Daniel

Additional Reading:

Essay provided by John Collins as part of his course “Judaism before Jesus” is titled A LIFE-STYLE FOR DIASPORA: A STUDY OF THE TALES OF ESTHER AND DANIEL by W. LEE HUMPHREYS, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE, TENN. The PDF is in the Collins directory in Dropbox. The following is the intro paragraph.

THE books of Esther and Daniel, both among the last to find a secure place in the OT canon, are the most exclusive and nationalistic units within the Bible. Esther, with its celebration of the triumph of the Jews of the eastern diaspora over their pagan foe, climaxing in the slaughter of thousands, and to a lesser extent Daniel, with its condemnation of the pagan empires and apocalyptic foretaste of the triumph of the Jews, have disturbed readers with such harsh exclusiveness. And yet it is within the setting of the foreign courts of pagan monarchs that Esther and Mordecai, Daniel and his companions, rise to high position and work out their fate. This element stands in sharp contrast to the overall thrust of the books. This essay seeks to understand this contrast in terms of the traditional historical development of the books.

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Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)

Christine Hayes, the Daniel portion of her Lecture 23 of Yale University’s Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) (RLST 145) go here. The following bullets are extracts.

• Daniel also can be divided really into two parts and the first six chapters have often been described as heroic fiction.
• Belshazzar was actually never a king; he was sort of a prince regent. He was defeated by Cyrus, not by Darius, so there are tremendous historical inaccuracies and this is a sign that this was written at a much later time, looking back when the history of a period 300 years ago was very confused.
• The first six chapters – There’s no clear historical knowledge of the Babylonian and Persian period. So the book, we know, was written quite late, perhaps the end of the third century.
• Daniel 7 to 12 is written in the first person and it’s fully apocalyptic.
• The Book of Daniel is a response to specific historical circumstances. It’s a response to the crisis of persecution and martyrdom that was going on in the second century. That was a new kind of crisis that led to a new kind of response, because the earlier crises of 722 and 586 — they could be explained as punishment for sin and faithlessness. But now in the second century, Jews were dying not because they were faithless but precisely because they were faithful; because they refused to obey the decrees of Antiochus and to violate their law and covenant and they were dying. So this new phenomenon of martyrdom, really for the first time, required new responses and the book of Daniel provides a fully apocalyptic response. Remain faithful, wait, Daniel urges, know that this will all be set right by God, not in this world but in an ultimate and cataclysmic triumph of life and faith over death and evil, and it will be soon.

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Two Genres From Paul Davidson’s video

One of the most unusual features of Daniel is the shift in genre and narrative style that happens halfway through the book. The first six chapters contain a series of short, third-person stories about Daniel and his companions, mostly written in Aramaic.

Chapters 7-12 consist of prophetic visions that are written in the first person, from Daniel’s point of view. With the exception of chapter 7, the second half is written in Hebrew. In short, Daniel feels like two different books combined into one volume. Genre-wise, most scholars today describe the first six chapters as court tales. Stories in this genre were typically set in Near Eastern royal courts, usually with a wise advisor or courtier as the protagonist.

Language Breakdown from ChatGPT & Paul Davidson (PD):

1. Classical Hebrew:
   • Chapters 1:1–2:4a and 8:1–12:13 are written in Classical Hebrew.
   • Classical Hebrew was primarily used during the First Temple period (around the 10th to 6th centuries BCE). However, Hebrew remained a liturgical and literary language even into the Second Temple period (6th century BCE to 70 CE).
   • consist of prophetic visions written in the first person, from Daniel’s point of view. (PD)
2. Biblical Aramaic:
   • Chapters 2:4b–7:28 are written in Aramaic.
   • Biblical Aramaic is a dialect of Imperial Aramaic, which was widely used during the Achaemenid Empire (6th to 4th centuries BCE) and later periods. By the time of Daniel’s composition (likely 2nd century BCE), Aramaic was the lingua franca of the Eastern
   • contains a series of short, third-person stories about Daniel and his companions. (PD)

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From a Reddit comment here:

Most scholars will date the book to about 164 BCE. Some theories state that the court tales (the first six chapters) may be much older, and were incorporated into the book by a later author. This is possible, but there is very little evidence for it. The earliest reference to the book of Daniel occurs in I Maccabees, which was written about 100 BCE. Some believe that there may be an earlier reference in the third Sibylline Oracles (ca 150 BCE), but the dating of this reference is much more difficult to pin down.

Aside from these, there is only a deafening silence with regard to the book of Daniel. The apocryphal work Sirach was written between 200 BCE and 175 BCE. It contains a long section covering nearly every figure of renown in the Old Testament – except for Daniel.

If Daniel were as well known as its supporters suggest, this complete silence is puzzling.

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How Scholars Date the Book of Daniel at the YouTube Channel of The Inquisitive Bible Reader.

See my transcript in the Daniel subdirectory in DropBox.

Episode 14: Even though critical scholars reached a broad consensus on the dating and context of the book of Daniel long ago, Daniel’s dating and purpose remain contested in religious circles. In this video, I analyze the genre of Daniel and present some of the reasons scholars date it to the Maccabean period.

NOTE – There is little info about the writer of this material who is a journalist in Japan.

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Prophecy, Apologetics and Daniel: The Dead Sea Scrolls, Unapologetically 2.2. by Kipp Davis

In this video, Dr. Kipp Davis continues his discussion of Christian apologists and the Dead Sea Scrolls with a short review of the claims often made about the veracity and antiquity of the biblical Book of Daniel.

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From ChatGPT

Prompt – What evidence do critical bible scholars point to to support the date of the book of Daniel in the Hebrew bible being written in the Maccabean period?

Critical Bible scholars generally date the composition of the Book of Daniel to the Maccabean period (2nd century BCE, specifically around 167–164 BCE) based on internal and external evidence. The key reasons include:

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1. Accurate Knowledge of 2nd Century BCE Events

• The apocalyptic visions in Daniel 7–12 provide detailed descriptions of events leading up to the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BCE), a Seleucid ruler.
• Events such as the desecration of the Temple in Jerusalem, the persecution of Jews, and the rise of the Maccabean revolt are described with remarkable accuracy.
• For example:
  • Daniel 11 describes in detail the wars between the Seleucids (kings of the North) and the Ptolemies (kings of the South).
  • Antiochus IV’s persecution of Jews (including outlawing the Torah and desecrating the Temple) is implied in Daniel 8 and Daniel 11.
• However, the text’s predictive accuracy stops abruptly after 164 BCE, suggesting it was written during that period, when the events were occurring or had just occurred.

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2. Lack of Accurate Knowledge of Earlier History

• The book contains historical inaccuracies concerning events in the Babylonian and Persian periods (6th–5th centuries BCE).
  • For instance:
    • The claim that Belshazzar was the “king of Babylon” (Daniel 5) is problematic. Historical records indicate Belshazzar was the crown prince, not king, under Nabonidus.
    • The assertion that Darius the Mede conquered Babylon is historically unsubstantiated; Babylon fell to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BCE.
• Such inaccuracies suggest the author was unfamiliar with precise details of the earlier period, which would be unlikely if it were written closer to the time of the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE).

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3. The Use of Language

• Hebrew and Aramaic: The Book of Daniel is written partly in Hebrew (chapters 1 and 8–12) and partly in Aramaic (chapters 2–7).
• Scholars note that the Aramaic in Daniel resembles the Late Imperial Aramaic used in the 2nd century BCE, not the older Aramaic of the Babylonian or Persian periods.
• Additionally, the Hebrew in Daniel reflects linguistic developments from the Hellenistic period, further supporting a late date.

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4. Hellenistic Influence and Apocalyptic Themes

• Daniel’s apocalyptic style—characterized by visions, angelic interpretations, and symbolic imagery—shares similarities with other Jewish apocalyptic literature that emerged in the Hellenistic period (e.g., 1 Enoch).
• Themes of resistance against oppressive rulers and the ultimate triumph of God’s kingdom align with the Jewish experience under Antiochus IV’s oppression.
• The influence of Greek culture is reflected in ideas such as the four successive empires (interpreted as Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece), culminating in God’s ultimate kingdom—a view relevant during the Maccabean revolt.

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5. Theological and Cultural Context

• The Book of Daniel addresses themes of persecution, martyrdom, and divine deliverance that resonate strongly with the experience of Jews during the Maccabean crisis.
• Antiochus IV’s attempts to suppress Jewish religious practice (e.g., enforcing Greek customs and defiling the Temple) mirror the challenges faced by Daniel and his companions in the narrative (e.g., refusing foreign food, idol worship, and maintaining loyalty to God).
• The portrayal of God as sovereign over history, promising deliverance through divine intervention, offered hope to Jews resisting Antiochus’ oppression.

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6. Canonical and Historical Evidence

• The Book of Daniel is absent from earlier Jewish texts such as the writings of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus, ca. 180 BCE), which praises other biblical heroes but does not mention Daniel.
• The earliest clear references to Daniel come from 1 Maccabees (written ca. 100 BCE) and Qumran manuscripts (e.g., the Dead Sea Scrolls), suggesting the book was relatively new in the 2nd century BCE.

Conclusion

Based on the combination of historical accuracy about the Maccabean period, historical inaccuracies regarding earlier events, linguistic evidence, and the apocalyptic themes relevant to 2nd-century Jewish persecution, critical scholars argue that the Book of Daniel was composed during the Maccabean revolt (ca. 167–164 BCE). Its purpose was likely to encourage Jews to remain faithful under Antiochus IV’s persecution, with the hope that God would intervene and restore Israel.

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Prompt – How long would it take to sail in the first century BCE from Ascalon in Judea to the isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea

Sailing time in the first century BCE from Ascalon (modern Ashkelon in Judea) to the isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea depended on several factors, including weather conditions, wind direction, the type of ship, and navigational choices. However, we can make a general estimate.

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Distance and Route

• Distance: Roughly 500-600 nautical miles depending on the exact route taken.
• Likely route: Sail northwest along the coast of the Levant, cross to Rhodes or the southwestern coast of Anatolia, and then proceed northwest to Patmos.

Sailing Time

• Ancient ships, such as merchant vessels and triremes, traveled at an average speed of about 4-6 knots (nautical miles per hour) under favorable winds.
• Assuming 10-12 hours of sailing per day (typical for coastal navigation), a reasonable estimate would be about 10-14 days to complete the journey.
  • Faster ships under ideal conditions might manage closer to 8-10 days, while adverse winds or storms could extend it to 3 weeks or more.

Factors Influencing the Journey

1. Wind Conditions: The journey would rely heavily on the prevailing winds.
   • The Etesian winds (strong northerly winds common in summer in the Aegean) could slow progress in the final leg if traveling northward.
   • Winter storms would significantly hinder travel.
2. Stops: Ancient sailors tended to travel coastal routes, stopping at ports for supplies or safety.
   • Likely stops might include Tyre, Sidon, Rhodes, and coastal Anatolian cities.
3. Season: Sailing was safer and faster in late spring to early autumn. Winter sailing was dangerous due to storms and high seas.

Conclusion

Under average conditions in the first century BCE, the journey from Ascalon to Patmos might take approximately 10-14 days. This estimate assumes coastal sailing, favorable winds, and good weather. In less ideal conditions, the voyage could take several weeks.

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