The Book of Daniel and its Historical Setting
The book of Daniel is made up of two parts, the story of the court of
King
Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel’s visions. It is also made up of different
sections in different languages. In fact it switches languages more
than any other book in the
Bible. These facts have led many
scholars
to believe that the book was not written by one person, or even during one
period of time (REDDITT 1).
The story of the book itself begins among the
Babylonian
conquest of the
holy land. The kingdom of
Medes had weakened
the
Assyrian empire and
King Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon seized on the
opportunity to gain control of
Israel. Therefore the book of Daniel
(like much of the
Old Testament) is set during a time of the
Jews in exile
(Sullivan 3).
Like many of the books written during an exile the character
of Daniel himself is meant to led those Jews lost among the
pagans back
to the one true
Hebrew God. It accomplishes this through
apocalyptic
visions such as the following:
“I, Daniel saw in my vision by night the four winds of
heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts come up out of
the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion
and had eagles’ wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked
off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like
a human being; and a human mind was given to it… And was told, ‘Arise,
devour many bodies!’ (Daniel 7:2-4 and 5)”
The use of this language is not only to scare lapsed Jews into
piousness, it also serves as a reassurance to those who have remained faithful
that
God has not forgotten them, and one day the
Lord will rise up and
bring them justice. As Elizabeth Dyer put it in U.S. Catholic, “Apocalyptic
literature often functioned in times of crisis to assure the hearer of God’s
reliable power,” and the Lord’s ability to “ultimately
rescue the
faithful” (Dyer 2).
The most famous of Daniel’s reassurances to his fellow Jews is the
story of his time in the lion’s den. The story begins with a
writing appearing on the wall of the
King Belshazzar’s (Nebuchadnezzar’s
son) palace. Daniel was summoned to interpret it. He rejects
the king’s gifts and tells Belshazzar that he has not
humbled himself
before God and that God had “numbered the days of your kingdom”
(Daniel 5:26). Belshazzar thanks Daniel, but later the king’s
advisors plot against Daniel and convince the king to sentence him to a death
in the lion’s den. After Daniel is able to survive a night in
the den, he is triumphant. He has proven that faith in God protects the believer
even in the most dire circumstances. As the writer(s) of Daniel put
it, “My God sent his
angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that
they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before Him (Daniel
6:22)”.
Daniel’s Purpose
The
literary themes of the book of Daniel hold out several
important ideas for us today. First, Daniel is not a book with any
historical “lessons” to preach to its readers (Sullivan 7).
The book's existence is for the most part simply to
edify God.
However, through Daniel’s actions in putting God before himself several
important concepts are offered.
First is the humility of the faithful before God. The place of God at the
head of all things shows the
Yahwistic leanings of the Books’ authors
(Redditt 3). This is important today because even among God-fearing
Christians, the placement of God is not often before themselves let alone
others.
Second are the necessity of truth and the idea of the Lord as truth.
When Daniel is called on to interpret dreams or other visions, he speaks
truthfully, often to his own detriment. Granted, the
apocalyptic
scenes in the later chapters are not very accessible to readers, but the
Daniel speaks truthfully all the same.
Sources
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989)
Sullivan, R.S.C.J., Kathryn. “An Introduction to the Book of Daniel” The Old Testament Reading Guide: The Book of
Daniel and The Book of Jonah, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1975)
Dreyer, Elizabeth. "Apocalypse Now and Then," U.S. Catholic Vol. 63/Issue 3, March 1998 Ebscohost April 3, 2000.
Redditt, Paul L. "Daniel 11 and the Sociohistorical Setting of the Book of Daniel," Catholic Bible Quarterly Vol. 60/Issue 3, July 1998 Ebscohost April 3, 2000.