Israel

Daniel

Daniyyel

Anonymous (writing under the name of a legendary wise courtier; the second half likely composed during the Maccabean crisis) · court tales composed c. 3rd century BC; the apocalyptic visions of chapters 7-12 composed c. 167-164 BC, during the persecution of Antiochus IV · Jerusalem (Israel) · scripture

History moves through a fixed sequence of empires toward an appointed end under direct divine control, so faithfulness under a persecuting king is not defeat but the last act before certain, imminent deliverance.

four-empire scheme of world history
apocalyptic visions written to fit events up to 164 BC precisely
resurrection and final judgment stated explicitly, arguably for the first time unambiguously in the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 26:19 is a debated earlier anticipation)
possible but debated Persian influence on its cosmic dualism

A two-part book: court tales (chapters 1-6) about a wise Judean exile who survives trials under Babylonian and Persian kings, and apocalyptic visions (chapters 7-12) of successive world empires collapsing before an everlasting kingdom. Critical scholarship dates the visions with unusual precision to 167-164 BC, the years of Antiochus IV's persecution and the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple, since the "prophecy" tracks known history closely up to that point and then breaks off. Some scholars propose that Persian-period exposure to Zoroastrian ideas of cosmic history and angelic hierarchy shaped the book's apocalyptic imagination, though the extent of that influence remains debated. Daniel became the direct model for the Dead Sea Scrolls' War Scroll and for the New Testament's Book of Revelation.

Read the text

Sefaria - Daniel

Descends from

Ezekiel · c. 593-570 BC, composed among the Judean exiles in Babylonia

Fed into

Baruch · c. 200-100 BC; a composite of prose confession and wisdom poetry, probably assembled over time rather than written at once
War Scroll · c. 100-50 BC
Revelation · generally dated c. AD 95, under Domitian; a minority view dates it to Nero's reign, c. AD 68-69

Commentary

Readers' notes on this work. No account needed - be scholarly, or at least civil.

Loading commentary…