The Tradition…
Hostage
Student
Interpreter
Protected
Visionary
Statesman
The Challenge…
Porphyry
232-305 A.D.
Jewish Philosopher
Attacked Christianity
Because of Daniel!
Daniel a fiction!
Written after the fact!
The Continuation…
18th Century
Enlightenment
Skeptical of ALL
Biblical history
Skeptical of Daniel
Continues to this day!
The Maccabees…
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Attacked Jews
Prohibited Practices
Defiled the Temple
Maccabees Revolted
Hannukah!
Daniel 11
Original View Modern View
Real Daniel
Original View Modern View
Real Daniel Fake Daniel
Original View Modern View
Real Daniel
Written 6th Century B.C.
Fake Daniel
Original View Modern View
Real Daniel
Written 6th Century B.C.
Fake Daniel
Written 2nd Century B.C.
Original View Modern View
Real Daniel
Written 6th Century B.C.
Prophecy foretelling
history
Fake Daniel
Written 2nd Century B.C.
Original View Modern View
Real Daniel
Written 6th Century B.C.
Prophecy foretelling
history
Fake Daniel
Written 2nd Century B.C.
History in the guise of
prophecy
Original View Modern View
“Daniel is now accepted as a pseudepigraph written, at least
in its present form, in the Maccabean period, and few Christians lose sleep over
this.”
Maurice Casey, “Porphyry and the Origin of the Book of
Daniel,” JTS, 27 (1976), p. 15.
Contents of Daniel
1. Historical Dates
2. Historical Names
3. Two Languages
4. Dated Dreams and Visions
5. References to Other Books
“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim
king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and
besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house
of God, which he carried into the land of
Shinar…
to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the
treasure house of his god… [along with]
certain of the children of Israel, and of the
king’s seed, and of the princes; children in
whom was no blemish, but well-
favored, and skilful in all wisdom…
Daniel 1:1-4
“The Word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah
the prophet… against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt which was by the river Euphrates in
Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim…
Jeremiah 46:1-2
Which is it?
Daniel 1:1-4 --
THIRD YEAR of Jehoiakim
Jeremiah 46:1-2 --
FOURTH YEAR of Jehoiakim
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The Babylonian Chronicle
605-594 B.C.
Translated 1956!
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
608 B.C.
1st Year Jehoiakim
607 B.C.
“0” Year Year
609 B.C.
2nd Year
1st Year Jehoiakim
Ancient Calendars
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
607 B.C.
2nd Year Jehoiakim
606 B.C.
1st Year
608 B.C.
3rd Year
2nd Year Jehoiakim
Ancient Calendars
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
606 B.C.
3rd Year Jehoiakim
605 B.C.
2nd Year
607 B.C.
4th Year
3rd Year Jehoiakim
Ancient Calendars
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
605 B.C.
4th Year Jehoiakim
604 B.C.
3rd Year
606 B.C.
5th Year
4th Year Jehoiakim
Ancient Calendars
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
605 B.C.
4th Year Jehoiakim
604 B.C.
3rd Year
606 B.C.
5th Year
4th Year Jehoiakim
Ancient Calendars
Battle of Carchemish
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
605 B.C.
4th Year Jehoiakim
604 B.C.
3rd Year
606 B.C.
5th Year
4th Year Jehoiakim
Ancient Calendars
Battle of Carchemish
August 16
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
605 B.C.
4th Year Jehoiakim
604 B.C.
3rd Year
606 B.C.
5th Year
4th Year Jehoiakim
Ancient Calendars
Battle of Carchemish
August 16September 7
BEROSUSBabylonian historian,
3rd Century B.C.“Nabopolassar… committed to his son
Nebuchadnezzar, who was still but a youth, some parts of his army, and sent him against
Pharaoh Necho of Egypt’. So when Nebuchadnezzar had given battle… he beat
him,… and made that country a branch of his own kingdom; but about that time it happened that his father Nabopolassar fell ill, and died in
the city of Babylon, when he had reigned twenty-one years.
And when he heard this,… that his father had died, and having settled the affairs of Egypt, and the other countries, as also those that concerned the captive Jews, Phoenicians,
Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations, and having committed the conveyance of them to
Babylon to certain of his friends,… he hurried… over the desert, and came to Babylon.”
History of Babylon, Book 3; Josephus, Antiquities, Bk 10, Chap. 11, par. 219-222.
BEROSUSBabylonian historian,
3rd Century B.C.
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
605 B.C.
1st of King Nebby
604 B.C.606 B.C.
5th Year
0th of King Nebby
Ancient Calendars
Battle of Carchemish
September 7
If the author of the Book of Daniel
wrote in the 2nd century BC in Jerusalem, he
would have used the Jerusalem
system of dating, and the year
stated by Jeremiah.
Instead, the author used the
Babylonian calendar, as
would be expected, if he were actually
living IN Babylon at the time he
wrote the book.
This information was lost in 482
B.C. when Xerxes I razed and
destroyed the city of Babylon,
burying all of Babylon’s
chronicles until rediscovered in the last century.
Modern
Jerusalem
Babylon
Winter Winter
Fall FallSpring Spring
605 B.C.
1st of King Nebby
604 B.C.606 B.C.
5th Year
0th of King Nebby
Ancient Calendars
Battle of Carchemish
September 7
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hananiah) (Mishael) (Azariah)
“Hanunu - Chief of Royal Merchants”
“Mushalim Marduk - Overseer of the Harem”
“Aridi-Nabu - Secretary to the Prince”
Five-sided Clay Prism,
Istanbul Museum; J.B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, pp. 307-308
It was common practice in the ancient middle east to erect a
statue of the ruling emperor in the provinces and vassal territories,
and to demand that all the citizens of the region bow down in
obeisance to that statue as an act of loyalty to the emperor.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hananiah) (Mishael) (Azariah)
Chronicle of Sargon I
Sargon, King of Agade, by Ishtar’s royal insignia was exalted…… in the eleventh year his hand subdued the west to its full extent.He united them under one control;
He set up his images in the west.
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Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder
Describes the various buildings and civil works Nebuchadnezzar built in Babylon during his reign
Nebuchadnezzar, Builder of Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar, Builder of Babylon
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Brick inscribed in honor of Nebuchadnezzar
One of 15,000,000 found so far
Nebuchadnezzar, Builder of Babylon
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‘Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who cares for Esagila and Ezida, eldest son of
Nabopolassar, king of Babylon’
Nebuchadnezzar, Builder of Babylon
East India House Inscription
Describes Nebuchadnezzar’s many building projects in Babylon
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Nebuchadnezzar, Builder of Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder
Describes Nebuchadnezzar’s many building projects in Babylon
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Nebuchadnezzar, Builder of Babylon
BEROSUS
“Now in his palace he erected very high walkways, supported by stone pillars, and by
planting what was called pensile Paradise, and replenishing it with all sorts of trees, he
recreated an exact resemblance of a mountainous country. This he did to please his
queen, because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of a mountainous view.”
Book III; Josephus, Antiquities
The Babylonian Chronicle
Toward the end of his life, Nebuchadnezzar disappears from his own chronicle for
several years.
Abydenus∆Abudhnov~
A Greek historian, author of “A History of the Chaldeans
and Assyrians,” wrote:
Abydenus∆Abudhnov~
“In his latter days, the king was possessed by some god or
other while in his palace,… and disappeared.”
Quoted in Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica, 9.41.1
Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
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Nabonidus Chronicle
556-530 B.C.In his third year, he names his son
Belshazzar as his coregent.
Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
Nabonidus Cylinder
Names his son as crown prince and coregent
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Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
Nabonidus-Belshazzar Cylinder
Contains prayers in behalf of the king Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar
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Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
In the third year of his reign (553 B.C.), Nabonidus made his son Belshazzar his coregent, and
entrusted the rulership of Babylon to his son, while he went south to live in the oasis of Tema in Arabia.
Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
“Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with
scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a
proclamation concerning Daniel, that he should be the THIRD ruler
in the kingdom.”
Daniel 5:29
Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
First in the kingdom - Nabonidus
Second in the kingdom - Belshazzar
Third in the kingdom -- Daniel
Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
Cyrus Cylinder
Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
“A weakling has been installed as the ruler of his country… He
interrupted in a fiendish way the regular offerings… The worship of
Marduk, the king of gods, he changed into abomination.”
Cyrus Cylinder
Nabonidus and Belshazzar
Absentee King and Playboy Prince
“We shall presumably never know how our author learned that the new Babylon was the
creation of Nebuchadnezzar as the excavations have proved… and that
Belshazzar, mentioned only in Babylonian records, in Daniel, and in Baruch 1:11, which is based on Daniel, was functioning as king
when Cyrus took Babylon.”
R. H. Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament, pp. 758-759
GUBARU
And Darius the Mede
Babylon fell to Cyrus’ forces on October 13, 539 B.C.
[Babylonian Chronicle]
“So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-
two.”
Daniel 5:31
GUBARU
And Darius the Mede
Cyrus placed Gubaru, a Median, in charge of Babylon, while he continued his conquests
westward. According to Babylonian Records, Gubaru was born in 601 B.C., making him 62
years old in 539 B.C.
The word “Darius” refers to his position, rather than his name.
GUBARU
And Darius the Mede
“On the 16th day, Gubaru… along with the army of Cyrus, entered Babylon without
opposition… The city was no longer at war, peace being restored. Cyrus then sent his
best wishes to the residents living there. His governor, Gubaru, then installed leaders to
govern over all Babylon.”
Babylonian Chronicle
GUBARU
And Darius the Mede
According to the Babylonian/Persian Chronicles, GUBARU was the son of
Ahasuerus, a ruler of the Medes.
“He WAS MADE king over the realm of the Chaldeans.”
Daniel 5:32; 9:1; 11:
Sirach and Solomon Schechter
And Daniel 8In 1899, a medieval synagogue in Cairo,
Egypt, under renovation, was found to have a secret room - a GENIZAH - which
contained over 100,000 ancient Jewish manuscripts.
One of those manuscripts was a Hebrew version of
THE WISDOM OF BEN SIRACH
‘ECCLESIASTICUS’
Sirach and Solomon Schechter
And Daniel 8
Sirach and Solomon Schechter
And Daniel 8
This “Hebrew Original” behind the LXX Greek translations could only be dated to more than a
century BEFORE the time of the Maccabees.
IT CONTAINS DIRECT QUOTATIONS FROM
DANIEL 8 - 12.
Given these discoveries, and more, it is impossible to date the writing of the Book of Daniel to
after the time of the Maccabaean Revolt of 165 B.C.
Given these discoveries, and more, it is impossible to date the writing of the Book of Daniel to
after the time of the Maccabaean Revolt of 165 B.C.
The ONLY way for the author of Daniel to have known these
things was if he were actually there in Babylon in the 6th century B.C. as claimed!
WHAT WE KNOW –
Daniel became a hostage in 605 B.C., age 13
Daniel interpreted the king’s dream in 603 B.C.
Daniel’s beastly dream happened in 553 B.C.
Daniel’s second vision occurred in 550 B.C.
Daniel’s encounter with Gabriel happened in
538 B.C.
Daniel was still working in Babylon as late as
535 B.C., the third year of Cyrus.
Why is this important?
1.Prophecy is REAL
2. Daniel PREDICTS Jesus
3. Daniel PINPOINTS when
4. Daniel EXPLAINS “Why?”