Book of Daniel

The Book of Daniel is a work of biblical apocalyptic literature. While its story is set in the 6th century BCE, mainstream scholars date its composition to the 2nd century BCE. It presents itself as an account of Daniel, a Jewish exile in Babylon, and his experiences and prophetic visions. The book’s prophecies are grounded in Jewish history, but its depiction of the end times is both cosmic and politically focused. Its core message for its original audience was that, just as the God of Israel rescues Daniel from his enemies, so too would he rescue the Israelites from their current oppression.

In the Hebrew Bible, Daniel is placed among the Ketuvim ("Writings"), whereas Christian canons group it with the Major Prophets. The book has two main parts: six court tales (chapters 1–6), mostly in Biblical Aramaic, and four apocalyptic visions (chapters 7–12), mainly in Late Biblical Hebrew. The Greek Septuagint includes three additional sections in Koine Greek: the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon. Like other Jewish apocalyptic writings from antiquity (excluding the Book of Revelation), Daniel is pseudonymous.

The book’s themes have resonated across centuries, influencing the Dead Sea Scrolls community, the authors of the canonical gospels, and the Book of Revelation. From the 2nd century onward, movements such as the Reformation and later millennialist groups have been deeply shaped by it. The work is considered a *vaticinium ex eventu*—a prophecy written after the events it claims to predict.

**Structure**

The book divides along two lines: the court tales (chapters 1–6) versus the apocalyptic visions (chapters 7–12), and the Hebrew of chapters 1 and 8–12 versus the Aramaic of chapters 2–7. This division is reinforced by a chiastic arrangement in the Aramaic chapters and a chronological progression: chapters 1–6 move from Babylonian to Median rule, while chapters 7–12 move from Babylonian to Persian rule. Scholars suggest the language division and concentric structure of chapters 2–6 are artificial literary devices meant to bind the two halves together. Collins’s commentary provides this outline:

**Part I: Tales (chapters 1:1–6:29)** 1. Introduction (1:1–21 – Babylonian era; Hebrew) 2. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of four kingdoms (2:1–49 – Babylonian era; Aramaic) 3. The fiery furnace (3:1–30 – Babylonian era; Aramaic) 4. Nebuchadnezzar’s madness (3:31–4:34 – Babylonian era; Aramaic) 5. Belshazzar’s feast (5:1–6:1 – Babylonian era; Aramaic) 6. Daniel in the lions’ den (6:2–29 – Median era with mention of Persia; Aramaic)

**Part II: Visions (chapters 7:1–12:13)** 7. The beasts from the sea (7:1–28 – Babylonian era; Aramaic) 8. The ram and the he-goat (8:1–27 – Babylonian era; Hebrew) 9. Interpretation of the seventy weeks’ prophecy (9:1–27 – Median era; Hebrew) 10. The angel’s revelation: kings of the north and south (10:1–12:13 – Persian era, mention of Greek era; Hebrew)

**Chiastic structure in the Aramaic section**

The Aramaic chapters form a chiasm (a concentric literary structure where the main point sits at the center, framed by parallel elements in an “ABBA” pattern). Paul Redditt’s “Introduction to the Prophets” presents it as follows:

A1 (2:4b-49) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth B1 (3:1–30) – Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace C1 (4:1–37) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar C2 (5:1–31) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar B2 (6:1–28) – Daniel in the lions’ den A2 (7:1–28) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth

**Content**

**Introduction in Babylon (chapter 1)** In the third year of King Jehoiakim, God allows Jerusalem to fall to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. Young Israelites of noble or royal birth—physically perfect, handsome, wise, and fit for palace service—are taken to Babylon to learn its language and literature. Among them are Daniel and three companions, who refuse the king’s food and wine. Their overseer fears for his life, but Daniel proposes a trial: after ten days on only vegetables and water, the four emerge healthier than their peers. They are allowed to continue abstaining, and God grants Daniel insight into visions and dreams. At the end of their training, Nebuchadnezzar finds them ten times better than all his wise men, so they remain at court. Daniel serves there until the first year of King Cyrus.

**Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of four kingdoms (chapter 2)** In his second year, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream he knows is important. Suspicious that his wise men might fabricate an interpretation, he demands they first tell him the dream itself, then explain it. When they protest this is impossible, he orders all wise men—including Daniel and his friends—executed. Daniel receives a vision from God revealing the dream: a huge statue with a gold head, silver chest and arms, bronze belly and thighs, iron legs, and feet of mixed iron and clay, then destroyed by a rock that becomes a mountain filling the earth. Daniel tells the king the statue represents four successive kingdoms, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s.