Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom www.wenstrom.org

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Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion,
IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.o
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Wednesday November 9, 2011Daniel Introduction
to the Book of Daniel-Date and Authorship of the
Book of DanielLesson 2
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Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 71.
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The book of Daniel was named after its principal
figure, who according to Jewish tradition was the
attributive author.
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The book itself declares Daniel as its author in
Daniel 71, 92, 102, 7 and 124-5.
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Daniel 71 In the first year of Belshazzar king
of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his
mind as he lay on his bed then he wrote the
dream down and related the following summary of
it. (NASB95)
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Daniel 91 In the first year of Darius the son of
Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king
over the kingdom of the Chaldeans 2 in the first
year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the
books the number of the years which was revealed
as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet
for the completion of the desolations of
Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. (NASB95)
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Daniel 101 In the third year of Cyrus king of
Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, who was
named Belteshazzar and the message was true and
one of great conflict, but he understood the
message and had an understanding of the vision.
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2 In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for
three entire weeks. 3 I did not eat any tasty
food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor
did I use any ointment at all until the entire
three weeks were completed.
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4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month,
while I was by the bank of the great river, that
is, the Tigris, 5 I lifted my eyes and looked,
and behold, there was a certain man dressed in
linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure
gold of Uphaz.
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6 His body also was like beryl, his face had the
appearance of lightning, his eyes were like
flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam
of polished bronze, and the sound of his words
like the sound of a tumult.
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7 Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the
men who were with me did not see the vision
nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and
they ran away to hide themselves. (NASB95)
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Daniel 121 Now at that time Michael, the great
prince who stands guard over the sons of your
people, will arise. And there will be a time of
distress such as never occurred since there was a
nation until that time and at that time your
people, everyone who is found written in the
book, will be rescued.
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2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the
ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but
the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who have insight will shine brightly like
the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and
those who lead the many to righteousness, like
the stars forever and ever.
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4 But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and
seal up the book until the end of time many will
go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.
5 Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others
were standing, one on this bank of the river and
the other on that bank of the river. (NASB95)
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The Lord Jesus Christ confirms this (Matthew
2415) who quotes from Daniel 927, 1131 and
1211.
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More confirmation is found in Ezekiel 1414, 20
and 283, which were written after Daniel had
assumed an important post in the kings court at
Babylon.
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The authorship of Daniel was never seriously
questioned until the third century A.D. when a
Neo-platonist named Porphyry attacked the
authenticity of the book of Daniel, assigning the
date of 168 B.C. for the composition of the book.

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He argued that the book was written to support
the faith of the Jews Antiochus Epiphanes was
persecuting.
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However, they fail to realize that the pagan
kings in Daniel are portrayed at times in
positive terms (41-3, 36-37 619-28).
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Now, if the historical context of Daniel was 168
B.C. during the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, a
man who set up an image of Zeus in the temple and
sacrificed pigs on its altar and who attempted to
exterminate the Jews, this positive portrayal of
pagan kings by a zealous persecutor of the Jews
would be inexplicable.
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Outside of this individual, no one questioned the
authenticity of the book of Daniel.
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However, higher criticism in the seventh century
seized upon the arguments of Porphyry.
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Liberal scholarship disregards the evidence and
will not accept the facts because it is biased as
a result of their philosophical presuppositions,
which deny the supernatural and predictive
prophecy.
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The higher critics reject predictive prophecy,
which the book of Daniel abundantly contains.
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The book of Daniel presents in great detail the
history of not only Babylon but also Medo-Persia,
Greece and Rome.
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The events recorded in Daniel 115-35 were
fulfilled in the fourth to the second centuries
B.C.
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The critics of Daniel have the presupposition
that Daniel could not possibly have known in
advance these events.
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They argue that these events were recorded
after the events transpired.
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They in effect reject the inspiration of
Scripture by attacking the integrity of the book
of Daniel.
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Many scholars argue against a sixth century B.C.
date of composition for the book of Daniel
because the book contains several Persian and
Greek words, which to them indicates that it must
have been written much later than the sixth
century B.C.
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With regards to the words which are Persian in
origin, it must be remembered that Daniel served
in the Persian government towards the end of his
life.
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Almost half of the twenty Persian loan words
found in the book of Daniel are related to
government officials in some fashion.
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All three Greek words (Daniel 35, 7, 10, 15)
appear in the eighth century B.C. in Homers
works, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
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There are those who argue against Daniels
authorship because of alleged historical errors.
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They assert that Nebuchadnezzar was not the
father of Belshazzar as indicated in Daniel 52,
11, 13, 18 (cf. verse 22).
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However, the term son was used in the ancient
world to not only denote a blood relationship but
also a non-blood relationship and was used with
reference to the preceding king.
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Critics of the book of Daniel argue against a
sixth century B.C. date for the composition of
the book because it contains apocalyptic
literature, which appeared often in the time of
the Maccabees (which is non-canonical).
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Consequently, some scholars argue that Daniel
must have been written during the Maccabean
period between 168-134 B.C.
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However, apocalyptic literature appears in
abundance in the book of Ezekiel who was also a
sixth century prophet who was exiled to Babylon!
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Pentecost writes, Daniels familiarity with the
individuals spoken of in the book and with the
historical events and customs mentioned in the
book necessitates a sixth-century date for the
book.
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The minute details included in the book could
hardly have been retained accurately by oral
tradition for some 400 years, as suggested by
those who postulate a late date for the book. The
fact that manuscript fragments from the Book of
Daniel were found in Qumran, written perhaps in
the second century b.c., preclude the notion that
Daniel was written in 165 b.c., as many critics
suggest.
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Not enough time would have been available for the
book to have reached the Essene community in
Qumran and for it to have been copied there. Also
the fact that the Book of Daniel was accepted by
the Jews into the canon of Scripture bears
witness to its authenticity.
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Some critics contend that the name Yahweh is not
used by Daniel.
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They argue that since this name was commonly used
in Daniels day by others that the book of Daniel
must have been written at a much later date.
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But this is refuted by the simple fact that the
name appears eight times in chapter nine (92, 4,
8, 10, 13-14).
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There are those who contend Daniels frequent
references to angels and his reference to the
resurrection of the dead in 122 indicates a late
postexilic date for the book.
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But this fails to recognize the fact that angels
are frequently referred to throughout Israels
long history and that resurrection is mentioned
in Psalm 1610 as well as Isaiah 2619, which
were written before the book of Daniel.
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Some are opposed to a sixth century date for
Daniel because the book is not included with the
Prophets but the Writings in the Hebrew Bible.
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They contend that if the book was written in the
sixth century B.C. it would have been included
with the Prophets rather than the Writings.
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But the status of the author rather than the date
of his book determined where his book was placed
in the canon of Scripture.
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Daniel was regarded by his contemporaries as a
governmental leader rather than a prophet, thus
his writings were included in the Writings rather
than in the Prophets.
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In his day, Daniel was a statesman whose public
ministry was not directed toward Israel but
rather it was used in relation to the kings of
the Babylonian and Persian Empires.
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He was called a seer and a wise man but never
a prophet, which is another reason why his book
was not classified with the Prophets.
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Furthermore, God did not use Daniel to deliver a
message to the nation of Israel publicly, which
a prophet would do (Bible Knowledge Commentary,
Pentecost, volume 1, page 1323).
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However, as we noted previously the Lord Jesus
Christ did call him a prophet in Matthew 2415.
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