Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Book Overview - Daniel

by John Dummelow

Introduction

The book of Daniel occupies a place by itself in the OT., owing to the exceptional features which it presents and the peculiar difficulties with which it confronts the reader. It has been the subject of much discussion and controversy, especially in recent times, and most Christian scholars now hold views both of its interpretation and of its literary character, authorship, and date, different from those which were formerly accepted in the church. Before entering on the special questions at issue regarding it, it will be of advantage to take a general survey of its contents.

1. Contents. The book professes to be a history of Daniel, a Jewish exile who was carried away to Babylon before the fall of his native kingdom, lived at the court of Nebuchadnezzar, and survived till the days of Cyrus, the Persian conqueror of Babylon. It falls naturally into two parts: (a) Daniel 1-6, containing narratives about Daniel and his companions, written in the third person, and (b) Daniel 7-12, containing the visions of Daniel regarding the future, and written in the first person. One of the narratives—that of Nebuchadnezzar's Dream-Image in Daniel 2—is akin in subject to the latter section. From 24 to the close of Daniel 7 the book is written in Aramaic (known also as Chaldee, or Syriac, a kindred language to Hebrew), the rest of the book being in Hebrew. The division of language is not clearly connected with any division of subject, and has not yet been satisfactorily explained. The following table shows the contents of the book in outline:

Narratives.

Daniel 1. The training of Daniel and his companions.

Daniel 2. The Dream-Image (predictive).

Daniel 3. The Fiery Furnace.

Daniel 4. The Madness of Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 5. Belshazzar's Feast.

Daniel 6. The Den of Lions.

Visions.

Daniel 7. The Four Beasts.

Daniel 8. The Ram and the He-Goat.

Daniel 9. The Seventy Weeks.

Daniel 10-12. The Kings of the N. and S.

2. Historical Survey. While various points in the predictive portions of the book have received different interpretations, there are undoubted allusions to the course of events for several centuries following Daniel's time, and a brief outline of the period is therefore necessary at this stage.

The Babylonian Empire was founded by the father of Nebuchadnezzar, and became supreme in western Asia after Nebuchadnezzar's victory over the king of Egypt at Carchemish in 605 b.c. (Jeremiah 46:2). It was under Nebuchadnezzar that the fall of the Jewish kingdom and the final captivity of the Jewish nation took place in 586 b.c. The Babylonian empire lasted through the reigns of several kings who succeeded Nebuchadnezzar, and came to an end in 539 b.c., when Babylon was conquered by Cyrus, king of Persia, who in his first year issued an edict permitting the captive Jews to return to Palestine to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4).

The Persian (or Medo-Persian) Empire lasted from 539 to 333 b.c., when its last king was conquered by Alexander the Great. Its first, fourth, fifth, and sixth kings, Cyrus, Darius Hystaspes, Xerxes (Ahasuerus), and Artaxerxes are mentioned in the OT. It was Xerxes who conducted the great invasion of Greece which was so gloriously repelled, and which has made the names of Thermopylæ and Salamis (480 b.c.) immortal in history.

The Greek Empire, founded by Alexander the Great, was of short duration in its undivided state. Alexander died in 322 b.c., and his dominions were broken up. After several years of conflict they were finally divided among four of his generals. Our attention in the book of Daniel is confined to two of these and their successors. Seleucus obtained the Babylonian and Syrian portions of Alexander's empire, and fixed his capital at Antioch. His descendants are known as the Seleucidæ, or Greek kings of Syria. Ptolemy Lagi got possession of Egypt, and assumed the surname of Soter. He was followed by a line of Lagidæ or Ptolemies, the Greek longs of Egypt. These two kingdoms of Syria and Egypt had a long history of rivalry, varied by fruitless attempts to establish alliance through royal marriages. Palestine formed a debateable ground between them, and many struggles took place for its possession. Speaking generally, it was at first under the power of Egypt, and afterwards passed into the hands of Syria. The eighth Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes (176-164 b.c.), is especially important in relation to the book of Daniel. He engaged in several wars with Egypt, and persecuted the Jews with great severity on account of their resistance to his attempts to introduce heathen religious observances among them. His profanations and oppressions led to the heroic and successful struggles of Judas Maccabæeus and his brothers, which are recorded in the books of Maccabees in the Apocrypha.

3. The Visions of Daniel. The interpretation of the predictive portion of the book is quite distinct from the question of date and authorship, and may be treated separately. There are five outlines of the future which call for consideration—those in Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9,, 10-12 respectively. Of these the third and the last are clearly explained in the book itself to refer to the events of which an outline has been given in the last paragraph. The vision of the Ram and the He-Goat (Daniel 8) describes the Medo-Persian empire (the two-horned Ram), its conquest by Alexander the Great (the He-Goat), the four successors of Alexander (the four horns of the Goat), and the career of Antiochus Epiphanes (who is universally recognised under the figure of the Little Horn). The concluding vision, of which Daniel 11 is the most important part, similarly describes the first kings of Persia, and alludes to the war of Xerxes against Greece. Then come Alexander's conquest of Persia, and the breaking up of his kingdom into four. The greater part of the vision is occupied with a minute account of the political relations between successive kings of Syria and Egypt, and at the end special prominence is given to the doings of a 'vile person,' in whom again all interpreters recognise Antiochus Epiphanes. With regard to the remaining predictions, the four parts of Nebuchadnezzar's Dream-Image (Daniel 2), and the Pour Beasts of Daniel 7, have always been rightly regarded as parallel, and the interpretation of the one series therefore decides that of the other. In both of these visions four successive kingdoms are spoken of, which the older expositors identified as the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman. The chief ground for understanding the fourth kingdom to be the Roman is the statement in Daniel 2:24, 'In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed', the supposed reference being to the Advent of Christ under the Romans. On this view the Ten Horns of the Fourth Beast in Daniel 7 have to be connected in some way with the Roman empire, while the Little Horn of the same chapter is identified with the Antichrist foretold in the NT. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9, too, have been supposed to reach down to Christian times, and to include the Crucifixion of Christ, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 a.d. This interpretation is mainly based on the references to 'Messiah the Prince' (Daniel 9:25-26), and on our Lord's quotation of the phrase' the abomination of desolation' (Daniel 9:27) in His discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14). The more modern view of these visions, however, is that the fourth kingdom of Daniel 2, 7 is not the Roman but the Greek empire, that the Ten Horns of Daniel 7 are to be found among the successors of Alexander the Great, and that the Little Horn is Antiochus Epiphanes. The Seventy Weeks, too, are regarded as terminating with this king, the last' week' covering the last seven years of his reign (171-164 b.c.).

The reasons in favour of the latter view may be briefly indicated. They arise mainly from a comparison of the different predictive outlines in the book. The more closely these outlines are studied side by side the more clearly does it appear that they are all parallel to one another, and have all the same termination in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes. Starting for example with C.8, where the Little Horn(Daniel 8:9-12, Daniel 8:23-25) is undoubtedly Antiochus Epiphanes, we may compare it with Daniel 7, where another Little Horn and its end are described in very similar terms (Daniel 8:8, Daniel 8:24-26). Further, the period of 1,150 days (2,300 evenings and mornings) in Daniel 8:14 is approximately the same as the 'time, times, and dividing of time' (3½ years) in Daniel 7:25. Or we may compare Daniel 8 with Daniel 9. In Daniel 8:11-12 the abolition of the daily sacrifice by Antiochus Epiphanes is described, and the 1,150 days already referred to represent the period during which the Temple was polluted in his reign. Now in Daniel 9:27 we read of the cessation of the daily sacrifice for a similar time—the half (3½ years) of the seventieth 'week'. Or again we may start from the undisputed ground of the last vision. Here the abolition of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the 'abomination of desolation' are ascribed to Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 11:31), while the same events are in Daniel 9:27 placed together at the end of the Seventy Weeks. Daniel 12 is the conclusion of the vision of which Daniel 11 forms the principal part, and further defines the 'time of the end' to which the outline in the latter chapter reaches. Here again we have the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the' abomination of desolation' (Daniel 12:11). The duration of the persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes is described as 'a time, times, and a half' (Daniel 12:7), While two other turning points in the history are indicated as happening a little later, at the end of 1,290 and 1,335 days respectively. The phrase the 'time of the end' (Daniel 8:17, Daniel 8:19; Daniel 11:40; Daniel 12:4, Daniel 12:9) defined as the termination of the visions in these chapters, is also the limiting horizon of Daniel's whole outlook upon the ordinary history of the future: see Daniel 7:26; Daniel 9:26. These parallelisms are more clearly explained in the subjoined table.

Daniel 7

Daniel 8

Daniel 9

Daniel 11

Daniel 12

A little horn (Daniel 7:8, Daniel 7:24-28)

The little horn. Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 8:9-12, Daniel 8:23-26)

Daily sacrifice taken away by Antiochus (Daniel 8:11-12)

Daily sacrifice taken away (Daniel 9:27)

Daily sacrifice abolished by Antiochus (Daniel 11:31)

From abolition of daily sacrifice (Daniel 12:11) and

'Transgression of desolation' (Daniel 8:13)

'Abomination of desolation' set up (Daniel 9:27) for

' Abomination of desolation' set up by Antiochus (Daniel 11:31)

Setting up of 'abomination of desolation' (Daniel 12:11)

Power of the little horn lasts till 'a time, times, and the dividing of time' (Daniel 7:25)

Temple cleansed after 1,150 days (Daniel 8:14)

Half a 'week' (3½ years) (Daniel 9:27)

'A time, times, and a half' (Daniel 12:7) 1,290 days 1,335 days to

'the end' (Daniel 7:26)

The 'time of the end' (Daniel 8:17, Daniel 8:19)

'the end' (Daniel 9:26)

The 'time of the end' (Daniel 11:40)

the 'time of the end' (Daniel 12:4, Daniel 12:9)

It thus appears probable that Antiochus Epiphanes is the Little Horn, not only of Daniel 8, but also of c.7 that the fourth kingdom in Daniel 2, 7 is consequently not the Roman but the Greek empire; that the last of the Seventy Weeks falls within the days of Antiochus; that all the references to the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the 'abomination of desolation' are connected with his profanations of the Temple; and that the various expressions denoting exactly or approximately 3½ years refer to a part of his reign.

The reasons adduced in support of the older interpretation are easily met. The statement in Daniel 2:44 about the establishment of the kingdom of God 'in the days of those kings' (the Greek kings of Egypt and Syria) is to be explained by the absence of perspective which is characteristic of OT. prophecy, and which is illustrated elsewhere in Daniel. Thus in Daniel 12:2 the resurrection of the dead seems to be placed immediately after the destruction of Antiochus Epiphanes and the deliverance of the Jews, and here even such a strenuous defender of the older interpretation as Dr. Pusey sees only an instance of 'that same foreshortening which we find throughout Holy Scripture, and in our Lord's own prediction, first of the destruction of Jerusalem, and then of His second coming to judge the world.' This 'foreshortening' is equally applicable to Daniel 2:44. As for the vision of the Seventy Weeks (Daniel 9), while the phrases 'Messiah the Prince' and 'Messiah' in the AV naturally suggest a direct reference to Christ, the true rendering in each case is much less definite, and can be most consistently explained from the historical events of earlier times (see RV and notes). Our Lord's reference to the 'abomination of desolation' is an instance of the frequent NT. usage by which OT. words and phrases are quoted with an application different from that which they originally bore. That the 'abomination of desolation' was primarily connected with Antiochus Epiphanes is proved by Daniel 11:31 and by 1 Maccabees 1:54 where this very phrase is used of the heathen altar set up by Antiochus at Jerusalem.

Assuming the fourth kingdom to be the Greek empire there is more than one way of identifying the other three: see notes on Daniel 2, 7, and table on p. 539. If the Seventy Weeks end with the reign of Antiochus there are various schemes for reckoning the earlier 'weeks,' none of which is quite free from difficulty (see notes). But the difficulties of the older view in calculating the Seventy Weeks and in identifying the Ten Horns of the Fourth Beast, are much greater, and have given rise to the most varied, arbitrary and conjectural explanations. The newer interpretation of the visions is the result of reading the book of Daniel by its own light, and is supported by scholars like the late Bishop Westcott, who have not committed themselves to modern views of its authorship and date.

4. Literary Character, Date, and Authorship of Daniel. It has generally been supposed, and is still maintained by some, that the book of Daniel is the work either of Daniel himself, or of a contemporary who composed the narratives and joined to them Daniel's own account of his visions. On this view the narratives are literal history, and the predictive chapters describe revelations of the future actually made to Daniel during or immediately after the Babylonian exile.

In recent times, however, a different view of the origin of the book has met with increasing acceptance. It is one which, though startling at first sight to the ordinary reader, has very much to be said in its favour, and ought not to be dismissed until the grounds on which it rests, and the possibility of reconciling it with the divine inspiration of the book, have been fairly considered. The modern conception of the book of Daniel is briefly this, that it dates not from the age in which Daniel's career is placed, but from the close of the period to which its visions refer—in other words from the days of Antiochus Epiphanes; that its apparent outlines of the future are really past history thrown by the author into the guise of ancient prediction; that the narratives, though founded more or less on historical tradition, are to be regarded chiefly as stories with a practical moral, and are valuable mainly on this account; that the aim of the writer, both in the narratives and in the view of history presented in the visions, was to encourage the Jews to constancy under the religious persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes; and that the time prophetic element of the book lies in its confident anticipations of the overthrow of God's enemies, the establishment of God's kingdom, the triumph of God's people, the resurrection of the dead, and the final reward of the righteous. The reasons for this view may be summarised as follows:—(1) The Contrast Between the Predictions in Daniel and other Old Testament Prophecies.Prophecy was not merely, nor chiefly, prediction of the future. The prophets were preachers of righteousness to their own times. Their messages conveyed rebuke, or warning, or encouragement to those among whom they lived. In this work the prophets spoke in God's name, and claimed a special knowledge of His will and purpose. Hence they made use of an element of prediction, foretelling the consequences of evil doing on the one hand, and the results of penitence and obedience on the other. But in so far as these predictions were definite, they related to the immediate future, dealing with the destinies of men and nations already existing, or with the issues of movements already in progress. Further, such predictions were always provisional. Their fulfilment depended upon certain moral circumstances and conditions. Threatened doom might be averted by repentance. Promised prosperity might be forfeited by disobedience. This principle, clearly stated in Jeremiah 18:7-10, is of universal application. The prophets undoubtedly spoke of the distant future also, but their predictions regarding this were always of a more or less general nature, consisting not of minute anticipations of particular historic events, but of ideal pictures of the triumph of righteousness, of the universal sway of God's kingdom, and of the advent of a perfect King and Saviour. The last-mentioned features are not wanting in Daniel, but in all the other respects which have been referred to, this book differs widely from those of the prophets properly so-called. Except in the solitary exhortation of Daniel 4:27, it contains no practical message for the age of the exile, in which Daniel is placed. Its teaching is expressly represented as sealed up for a future age (Daniel 8:26; Daniel 10:1-14; Daniel 12:4, Daniel 12:9). The earliest period (as interpreters of all schools agree) in which it was fitted to convey instruction and encouragement, was that of Antiochus Epiphanes, 400 years after the captivity. Again, it appears to predict, not in the conditional manner of the prophets, but with absolute certainty, the leading particulars of the course of history during these intervening centuries, the successive empires which arose after the fall of the Babylonian power (chs, 2, 7), the Persian invasion of Greece (Daniel 11:2), the conquests of Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:5-7, Daniel 8:21; Daniel 11:4), and the breaking up of his empire (Daniel 8:8, Daniel 8:22; Daniel 11:4), the minute details of the relations between the later kings of Syria and Egypt (Daniel 11:5-20), and finally the character and career of Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 8:9-12, Daniel 8:23-25; Daniel 11:21-45). The contents of Daniel 11 in particular are altogether unique in this respect, and have no resemblance to the predictions of OT. prophecy in general. So obvious is the contrast that some recent scholars, while seeking to maintain the earlier authorship of the book as a whole, have been constrained to regard Daniel 11 as an addition, composed after the events which it describes. But the exceptional features which appear so strikingly in this chapter are more or less characteristic of all the visions in the book, and point to the same conclusion with regard to them all.