Book Of Daniel Analysis

“I call upon your name Oh Lord. From the depths of the pits hear my plea. Come near, you say do not fear. Redeem my life”

The Book of Daniel is distinct from all the other books of Old Testament right from the language used in it. It is the only book of Old Testament which has three scripts in it: Aramaic, Hebrew and some paragraphs of Greek. Though later this was translated to many other languages, originally it was scripted in these three languages. Another significant feature is that, Book of Daniel is attributed as the master piece of Old Testament apocalyptic literature. The art of hermeneutics and exegesis are also the peculiar aspects of this text. This paper revolves around two different foci one Daniel as a historian or a prophet

This section of the text can be looked upon in two ways either as a constructed prophecy or as sheer history containing some prophecy. In either way historians admit that chapters 7-12 outline the battle between the four major kingdoms of the east, the Babylonians, the Medo-Persian or the Medians then the Persians, the Greek and the Romans, from sixth to the second or first century B.C. Daniel chapter 11, in particular brings all the attention to it, where it so surprisingly details the Hellenistic period. Many scholars put forward the argument that this text might have been written in second century when all these battles probably were actually happening and no one could possibly give such prophecies in such a confined universe devoid of any supernatural forces. All these sense of controversies evoked the readers beginning from the 18th and 19th century with a much greater influence of rationalism, scientific revolution and naturalism. Many of them support this

But the answers to these puzzling questions are reposed in some of the chapters of Bible. Citing from the book of Mathew (24:15), Jesus echoes Daniel and a quote from his book, “abomination the causes desolation, ' spoken of through the prophet Daniel”. This was one instance where Jesus actually refers to the person Daniel and not the book of Daniel as a whole. Also there is another occasion where Jesus recognises Daniel as profhtou or as “one who proclaims inspired utterances on behalf of God”. Prophets weren’t necessarily the people who foresee the future but they are also the ones who serve as the voice of god. This definition of a prophet was once contradicted by the Hebrew canon where they divided the Old Testament into a threefold division of the law, prophets and the writings. According to the Hebrew canon Daniel is not considered as a prophet and hence book of Daniel is included among the historical writings and Daniel is referred to as a historian and hence all his prophecies comes under mere pieces of history. Daniel was a servant to the Babylonian government and this aspect of Daniel’s life is again nailed by the Hebraic canon to refer him as a historian. Daniel chapter 8 also spots some momentous references