in the end, a weak

argument.

y I n t he Jewish canon, Daniel is listed among t he "writings" instead of t he "prophets" --"Writings"

is t he catch-all category at t he end, written after t he canon of prophets was closed. --We don't

know when the canon was closed, when the collections were final -- also, Daniel is not actually a

prophet (he's a mantic sage), and is never called a prophet--he doesn't do prophecy -- so it is

reasonable that he is not included among the prophets.y The Aramaic of t he Book of Daniel looks to be much later t han 6t h Century BCE. -- It's a late

western dialect. Now we recognize that Daniel was written in Imperial Aramaic used by Persians

as diplomatic language in their empire, which makes it very difficult to date. There is Aramaic in

the Book of Ezra that also looks late, but that could be due to copying over time. While the

Aramaic in Daniel is consistent with it being from the Maccabean period, we are not compelled to

conclude this. There is a lot of older Persian language in it -- but the Persian andGreek words in it

would not go back to the Babylonian period.

y S tronger argument: t he writer shows vague knowledge of his supposed time period -- the text is

full of mistakes, anachronisms, things that don't make sense according to history -- There was no

deportation of Jews in 606; no Belshazzar son of Nebuchadnezzar (there was one who was a son

of Nabonidas, but he is not mentioned); there was no Darius theMede (there was a Persian king

Darius); the use of the word Chaldean is odd-- it was an ethnic term, not used for magicians (that

is a later,Hellenistic usage). There are various apologetic arguments to explain these away, but

they become quite desperate. There are incongruities (furnace, Lion's Den law).

y S trongest argument: ex eventu prophecies -- there are many examples of fake "historical reviews"

-- these flow into real future predictions, but these are almost always wrong (see Daniel 2, 7, 8, 11)

-- predictions of events after the Maccabean revolt all go wrong -- the final judgment is to come

directly after theMaccabean revolt -- all of predictions up toMaccabean revolt are correct, but

then when the end time is expected, it doesn't happen -- so we can understand that it was written

inMaccabean times.

Is pseudonymity dishonest?

Possibilities:

y The writer wanted to enhance the believability of his writings (this is dishonest and stupid as

people will soon catch on)



earth at present, not some future place -- apocalyptic instructional, not predictive -- Christ already rules

on earth

Joachim of Fiore -- a bit before 1200 BCE -- renewed the eschatological perspective -- predicted the

establishment of two orders of monks

4 Empires idea changed to include the Romans

Protestant reformers -- "the Romans" includes the Papacy -- John Knox

Modern evangelicals have an eschatological view that relies heavily on the Book of Daniel.

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