Daniel-Introduction-Canonicity, Author, Literary Genre, Languages and Unity of the Book of Daniel
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday November 8, 2011
Daniel: Introduction to the Book of Daniel-Canonicity, Author, Literary Genre, Languages and Unity of the Book of Daniel
Lesson # 1
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 1:1.
In the Hebrew Bible the book of Daniel appears with a group of books which the Jews called Kethubim, “the Writings.”
In the English Bibles, the book is placed after Ezekiel, which is also the case in the LXX and the Latin Vulgate.
Josephus places the book of Daniel in the second division of the Jewish canon, the Prophets, rather than in the Hagiographa, which indicates a recognition of the prophetic character of the book.
The Hebrew Bible is divided into three sections: (1) The Torah (2) The Prophets (Nabhiim) (3) The Writings (Kethubim).
The first section is called the Torah meaning “the Law” and contained: (1) Genesis (2) Exodus (3) Leviticus (4) Numbers (5) Deuteronomy.
The second section was the Prophets which were divided into two sections: (1) The Former Prophets (2) The Latter Prophets.
The Former Prophets: (1) Joshua (2) Judges (3) Samuel (4) Kings.
The Latter Prophets were divided into two categories: (1) Major (2) Minor.
Major Prophets: (1) Isaiah (2) Jeremiah (3) Ezekiel.
The Minor Prophets were also called the Twelve because they were all contained in one book: (1) Hosea (2) Joel (3) Amos (4) Obadiah (5) Jonah (6) Micah (7) Nahum (8) Habakkuk (9) Zephaniah (10) Haggai (11) Zechariah (12) Malachi.
The third and last section was called the Writings: (1) The Poetical Books: Psalms, Proverbs and Job (2) The Five Rolls (Megilloth): Song of Solomon, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther and Lamentations (3) The Historical Books: Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah (1 book) and 1 and 2 Chronicles. The latter is counted as one book.
So we can see that Daniel is not included among the Prophets, which is the second major division of the Old Testament.
The Jews did not put Daniel with the Prophets and neither is Daniel referred to as a prophet in the book that bears his name.
In his day, Daniel was a statesman who was known for his godliness and wisdom.
His public ministry was not directed toward Israel but rather it was used in relation to the kings of the Babylonian and Persian Empires.
He was called a “seer” and a “wise man” but never a prophet, which is the reason why his book was not classified with the Prophets.
Furthermore, God did not use Daniel to deliver a message to the nation of Israel “publicly.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary, Pentecost, volume 1, page 1323).
However, the Lord Jesus Christ did call him a prophet in Matthew 24:15.
Also, Josephus called Daniel a prophet as well (Antiquities x.11).
In fact, he said that Daniel’s prophecies were in existence before the days of Artaxerxes (Contra Apion, i.8).
Daniel’s name in the Hebrew dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l (דָּנִיֵּאל) (daw-nee-yale) means “God is my judge.”
The book of Daniel itself testifies to the fact that he was a Jewish captive, of noble descent, who was carried off to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar’s first conquest of Jerusalem in 605 B.C. which was the third year of Jehoiakim’s rule, after the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians.
Daniel 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, 4 youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service. 6 Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. (NASB95)
The book of Daniel records events that extend from this date to 536 B.C. during the third year of Cyrus.
This covers a period of approximately seventy years.
Daniel lived to approximately 530 B.C. and he probably completed the book during the last decade of his life.
Daniel not only served in Babylon but also served the Medo-Persian Empire as well.
We do not know the date of his death but it may have been in 530 B.C.
Thus he may have completed this book when he was about ninety years of age.
Early on Daniel was recognized by the Babylonians as a man of great integrity.
He was famous not only among the Jews but also the Babylonians, Medes and Persians for his great wisdom and integrity (Ezekiel 14:14, 20; 28:3).
The book of Daniel contains both narrative history as well as prophecy.
It is the first great book of apocalyptic literature in the Scriptures.
The apocalyptic sections are 2, 7, 8 and 10-12.
There are only two other books in the Old Testament that are apocalyptic, namely Ezekiel (37:1-14; 40:1-48:35) and Zechariah (1:7-6:8).
There is only one book in the New Testament that contains this particular literary genre, namely Revelation.
The book of Daniel is unusual in the sense that it was written in two languages. Daniel 1:1-2:4a and chapters 8-12 are written in Hebrew.
Daniel 2:4b-7:28 is written in Aramaic, which was also called “Chaldee” or “Syriac.”
Aramaic was the lingua franca of the prophet’s day.
This use of the language appears in Ezra 4:8-6:18, 7:12-26 and Jeremiah 10:11.
This shifting from Hebrew to Aramaic and back again also appears in the scrolls of Daniel at Qumran.
This serves to support the legitimacy of this feature of the Massoretic text, which is commonly used in our modern English translations.
The reason for this unusual feature is that Daniel was writing for two different audiences.
Aramaic was the language of the Gentile world when the book of Daniel was written.
Hebrew was still the language of Israel at that time as well.
Thus, the book has two major divisions.
The first is related to God’s program for the Gentiles.
The second is His program for the Jews.
Therefore, Daniel 2:4b-7:28 was written for the Gentile world in Daniel’s day and Daniel 1:1-2:4a and 8-12 was written for the Israelites.
So the message and prophecies that appear in the Aramaic portions of Daniel are addressed to the Gentile world in their language whereas the message and prophecies that appear in the Hebrew portion of the book are addressed to the nation of Israel.
S.R. Driver argued that the Aramaic of Daniel was western and not used in Babylon, which was offered as evidence for a late date for the composition of Daniel.
This argument has been found to be in error because of the recent discoveries in archaeology.
Not only is the book of Daniel written in Hebrew and Aramaic but also there are a few words from four different languages, namely, Persian, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.
Liberal scholars cite this as evidence that the book of Daniel could not be a sixth century B.C. production but rather that it was composed centuries after the death of Daniel in 167 B.C.
However, the linguistic evidence suggests a sixth century B.C. date of composition.
There are three words in the entire Book of Daniel that are of Greek origin.
The liberal critic argues that since Alexander the Great did not spread the Greek language until the fourth century, Daniel could not have been written in the sixth century.
However, all three of these words (Daniel 3:5, 7, 10, 15) appear in the eighth century B.C. in Homer’s works, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
“Lyre” in the NASB is a translation of the Greek kitharis, which appears in Homer’s works from the eighth century B.C.
“Psaltery” in the NASB translates psaltērion and symphōnia, which is translated “bagpipe” in the NASB are not known in any Greek literature until the sixth century.
Also, these Greek words in Daniel were not used in “everyday conversation” and thus we should not be surprised when these words are rarely found.
It is important to understand that we must not be dogmatic on the date of the book of Daniel based upon three words.
Charles Ray writes, “Greek merchants were trading with the Near East as early as the seventh century. If Daniel had been composed in the second century, one would expect to see many words in Greek, the language of the day. For example, the terms for government officials are in Persian (as noted above) and not in Greek. Therefore, it is not terribly surprising to find Greek words in Daniel.” (Journal of Dispensational Theology, volume 11, number 34, December 2007, pages 45-46)
With regards to the words which are Persian in origin, it must be remembered that Daniel served in the Persian government towards the end of his life.
Almost half of the twenty Persian loan words found in the book of Daniel are related to government officials in some fashion.
Some scholars argued against the unity of the book of Daniel.
They come to this conclusion because the book of Daniel’s use of Hebrew and Aramaic.
However, as we noted the Hebrew portions of Daniel are for the nation of Israel and the Aramaic portions are written for the Gentile world.
Also, liberal scholars cite that chapters 1-6 record historical incidents in Daniel’s lifetime and chapters 7-12 record prophetic visions given to Daniel, which they argue as evidence of a multiplicity of authors.
However, chapter 2 parallels chapter 7.
Both sections refer to God as “the Most High” or “the Most High God.”
Chapters 1-6 refers to God this way nine times (3:26; 4:2, 17, 24-25, 32, 34; 5:18, 21) and chapters 7-12 four times (7:18, 22, 25, 27).
Furthermore, the message in both the Hebrew portions of the book and the Aramaic are the same, namely that God is sovereign over the nations of the earth.
Below is a chart on the unity of the book of Daniel, which is put together by James E. Smith (Old Testament Survey Series: The Major Prophets)