Daniel wrote the book of daniel during the sixth century b. The book of daniel is followed by the prophet hosea, the first of the prophets in the book of the twelve. So until his kingdom comes in all its fullness, we trust that he is in control that he could wipe the planet clean now if. Some scholars have argued that there would have been insufficient time for the book of daniel to have gained such widespread acceptance if it were written only 40 years previously. Though they recognize that god used various people to pen. Who wrote the book of daniel biblical hermeneutics stack exchange. Daniel 1 niv daniels training in babylon bible gateway. Jesus christ himself said that the book of daniel was written by daniel himself, and that he was a prophet mat 24. The prophet daniel is the author of this book see daniel 8. This remarkable piece of scripture has encouraged the faithful for centuries.
The first half of the book chapters 16 contains stories in the third person about the experiences of daniel and his friends under kings nebuchadrezzar ii, belshazzar, darius i, and. Daniel 1 niv daniels training in babylon in the bible. That jesus concurred is clear from his reference to the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet daniel mt 24. Daniels life serves as an example of godly integrity. Books of the bible list with the name of each book, the writer, place written, and time covered. Named after its writer, daniels book is a product of his time in babylon as a jewish exile from israel. Therefore the book purports to have been written in the sixth century before christ. The first half of the book chapters 16 contains stories in the third person about the experiences of daniel and his. These he carried off to the temple of his god in babylonia and put in the. His visions paint a prophetic landscape for daniels contemporaries. The story of daniel motivates faithfulness despite exile in babylon. Old testament bible quotations update on december 17, 2019 by pastor jack wellman daniel was a jew who lived in captivity, but because of his faith in god he met with success even while living in a foreign land. This summary of the book of daniel provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of daniel.
In addition, the captivating prophecy, imagery, and symbolism make the book of daniel one of the most read of hebrew scripture, our old testament of the bible. The book implies that daniel was its author in several passages, such as 9. While modern critics hold to this perspective, there are a number of reasons for believing in the biblical authorship of daniel. The writer of this chapter is nebuchadnezzar himself. From the standpoint of the books own suppositions the author at any rate of the visions was a man living in the time of the chaldean and persian kings. He carried these off to the land of shinar, a to the house of his god, where he put them into the treasury.
Such a consensus makes me wonder about whether scholarship is controlled by people who are skeptical of the supernatural inferences in daniels prophecies. One of the eight manuscripts of daniel discovered at qumran 4qdanc has been dated to about 125 b. He wrote down the dream, and this is the summary of his account. According to some, the scholarly consensus on the dating of daniel is that the book of daniel was written in the 2 nd century b. Not so in the hebrew bible, where it stands not among the prophets but among the writings. The first five books of the bible, genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers and deuteronomy, are referred to in other parts of the bible and by jesus himself, as the books of moses. The first half of the book chapters 16 contains stories in the third person about the experiences. In our english bible the book of daniel follows ezekiel. The book of daniel records the actions, prophecies, and visions of the prophet daniel. Witness faith and visions come to pass in the book of. If we deny daniels authorship, then this places us in the uncomfortable position of calling this author a liar and a fraud. Named after its writer, daniel s book is a product of his time in babylon as a jewish exile from israel. While the book of daniel claims to be written roughly around 530 bc, critics of the ot claim that it was written in 167 bc, during the maccabean era. It also describes the apocalyptic visions given by god, and reveals the events.
The bible book of daniel foretells the rise and fall of world powers from babylon until the time of the end. A noble jewish youth of jerusalem, he is taken into captivity by nebuchadnezzar of babylon and serves the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the persian conqueror cyrus, all the while remaining true. The widely held view that the book of daniel is largely fictional rests mainly on the modern philosophical assumption that longrange predictive prophecy is impossible. The entire book is obviously the work of one writer. Christians consider the bible to be the word of god. The book of daniel identifies the prophet daniel as its author daniel 9. Moreover, it contains more fulfilled prophecies than any other book in the bible daniel. Daniel 5 new international version niv the writing on the wall.
Daniel 1 new international version niv daniels training in babylon. The first complete version of hebrew scripture was composed in the third century bc in alexandria and was actually written in greek, known as the septuagint. Jesus mentions daniel as the author as well matthew 24. In fact, david only wrote about half of the psalms73 out of all 150, to be precise though the latin vulgate and septuagint credit a few more to him. The traditional jewish and christian identification of the author of the book of daniel is, of course, daniel himself. If daniel is named as the one who received certain revelations, it follows that he must be the author of the whole book. This article will seek to refute the view that the book of daniel was written in the. Although it does not actually claim to have been written in the sixth century bce, the book of daniel gives clear internal dates such as the third year of the reign of. The second half of the book names as author a certain daniel who, according to chapter 1, was exiled to babylon.
Daniel is the last of the major prophets the others are isaiah, jeremiah, and ezekiel, and he was a captive of judah. Thirdly, and to follow on, i have always loved the story of alexander the great as recounted by josephus who wrote about 80 ad. In my vision in the night i looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea. His visions offer hope that god will bring all nations under his rule. There is a bit of debate regarding who the author of daniel is for reasonable reasons. The prophecy culminates with the rule of gods kingdom. Summary of the book of daniel the story of the bible. The book of daniel has been called the apocalypse of the old testament. Those who wrote the bible lived at different times, some separated by hundreds of years. Humanly speaking, the bible was written by approximately 40 men of diverse backgrounds over the course of 1500 years. The book of daniel was likely written between 540 and 530 b. Daniel, as many other authors of the antiquity and the bible, writes of himself in the third person throughout the first part of the book.
The book of daniel, a book of the old testament found in the ketuvim writings, the third section of the jewish canon, but placed among the prophets in the christian canon. The book of daniel that you and i read today was and is there in the septuagint. At a minimum, daniel would be at least 82 years old when that occurred. Can there ever be faith again in the midst of darkness, rebellion, and gloom. Daniels story can be found in the old testament in the book of daniel, but if he wrote the book there is. Daniels name means a judge is god bible dictionary, daniel. The book of daniel, originally written in hebrew and aramaic, is a book in both the hebrew bible and the christian old testament writer. Daniel, peter, paul, jonah, isaiah, solomon and david. So jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon babylon, even all these words that are written against babylon. Book of daniel simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Named after its writer, daniels book is a product of his time in babylon as a jewish. The book of daniel introduction to the book of daniel in the bible.
The book of daniel thus provides an overview of prophecy regarding these empires unmatched in any other old testament book. The book of daniel is an apocalypse, a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient. Isaiah was a prophet, ezra was a priest, matthew was a taxcollector, john was a fisherman, paul was a tentmaker, moses was a shepherd, luke was a physician. Well, more accurately, the bible is a unique collection of books. Christ confirmed daniel as the author of this book compare matt.
It is no accident that the three most attacked books of the bible are also the. But the book of daniel reminds us that, in spite of appearances, the god of israel is the god of the nations. It claims to be the fruit of the ministry of a jewish captive named daniel who. The book says that daniel is its writer in several places, such as 9. While still a young man, daniel travelled to babylon with a group of young israelite nobles, men of promise whom the conquering power felt could be of use in service daniel 1.
The genre of the book of daniel is narrative history, prophetic oracle, and it includes apocalyptic material. So until his kingdom comes in all its fullness, we trust that he is in control that he could wipe the planet clean now if he so chose, but that in his wisdom he chooses not to. First, the book claims to be written by daniel dan. Ultimately, god the holy spirit is the divine author of daniel. The book of daniel is a 2ndcentury bc biblical apocalypse combining a prophecy of history. It seems most probable that he wrote the book shortly after this date but before ca. Intro to daniel biblica the international bible society. In nt prophecy daniel is referred to more than any other ot book. In fact, david only wrote about half of the psalms73 out of all 150, to be precise though the latin vulgate and septuagint credit a. Because the book of daniel contains so many detailed prophecies of things that happened centuries later, some skeptics have suggested that it is a fraud, written much later in history.
The book of daniel plays several roles in the bible. For some, the sixtysix books of the bible are holy scripture. In addition, the captivating prophecy, imagery, and symbolism make the book of daniel one of the most read. Witness faith and visions come to pass in the book of daniel. The book of daniel, also called the prophecy of daniel, a book of the old testament found in the ketuvim writings, the third section of the jewish canon, but placed among the prophets in the christian canon. If you are following the math you will know that 250 bc is chronologically prior to 165 ad. Daniel 5 the writing on the wall king bible gateway. Oct 12, 2018 psalms is the longest book of the bible see what the longest book actually is. Book of daniel overview insight for living ministries. Daniels third great appearance in the book is in chapter 5, where he is called upon to explain the extraordinary writing upon the wall of belshazzars palace, which foretold the end of the babylonian empire and the incoming of the medes and persians. There are some books of the bible whose authors cannot be known completely. Book of daniel from the king james version of the bible.
Psalms is the longest book of the bible see what the longest book actually is. The book of daniel is written in hebrew except for most of chapter 2 and all of chapters 37. May 02, 2020 daniel served in the royal court of nebuchadnezzar and several rulers who followed nebuchadnezzar. They claim that this book was written for the purpose of encouraging jews who were revolting against the tyranny of antiochus epiphanes iv, who was a savage greek tyrant, intent on suppressing israel. Despite being penned by different authors over 15 centuries, the bible. The book divides into two parts, a set of six court tales in chapters 16 written mostly in aramaic, followed by four apocalyptic visions in chapters. Jan 27, 2020 there is a bit of debate regarding who the author of daniel is for reasonable reasons. After an introductory chapter in hebrew, daniel switches to aramaic in chapter 27. It is accepted that joshua or a scribe on his behalf wrote the book of joshua. Jesus warned his disciples about coming events when he talked about the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet daniel. Although it does not actually claim to have been written in the sixth century bce, the book of daniel gives clear internal dates such as the third year of the reign of king jehoiakim, that is, 606 bce. Included are the writings of moses, the apostles paul and john.
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