The book of daniel is an apocalyptic of the old testament. John calvin never preached from the book and did not write a commentary on the book. The reason the development of history seems to stop with. The social setting of the aramaic and hebrew book of daniel. Belshazzar has been weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom is to be divided between the medes and persians. He became known as a man who could interpret dreams and visions. The book of daniel provides an account of the experiences of daniel and other faithful jews who were taken captive to babylon. The first look at the book of daniel is exciting and tough at the same time. The work of the great prophet was to turn the jews to the lord as the only hope of their salvation.
The book of daniel encompasses many centuries of history in its pages. The widely held view that the book of daniel is largely fictional rests mainly on the modern philosophical assumption that longrange. The book of daniel, a book of the old testament found in the ketuvim writings, the third section of the jewish canon, but placed among the prophets in the christian canon. It is clearly established daniel could and did write the book. It is listed in article vi of the 39 articles of the church of england among the books.
Feb 03, 2012 pastor dan lewis begins his lectures on the book of daniel with the historical context of the time period. Title according to hebrew custom, the title is drawn from the prophet who throughout the book received revelations from god. The book of daniel is one of the most exciting books in the bible. The book of daniel in preterist perspective and in the days of these kings shall the god of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. Daniel refusing to eat at the kings table, early 1900s bible illustration. The book of daniel in its context scholars at the oriental court. Daniel the prophet of the bible, his life and accomplishments. By david sheldon the book of daniel is not in chronological order as can be seen in the timeline below. Great examples of courage, faith, faithfulness, humility, patience, devotion, etc. The fascinating book of daniel teacher s notes page 2 4. The improbability of daniel and his friends having been incorporated with the babylonian wise men.
For our study of the book of daniel, we have study notes for each session. The book of daniel its historical trustworthiness and prophetic. Quotation given in full when space permits corresponding quotations from daniel. Intro to daniel biblica the international bible society. Daniel background and introduction sermon by darren rogers. Daniel 1 the book of daniel is the foremost book of prophecy in the old testament o what the book of revelation is to the new testament canon, the book of daniel is to the old testament canon the prophecies of daniel reveal more future events, in exceptional detail and in greater concentration, than any other book of the bible. Darius the mede is first mentioned in the story of belshazzars feast. Here i wish to point to the excellent remark of robert dick wilson, who has devoted a great deal of his time and. A commentary on the book of daniel by cooper abrams. In the course of the books opening stories, the kings keep realizing that daniels god is, in fact, everybodys god, or the only godand then they immediately do something entirely disrespectful and ridiculous like drinking. In other words, understand what god was doing with the jews and the world, and youll understand the book of daniel.
The babylonians and chaldeans were two different races. Josiah, the king of judah,hoping toincur favor with the babylonians,sought to prevent the egyptians from joining assyria and met the egyptian army at megiddo. As we shall see later, however, an analysis of the book turns up some interesting facts. The first half of the book chapters 16 contains stories in the third person about the experiences of daniel and his. Daniel may be compared to joseph, for both men had the gift of interpreting dreams.
This objection is easily answered as the babylonians used the accession year system of dating also known as. The book, however, was written in a later time of national crisiswhen the jews were suffering severe persecution under antiochus iv epiphanes. Step 2 historical method understanding what was happening at the time of the books writing and whom it was written to step 3 observation looking at. Named after its writer, daniels book is a product of his time in babylon as a jewish.
A quarter of the books in the bible are of prophetic nature. A historicalchronological look at the book of daniel. The book of isaiah is named for the prophet who composed the book. To fully appreciate the book of daniel, it is useful to understand the historical background. In both the historical and the prophetic sections, daniel presents a strong.
In apocalyptic writings, words describe a picture which must be interpreted. The contents of the first verse in daniel have been challenged on two counts. The book of daniel is a book of comfort revealing an omniscient and omnipotent. Technically, the jews did not go into the babylonian captivity, they went into the chaldean captivity. Such historians as josephus attribute this book to daniel in the 6th century. Daniel 2 background information with maps and images picture. Book of daniel overview insight for living ministries. Foretells future world events to come that affects israel. Daniel was the author of this book, and this was confirmed by jesus himself, but there has been considerable criticism about the book of daniel because of the accuracy of the prophecies. A new commentary on the book of daniel begins by retelling the events leading to the destruction of jerusalem in 586 bc. Daniel 1 background information with maps and images picture. The broad consensus is that daniel never existed, and that the author appears to have taken the name from a legendary hero of the distant past mentioned in the book of ezekiel. Belshazzar, king of babylon, holds a great feast, during which a hand appears and writes on the wall. The book is made up primarily of historical narrative found mainly in chs.
Daniel 1 background information with maps and images. The widely held view that the book of daniel is largely fictional rests mainly on the modern philosophical assumption that longrange predictive prophecy is impossible. Keeping the historical context of the middle east in mind, we can approach the question of when the book of daniel was written. The book of daniel its historical trustworthiness and. Similar to daniel in that the context of the entire book is in captivity with particular emphasis on the court of a pagan king. Pastor dan lewis begins his lectures on the book of daniel with the historical context of the time period. Christ quotes from this book and attributes the quote to daniel. The book of daniel, a book of the old testament found in the ketuvim. The book of daniel stands as a unique mix in the old testament, for while it begins with history, it makes a strong transition at chapter 7, where it contains visions of future events significant to the jews.
In the hebrew canon daniel is not included among the prophets. When antiochus came to the throne in 175 bc the jews were largely. One likely purpose in denying them a basic right of all israelites was to discourage the nation from inflicting an incapacity for fatherhood and normal family life upon any of its sons. The book of daniel, also called the prophecy of daniel, a book of the old testament found in the ketuvim writings, the third section of the jewish canon, but placed among the prophets in the christian canon. The book of daniel is not regarded by scholars as a reliable guide to history. An understanding of the historical background of the book of daniel is essential for a proper understanding of its message. Summary of the book of daniel the prophet daniel was actually taken captive during the babylonian invasion on jerusalem, the first attack in 607 bc. Daniel background and introduction sermon by darren. Paul tanner introductory comments the following notes are intendedtosupply the student withsuffic ient informationonthe historical developments that relate tothe book of daniel.
Outside of the pentateuch, no book of the ot has been subjected to as much scrutiny as the book of daniel. That jesus concurred is clear from his reference to the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet daniel mt 24. As in other historical literature, this book would enable israel to walk more. Not one commentary was written on the book of esther in the first seven centuries of the church. Daniel 33043399 457362 bce was a celebrated jewish scholar and master interpreter of dreams who was exiled to babylon after the destruction of the holy temple in jerusalem.
The first six chapters are the history section, telling of a jew named daniel of royal descent, who was taken captive along with the rest of the people from the city of jerusalem. Introduction to isaiah, author, background, prophecy. Daniel and historical setting traditionally, the prophet daniel is seen as the author of this book daniel 9. Because the book of daniel contains so many detailed prophecies of things that happened centuries later, some skeptics have suggested that it is a fraud, written much later in history. Occasionally, as we shall see, this history cannot be reconciled with the known facts, which provides a clue to the authors true time period.
It says only that he approached jerusalem and threatened war. It is often claimed that the date given by daniel for the first year of nebuchadnezzars reign contradicts that given by jeremiah so pfeiffer, 1948. The book of daniel is an apocalypse, a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient. Daniel 2 background information with maps and images. Historical history behind daniel, assyrian, babylonian, and judean background information including the date,author, languages,criticisms, and themes. In order to set the scene, as it were, a quick overview of middle eastern history, as it affected the jews.
Many claim that these had to been written after the fact, and that daniel could not possibly have known so much detail about the future. The historical background to the book of daniel by dr. Daniel wrote the book of daniel during the sixth century b. His name means god is my judge and, indeed, much of daniels life focuses on the final authority god has over all things in spite of human kingdoms, rulers, or nations. The relatively small state of judah was located at a geographical center in the ancient middle east, where the interests of the great powers frequently. In the third year of king jehoiakim, god allows jerusalem to fall into the power. Critics assert that the book of daniel contains a number of historical errors and. The action described in daniel begins about 596 bc, about ten years after the fall of the assyrian empire. The book implies that daniel was its author in several passages, such as 9. In israel, the law excluded eunuchs from public worship deut. The key to the book is revealed in the relationship between the future gentile dominion and the jewish historical context. The figure of daniel against its mesopotamian background the mesopotamian background of daniel 16. The unusual feature of this book is that daniel wrote the central portion 2.
It had dominated the middle east for about a hundred and forty years. The book is organized very logically once the context and purpose of the book are known. Yet the author of the book of daniel strongly implies that this was daniels lot. Chapters 8 and 11 have some sections that are hard to distinguish between the historical figure antiochus epiphanes and the antichrist. In the days of these kings book perfectbound paperback 740 pages. Daniel, the hero of the book, was an exile in babylon carried away in the first captivity in 605 b. The relatively small state of judah was located at a geographical center in the ancient middle east, where the interests of the great powers frequently clashed. Apr 09, 2015 step 2 historical method understanding what was happening at the time of the book s writing and whom it was written to step 3 observation looking at the text, i.
Book of jonah historical background dan symonds youtube. Outside of the pentateuch, no book of the ot has been subjected to as much scrutiny as the book of. The book itself claims to be the work of an exiled jew in babylon, during the period of about 586 to 536 bce. Critics on daniel placement in canon jesus ben sirach historical issues linguistic issues indications of early date the 4 kingdoms issue video series.
Sep 15, 2019 in the days of these kings book perfectbound paperback 740 pages. The book of daniel presents a collection of popular stories about daniel, a loyal jew, and the record of visions granted to him, with the babylonian exile of the 6th century bce as their background. The first half of the book chapters 16 contains stories in the third person about the experiences of daniel and his friends under kings nebuchadrezzar ii, belshazzar, darius i, and. When daniel came to babylon he became a chief minister at nebuchadnezzars royal court. Background to the book of daniel sermon by johnny a.
It is one of the additions to daniel, considered apocryphal by protestants. The fall of assyria was shortly followed by the rise of babylon. By the time you finish reading daniel, youll probably be wondering how all these babylonian and persian kings could be so incredibly thick. The first six chapters are chiefly historical, and the remainder prophetical. Daniel 1 the book of daniel is the foremost book of prophecy in the old testament. Daniel was a contemporary of ezekiel, this kills the third century dating of this book. This can be troublesome when trying to understand the events that take place in the book because there are many prophecies and symbols that appear and actually overlap one another. The book of daniel agrees that nebuchadnezzar did not occupy judah in 605. Daniel bridges the entire 70 years of the babylonian captivity ca.