Lawrence Boadt provides so much helpful
perspective on Daniel that I want to be sure to share it all with you. Here is
the rest of what he has to say before we move on to our next book of the
Bible….
The clear purpose of these visions is to predict
in a veiled fashion the end of the kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes and his
persecution. This makes it highly probable that the author of chapters 7-12 was
living through this terrible time and wrote these visions to give strength to
Jews suffering for their faith with the promise that God would end both the
persecutor and his persecution shortly. The author actually predicts the death
of Antiochus in a great battle with Egypt (Dn 11:40-45). But since this was not
the way the king actually died—he perished defending his empire in the east—we
can suggest that at least this part of the book was completed by 164, the year
before he died.
Today the consensus of scholars understands the
whole book to be put together by an author and editor who first collected
traditional stories in chapters 1-6 about the boy-hero Daniel showing his
courage during the persecutions of exile and then added to them the visions of
chapters 7-12 that predicted the coming end of Antiochus Epiphanes and his
persecution. This kind of writing is called a vaticinium ex eventu, a “prediction after the fact,” in which an
author creates a character of long ago and puts into his mouth as predictions
all the important events that have already happened right up to the author’s
own time and place. The language is often coded with symbolic animals and
colors and dates to protect its message from the persecuting authorities. And
its focus is not predicting the future, but giving some meaning to present happenings by explaining the past events that led up to this terrible situation, and
showing that all along God has permitted everything that takes place and is
planning to act soon again to rescue his people.
To achieve such an important purpose, the authors
mixed historical facts with older religious traditions and even pagan myths.
Daniel is already known to the prophet Ezekiel during the exile (Ez 14) as an
ancient figure of great holiness and wisdom, and not as a young captive of the
Babylonians the way the stories portray him. Still earlier, a wise king,
Daniel, forms part of The Tale of Aqhat
in the Ugaritic literature of the thireteenth century B. C. (see ANET 149-155).
Another religious theme accuses pagan kings of being arrogant and proud,
rebelling against God. This echoes the oracles against nations found in the
major prophets which often employ images of cosmic destruction or the motif of
Yahweh as a divine warrior who comes to destroy Israel’s enemies.
Although the book of Daniel is not intended to be
primarily an historical record, it does reflect the general course of events in
the post-exilic period from the time of Nebuchadnezzar down to the Maccabees, a
period of nearly four hundred years. Its whole purpose is to interpret that
history without being wedded to the details. The authors were intensely
interested in what was happening and what God would do about it. They were
convinced that God really does act at
every moment even when it may seem that he has abandoned his people. They
also tried to answer why Israel suffered, and why God allowed people to be
martyred for following his law. These were pressing problems at the time of the
Maccabees, and the authors used all the skill at their command to create an
answer, combining wisdom, prophecy and the new form of apocalyptic. They needed
to convince a despairing people of the mercy of God and so they even left the
court tales of chapters 1-6 in Aramaic, the language of the Babylonian court,
for the sake of realism. Aside from a few chapters in Ezra, Daniel is the only
Old Testament book with Aramaic in it.
The Lasting Significance of
Daniel
The Book of Daniel is one of the latest books of
the Old Testament and has played an important place in later interpretation of
the Bible especially in Christian circles. Some of its more notable aspects can
be listed:
(1)
It has many connections to
the wisdom tradition. Not only was the chief character based on a legendary
wise man of old, but he acts with superb prudence and insight in every
situation. Daniel’s ability to interpret dreams and see through deceit expresses
the Jewish concern for the wise practice of their religion over against the
evil and stupid conduct of pagan nations who persecute them. These concerns
also explain why the model stories of Susanna, Bel and the dragon were added to
the Hebrew original.
(2)
Daniel and his friends
frequently pray and fast, they show complete integrity and courage before the
threat of death, and they study the law to learn right behavior. They are the
ideal examples of good piety for the post-exilic period.
(3)
The book contains the first
explicit teaching about a divine promise that the just person will rise after
death to a life of happiness with God (Dn 12:2). This teaching is echoed in the
later book of 2 Maccabees and becomes a regular part of the faith of the
Pharisee party in Judah at the time of Jesus.
(4)
The book also projects a
coming kingdom of God that will be brought about by a heavenly yet human
figure, the Son of Man (chapter 7). It is not quite the same as the older idea
of a messiah, an anointed king like the kings of old, which was to be found in
Isaiah 7-11, Ezekiel 33-48 and Zechariah. But this Son of Man is clearly a
messianic figure of salvation who will rule over Israel. Jesus himself used
this term to describe his mission, and the early Church understood it to mean
that Jesus was the eschatological Savior whose victory and the fulfillment of
his mission would be known only after his own death and resurrection.
(5)
Finally, Daniel reveals a
new type of literary thought for Israel—especially in the four visions of
chapters 7-12. Since prophets had ceased centuries earlier, apocalyptic
continues the work of prophecy in a new form. It accents God as master of all
events with a care and plan for the world that he reveals through special
agents, such as angels, or through special visions or dreams. Unlike prophecy,
however, the language is usually symbolic and often obscure, and it does not
expect political changes or reform to come from human conversion but from a
direct intervention in power from God on behalf of the good and upright.
The verses that stood out to me most from these
chapters were these:
At the beginning of your supplications a word
went out, and I have come to declare it, for you are greatly beloved. (Daniel
9:23)
Do not fear, greatly beloved, you are safe. Be
strong and courageous! (Daniel 10:19)
How would you feel if an angel came and spoke
these words to you? We need to remember always that God has expressed his love
to us and for us, personally and individually, in his Son, Jesus Christ. (John
3:16; Romans 5:8) Thus, it would not hurt for us to spend some time today, and
every day, imagining God speaking these words from Daniel to us. We are his beloved children.
Comments