General Introduction to the Book of Daniel

The book of Daniel holds a distinctive place in Scripture. Combining historical narrative, a testimony of faithfulness, visionary literature, and prophecy, it leads the reader from exile in Babylon to a much broader perspective encompassing the succession of kingdoms, the fulfillment of God's purpose, and the events associated with the time of the end. This study aims to examine the entire work progressively, taking into account its historical context, literary structure, and the scope of its revelations.

1. A Book at the Intersection of History and Prophecy

The book of Daniel opens with a major historical event: Babylonian domination over Judah and the deportation of part of its population to Babylon (Daniel 1.1-6). Daniel belongs to the generation suddenly confronted with the loss of its political, geographical, and religious bearings.

Jerusalem is threatened, then destroyed. The kingdom of Judah disappears. The Temple is ultimately destroyed. Some of the people now live under foreign rulers. In this context, a fundamental question runs throughout the book: what becomes of God's sovereignty when his people are subject to the powers that dominate the world?

Daniel gradually provides an answer.

Empires succeed one another, rulers rise and fall, political systems change, but no human power lies beyond divine sovereignty. This conviction emerges in the opening chapters and becomes one of the threads running throughout the work: God “deposes kings and establishes kings” (Daniel 2.21).

The book of Daniel therefore presents more than a succession of extraordinary events. Behind the accounts of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus, a true theology of history unfolds.

2. Two Main Parts That Illuminate One Another

The book's structure is remarkable.

The first six chapters primarily recount events in the lives of Daniel and his companions. They introduce the court of Babylon, the dream of the great statue, the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation, Belshazzar's feast, and the lions' den.

The final six chapters gradually shift the perspective. Daniel is no longer simply the interpreter of other people's dreams: he himself receives visions whose scope extends far beyond his own time.

The four beasts of Daniel 7, the ram and the goat of Daniel 8, the seventy weeks of Daniel 9, and then the revelations of chapters 10–12 gradually open up a much broader view of history.

These two parts must not, however, be separated.

The narratives prepare the way for the visions, while the visions give the narratives new depth. The same themes recur in different forms: the succession of kingdoms, the fragility of human power, the persecution of the faithful, divine intervention, and the final establishment of a kingdom that will not pass away.

Daniel must therefore be read as a coherent whole.

3. A Man at the Heart of the Upheavals of His Time

This study will adopt as its working framework the traditional identification of Daniel as the young Judean deported to Babylon in the sixth century BC.

According to the chronological hypothesis adopted in this work, Daniel would have been about fourteen when he was deported in 605 BC. This estimate allows us to follow his aging throughout the book and appreciate the exceptional span of history through which the prophet lived.

The young exile of the first chapter gradually becomes a senior official in the Babylonian administration, then an elderly man who witnesses the fall of the empire in which he had spent most of his life.

Daniel thus lives through several reigns and ultimately witnesses the transition from Babylonian to Medo-Persian rule.

This span gives the book a distinctive dimension. Daniel does more than observe history: he lives through it.

4. A Revelation Extending Beyond Daniel's Time

One of the book's most significant features, however, is the gap between Daniel's lifetime and the timespan covered by the revelations he receives.

Some visions concern events relatively close to his own time. Others announce political changes that will not occur until several generations after his death. Still others point to much more distant horizons.

This progression becomes particularly explicit when Daniel receives this instruction:

“But you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal the book until the time of the end” (Daniel 12.4).

This statement provides one of the keys to reading the work.

Daniel receives revelations whose complete fulfillment he will not personally witness. Indeed, he seeks to understand what he is shown and sometimes acknowledges his lack of understanding (Daniel 8.27; 12:8).

The prophet thus becomes the custodian of a message intended to reach beyond his own generation.

5. Daniel and the Question of Historical Fulfillment

This feature explains why the study of Daniel cannot be confined to a literary analysis of his visions.

The book necessarily invites us to compare some of its predictions with history.

Babylon, the Medo-Persian Empire, Greek power, the divisions arising from Alexander's empire, and the conflicts that followed are all historical realities that must be examined carefully when the relevant texts are studied.

This comparison between prophecy and history is one of the book's great points of interest.

It nevertheless requires a rigorous method: distinguishing what the text explicitly states, what history allows us to establish, and what belongs to interpretation.

This distinction will be particularly important when several prophetic readings are possible.

6. Different Visions of the Same History

Another major feature of Daniel emerges when its different visions are placed side by side.

The statue of Daniel 2, the four beasts of Daniel 7, the ram and the goat of Daniel 8, and the later revelations do not necessarily constitute mutually independent prophecies.

Rather, they seem to present several stages of the same history from different angles.

One vision provides a general framework. Another revisits certain elements and develops them. Yet another focuses on a particular period or figure.

This progression explains why some passages seem difficult when studied in isolation but become much more understandable when compared with the book's other visions.

A specific part of this study will therefore be devoted to comparing Daniel's major revelations to bring out their correspondences, differences, and complementary features.

7. A Special Place for the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks

Among the book's prophetic texts, Daniel 9 occupies an exceptional position.

The prophecy of the seventy weeks introduces a chronology directly associated with Jerusalem, sin, righteousness, the sanctuary, and the Messiah (Daniel 9.24-27).

Its interpretation has given rise to numerous calculations and several chronological systems.

This study will therefore give it particular attention.

It will examine the prophecy's starting point, chronological structure, different periods, and fulfillment. The analysis advocated in this work will be presented with its supporting arguments, while carefully distinguishing the explicit evidence of the biblical text from the chronological reconstructions proposed to interpret it.

Daniel 9 will not, however, be isolated from the rest of the book. The prophecy of the seventy weeks must be placed within Daniel's overall prophetic progression.

8. Daniel and Revelation

The study of Daniel also leads to another biblical book: the Revelation of John.

Several images and themes found in Daniel reappear in Revelation: beasts, kingdoms, persecution of the faithful, certain prophetic periods, judgment, final victory, and the establishment of God's kingdom.

The two books are obviously not identical and must first be studied in their own contexts. Nevertheless, their symbolic vocabulary and perspectives display enough correspondences to justify careful comparison.

Daniel thus provides an important part of the background needed to understand certain visions in Revelation.

This relationship between the two works will be noted regularly whenever it meaningfully clarifies the text.

9. A Study That Extends Beyond Prophecy

The richness of the book of Daniel does not, however, lie solely in its predictions.

Before receiving great visions, Daniel is a man faced with choices.

He must live in a foreign society without losing his identity. He serves rulers whose beliefs he does not necessarily share. He holds important responsibilities while remaining faithful to God. He experiences honors, threats, changes of regime, and ultimately persecution.

His companions face the same question when they refuse to worship the statue erected by Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3.16-18). Daniel himself faces it when a decree forbids prayer to anyone other than the king (Daniel 6.7-11).

The book thus consistently brings together two dimensions: understanding history and remaining faithful within it.

This combination is probably one reason for Daniel's enduring power.

10. A Question Running Throughout the Book

Beyond the succession of narratives, kings, empires, and visions, one fundamental question ultimately accompanies the entire reading:

who really governs history?

Outward appearances offer successive answers: Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, the Medes and Persians, the Greek kings, and then the various powers depicted in the visions.

Yet Daniel leads to a different conclusion.

Human kingdoms possess real but limited power. They appear for a time and eventually disappear. None of them owns history.

This perspective reaches one of its high points in the vision of Daniel 7:

“He was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and people of every language served him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7.14).

From Babylon to the “time of the end,” the book gradually develops this conviction.

11. Entering the Book of Daniel

Studying Daniel therefore means undertaking a journey that begins in the palaces of Babylon but does not end there.

Throughout the twelve chapters, the setting continually broadens. The personal history of a young deportee intersects with the history of empires. The history of empires intersects with that of God's people. Past events open onto messianic and eschatological perspectives.

Some passages are immediately accessible. Others require meticulous historical study. Some visions must be compared with one another before they can be interpreted. Some questions remain debated and must be approached with caution.

But this complexity must not obscure the book's profound unity.

Behind the statues, symbolic animals, numbers, wars, and changes of kingdoms, one constant affirmation remains: human history does not lie beyond God's sovereignty.

This is the conviction that the twelve chapters of Daniel will gradually develop.

The study can now begin where the book itself begins: in Jerusalem, when a young Judean named Daniel finds his life overturned by the arrival of the Babylonian army.

Before examining the twelve chapters of Daniel in turn, we should clarify the book's nature and main issues. The work combines historical narrative, wisdom, prophetic visions, and eschatological perspectives. This diversity explains both its richness and the particular difficulties involved in interpreting it.

1. A Book Difficult to Fit into a Single Category

The book of Daniel has a distinctive literary structure. Its opening chapters primarily take the form of narratives featuring Daniel, his companions, and several rulers of Babylon and the Medo-Persian Empire. From chapter 7 onward, visions become predominant and introduce much more symbolic language.

This distinction must not, however, lead us to view the book as two independent works placed side by side.

Close links unite the two parts. The dream of the statue in Daniel 2 already announces a succession of kingdoms, a theme taken up in another form by the four beasts of Daniel 7. Similarly, God's sovereignty over political powers, demonstrated in the accounts of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, also forms one of the foundations of the prophetic visions.

The narratives and visions therefore belong to the same unfolding argument.

2. Daniel in the Biblical Canon

In the Bible hébraïque — afficher la définition INF012, Daniel is placed not among the Nevi’im, the “Prophets,” but among the Ketuvim, the “Writings.” This classification distinguishes Daniel from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

This does not, however, mean that his book lacks a prophetic character.

Daniel receives dreams and visions, announces future events, and himself seeks to understand the scope of the revelations communicated to him. Indeed, Jesus the Messiah explicitly refers to “Daniel the prophet” in his discourse concerning the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24.15).

We should therefore distinguish the book's canonical position in the Bible hébraïque — afficher la définition INF012 from the prophetic nature of a substantial part of its content.

3. The Question of Authorship and Date

Few biblical books have generated as much discussion about their date of composition.

The traditional reading places Daniel in the sixth century BC and identifies the figure presented in the book as the recipient and transmitter of the visions bearing his name.

Much modern historical-critical scholarship, by contrast, considers that the book's final form should be dated to the second century BC, particularly in the context of the persecutions under Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

The question matters because it profoundly influences how the prophecies are understood.

If the book belongs essentially to the sixth century, its descriptions of the Persian and Greek empires announce events still future in Daniel's time.

If the visions were composed in the second century, a substantial part of these same descriptions may be understood as a theological presentation of events already fulfilled.

This study will adopt an early composition as its interpretive framework and recognize a truly prophetic dimension in Daniel. Nevertheless, the arguments of other approaches will not be ignored when needed to understand the debate.

It is important to distinguish an openly adopted interpretive position from a failure to examine competing views.

4. A Method Based on Three Levels of Analysis

Interpreting Daniel's prophecies requires a fundamental methodological distinction between three levels.

The first is the text: what does Daniel actually say?

The second is history: which events can be independently established and related to the elements described in the book?

The third is interpretation: how can the textual and historical evidence be brought together?

This distinction will be maintained wherever possible throughout the study.

It becomes essential when the text provides a symbolic image without directly identifying its fulfillment. In such cases, the proposed interpretation must not be presented as though it were itself an explicit statement by Daniel.

Conversely, when the book provides its own interpretation of a symbol, that information must be the starting point for analysis.

Daniel 8 provides a particularly clear example. The text does not leave readers free to identify the ram and goat arbitrarily: the ram represents “the kings of Media and Persia,” while the goat represents the kingdom of Greece (Daniel 8.20-21).

Interpretation must therefore begin with what the text itself explains before seeking additional correspondences.

5. Prophecy and History

One of Daniel's most remarkable features is the importance given to the succession of political powers.

Kingdoms arise, dominate, divide, and then disappear.

This succession is never, however, presented as a mere political chronicle. Daniel seeks to show what lies behind visible history.

Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2 provides an initial illustration. The statue represents a succession of kingdoms, but the vision does not end with the last human power. A stone intervenes, destroys the statue, and becomes a great mountain filling the whole earth (Daniel 2.34-35).

The interpretation given to Nebuchadnezzar then specifies:

“In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed” (Daniel 2.44).

Daniel's true perspective therefore extends beyond identifying empires.

The ultimate question is not simply which kingdom succeeds the previous one, but where this entire succession leads.

6. History Presented as Having a Direction

The understanding of history developed in Daniel is not cyclical.

Kingdoms do not succeed one another indefinitely in a purposeless process. The visions lead toward an endpoint.

This direction is particularly evident in Daniel 7. After the succession of the four beasts comes the judgment scene, and dominion is then given to the one presented as “a son of man” (Daniel 7.9-14).

Daniel 12 likewise leads toward a conclusion: distress, deliverance, resurrection, and the completion of an appointed time (Daniel 12.1-4).

The book thus develops a definite progression.

Exile → kingdoms → conflicts → persecution → judgment → deliverance → reign.

This structure provides one of the principal keys to reading the entire work.

7. Understanding Prophetic Repetition

Daniel's visions repeatedly present comparable realities using different symbols.

This repetition should not be considered pointless.

Daniel 2 presents a statue made of several materials.

Daniel 7 presents four beasts.

Daniel 8 then focuses attention on a ram and a goat.

Daniel 11 largely sets aside animal imagery to present a particularly detailed succession of conflicts between rulers.

Each revelation thus adds a further degree of precision.

The principle can be summarized as follows:

general revelation → revisiting → development → greater precision.

This approach to reading will be particularly important when the major visions are finally compared side by side.

8. Historical Fulfillments and the Eschatological Perspective

An additional difficulty arises when certain prophecies seem to have an identifiable historical fulfillment while using language that appears to extend beyond it.

The case of Antiochus IV Epiphanes will be particularly important.

Several elements in Daniel correspond remarkably to the events surrounding his reign, his interventions in Jerusalem, and the desecration of the sanctuary. Ignoring these correspondences would be methodologically unsound.

However, we must also ask whether some texts use this historical episode as a pattern for a later reality.

The eschatological discourse of Jesus the Messiah gives this question particular importance. When he mentions “the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel” (Matthew 24.15), he takes up language from Daniel while applying it to a perspective that still has a future dimension for his hearers.

It then becomes necessary to examine the possibility of several levels of fulfillment without confusing them.

9. The Caution Required with Chronological Calculations

Daniel contains several indications of time: seventy weeks, a time, times, and half a time, 1,290 days, and 1,335 days.

These figures have naturally prompted many calculations.

Some interpretations rest on solid correspondences; others have led to extremely complex systems, sometimes constructed to arrive at a predetermined date.

This study will therefore pay particular attention to chronological methodology.

Each calculation must specify its starting point, the unit adopted, any method of conversion, and the historical evidence used.

A chronology must not be considered proven simply because it arrives at a striking date.

The strength of a chronological proposal depends above all on the soundness of its premises.

10. The Messiah in the Book of Daniel

The study of Daniel also leads to several texts that play an important role in the biblical understanding of the Messiah.

Daniel 7 presents “one like a son of man” coming to the Ancient of Days and receiving everlasting dominion (Daniel 7.13-14).

Daniel 9 speaks of an “anointed one” within the prophecy of the seventy weeks (Daniel 9.25-26).

These passages have played a considerable role in Jewish and Christian interpretations of the book.

The expression “Son of Man” acquires particular importance in the Gospels, where it is one of the designations Jesus frequently uses of himself.

The study of Daniel therefore cannot be separated from the messianic question.

11. Why Continue Studying Daniel Today?

The book of Daniel belongs to a world far removed from ours: Babylon, Persian rulers, Hellenistic wars, and the conflicts surrounding Jerusalem seem to belong to ancient history.

Yet the questions the book addresses remain surprisingly relevant.

How can we maintain our convictions when the surrounding society no longer shares them?

How can we hold positions of responsibility within a political or cultural system that differs from our own convictions?

How far should obedience to authority extend?

At what point does faithfulness to God require refusal?

How should we understand the power of states and rulers when they appear to determine the course of history on their own?

How can we maintain hope when circumstances seem to contradict God's promises?

Daniel does not answer these questions through abstract reflection. He embeds them in the lives of men facing concrete situations.

12. An Invitation to Explore the Twelve Chapters

The book of Daniel thus deserves to be read slowly.

Readers who know only the lions' den or the fiery furnace still know only a small part of it. Those interested only in prophetic calculations also risk missing one of its essential messages.

Daniel is both an account of faithfulness lived out and a revelation of God's sovereignty over history.

This is why the study will follow the book chapter by chapter.

The narratives will be placed in their historical context. The visions will be analyzed in their progression. Symbols will be compared. Chronological evidence will be examined. The different prophecies will finally be placed side by side to bring out their overall coherence.

The journey begins with a teenager torn from Jerusalem and leads to one of the final words addressed to Daniel:

“But go your way till the end; you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days” (Daniel 12.13).

Between these two endpoints unfolds one of the Bible's great prophetic panoramas.

The date of the book of Daniel is one of the most debated questions in its study. The traditional reading places Daniel in the sixth century BC, in the context of the Babylonian exile, while much historical-critical scholarship dates the book's final composition to the second century BC, during the crisis caused by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This study adopts the first position, but examining the second remains necessary to understand the arguments in the debate and their implications for interpreting the prophecies.

1. Two Profoundly Different Approaches

The debate over Daniel's date is not a matter of a few decades.

Nearly four centuries separate the two main proposals.

According to the traditional reading adopted in this study, Daniel belongs to the sixth century BC. Deported to Babylon, he would have lived under several rulers and gradually received the revelations recorded in the book.

According to the prevailing critical approach, the traditions about Daniel may preserve older material, but the final form of the visions, particularly Daniel 7–12, should be dated to the second century BC, in the context of Seleucid rule and the persecutions under Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

The difference is fundamental.

In the first model, Daniel announces events that will take place several centuries after his lifetime.

In the second, part of history already fulfilled is presented in prophetic form to encourage the faithful facing persecution.

The question of date therefore largely determines how the visions will be understood.

2. Why Is the Second Century BC Proposed?

The late date should not be presented as an assertion without supporting arguments.

It rests primarily on the extraordinary precision with which certain visions correspond to events of the Hellenistic period.

Daniel 8 explicitly identifies Persia and Greece (Daniel 8.20-21). Daniel 11 then presents a succession of conflicts, several elements of which can be linked to the clashes between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties after Alexander the Great's death.

Attention ultimately focuses on a ruler whose characteristics correspond in several respects to Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his intervention against Jerusalem.

For advocates of a second-century composition, this precision is readily explained if the author already knows many of the events he presents in prophetic form.

Added to this are literary, linguistic, and historical arguments that have led a substantial portion of modern scholarship to favor a final composition in the Maccabean period.

This position must be examined seriously before being assessed.

3. Does Prophetic Precision Prove a Late Date?

One of the central issues in the debate becomes immediately apparent.

Can the precision of a prophecy be used to determine its date?

The answer depends partly on the presuppositions adopted.

If detailed knowledge of future events is considered impossible, a highly precise description of events later than the prophet's supposed lifetime naturally becomes an argument for composition after the events.

But if the possibility of prophetic revelation is admitted, precision no longer necessarily demonstrates a late composition.

It becomes precisely what the text claims to be: a revelation concerning events still in the future.

We should therefore acknowledge that the historical discussion here intersects with a more fundamental question concerning the very nature of biblical prophecy.

This observation in no way removes the need to examine historical or linguistic arguments. It simply helps identify correctly one of the presuppositions that may influence interpretation.

4. What the Book Says about Daniel

The book consistently places its main figure in a Babylonian and Persian context.

Daniel 1 presents him among the young Judeans taken to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar.

The following narratives show him at the royal court.

From chapter 7 onward, the text regularly uses the first person:

“I, Daniel…” (Daniel 7.15).

“I, Daniel, saw a vision” (Daniel 8.1).

“I, Daniel, understood from the books…” (Daniel 9.2).

“At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks” (Daniel 10.2).

The book's literary presentation thus asks readers to receive these visions as Daniel's own experiences.

This alone is not enough to resolve historically the question of the book's final composition. In theory, a later author could write in the name of an ancient figure.

But that possibility must itself be demonstrated rather than simply assumed.

The book's internal testimony is therefore evidence that must be taken into account.

5. Does Daniel Really Know the Sixth-Century World?

Daniel's narratives contain many details relating to the Babylonian and Persian courts: administrative offices, court practices, changes of names, political organization, legal customs, and titles.

Some passages were long considered historically problematic.

The case of Belshazzar is particularly instructive.

For a time, known historical sources seemed to present Nabonidus as Babylon's last king, while Daniel 5 places Belshazzar at the center of the city's final night.

Mesopotamian records have, however, confirmed the existence of Belshazzar—Bel-shar-usur—the son of Nabonidus, as well as his importance in administering the kingdom during his father's prolonged absences.

This evidence does not by itself prove a sixth-century composition.

It does, however, show that a detail once presented as a historical difficulty must be assessed more cautiously.

The history of Daniel scholarship thus reminds us that a temporary lack of documentary confirmation does not necessarily refute the text.

6. The Problem of “Darius the Mede”

Not all historical difficulties, however, are resolved in the same way.

The identity of “Darius the Mede” remains one of the book's most debated questions.

Daniel 5.31 states that after Belshazzar's fall, “Darius the Mede” received the kingdom. Daniel 6 then presents him exercising authority.

Several identifications have been proposed, including Gubaru or Ugbaru, figures associated with the Persian conquest of Babylon, while other interpretations seek to identify this Darius with Cyrus under a particular title.

None of these proposals commands general consensus.

An academic study must therefore avoid presenting as definitively settled what the available evidence still leaves open.

This difficulty will be examined in the relevant chapters.

By itself, however, it is not enough to determine the date of composition of the entire book.

7. Daniel's Aramaic and Hebrew

The book also displays a remarkable linguistic feature.

Daniel 1.1-2.4a is written in Hebrew.

Daniel 2:4b–7:28 is written in Aramaic.

From Daniel 8.1 onward, the text returns to Hebrew.

This alternation is probably not accidental. The major Aramaic section includes several narratives directly concerning non-Israelite rulers and empires, while the final visions, more focused on Daniel's people and their future, return to Hebrew.

Linguistic dating nevertheless remains complex.

A language does not change instantaneously when a century begins or ends, and older forms may be preserved in more recent documents. Conversely, an ancient text may undergo transmission and certain updates in spelling.

Linguistic arguments must therefore be included in the assessment without expecting them, in isolation, to provide a precise date of composition.

8. Do the Few Greek Terms Constitute Proof?

The presence of a few words of Greek origin in Daniel has sometimes been used to support a Hellenistic composition.

These terms occur particularly in the list of musical instruments in Daniel 3.

The argument deserves consideration, but its significance must be weighed carefully.

Commercial, military, and cultural relations between the Greek world and the Near East predate Alexander's conquests. The presence of a few loanwords is therefore not necessarily enough to place an entire text in the second century BC.

Conversely, their presence must not be denied.

The relevant question is not whether Daniel contains Greek terms—it does—but whether those terms necessarily require a late composition.

Here again, caution is required.

9. Daniel and the Qumran Manuscripts

The discoveries at Qumrân — afficher la définition INF064 have added an important element to the evidence.

Several fragments of the book of Daniel were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

They demonstrate that Daniel circulated within the Jewish community at an early date and already possessed a measure of authority there.

These manuscripts obviously cannot, by themselves, prove a sixth-century composition. A text composed in the second century could have circulated quickly.

They nevertheless impose a chronological limit: the book cannot be considered a late creation of the Christian era or of a much more recent period.

They also attest to the importance Daniel acquired relatively quickly in certain Jewish circles.

10. Daniel in Ancient Jewish Tradition

Daniel's placement among the Ketuvim, the Writings, rather than among the Nevi’im, the Prophets, has sometimes been used as an argument for a late inclusion in the canon.

This evidence nevertheless requires careful interpretation.

Canonical classification does not necessarily constitute a chronology of composition.

The biblical books were grouped according to literary and religious categories that do not simply correspond to their dates of composition.

Daniel may therefore belong to the Writings without that position being sufficient to prove a second-century BC composition.

It nevertheless remains important to take this distinctive feature into account when studying the book's Jewish reception.

11. The Testimony of Jesus the Messiah

For a Christian study of Daniel, the testimony of Jesus the Messiah necessarily holds an important place.

In the eschatological discourse recorded by Matthew, Jesus declares:

“When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel…” (Matthew 24.15).

This statement establishes at least two important facts for a Christian reading.

First, Jesus accepts Daniel as a scriptural authority.

Second, he explicitly calls Daniel a prophet.

This reference therefore carries considerable theological significance.

Taken in isolation, however, it cannot resolve every modern question concerning possible stages in the book's composition and transmission. In this passage, Jesus does not develop a literary theory about the formation of the text.

We should therefore avoid making Matthew 24.15 say more than it does.

But what it does affirm remains significant: in Jesus' discourse, Daniel is indeed accepted as a prophet, and his words retain a scope capable of illuminating events still future for his hearers.

12. An Important Clarification about the History of the Debate

It would also be inaccurate to locate the origin of the late dating exclusively in the eighteenth century.

Challenges to a sixth-century composition of Daniel are much older.

In the third century AD, the philosopher Porphyry already argued that Daniel's prophecies had been written after the events they seemed to announce, particularly in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Christian authors, notably Jerome, opposed this interpretation.

Modern criticism therefore did not invent the hypothesis of a Maccabean composition from nothing. It took it up, developed it, and grounded it in new historical, linguistic, and literary arguments.

This historical clarification is important for presenting the debate accurately.

13. Why Does This Study Adopt the Sixth Century?

The position adopted in this work rests on several converging considerations rather than a single argument.

The book explicitly places Daniel in the context of the exile.

The visions are presented as having been received by him personally.

Several details attest to precise knowledge of the Babylonian and Persian settings.

Ancient tradition received Daniel as a historical figure associated with the exile.

Finally, the theological framework adopted in this study admits the possibility of genuine prophetic revelation.

The precision of the predictions therefore does not provide sufficient reason to date their composition after the events.

This study will consequently regard Daniel as the historical and prophetic figure around whom the book is organized and adopt the sixth century BC as the fundamental setting of the revelations attributed to him.

14. An Openly Held Position That Leaves Room for Discussion

Defending this date does not require minimizing the difficulties.

Some questions remain complex.

The identity of Darius the Mede is debated.

The book's literary formation raises questions.

The linguistic evidence must be studied.

The extremely precise correspondence between Daniel 11 and Hellenistic history calls for detailed analysis.

Acknowledging these difficulties does not necessarily weaken the position advocated. On the contrary, a hypothesis gains credibility when it distinguishes solid arguments from questions that remain open.

The aim will therefore be to examine the texts in context before proposing an interpretation, rather than forcing every piece of evidence into a predetermined system.

15. A Question That Will Accompany the Entire Study

The debate over Daniel's date ultimately cannot be entirely separated from reading the prophecies themselves.

If the visions do correspond to several centuries of history after Daniel, two main explanations remain: either they were written after a substantial portion of the events described, or they genuinely constitute prophetic announcements.

This study adopts the second possibility.

It must, however, demonstrate its coherence throughout the analysis rather than consider it proven by a simple preliminary declaration.

The study of the twelve chapters, the comparison of the different visions, and their examination alongside historical evidence will therefore gradually allow us to assess the strength of this reading.

The debate over the date of composition is thus no mere digression placed before the study of Daniel.

It directly concerns the central question posed by the book itself:

Does Daniel merely recount the history of his own time, or does he receive a revelation that truly extends beyond his era?

The following chapters will allow us to examine this question on the basis of the text.

The book of Daniel is set in one of the most turbulent periods in Judah's history. Between the late seventh and the sixth centuries BC, the Near East underwent a major political transformation: the Assyrian Empire disappeared, Babylon became the dominant power, Jerusalem was conquered, and part of its population was deported. A few decades later, Babylon itself fell to the Persians. Daniel's life unfolds at the heart of these upheavals.

1. The Fall of Assyrian Power

For several centuries, Assyria had dominated much of the Near East. The northern kingdom, Israel, had itself fallen to the Assyrians with the capture of Samaria in the eighth century BC (2 Kings 17.5-6).

In the late seventh century BC, this power gradually collapsed.

Nineveh fell in 612 BC, and the remaining Assyrian forces attempted to continue resisting farther west.

The fall of Assyria did not, however, mean a return to lasting independence for the region's small kingdoms. Instead, it opened a struggle for control of the Near East between two great powers: Egypt and Babylon.

Judah found itself caught directly between them.

2. The Battle of Carchemish and the Rise of Babylon

The year 605 BC marked a major turning point.

At Carchemish, on the Euphrates, the Babylonian army commanded by Nebuchadnezzar won a decisive victory over Egyptian forces.

This victory profoundly altered the regional political balance. Babylon became the dominant power in Syria-Palestine.

It is in this context that the ouverture du livre — afficher la définition INF237 of Daniel must be situated.

Daniel 1 records that Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem during Jehoiakim's reign and that objects from the Temple were taken to Babylon (Daniel 1.1-2).

The book thus begins at the very moment when the wider history of empires overturns Daniel's personal history.

3. Daniel and the Deportation

Daniel belongs to a group of young Judeans taken to Babylon.

The text specifies that they were chosen from young men “of royal or noble descent,” without physical defect, educated, intelligent, and capable of serving in the royal palace (Daniel 1.3-4).

This was therefore more than a simple population transfer.

Babylon also sought to incorporate promising representatives of subject peoples into its administration.

Daniel and his companions thus entered a training process intended to make them competent servants of the empire.

This situation explains one of the fundamental tensions in Daniel 1: how can one integrate into a foreign civilization without abandoning one's identity and convictions?

4. Daniel's Probable Age

The biblical text does not give Daniel's exact age at his deportation.

This study will adopt, as a working hypothesis, an age of about fourteen in 605 BC.

This estimate must not be presented as information explicitly supplied by the text. It is a chronological reconstruction that allows Daniel's age to be estimated during the different events recorded in the book.

If this hypothesis is adopted, Daniel would have been born around 619 BC.

Above all, it allows us to appreciate the exceptional span of his life: the young Judean who arrived in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar would still be alive several decades later when the Babylonian Empire disappeared and Persian rule began.

Daniel's estimated age will therefore be indicated, where useful, in the various chapters of this study.

5. A Policy of Integrating Elites

The change imposed on Daniel and his companions extended beyond their geographical relocation.

They had to learn “the literature and language of the Chaldeans” (Daniel 1.4).

Their names were also changed.

Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah the name Shadrach, Mishael the name Meshach, and Azariah the name Abednego (Daniel 1.6-7).

These changes had a strong cultural dimension.

The young Judeans had to learn the language of administration, receive new training, and operate within a religious environment profoundly different from that of Jerusalem.

Babylon thus sought more than control over territories. It also knew how to incorporate the abilities of conquered peoples into its own administrative system.

Daniel would spend a large part of his life in this environment.

6. Nebuchadnezzar, a Major Figure in the Opening Chapters

Nebuchadnezzar II reigned from 605 to 562 BC. His reign marked the height of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

He occupies a prominent place in the opening chapters of Daniel.

Daniel 1 presents him as the ruler under whom Daniel arrives in Babylon.

Daniel 2 records his dream of the great statue.

Daniel 3 recounts the episode of the golden statue and the furnace.

Daniel 4 presents his humiliation and subsequent restoration.

Nebuchadnezzar is therefore more than a historical figure providing a backdrop to the narratives. His story contributes to the book's theological argument.

The ruler who appears to possess almost absolute power must gradually learn that his dominion remains subject to a higher authority.

Daniel 4 summarizes this lesson in the statement that “the Most High rules over the kingdom of men” (Daniel 4.14).

7. Jerusalem between Rebellion and Babylonian Rule

Babylonian domination extends beyond Daniel's introductory episode.

The following decades were marked by successive rebellions by Judah against Babylon.

This policy ultimately led Nebuchadnezzar to intervene against Jerusalem again.

Another major deportation occurred in 597 BC, notably during Jehoiachin's reign. Ezekiel belonged to the group of exiles associated with this period (Ezekiel 1.1-3).

The situation reached its climax under Zedekiah.

After another rebellion, Jerusalem was besieged and then captured by the Babylonians. The Temple was destroyed, and a further portion of the population was deported (2 Kings 25.1-21; Jeremiah 39.1-10).

The catastrophe of Jerusalem forms the constant background to the book of Daniel, even when the narratives take place in Babylon's palaces.

8. Daniel and Jeremiah: Two Contemporary Perspectives

Daniel does not live apart from the spiritual history of his people.

Daniel 9 reveals that he knows Jeremiah's writings and seeks to understand the announced duration of Jerusalem's desolation:

“I Daniel understood by books that seventy years were to pass for the desolations of Jerusalem, according to the number of the years whereof Éternel — afficher la définition INF038 had spoken to Jeremiah the prophet” (Daniel 9.2).

This detail is important.

It establishes a direct connection between the experience of exile and Jeremiah's prophecies concerning its duration (Jeremiah 25.11-12; 29:10).

Daniel thus appears not only as a recipient of revelations but also as an attentive reader of revelations already given.

His own prophecy of the seventy weeks will arise precisely in this context of meditation, prayer, and questioning about the seventy years announced by Jeremiah.

9. Ezekiel and Daniel

Another biblical connection deserves mention.

Ezekiel, himself exiled in Babylonia, mentions a figure named Daniel in several passages (Ezekiel 14.14, 20; 28:3).

The identification of this Daniel with the figure in the biblical book is debated, particularly because of the form of the name in the Hebrew text and the literary context.

In a traditional reading, these references may be understood as attesting to the exceptional reputation Daniel acquired for wisdom and faithfulness.

Nevertheless, these passages should not be used as decisive proof without acknowledging the debate.

Rather, they constitute an additional element to examine in studying the ancient reception of the figure of Daniel.

10. After Nebuchadnezzar: A Rapid Succession of Rulers

Babylonian power survived Nebuchadnezzar, but the stability of his reign did not long outlive him.

After his death in 562 BC, several rulers succeeded one another within a few years.

His son Amel-Marduk reigned briefly.

Neriglissar succeeded him.

After the short reign of Labashi-Marduk, Nabonidus finally ascended the throne in 556 BC.

This succession shows the empire's growing fragility after Nebuchadnezzar's death.

It also prepares the setting for Daniel 5.

11. Nabonidus and Belshazzar

The last major ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire was Nabonidus.

Daniel 5, however, does not place Nabonidus at the center of its account of Babylon's fall. It presents Belshazzar.

This distinctive feature long raised questions.

Cuneiform sources now allow a better understanding of the situation. Belshazzar was Nabonidus's son and exercised important responsibilities in the kingdom, particularly during his father's long absences.

This situation also helps illuminate a remarkable detail in Daniel 5.

Belshazzar promises that whoever interprets the mysterious inscription will become “the third ruler in the kingdom” (Daniel 5.7, 16, 29).

In a system where Nabonidus held first rank and Belshazzar the position immediately below him, the promise of third rank makes particular sense.

This detail is one example of how knowledge of the historical context directly contributes to understanding the biblical narrative.

12. The Fall of Babylon

In 539 BC, the Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus II, king of Persia.

The event marked one of the great political turning points of the ancient Near East.

Daniel 5 depicts the final night of Belshazzar's rule.

During a great feast, a mysterious inscription appears on the wall. Daniel is summoned to interpret it.

The verdict is unambiguous:

"Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians" (Daniel 5.28).

The chapter ends abruptly:

"That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed" (Daniel 5.30).

The narrative illustrates with particular force one of the book's fundamental themes: an empire that seemed firmly established can disappear in a very short time.

13. From Babylon to Persia

The fall of Babylon does not mark the end of Daniel's life.

The book still presents him under the new regime.

Daniel 6 places him under the authority of Darius the Mede, while Daniel 10 explicitly mentions Cyrus, king of Persia.

The figure thus lives through the change of empire.

This continuity is essential to understanding the book's structure.

Under Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel had interpreted a dream announcing a succession of kingdoms (Daniel 2.31-45). Several decades later, he himself witnesses the fall of the first of these great powers.

History thus begins to converge with prophecy within his own lifetime.

14. Cyrus and the Return of the Exiles

Persian rule introduced a different policy toward subject peoples and their sanctuaries.

The book of Ezra records that early in his reign over Babylon, Cyrus authorized the return of Judean exiles and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1.1-4).

This decision opened a new period in Jewish history.

The Babylonian exile was no longer irreversible.

For Daniel, however, the return of some exiles does not mean that all the promises have been fulfilled.

It is precisely in the early years of Persian rule that the book's final great visions are set.

The geographical return to Jerusalem therefore does not yet constitute the culmination of prophetic history.

15. Daniel at the End of an Exceptional Life

If the hypothesis of deportation at about fourteen in 605 BC is adopted, Daniel would have been around eighty at the fall of Babylon in 539 BC.

Daniel 10 places another vision in the third year of Cyrus (Daniel 10.1).

Daniel would then have been a very old man.

This information changes our perception of the figure.

The Daniel of the final visions is no longer the young exile of Daniel 1. He is a man who has spent most of his life far from Judah, served under several governments, seen the most powerful rulers of his time disappear, and personally witnessed the overthrow of the empire that had destroyed his homeland.

His final visions are thus received after long experience of the instability of human powers.

16. A Chronology Essential to Understanding the Book

A few major dates establish the general framework adopted in this study:

605 BC: Babylonian victory at Carchemish and the context of the first deportation associated with Daniel.

597 BC: another capture of Jerusalem and a major deportation under Jehoiachin.

586 BC: destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians.

562 BC: death of Nebuchadnezzar.

539 BC: fall of Babylon to the Persians.

538/537 BC: authorization for groups of exiles to return and for the Temple to be rebuilt under Cyrus's policy.

These reference points will allow each chapter to be placed progressively in context.

A more detailed chronology indicating events, the rulers involved, and Daniel's approximate age will be presented separately to avoid overburdening the commentary.

17. History as an Initial Key to Reading

This context helps explain why the book of Daniel gives such importance to kingdoms.

Daniel personally experienced Babylon's power.

He lived under Nebuchadnezzar when the latter was among the most powerful rulers in the Near East.

He saw the great king's successors gradually lose that stability.

He ultimately witnessed the fall of the Babylonian Empire.

Within the book's narrative framework, the statement that God “deposes kings and establishes kings” (Daniel 2.21) is therefore no abstract theological formula.

It corresponds to what Daniel's entire life illustrates.

The young captive from Judah outlives the king who deported him.

He outlives his successors.

He ultimately outlives the empire itself.

This historical reality directly prepares the book's great prophetic perspective: kingdoms pass away, but God's purpose endures.

It is in this context that the study of Daniel's first chapter can now begin.

On a first reading, the book of Daniel may seem to bring together two very different bodies of material: historical narratives in which Daniel and his companions face the rulers of their time, followed by prophetic visions whose language becomes much more symbolic. This distinction is real, but it must not obscure the work's profound unity. The narratives of the opening chapters prepare the visions of the final chapters, while those visions give universal and eschatological scope to principles already revealed in Daniel's personal history.

1. Twelve Chapters, but a Continuous Progression

The book of Daniel comprises twelve chapters whose literary character gradually changes.

Chapters 1–6 are primarily narrative. They recount episodes in the lives of Daniel and his companions in the setting of the Babylonian and then Medo-Persian empires.

Chapters 7–12 are primarily visionary and prophetic. Daniel directly receives revelations concerning the future.

This division is useful, but it must not be applied too rigidly.

Daniel 2, for example, belongs to the narrative section while containing one of the entire book's fundamental prophecies: the dream of the statue representing a succession of kingdoms.

Conversely, the prophetic chapters contain narrative elements: Daniel describes the circumstances in which the visions are given, his reactions, his prayers, and sometimes his inability to understand immediately what he sees.

The transition from narrative to prophecy is therefore gradual.

2. Daniel 1: Setting the Scene

The first chapter forms the narrative introduction to the entire book.

It presents Daniel and his companions, their deportation, their training in Babylon, and their decision to remain faithful in a foreign environment.

This chapter also establishes several themes that will run throughout the work: divine sovereignty, faithfulness under trial, wisdom granted by God, and the confrontation between the demands of political power and the convictions of God's servants.

Daniel 1 is therefore more than a biographical introduction.

It already sets out, on a small scale, the book's major issues.

3. Daniel 2: The First Great Prophetic Framework

With Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the book takes on a new dimension.

The king sees an immense statue made of different materials: a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet made of iron and clay (Daniel 2.31-33).

A stone finally strikes the statue and destroys it before becoming a great mountain filling the whole earth (Daniel 2.34-35).

The interpretation reveals a succession of kingdoms culminating in the establishment of a kingdom that God himself will raise up and that “will never be destroyed” (Daniel 2.44).

This vision provides an initial general framework.

The subsequent prophecies may be understood as progressive developments of this initial structure.

4. Daniel 3: Faithfulness in the Face of Enforced Idolatry

The third chapter returns to narrative.

The statue erected by Nebuchadnezzar and the command to worship it confront Daniel's companions with a stark choice: submit to the royal command or remain faithful to God.

Their response constitutes one of the book's great declarations of faithfulness:

“Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace [...] but if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods” (Daniel 3.17-18).

The narrative thus introduces a theme that will become highly significant in later visions: political power may seek to impose an allegiance that conflicts with the allegiance owed to God.

What appears here in the experience of three men will later take on a much broader dimension.

5. Daniel 4: The Ruler's Humiliation

Daniel 4 focuses on Nebuchadnezzar.

The king who rules a vast territory must learn that his power is not absolute.

The chapter develops a fundamental affirmation:

“The Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he wishes” (Daniel 4.14).

This statement could serve as a theological summary of much of the book.

Daniel never denies the reality of political power. Nebuchadnezzar truly possesses considerable might.

But that might remains limited.

The ruler who appears to dominate the nations must himself acknowledge a sovereignty higher than his own.

6. Daniel 5: The End of an Empire

Belshazzar's feast provides one of the most striking illustrations of the fragility of human power.

Babylon still appears powerful.

The king holds a great banquet.

Yet judgment has already been pronounced.

The words Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin announce that the reign has been numbered, weighed, and ultimately handed over to another power (Daniel 5.25-28).

The chapter's conclusion is immediate:

"That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed" (Daniel 5.30).

The succession of kingdoms announced in Daniel 2 then ceases to be solely prophetic: Daniel himself witnesses the change of empire.

7. Daniel 6: Faithfulness under a New Regime

Political change does not put an end to trials.

Daniel 6 presents the prophet under a new administration. His opponents seek to use his religious faithfulness to bring about his condemnation.

The lions' den thus becomes the personal counterpart of the furnace in Daniel 3.

In both narratives, a political authority requires or forbids conduct directly affecting faithfulness to God.

In both cases, God's servants refuse to change their conduct.

In both cases, too, deliverance results from divine intervention rather than their own power.

The first six chapters thus end with the same principle that has run through them from the beginning: kingdoms change, but faithfulness to God endures.

8. Daniel 7: The Same History Seen from Another Perspective

Daniel 7 marks a major turning point.

The theme of the succession of kingdoms, already present in Daniel 2, reappears in a new form.

This time, Daniel sees four great beasts coming out of the sea (Daniel 7.2-7).

The general correspondence with the succession of kingdoms in Daniel 2 is difficult to ignore.

But the perspective has changed.

In Daniel 2, the kingdoms appeared in the imposing form of a statue.

In Daniel 7, they take the form of fearsome beasts.

The same political reality is thus viewed through two different representations.

This symbolic transformation provides one of the keys to understanding the book's prophetic method.

9. From the Statue to the Beasts

The comparison between Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 is particularly instructive.

The statue presents the visible grandeur of human empires: precious metals, power, strength.

The beasts emphasize their violence, conflicts, and predatory nature.

These two visions do not cancel each other out.

They complement each other.

An empire may appear magnificent from a human perspective and terrifying when viewed through the suffering it inflicts on peoples.

Daniel thus uses several images to reveal different dimensions of the same historical reality.

10. Daniel 8: Prophecy Becomes More Precise

Daniel 8 continues the movement toward greater precision.

Two animals dominate the vision: a ram and a goat.

This time, the interpretation supplied in the text directly identifies the powers involved:

“The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia” (Daniel 8.20-21).

The book itself thus provides an essential reference point for its interpretation.

The perspective narrows.

Daniel 2 presented a broad succession of kingdoms.

Daniel 7 revisited this succession in another form.

Daniel 8 now focuses attention on certain specific powers and the events concerning them.

Revelation progresses through successive deepening insights.

11. Daniel 9: From the History of Empires to Jerusalem and the Messiah

Daniel 9 occupies a special place.

The chapter begins not with a symbolic vision but with the reading of Jeremiah and a long prayer of confession.

Daniel understands that the seventy-year period announced for Jerusalem is approaching its end (Daniel 9.2).

His concern is thus directly linked to the fate of his people and the holy city.

The answer he receives, however, considerably broadens the perspective.

It is no longer simply a matter of seventy years, but of “seventy weeks” decreed for the people and the holy city (Daniel 9.24).

The prophecy also introduces the figure of an “anointed one” or “Messiah” (Daniel 9.25-26).

The prophetic gaze thus turns momentarily from the great succession of empires to focus on Jerusalem, Daniel's people, and a particular chronology.

12. Daniel 10: Behind Visible History

Daniel 10 opens the book's final great revelation.

The chapter nevertheless introduces a new dimension.

Daniel learns that earthly events also have a spiritual background.

The text refers in particular to the “prince of the kingdom of Persia,” Michael, and the “prince of Greece” (Daniel 10.13, 20).

Whatever precise interpretation is given to these expressions, the narrative shows that Daniel does not reduce history to what is immediately visible.

Conflicts between kingdoms have a dimension extending beyond the decisions of human rulers alone.

Daniel 10 thus prepares the particularly detailed revelations of the following chapter.

13. Daniel 11: A Prophecy of Exceptional Precision

Daniel 11 is one of the book's most complex texts.

Symbolic language diminishes considerably. The chapter primarily presents a succession of kings, alliances, political marriages, betrayals, military campaigns, and conflicts.

Particular attention is given to clashes between the “king of the North” and the “king of the South.”

Much of this description can be related to the conflicts between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties after the fragmentation of Alexander's empire.

The chapter ultimately leads to events involving persecution and desecration.

This exceptional precision explains why Daniel 11 occupies a central place in the debate over the book's date of composition.

Its study will therefore require a careful distinction between firmly established historical correspondences and more debated interpretations.

14. Daniel 12: The Ultimate Perspective

The final chapter ultimately goes beyond political struggles alone.

Daniel 12 speaks of a “time of distress,” deliverance, and resurrection:

“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” (Daniel 12.2).

The book that began with a deportation thus ends with a perspective extending beyond Israel's political restoration.

The horizon becomes eschatological.

Death itself is no longer presented as the ultimate boundary.

This progression is essential to understanding Daniel.

The book begins with a specific historical event—Babylonian domination—but gradually leads to the question of humanity's final destiny and the fulfillment of God's purpose.

15. A Progression from the Particular to the Universal

The entire book may thus be read as a gradual broadening of perspective.

Daniel 1 begins with a few young Judean deportees.

Daniel 2 broadens the view to several kingdoms.

Daniel 3–6 show how divine sovereignty operates within these kingdoms.

Daniel 7 revisits their succession from a prophetic perspective.

Daniel 8 clarifies certain stages.

Daniel 9 refocuses attention on Jerusalem, Daniel's people, and the Messiah.

Daniel 10 and 11 unveil a history of conflicts whose ramifications grow increasingly complex.

Daniel 12 ultimately leads to the time of the end, deliverance, and resurrection.

The overall movement can be summarized as follows:

Daniel and his companions → Babylon → the empires → Jerusalem → the Messiah → the time of the end → the resurrection.

16. The Narratives Prepare the Prophecies

This progression also helps explain why the first six chapters are essential to interpreting the final six.

Before announcing that human kingdoms will disappear, the book shows Belshazzar's fall.

Before presenting powers that persecute the faithful, it recounts the furnace and the lions' den.

Before announcing judgment on the powers, it shows Nebuchadnezzar humbled.

Before developing the prophetic succession of empires, it shows Daniel the actual fall of Babylon.

The narratives thus constitute, at their own level, a historical demonstration of the principles later developed in the visions.

17. The Visions Explain the Narratives

The relationship also works in the other direction.

The visions reveal that the personal experiences of Daniel and his companions extend beyond their immediate circumstances.

The furnace is no longer merely the story of three courageous men.

It illustrates the confrontation between religious faithfulness and political power.

The lions' den is no longer merely the account of an extraordinary deliverance.

It shows that a political system can be manipulated to turn religious faithfulness into a crime.

Belshazzar's fall is more than a dynastic change.

It becomes a concrete illustration of the principle that kingdoms are temporary.

The visions thus give the narratives a broader scope.

18. A Structure Based on Repetition and Deepening Insight

One of the most important principles for understanding Daniel is therefore to recognize the progressive repetition of the same themes.

The book does not necessarily present a new history with each vision.

It returns several times to certain realities, but from a different angle and with additional information.

This principle will be essential in the specific chapter of this study devoted to comparing the major visions.

The statue, the four beasts, the ram and the goat, the seventy weeks, and the conflicts of the final chapters must be studied separately before finally being placed side by side.

This method will distinguish what several visions have in common from what belongs specifically to each one.

19. A Theological Unity Deeper than Literary Diversity

Daniel contains court narratives, dreams, prayers, symbolic visions, angelic interpretations, and chronological predictions.

This diversity might give the impression of a disjointed work.

Yet a few fundamental affirmations run throughout all its parts:

God remains sovereign over human kingdoms.

Political powers are temporary.

Faithfulness may lead to persecution.

Present appearances do not constitute the whole of reality.

History has a direction.

Judgment ultimately limits the power of evil.

God's purpose leads toward a deliverance extending beyond political changes alone.

These themes establish the book's profound unity.

20. Reading Daniel as a Whole

The method adopted in this study will follow directly from this structure.

Each chapter will first be examined in its own right, within its historical and literary context.

Symbols will be studied on the basis of the explanations provided by the text, where these exist.

Historical connections will then be examined.

Finally, correspondences with the other visions will gradually be established.

This approach will avoid two opposite errors: interpreting each chapter independently of the rest of the book or, conversely, immediately imposing an overall prophetic system on every detail before studying the text.

Daniel must first be heard chapter by chapter before its entire panorama can be reconstructed.

Only at the end of this journey can the different visions be placed side by side and their complementary character become fully apparent.

Understood in this way, the book's structure already invites us to continue the study: each new revelation takes up part of what precedes it but leads the reader a little further.

Studying a book as complex as Daniel requires a clearly defined method. Historical narratives, symbolic visions, chronological indications, and eschatological perspectives cannot all be interpreted in the same way. The approach adopted will therefore seek to begin with the biblical text, place it in its historical context, and then examine the different possible interpretations, consistently distinguishing explicit evidence from proposed reconstructions.

1. Begin with the Text before Constructing an Interpretation

The first principle is to begin with what the text actually states.

This rule may seem obvious, but it becomes particularly important in studying prophecy. Familiarity with interpretations developed over the centuries can lead us immediately to read into a symbol what a particular tradition has assigned to it.

The reverse approach will be preferred.

We must first determine what Daniel describes, identify any explanations supplied within the passage itself, and only then seek possible historical and prophetic correspondences.

When the text explains a symbol, that interpretation naturally takes priority.

Thus, Daniel 8 leaves no uncertainty about the general identity of the ram and goat: they are explicitly associated with the Medes and Persians and with Greece (Daniel 8.20-21).

Wherever possible, analysis will therefore always begin with the book's internal interpretation.

2. Respect the Immediate Context

A verse must not be isolated from the passage to which it belongs.

This precaution is particularly important in Daniel, where a symbol may be explained several verses after its first appearance.

Each passage will therefore be examined within its literary unit.

The context will establish who is speaking, to whom the words are addressed, when the scene takes place, and what particular issue is being addressed.

This method will avoid assigning an expression a meaning foreign to its immediate setting.

3. Place Each Chapter in Its Historical Context

The book spans several reigns and political systems.

Identifying the ruler involved, the historical period, and contemporary events is therefore an essential step.

Historical and archaeological sources will be used when they help illuminate the text.

They will be particularly important for understanding the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the fall of Babylon, the Persian Empire, Alexander's conquests, and conflicts between the Hellenistic kingdoms.

The aim, however, will not be to turn the Bible study into mere political history.

History will serve to illuminate the text, while the text will retain its own purpose.

4. Distinguish Three Levels of Certainty

To avoid presenting a reconstruction as an established fact, three levels must be distinguished.

The first consists of the explicit evidence of the text.

For example, Daniel 8.20 identifies the ram with the kings of Media and Persia. This identification belongs directly to the text.

The second consists of sufficiently established historical facts.

The existence of the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great's conquests, and the conflicts between the Seleucids and Ptolemies belong to this category.

The third consists of interpretive reconstructions.

These seek to establish a relationship between a prophecy and a particular event, person, or chronology.

They may be strongly argued without possessing the same degree of certainty as an explicit statement in the text.

This distinction will accompany the entire study.

5. Do Not Confuse Correspondence with Proof

A striking correspondence between a prophecy and a historical event deserves to be noted.

It does not, however, automatically constitute proof.

The more independent elements converge, the stronger the identification becomes.

An interpretation resting on a single vague detail will necessarily remain more fragile than one matching several precise features of the text simultaneously.

This rule will be particularly important in analyzing the visions of Daniel 7–12.

6. Compare the Prophecies with One Another

Daniel itself provides several visions concerning the succession of kingdoms.

Studying each in isolation would therefore be insufficient.

The correspondences between Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10–12 will be examined progressively.

An image appearing in one vision may sometimes be clarified by an explanation given in another.

This comparison will, however, be undertaken only after the individual texts have been analyzed.

Each vision must first be understood on its own terms before being placed within an overall system.

7. Use Other Biblical Texts with Discernment

Daniel belongs to a wider biblical whole.

Certain passages in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, Nehemiah, the Gospels, the Epistles, and Revelation may contribute to its interpretation.

Daniel 9 itself shows that the prophet interpreted his own time in light of Jeremiah's words (Daniel 9.2).

Jesus the Messiah also takes up Daniel's language when he speaks of “the abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24.15).

Finally, Revelation uses many images displaying correspondences with Daniel.

These connections will be used when they meaningfully illuminate the text.

They must not, however, obscure the particular context of each biblical passage.

8. Give Particular Attention to Symbolic Language

Daniel's visions make extensive use of symbols: animals, horns, metals, numbers, winds, the sea, stars, and heavenly figures.

A symbol must not be interpreted arbitrarily.

When the text supplies an explanation, it will take priority.

When no explicit interpretation is given, the use of the same symbol in Daniel and, where relevant, in other biblical texts may be examined.

The historical and literary context must also be taken into account.

A symbolic interpretation gains strength when it rests on several converging indications rather than a simple resemblance.

9. Examine Numbers with Caution

Daniel contains several particularly important numerical indications.

The seventy weeks of Daniel 9, “a time, times, and half a time” in Daniel 7.25 and 12:7, and the 1,290 and 1,335 days in Daniel 12.11-12 have given rise to numerous interpretations.

These numbers will be examined in context before any chronological conversion is attempted.

Whenever the hypothesis of a 360-day prophetic year is used, it must be supported by arguments and compared with the biblical evidence invoked in its favor, particularly certain chronological correspondences observed in the flood narrative and in Revelation.

The durations explicitly given by the text must also be distinguished from the calculations subsequently derived from them.

10. The Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks

Daniel 9 will require a particularly rigorous methodology.

The interpretation advocated in this study will take the decree associated with Ezra 7 as its starting point and develop the chronological hypothesis leading from that period to the first century AD.

This position will be presented with its supporting arguments.

The other major proposals, notably the one taking the command given to Nehemiah concerning Jerusalem as its starting point, will also be examined to understand why they produce different chronologies.

The reconstruction adopted will thus be presented as a reasoned demonstration, each stage of which must be identifiable and open to discussion.

11. Successive Fulfillments

Some prophecies may display a clearly identifiable historical fulfillment while seeming to retain a further scope.

This possibility must be examined without becoming a device for arbitrarily assigning multiple fulfillments to every text.

A second fulfillment will be considered only when textual evidence or later biblical uses justify it.

The example of the abomination of desolation is particularly significant.

The events associated with Antiochus IV Epiphanes form a major historical background for several passages in Daniel. Yet Jesus the Messiah takes up this terminology in a perspective still future for his hearers (Matthew 24.15).

This kind of biblical reuse justifies examining a prophetic scope extending beyond the first historical fulfillment.

12. Distinguish Prophecy from Speculation

Eschatological study involves a particular risk: seeking to identify every contemporary event in the prophecies.

This method will not be adopted.

The text must determine the limits of interpretation.

When an identification cannot be established with sufficient supporting arguments, it must continue to be presented as a hypothesis.

The aim is not to make Daniel correspond to current events at any cost, but to understand the revelation within the limits of the available information.

Such caution is all the more necessary because Daniel himself sometimes acknowledges that he does not fully understand what he is shown (Daniel 8.27; 12:8).

13. Present the Main Interpretations without Losing the Study's Direction

Several major schools of interpretation have proposed different readings of Daniel.

Turning each chapter into an exhaustive catalog of every existing opinion is neither necessary nor desirable.

The main positions will nevertheless be presented when they help explain a genuine interpretive problem.

The study can then explain why a particular proposal is adopted.

This method maintains a clear direction without concealing the existence of other readings.

14. A Special Place for the Reading Advocated in This Work

This study does not claim to adopt an artificial neutrality.

It advocates a particular understanding of the book of Daniel.

In particular, it affirms the book's genuinely prophetic dimension, its fundamental origin in the sixth century BC, and a progression of revelations leading toward the Messiah and the events associated with the time of the end.

In interpreting the major prophetic sequences, particular attention will also be given to the reading developed by Edward Denny when it helps connect the different visions and their chronology.

This orientation will nevertheless be subject to the same methodological principle as other proposals: distinguishing what the text explicitly states from what results from a reconstruction.

Supporting an interpretation therefore does not mean turning each of its conclusions into an indisputable biblical fact.

15. Biblical References as the Foundation of the Argument

Important assertions will be accompanied by their biblical references wherever necessary.

This method will make it possible to verify immediately the scriptural basis of the argument.

Additional references will be included when they provide meaningful information, rather than merely to multiply citations.

Clarity remains the goal.

A biblical reference should illuminate the analysis rather than needlessly burden the text.

16. The Role of the Appendices

Some questions require substantial discussion without being essential to the continuity of the main commentary.

They will therefore be addressed in appendices.

These will allow particular historical, chronological, linguistic, or interpretive problems to be explored in greater depth.

This organization serves a dual purpose: maintaining the flow of the main reading while providing readers who wish to explore a question further with the material needed to do so.

The appendices will therefore be more than optional supplements. They will form a second level of study intended to document the main technical questions.

17. Chronology and Daniel's Age

A general chronology will accompany the study.

It will indicate the main historical events, the rulers involved, biblical references, and, where possible, Daniel's approximate age.

The hypothesis that Daniel was about fourteen in 605 BC will provide the basis for these estimates.

The resulting age must never, however, be confused with information explicitly supplied by the Bible.

This distinction will help readers visualize the figure's development from adolescence to the final visions received in old age.

18. An Academic Reading That Acknowledges Its Theological Framework

This work seeks to be academic in its method without concealing its theological framework.

The biblical text is received as conveying genuine divine revelation.

This conviction does not prevent the use of historical, archaeological, linguistic, or literary evidence.

Nor does it remove the obligation to acknowledge a difficulty where one exists.

The aim, on the contrary, is to examine the various kinds of evidence rigorously while clearly acknowledging the presuppositions on which the study is conducted.

Research becomes easier to understand when its interpretive framework is stated rather than concealed.

19. A Method in the Service of the Text

Methodology is ultimately not an end in itself.

It must enable a constant return to the text of Daniel.

Dates, empires, ancient languages, chronological systems, and exegetical debates matter only insofar as they help us better understand the message conveyed.

The main question will therefore always remain the same:

what does the book of Daniel seek to reveal?

This question will guide all the commentary.

It will also help avoid two opposite reductions: turning Daniel into a mere chronicle of ancient empires or, conversely, into a collection of symbols detached from any historical reality.

The book precisely unites these two dimensions.

Revelation is rooted in history, but it leads beyond Daniel's immediate historical setting.