Daniel

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The Old Testament > Daniel

Subpages: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapters 7-8, Chapter 9, Chapters 10-12

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Historical setting

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King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was the epitome of earthly power. For centuries political power in the Near East had been balanced between two great powers – in the South Egypt, and in the North a succession of empires including Syria and Assyria. But this pattern ended in 605 BC when the next Northern power, Babylon, decisively defeated the combined armies of Assyria and Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish. The winning general was Nebuchadnezzar, the oldest son of the Babylonian king. Upon the death of his father later that year Nebuchadnezzar returned home and succeeded to the throne. He did not actually conquer Egypt as Assyria had briefly managed earlier, but Egypt’s power in the Near East was broken, and Nebuchadnezzar’s grip over the entire Near East was never seriously threatened during his 42 year reign. From a Near Eastern perspective, Nebuchadnezzar was the first person to literally become the king of the world.

Babylon conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 597 BC and carried off many of its social elites, including Daniel. Jewish rebellions led to two more invasions. During the third invasion in 586 BC the Babylonians destroyed the Temple of Solomon and carried away all but the very poorest of the Jews.

A broader treatment of the history of ancient Israel, including Daniel, is found at Old Testament: Historical Overview.


Summary

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The book of Daniel can be outlined as follows:

Daniel
A. The king’s food: personal purity and blessing (1)
B. Dream of the statue (2)
C. The fiery furnace (3)
D. King Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (4)
D. King Belshazzar’s feast (5)
C. The den of lions (6)
B. Visions of four beasts and two beasts (7-8)
A. Israel’s punishment for sin and the restoration of Jerusalem (9)
B. Vision of north and south kingdoms (10-12)

Following the Babylonian conquest of Judah, the entire House of Israel was for the first time since Moses conquered, dispersed, and without an ark or temple. Under these circumstances a series of questions naturally arose: Is God still all-powerful? Is there any reason to continue worshiping him? Are the Jews still his chosen people? Will they be restored to Jerusalem? The Book of Daniel answers all of these questions Yes.

The dream of the statue (chapter 2) and the vision of four beasts (chapter 7) acknowledge that a succession of earthly kingdoms will rule during much of the earth’s history. But ultimately God’s own kingdom will succeed them, will be greater than them, and will be eternal. The book of Daniel can make these prophetic assertions in chapters 2, 7-12 with authority because we first see God intervene and control the affairs of individuals in chapters 1-6. And we trust that Daniel speaks for God because he relates Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, something that the priests of other gods are unable to do (chapters 2, 4, 5).

The book of Daniel outlines as a fairly clean chiasmus. The central position of greatest importance in this structure is given to the two episodes in which Babylonian kings are individually subjected to God’s will. First, King Nebuchadnezzar is deprived of his human reason “till thou know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men” (4:25). Restored to his position as the most powerful man in the world, Nebuchadnezzar promptly acknowledges God’s supreme power (4:34-37). Then, when King Belshazzar publicly insults God’s power, his kingdom is overthrown and he is slain by the invading Persians before the next day even dawns (5:1-4, 30-31). The Book of Daniel thus affirms that God is still omnipotent, still rules in the affairs of men, and will in his own due time establish his eternal and unchallenged kingdom. That Israel meanwhile suffers distress as it is conquered by a succession of earthly empires is due not to any weakness of its God, but to the nation's own inability to govern itself in righteousness.

A second lesson of Daniel is that God also rules in the affairs of individuals. In the twin stories of the fiery furnace and the lions’ den (chapters 3, 6) God miraculously delivers Daniel and his friends when they are threatened with destruction for their righteousness in worshiping him. In the story of the king’s meat (chapter 1) their obedience to God’s dietary law results in their becoming “fairer and fatter in flesh” than the other children and “ten times better than all the astrologers and magicians.” In every episode their willingness to sacrifice political station in favor of religious commitment ultimately blesses them with higher political station. The Book of Daniel thus witnesses that God still protects and blesses righteous individuals.

A third lesson is that such protection and blessing come only to the righteous. In the opening story of the king’s meat (chapter 1) the youths’ fairness and wisdom is a direct result of their ritual purity and obedience to God’s law. The parallel vision of Judea’s redemption (chapter 9) explains that the Jews were conquered because of their wickedness. And while Jerusalem will be rebuilt and the Jews will be restored to the land of their inheritance as God’s chosen people, it will only last until they are again ripe for destruction (9:24-26). And Daniel leaves room for no excuses – he understood as well as anyone the difficulty of living faithfully in the face of great earthly power.

Each of the major divisions of Daniel is discussed separately on the following subpages: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapters 7-8, Chapter 9, Chapters 10-12.


Discussion

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Points to ponder

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I have a question

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Relation to other scriptures

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Related scriptures

The book of Revelation borrows heavily from the imagery of beasts in Daniel 7-8.

Parallel passages

There are too many parallel passages in Daniel to list here. Parallel passages are instead listed in the discussion of each individual chapter.

Text transmission

Joseph Smith Translation

The Joseph Smith Translation made only one change to the book of Daniel:[1]

  • Dan 5:28


Complete outline and page map

This heading contains an outline for the entire book. Items in blue or purple text indicate hyperlinked pages that address specific portions of this section. Click the link above and to the right to edit or add content to this heading. →

Daniel
A. The king’s food: personal purity and blessing (1)
a. plan to teach Daniel and friends the learning of the Chaldeans (3-4)
b. plan to feed Daniel and friends the food of the Chaldeans (5-7)
b. Daniel and friends eat God’s food and become the fairest (8-16)
a. Daniel and friends taught by God and become the wisest (17-21)
B. Dream of the statue (2)
a. the king’s request to recount the dream will verify its interpretation (1-9)
b. the king’s priests state that only a god can reveal dreams (10-13)
c. Daniel promises to interpret the dream (14-19)
d. Daniel praises God as the controller of history, revealer of secrets, and source of his own wisdom (19-23)
c. Daniel states that he is ready to interpret the dream (24-25)
b. Daniel states that only God can reveal the dream (26-30)
a. Daniel recounts the king’s dream (31-36)
a. Daniel interprets the king’s dream (37-45)
d. the king praises God as a true revealer of secrets (46-49)
C. The fiery furnace (3)
a. king commands worship of idol on pain of death (1-7)
b. three accused of not worshiping the idol (8-12)
c. who is that God that shall deliver you? (13-18)
a. king commands three be cast into fire, but soldiers die (19-23)
b. three saved from sentence by angel (24-27)
a./c. king commands respect for God who delivers (28-30)
D. King Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (4)
a. introduction praising God’s power (1-3)
b. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and resulting dread (4-5)
c. request that magicians interpret, but they cannot (6-7)
c. request that Daniel interpret with spirit of God (8-9)
d. Nebuchadnezzar recounts the dream (10-17)
c. request that Daniel interpret with spirit of God (18)
b. Daniel’s dismay at the interpretation of the dream (19)
c - d. Daniel recounts and interprets the dream (20-26)
e. exhorts to repent and avoid the dream’s sentence (27)
e. the king’s pride triggers the dream’s sentence (28-30)
d. the sentence is imposed that he live as a beast (31-33)
a. conclusion praising both God’s power and his justice (34-37)
D. King Belshazzar’s feast (5)
a. the king praises idols while drinking from the temple vessels (1-4)
b. the hand writes on the wall, the magicians cannot interpret (5-9)
c. the prior king heeded the spirit of God in Daniel (10-12)
d. the king requests that Daniel interpret (13-17)
c. the prior king learned to respect God’s power (18-21)
a. but the current king has mocked God in favor of idols (22-23)
b. so the hand wrote the king’s sentence on the wall (24-31)
C. The den of lions (6)
a. Daniel promoted over the whole realm (1-3)
1b. the princes can find no fault in Daniel (4-5)
c. the princes obtain the decree forbidding prayer (6-9)
2b. Daniel ignores the decree and prays to God (10)
c. the princes report Daniel violating the decree (11-13)
3b / d. king tries to deliver Daniel by ignoring decree (14-15)
e. king hopes God will save Daniel from lions (16-17)
d. king fasts for Daniel’s deliverance (18-20)
4b. angel delivers Daniel because there is no error in him (21-23)
c. the princes are eaten by the lions (24)
a. Darius commands people to tremble before Daniel’s living God (25-28)
B. Visions of four beasts and two beasts (7-8)
a. Daniel sees a vision of four beasts (7:1-14)
• the lion #1 Babylon, bear #2 Persia, and leopard #3 Greece (2-6)
• the fourth beast #4 Rome with ten horns (7-8)
• earthly kingdoms are overcome and the ancient of days (9-12)
• #5 the everlasting kingdom is given to Christ (13-14)
b. An angel interprets the vision (7:15-28)
• general interpretation of the five kingdoms (15-18)
• question about the fourth beast with ten horns (19-22)
• interpretation of the fourth beast (23-27)
a. Daniel sees a vision of two beasts (8:1-14)
• the ram of #2 Persia (3-4)
• the goat of #3 Greece’s great horn: Alexander (5-8)
• the goat of #3 Greece’s little horn: Antiochus Epiphanes (9-14)
b. Angel Gabriel interprets the vision (8:15-27)
• Gabriel approaches Daniel (15-19)
• interpretation of the ram and goat (20-22)
• interpretation of the little horn (23-26)
A. Israel’s punishment for sin and the restoration of Jerusalem (9)
• Daniel confesses his and Israel’s sins (3-15)
• Daniel requests forgiveness and restoration for Jerusalem (16-19)
• Gabriel prophesies seventy weeks of restoration (20-27)
B. Vision of north and south kingdoms (10-12)
• Daniel’s preparation and discussion with the angel (10:1-11:2)
• the vision (11:2-12:4)
• epilogue: when will this be? (12:5-13)


Resources

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Translations

  • Amplified • The Amplified Bible, 1987 update
  • NASB • New American Standard Bible, 1995 update
  • NIV • New International Version
  • RSV • Revised Standard Version

Cited references

  • Steinmann. Andrew E. From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2011. (ISBN 0758627998). BS637.3 .S74 2011.
  • Wayment, Thomas A., ed. The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the Old Testament, p. 213. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 2009. (ISBN 1606411314) BX8630.A2 2009

Other resources

  • Draper, Richard D. "The Book of Daniel." In Kent P. Jackson, ed. Studies in Scripture, Vol. 4: First Kings to Malachi, p. 320-33. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1993. (ISBN 087579789X) BS1171.2 .A15 1993. Draper does a nice job in his two articles of showing how Daniel answers questions about the continued vitality of Judaism that would have arisen following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.
  • Draper, Richard D. The Prophets of the Exile: Saviors of a People. In Dennis A. Wright, et al, ed. Voices of Old Testament Prophets (Sperry Symposium #26), p. 86-109. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1997. (ISBN 1573453609) BS1505.2 .S64 1997.
  • Fewell, Danna Nolan. Circle of Sovereignty: A Story of Stories in Daniel 1-6. Sheffield, England: The Almond Press (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (JSOT), Supplement Series #72), 1988. (ISBN 1850751587) BS1555.2 .F48 1988. Nice discussion of how Daniel and his friends prosper each time they offer to sacrifice that prosperity in order to be obedient to God.
  • Gaston, Thomas. Historical Issues in the Book of Daniel. Oxford: TaanathShiloh, 2009. (ISBN 095615400X) BS1556 .G38 2009. Resolves objections to the historical accuracy of the book of Daniel.
  • Hardy, Frank Wilton. An Historical Perspective on Daniel 11. Masters thesis, Andrews University, 1983. Excellent attempt at the daunting task of making historical sense of Daniel 10-12; not necessarily successful, but an excellent attempt.
  • Hartman, Louis F. and Alexander A. Di Lella. The Anchor Bible, Vol. 23: Daniel. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1978. (ISBN 0385013221) BS192.2.A1 1964.G3; BS1554.E. The Anchor Bible is the standard complete survey commentary covering all points of view on all issues of scholarship relating to each book of the Bible.


Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves, such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word. In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources are preferable to footnotes.

  1. Wayment, The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the Old Testament, p. 213.

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