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The Book of Daniel (דָּנִיֵּאל / Dānī’ēl means "God is my judge") is found in the Ketuvim (Writings) section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible); in Christian Bibles it is grouped with the prophets.

The Jewish and Protestant versions of Daniel divide into two parts, chapters 1-6 in which Daniel and his companions demonstrate the superiority of their God, and chapters 7-12 making up a series of visions; there is no direct connection between the two beyond the figure of Daniel.[1] The visions of chapters 7-12 were composed in the 2nd century BCE, while the court tales represent an older and legendary layer.[2]

Content

Captives in Babylon

Main article: Daniel § Induction into Babylon

The story begins with a brief reference to king Nebuchadnezzar robbing the Jerusalem temple and carrying its treasures back to Babylon. It goes on to describe how some young members of the Judean nobility, including Daniel and his three companions, are inducted into the king's service. Daniel and his companions are given Babylonian names,[3] but refuse to be 'defiled' by the royal provisions of food and wine. Their overseer fears for his life in case the health of his charges deteriorates, but Daniel suggests a ten-day trial on a simple diet of vegetables and water. When they miraculously emerge healthier than their counterparts, Daniel and his friends are allowed to continue with their diet. At the end of the induction period, the king finds them 'ten times better' than all the wise men in his service, and it is noted that Daniel has a particular gift for dream interpretation.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream

Main article: Daniel 2 § Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the composite statue (France, 15th century).

Nebuchadnezzar II has a disturbing dream and asks his wise men to interpret it, but refuses to divulge its content. When they protest he sentences all of them, including Daniel and his friends, to death. Daniel intervenes and asks for a temporary stay of execution so that he can petition his God for a solution. He receives an explanatory vision in the night, and then relays the content and meaning of the king's dream the following day. Nebuchadnezzar has dreamed of an enormous idol made of four metals, with feet of mixed iron and clay. The image is completely destroyed by a rock that turns into a huge mountain, filling the whole earth. The idol's composition of metals is interpreted as a series of successive kingdoms, starting with Nebuchadnezzar. Finally all of these dominions are crushed by God's kingdom, a kingdom that will "endure forever".

The fiery furnace

Main article: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Daniel's companions Ananias (Hananiah/Shadrach), Azariah (Abednego), and Mishael (Meshach) refuse to bow to the emperor's golden statue and are thrown into a furnace. Nebuchadnezzar sees a fourth figure appear in the furnace with the three and God is credited for preserving them from the flames.

Nebuchadnezzar's madness

Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the cut down tree (France, 15th century).

Nebuchadnezzar recounts a dream of a huge tree that is suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel is summoned and interprets the dream. The tree is Nebuchadnezzar himself, who for seven years will lose his mind and live like a wild beast. All of this comes to pass until, at the end of the specified time, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that "heaven rules" and his kingdom and sanity are restored.

Belshazzar's feast

See also: The writing on the wall

Belshazzar and his nobles blasphemously drink from sacred Jewish temple vessels, offering praise to inanimate gods, until a hand mysteriously appears and writes upon the wall of the palace. The horrified king eventually summons Daniel who is able to read the writing and offer the following interpretation: Mene, Mene - God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel - You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Upharsin - Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. "That very night", we are informed, Belshazzar was slain and "Darius the Mede" took over the kingdom.

Daniel in the lions' den

Main article: Daniel in the lions' den
Daniel in the lions' den saved by Habacuc (France, 15th century).

Daniel is elevated to a pre-eminent position under Darius which elicits the jealousy of other officials. Knowing of Daniel's devotion to his God, these officials trick the king into issuing an edict forbidding worship of any other god or man for a 30 day period. Because Daniel continues to pray three times a day to God towards Jerusalem, he is accused and King Darius, forced by his own decree, throws Daniel into the lions' den. God shuts up the mouths of the lions and the next morning king Darius finds Daniel unharmed and casts his accusers and their families into the lions' pit where they are instantly devoured.

Vision of the great beasts

Main article: Daniel 7
See also: Four monarchies

This vision, set in the first year of Belshazzar, concerns four great beasts (7:3) representing future kings (7:17) or kingdoms (7:23). The fourth of these devours the whole earth, treading it down and crushing it (7:23). This fourth beast has ten horns representing ten kings. They are followed by a further wicked king, or "little horn", who subdues three of the ten (7:24), speaks against the Most High, wages war against the saints, and attempts to change the set times and laws (7:25). After 'a time and times and half a time', this king is judged and stripped of his kingdom by an "Ancient of Days" and his heavenly court (7:26). Next, "one like a son of man" approaches the Ancient of Days and is invested with worldwide dominion. Moreover, his everlasting reign over all earthly kingdoms is shared with "the people of the Most High" (7:27).

Vision of the ram and goat

Main article: Daniel 8

This vision in the third year of Belshazzar describes Daniel's vision of a ram and goat that, according to the text, represent Media, Persia (the ram's two horns) and Greece (the goat). The goat with the mighty horn, becomes very powerful until the horn breaks off and is replaced by four "lesser" horns. The vision then focuses on a small horn that grows very large, representing a wicked king who arises to challenge the "army of the Lord" by removing the daily temple sacrifices and desecrating the sanctuary for a period of "twenty three hundred evening/mornings". The vision culminates in the "cleansing" or reconsecration of the temple.

Prophecy of the Seventy Septets

Main article: Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

The vision in first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus (9:1) concerning seventy weeks, or seventy "sevens", apportioned for the history of the Israelites and of Jerusalem (9:24) This consists of a meditation on the prediction in Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years, a lengthy prayer by Daniel in which he pleads for God to restore Jerusalem and its temple, and an angelic explanation which focuses on a longer time period - "seventy sevens" - and a future restoration and destruction of city and temple by a coming ruler.

Vision of the kings of north and south

Main article: Daniel 11

Daniel has a lengthy vision (10:1 - 12:13) in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, around 536 BCE, regarding conflicts between the "King of the North" and the "King of the South" (= Egypt, 11:8). An angel appears to Daniel and explains that the "princes" of Persia and Greece are in opposition, but that Michael "the great prince who protects your people" will lend his support (10:21; 12:1). The vision is for "the final part of the days."(10:13,14) Starting with references to Persia and Greece it, again, culminates in the description of an arrogant king who desecrates the temple, sets up a "desolating abomination", removes the daily sacrifice, and persecutes those who remain true to the "holy covenant".

The visions of Daniel, with those of 1 Enoch, Isaiah, Jubilees, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, are the inspiration for much of the apocalyptic ideology and symbolism of the Qumran community's Dead Sea scrolls and the early literature of Christianity.[4]

Composition

Authorship and dating

The Book of Daniel is a pseudepigraph, purporting to have been written by Daniel himself in the 6th century BCE (which was accepted at face value by pre-modern biblical schlarship[5]) . The stories of Daniel at the Babylonian court are dated from the 3rd century BCE, while the second half are dated from the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid Greek king of Syria 167-163 BCE.[6][7][8] Although the book had been historically classified as prophetic, the style of writing is now considered apocalyptic which was popular between 200 BCE and 100 CE.[9]

Historical background

The historical background to the fist half of the book is the Babylonian exile. In 586 Babylon, the great imperial power of the age, destroyed Jerusalem following an attempted rebellion by its vassal Judah. The elite of the kingdom - the royal court and the upper classes - were transported to Babylon. Daniel, according to the book we now read,was once of those taken to the foreign capital. If the book is taken at face value, all the action it describes takes place during the lifetime of Daniel.

In 536 BCE Babylon was overthrown by the new power of Persia, under the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great. The Persians allowed the Judean exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city, which then became a province of the Persian empire. In the late 300s Alexander the Great, king of the Greek state of Macedon, conquered Persia. Alexander died young, and at his death his generals carved up the empire between them. Jerusalem and Judah (called now Yehud medinata fell under the control of Ptolomy I, the general who seized Egypt, but in 198 BCE the city and province were captured by Seleucas III, the ruler of Syria and Mesopotamia. Seleaucas began by treating Jerusalem with special favour, granting tax exemptions to the Temple and guaranteeing the Jews the right to live under their own laws, but by the end of his reign he became increasingly pressed for money as a result of defeats at the hands of the Romans and the consequent need to make payments.

Texts

The three main variants of the Book of Daniel are the twelve-chapter version preserved in the Masoretic Text and two longer Greek versions, the original Septuagint version, c. 100 BCE, and the later Theodotion version, a translation from c. 2nd century CE.[10] Theodotion is much closer to the Masoretic Text and became so popular that it replaced the original Septuagint version of Daniel in all but two manuscripts of the Septuagint itself.[11][12][13]

Three additional narratives are preserved in the Septuagint and the Theodotion versions,[14] and are considered apocryphal by Protestant Christians and Jews, and deuterocanonical by Catholic and Orthodox Christians. These additions to Daniel are The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children, the stories of Susannah and the Elders and Bel and the Dragon.

A total of eight fragmentary copies of the Book of Daniel have been found[15] at Qumran: two in Cave 1, five in Cave 4, and one in Cave 6. None is complete due to degradation, but between them, they preserve text from eleven of Daniel’s twelve chapters. The twelfth chapter is found in the Florilegium 4Q174. All eight manuscripts were copied within 175 years, ranging from 125 BCE (4QDanc) to about 50 CE (4QDanb).[16]

Seven of the eight scrolls originally contained the entire book of Daniel in the short form as it is in the Masoretic Text, however none have the long form as preserved in the Septuagint. All eight scrolls do not reveal any major disagreements against the Masoretic Text, although James C. VanderKam observes that 1QDana is closest to the traditional text.[17]

The four scrolls that preserve the relevant sections (1QDana, 4QDana, 4QDanb, and 4QDand) all follow the same bilingual nature of Daniel where the book opens in Hebrew, switches to Aramaic at 2:4b, then reverts to Hebrew at 8:1.[17]

Structure

See also: Prophecy of Seventy Weeks § Literary structure

Chiastic structure or concentric structure is a common feature of ancient Hebrew poetry and literature. Attempts have been made to organize the entire book of Daniel with a single chiastic structure despite the major break between Daniel 6 and 7, even though there are parallel themes across that break.[18]

Aramaic chiastic form

A. Lenglet proposed a chiastic language structure for the Aramaic portion of chapters 2 through 7 in 1972. Then in 1978, Joyce G. Baldwin, former principal of Trinity College, Bristol, proposed her view of the chiastic language structure for the Aramaic portion of Daniel chapters 2-7.[19]

A. Four empires and God's coming kingdom.(ch.2)
B. Trial by fire and God's deliverance.(ch.3)
C. A king warned, chastised and delivered.(ch.4)
C'. A king warned, defiant and deposed.(ch.5)
B'. Trial in the lions' den and God's deliverance.(ch.6)
A'. Four empires and God's everlasting kingdom.(ch.7)

Double-chiasm

William H. Shea proposed that Daniel is composed of a double chiasm[20] supported by the distribution of the languages in which the book is written. The first chiasm (chapters 2-7) is written in Aramaic (Chaldean) and the second (chapters 8-12) is in Hebrew. This chiastic language structure implies that chapter 7 is the end of the first half of the book rather than chapter 6.

Parallel themes share common label

The sections labeled A, A', A" and A"' are placed in parallel because they all have a similar theme: prophecies about successive kingdoms. God's people suffer trials in all 4 parts labelled B, B', B" and B"'. Sections C, C', C" and C"' deal with prophecies about the actions of different kings. Finally the structure portrays the trial faced by the Anointed One as the focal point of the book (D).

Structure has precedence over chronology

The six narrative chapters are fit into the structure rather than being listed according to chronology. Chronologically the chapters should be 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 9, 10, 11, & 12. Chapter 6 (B') is put in parallel with chapter 3 (B) because they both deal with the persecution of Daniel and his friends i.e. "God's people." And chapter 5 (C') is put in parallel with chapter 4 (C) where divine judgments are pronounced against the Babylonian kings.

Grouping emphasizes prophecies

This chiastic grouping of chapters having the same theme has implications when it comes to the chapters containing prophecies (A, A', A", A'"). Not only are they parallel because they contain prophecies, but the prophecies themselves are parallel to each other, which has been recognized for millennia. Christian commentators have not always identified the same kingdoms in each chapter though. Chapters 2 and 7 have generally - though not exclusively[21] - been interpreted as extending to Roman times. Chapters 8 and 11 have been applied to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes.[22] Historicists interpret all four prophecies as extending from Daniel's time, past the present to a future Kingdom of God.[23]

Others like Walton have advocated a combination of both schemes, but in different parts of Daniel.[24]

Historicity

Siege of Jerusalem

See also: Siege of Jerusalem (597 BCE)

The opening verses of the Book of Daniel describe Nebuchadnezzar besieging Jerusalem "in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim" (606/5 BCE). This is eight years before the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II on 2 Adar (16 March) 597 BCE recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles[25] and 2 Kings 24:8-17.

The Babylonian Chronicle does record that in 605 Nebuchadnezzar, crown-prince of Babylon, met the Egyptian army in battle at Carchemish and then proceeded to conquer the surrounding area. Jehoiakim was vassal to Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:34) so Nebuchadnezzar would have wanted to either replace Jehoiakim or secure his loyalty. 2 Kings 24:1 confirms that Nebuchadnezzar "came up" against Jehoiakim, after which Jehoiakim became his vassal. That Nebuchadnezzar took captives from the Jews after his victory at Carchemish is confirmed by the Babylonian historian Berosus (Berosus, quoted Josephus, Against Apion 1.15).[26]

Nebuchadnezzar or Nabonidus

See also: Nabonidus
William Blake's depiction of Nebuchadnezzar.

Three Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls fragments known as The Prayer of Nabonidus (4QPrNab, sometimes given as 4QOrNab) describe a Babylonian king (spelled N-b-n-y) who is afflicted by God with an "evil disease" for a period of seven years. He is cured and his sins forgiven after the intervention of a Jewish exile who is described as a "diviner"; he issues a written proclamation in praise of the Most High God, and speaks in the first person.

These fragments turned up in a collection of Dead Sea Scrolls possessed by the Jordanian Government, and were first published by Milik in 1956. Long before this, scholars had speculated that Nabonidus' exile in Teima lay behind the story of Nebuchadnezzar's banishment and madness in Daniel chapter four.[27]

The general consensus of scholars is that Daniel chapter four ultimately draws upon the traditions and legends of Nabonidus,[28] while others feel that the Prayer of Nabonidus shows signs of dependence on the Book of Daniel.[29][30] Matthias Henze even suggests that the narrative of Nebuchadnezzar's madness draws on the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. He argues that the author of Daniel uses elements from the description of the wild man Enkidu, who roams the steppe with the animals.[31]

It is also possible that a reference to the insanity of Nebuchadnezzar is to be found in the cuneiform text: BM 34113.[32][33]

Historicity of Belshazzar

Main article: Belshazzar § Historicity of Belshazzar
The Nabonidus Cylinder

New evidence from Babylon has verified the existence of Belshazzar, the name first given in Daniel 5:1, as well as his co-regency during the absence of his father, Nabonidus, in Temâ. However, there is no evidence that Belshazzar ever officially held the title of "king" as he is never called such on the Nabonidus Cylinder. On that cylinder, Nabonidus petitions the god Sin [citation needed] as follows:

"And as for Belshazzar my firstborn son, my own child, let the fear of your great divinity be in his heart, and may he commit no sin; may he enjoy happiness in life". In addition, The Verse Account of Nabonidus (British Museum tablet 38299) states, "[Nabonidus] entrusted the army (?) to his oldest son, his first born, the troops in the country he ordered under his command. He let everything go, entrusted the kingship (Akk. šarrûtu) to him, and, himself, he started out for a long journey. The military forces of Akkad marching with him, he turned to Temâ deep in the west" (Col. II, lines 18 - 29. 18).

In line with the statement that Nabonidus "entrusted the kingship" to Belshazzar in his absence, there is evidence that Belshazzar's name was used with his father's in oath formulas, that he was able to pass edicts, lease farmlands, and receive the "royal privilege" to eat the food offered to the gods.

Historicity of Darius the Mede

Main article: Darius the Mede

The conqueror of Babylon was Gobryas, governor of Gutium, a general of Cyrus, king of Persia. No such person as Darius the Mede is recorded in known history.[34] The successor of Cyrus as king of Persia was named Darius the Great. The author of Daniel inherited a schema of four kingdoms in which Media preceded Persia. John J. Collins suggests that it is highly probable that Daniel created the figure of Darius the Mede to fit this schema.[34]

George R. Law provides this list of candidates who may identify with Darius the Mede;[35] Astyages, Cambyses II, Cyaxares II, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great and Gubaru.

Christian tradition

Similar to the traditional view in Judaism,[36] conservative Christians[who?] view the Book of Daniel as written by the prophet Daniel, who they claim wrote the book around 536 BCE after having been in captivity for about 70 years.[8] Conservative interpretations[by whom?] hold that Daniel predicted the empires of Babylonia and Persia to be succeeded by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. Daniel also foresees the Greek Empire being divided among the four generals upon the death of Alexander. Daniel then predicts that the Jewish people would suffer great persecution under an official who would come to power after Alexander’s death. Many interpreters identify this ruler as Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greek ruler of Syria. In history, Antiochus persecuted the Jews unmercifully from 176 to 164 BCE,[8] which led to the Maccabean revolt of 167 BCE.[37]

In the Book of Matthew 24:15, of the New Testament, Jesus references Daniel, "When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)". In the Hebrew portion of Daniel chapters 8-12, Daniel speaks of this abomination of desolation in the last two chapters.

The various episodes in the first half of the book are understood by Christians to foreshadow events in the gospels. The apocalyptic section is important to Christians for the image of the "one like a son of Man" (Dan. 7:13),[38] and Jesus is presented using the same wording in the Book of Revelation in 1:13-15.[39] The connection with Daniel's vision (as opposed to the usage in the Book of Ezekiel) is made explicit in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62).[40] According to the gospels, Jesus used the title "Son of Man" as his preferred name for himself (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62). Christians sometimes see this as a claim by Jesus that he is the Messiah. According to the New American Bible and some Christian theologians, "one like a son of man" represents "the saints of the Most High" as interpreted in the vision later (Dan 7:16-18, 21-22, 25-27) and Jesus made the title "Son of Man" a distinguishing self-reference.[41][42][43] Later Jewish interpreters interpreted this figure as the Jewish messiah. Such interpretation appears in the apocryphal Similitudes of Enoch and 4 Ezra.[44][45]

In the Olivet Discourse (Mark 13:14, Matt. 24:15) Jesus applies Daniel's prophecy of a desolating sacrilege set up in the temple (Dan. 9:27, 11:31) to a future event, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.[46][47] According to Jesus' words, this event would involve the leveling of the temple, flight from Judea, and would happen in Jesus' own generation (Mark 13: 2-4, 14, 30). Many Christians today view this as a prophetic allusion to a final tribulation immediately preceding Judgement Day. Some consider the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks to be particularly compelling due to what they interpret to be prophetic accuracy.

According to some scholars, Dan. 12:2 is the earliest clear reference in the Hebrew Scriptures to the resurrection of the dead,[48] with many "countrymen" awakening from death, some to eternal life and some to eternal disgrace. This belief is also expressed in 2 Maccabees and is linked, as in Daniel, with the idea of divine retribution.[49][50]

The "Song of the Three Holy Youths" is part of the Matins service in Eastern Orthodoxy, and of Lauds on Sundays and feast days in Catholicism.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Matthews & Moyer 2012, p. 265-266.
  2. ^ Collins 2002, p. 2. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFCollins2002 (help)
  3. ^ Ronald F. Youngblood (1995-08-15). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. general editor, Ronald F. Youngblood ; consulting editors, F.F. Bruce, R.K. Harrison (null ed.). Nashville: T. Nelson. pp. 326–327. ISBN 978-0-8407-2071-9.
  4. ^ Eisenman (1997), p. 19f. "Daniel's clear association with the Maccabean Uprising and those against Rome are a possible factor in the eventual downgrading of it, to include a redefinition of the role of prophet, keeping in mind that at roughly this time the Hebrew canon was being evaluated and adopted."
  5. ^ Longman III & Dillard 2006b, p. 373, "The predominant opinion of both Jewish and Christian scholars was that the book of Daniel was written by Daniel, a statesmen and prophet, who flourished during the sixth century BC."
  6. ^ Schiffman 1991, p. 123.
  7. ^ Longman III & Dillard 2006, p. 373.
  8. ^ a b c Youngblood, Ronald F., ed. (1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. Nashville: T. Nelson. p. 328. ISBN 0-8407-2071-8.
  9. ^ Senior, Donald (1990). The Catholic Study Bible. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 1086. ISBN 0-19-528277-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Collins, 2002, p.2
  10. ^ Erdmans.
  11. ^ Invitation to the Apocrypha By Daniel J. Harrington
  12. ^ Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha By Watson E. Mills, Richard F. Wilson
  13. ^ Eerdmans commentary on the Bible By James D. G. Dunn, John William Rogerson
  14. ^ Collins, John Joseph, "Daniel: with an introduction to apocalyptic literature" (Eerdmans. 1984) p.28
  15. ^ Evans, Craig A.; Flint, Peter W. (1997). Eschatology, messianism, and the Dead Sea scrolls. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-4230-5.
  16. ^ VanderKam 2002, p. 137
  17. ^ a b VanderKam 2002, p. 138
  18. ^ editor, J. Daniel Hays ; Tremper Longman III, general (2010). Message of the prophets : a survey of the prophetic and apocalyptic books of the Old Testament. [Grand Rapids, Mich.]: Zondervan. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-310-27152-9. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Baldwin 1978, pp. 499–500
  20. ^ Shea 1986
  21. ^ Casey 1980
  22. ^ Ford 1978 harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFFord1978 (help) Ford speaks of 'the almost universal application of [the little horn symbol of chapter 8] to Antiochus Epiphanes'. He also quotes the pre-critical and post-counter reformation view of the Anglican Bishop Thomas Newton in his "Dissertation on the Prophecies..." originally published in the mid-1700s (JF Dove,1838, p247): 'This little horn [of Daniel 8] is by the generality of interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, ancient and modern, supposed to mean Antiochus Epiphanes.' Newton adds that 'most of the ancient fathers and modern divines and commentators' agree with Jerome in identifying Antiochus in chapter 8, while also allowing that "Antiochus Epiphanes was a type of Antichrist".
  23. ^ See historicist interpretation below
  24. ^ "The Four Kingdoms Of Daniel" by John H. Walton, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29.1 (1986): 25-36.
  25. ^ D. J. Wiseman, Chronicles of Chaldean Kings in the British Museum (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1956) 73.
  26. ^ Gaston, Thomas (2009). Historical Issues in the Book of Daniel. Oxford: Taanathshiloh. pp. 20–36. ISBN 978-0-9561540-0-2.
  27. ^ Lendering, Jona. "Cyrus takes Babylon: Daniel & Prayer of Nabonidus". self published. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  28. ^ Collins, 1994, p. 217-218
  29. ^ Steinmann, A. (December 2002). "The Chicken and the Egg: A New Proposal for the Relationship between the "Prayer of Nabonidus" and the "Book of Daniel"". Revue de Qumran. 20 (4): 557–570. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  30. ^ Gaston 2009, pp. 47–52
  31. ^ The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar..., Leiden, Brill, 1999
  32. ^ Horn, Siegfried H. (April 1978). "New Light on Nebuchadnezzar's Madness" (PDF). Ministry Magazine. pp. 38–40. Retrieved 2010-06-22. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  33. ^ Gaston 2009, pp. 58–61
  34. ^ a b Collins, John J. (1998). The apocalyptic imagination : an introduction to Jewish apocalyptic literature (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich. [u.a.]: Eerdmans. p. 86. ISBN 0-8028-4371-9.
  35. ^ Law, George R. (2010). Identification of Darius the Mede. North Carolina: Ready Scribe Press. p. x. ISBN 978-0-9827631-0-0.
  36. ^ Tyndale 2001, p. 350
  37. ^ Steinberg 2009, pp. 52–3
  38. ^ Parallel translations of Daniel 7:13
  39. ^ Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1995). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: K-P Volume 3 of The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 800. ISBN 978-0-8028-3783-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  40. ^ Collins, John Joseph; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron. (2001). The book of Daniel : composition and receptio. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. p. 543. ISBN 978-90-04-12202-4.
  41. ^ New American Bible
  42. ^ Introducing the New Testament: its literature and theology, Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green, Marianne Meye Thompson
  43. ^ An introduction to the New Testament and the origins of Christianity, Delbert Royce Burkett
  44. ^ Reynolds, Benjamin E. (2008). The apocalyptic son of man in the gospel of John. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. p. 43. ISBN 978-3-16-149726-1.
  45. ^ Wright, N. T. (1992). Christian origins and the question of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. p. 316. ISBN 978-0-8006-2681-5.
  46. ^ Craig Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels, Apollos 1997, pp.322-326
  47. ^ Wright, N. T. (1992). Christian origins and the question of God. Volume 2, Jesus and the victory of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. p. 352. ISBN 0-8006-2682-6.
  48. ^ Hartman and Di Lel la, 1990, p. 419
  49. ^ Encyclopedia of theology: the concise Sacramentum mundi, Karl Rahner
  50. ^ 2 Macc. 7:14 : "And when he was now ready to die, he spoke thus: It is better, being put to death by men, to look for hope from God, to be raised up again by him; for, as to thee (Antiochus Epiphanes), thou shalt have no resurrection unto life".

References

Further reading

Academic* Collins, edited by John J. (2002). The book of Daniel : composition and reception. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 0-391-04127-4. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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