Another Bible Commentary: Daniel

Because of the prescience of the predictions in it, some people try to assign a late date and different authorship to this book. However, it is in the Dead Sea Scrolls fragments, it uses the same Aramaic style as in Ezra, it was around at the Septuagint translation time, and Ezekiel gave Daniel a shout-out (Ezekiel 14:14). After a long time of scholars saying otherwise, Belshazzar has been confirmed to have been a co-regent of Nabonidus. Jesus says Daniel wrote this book (Matthew 24:15). Daniel’s life story reminds me of Joseph’s. He was exiled to Babylon and wound up next to power like Joseph, Nehemiah, Mordecai, etc.

1:3-6 as prophesied in Isaiah 39:3-7.

1:7 Changing someone’s name is a show of dominance, like Adam naming an animal. The loss of identity in these names is reflected in the text, with much of the first half of the Book of Daniel written in Aramaic instead of Hebrew.

1:8 This would have been non-Kosher food and wine that had been offered to idols.

1:9 God can make people be nice to you because you are His child. Martyrdom, etc., also happens. Don’t overthink life on Earth.

1:12 “ten days” comes around again for us in Revelation 2:10 as representative of a period of testing.

1:15 God miraculously fattened them despite their veganism. It is a little humorous to see believers using “Daniel fasts” to lose weight or try to manipulate God into doing things for them (Romans 14:17).

1:17 See Exodus 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 4:7. You are perfectly equipped and custom-made for what God has planned for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).

1:20 “magicians and enchanters” has also been translated as “astrologers and mediums”.

2:4 The text shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic.

2:5 In addition to being forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:9-14, these hucksters and their modern ilk are defrauding people. They use cold reading and tricks that honest mentalists and magicians use to entertain audiences without pretending to have real powers (unless they’re somehow actually aided by demons, but Job 1:11 shows that Satan cannot read minds or see the future). For many years, there was a $1 million prize for scientifically-verifiable psychic phenomena that went unclaimed. Protests that some “real” practitioners weren’t in it for the money were silenced with the notion that a winner could have done lots of good in the world by donating it to charity. Nebuchadnezzar was smart not to trust “psychics” that didn’t see his trap coming.

2:14 Daniel was not killed immediately. God was working.

2:34 “not by human hands” can be read as a clue to the divine virgin birth of Jesus.

2:35-44 I’m going to get a little ahead of myself to summarize a few things here. By commenting on these prophecies, I run the risk of riling up brothers and sisters in Christ with elaborate colorful wall charts and a focus on the end times. Let me reiterate that prophecies can be fulfilled more than once, history tends to rhyme with itself, and that our shared focus is on Jesus. Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold (Daniel 2:38). There are various approaches as to who each metal is. It is popular to assign gold as Babylon, silver as Persia (be sure to include the Medes – Daniel 6:8), bronze as Alexander the Great and the Hellenists that followed him, and iron as Rome. Rome did divide into east and west like thighs/legs (leaving room for the futurists’ “revived Rome” at the bottom of the statue) prior to accepting Christianity as its state religion. However, the realm of Alexander was divided among his generals after his death, and from the Promised Land’s perspective, the Ptolemies approaching from Egypt and the Seleucids approaching through Syria were the two relevant powers. Most people have two thighs and two legs below the knee too, so we’re okay fitting Rome into the statue symbolism as well. Daniel 11 fits the struggle between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids too well not to be about that (but future fulfillments are always possible,too). If the Daniel 2:43 non-adhering mixture of iron and clay presented as intermarriages in many translations represent the Daniel 11 marriages, then this has already all happened. Rome already existed at the time and fought with the Seleucids; Jesus came “in the time of those kings” per Daniel 2:44. Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” (or “God Manifest” who was even a Seleucid political hostage in the Roman Republic for a time) killing the Jews for following the Torah instead of worshiping him as well as later Roman emperors doing likewise to Christians (Jews had a legal exception, but we’ll get to that in the New Testament) amounts to the same flavor of government from similar “Mediterraneans” (Seleucids were thoroughly Hellenized) from God’s people’s perspective. The deuterocanonical books about the Maccabees have more about Antiochus IV “Epiphanes”; I’m not saying they’re inspired, but they are interesting for context. Hesiod used similar symbolism with metals for governments. In the statue in Daniel, kings are judged religiously and are depicted as decreasing in quality. Babylon was polytheist but had at least heard of YHWH, and was His chosen instrument of punishment. Persia split the Alpha and Omega into Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, as if good and evil were equal in power, but they offered the Jews religious freedom as well. The Greeks had a pantheon of superheroes; their gods were basically thought of as powerful humans. Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” of the Seleucids, the Roman emperors, and Satan worshiped themselves. There is a distinction between Pharaoh declaring himself the Son of Ra and Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” demanding worship on pain of death on his own merit. Man-made gods and governments run together throughout history. Jesus reused what seem to be predictions about Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” to warn about the events of 70 AD. You cannot truly kill a Christian; we “will never be destroyed” and “endure forever”. The promise came true. We reign with Jesus now (Ephesians 2:6), we will reign with Jesus in the future, and He mercifully delays smashing all human gods and governments so we can save as many people as possible. Don’t make the same mistake the Jews back then did in just looking for a flashy military Messiah (granted, they had Isaiah 9, Isaiah 11, etc., to focus on) and overlook what Jesus accomplished during His “first coming”. Preterists see hundreds of prophecies already fulfilled, futurists look forward to the visible end of those things (that Christ made irrelevant when He arrived) when Christ returns, and I trust we can all still shake hands and enjoy a church potluck together.

3:1 Making a giant all-gold head-to-foot statue (possibly of Marduk), Nebuchadnezzar perhaps tried to refute the claim from the dream that Babylon is temporary.

3:6 Burning as a Babylonian punishment can be seen in Jeremiah 29:22 and in the Code of Hammurabi. They had a giant furnace for forging that big statue.

3:17-18 “God…is able” “But even if He does not” This is some admirable “Thy will be done” faith. God is our only hope, and He will make all things right eternally. He spoke the universe into being, and He can fix whatever gets broken.

3:25 Jesus is the fourth man. See also Ezekiel 1:4-5.

4:1 Nice witnessing, Neb.

4:8 “Finally” Next time, go to God’s people first.

4:9 “holy gods” Neb was still a polytheist.

4:11 The tree in the vision reminds me of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:4. Trees symbolically connect Heaven, Earth, and the underworld.

4:15 Here’s the fettered Nebuchadnezzar.

4:27 See Isaiah 58:7-10. NRSV and NASB translate Daniel 4:27 with a sense of “atone/wipe away” your sins with alms. See also Deuteronomy 15:4,7-11, Job 31:16-23, and Matthew 25:35-40, Ezekiel 18:7,22, Psalm 112:9, Proverbs 10:2, and Proverbs 11:4-8. Regarding “righteousness” (tzedakah, charity, gifts for the poor) we see alms righteousness or “treasure in Heaven” further developed in Tobit 4 and Sirach 29 on its way to Jesus’ teachings about the Law. Properly keeping Deuteronomy 15:7-11 amidst the poverty they experienced under occupation (“spending themselves” like in Isaiah 58:10) would have taken everything they had. Only Jesus gave enough, and only Jesus had anything worth giving; we rely on Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

4:29 He had a whole year to repent.

4:30 Even if you’re standing among the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, see 1 Corinthians 4:7.

4:32 “anyone He wishes” This is behind Paul’s admonition to be good citizens in Romans 13 no matter what viceroy of Satan you’re under. Acts 5:29 still applies, though.

5:1 Time jumps ahead about 23 years here. Daniel would have been about eighty years old.

5:2 “father” Any predecessor on the throne, regardless of family relation.

5:5 Casualties were counted by collecting dead soldiers’ right hands. They comforted themselves in the face of the Persian advance by partying with God’s cup (recalling past victories), but their old “defeated” Foe wrote them a message.

5:17 He wanted nothing from a blasphemer “under the ban” any more than he’d loot a village condemned under Deuteronomy 13.

5:31 Darius means “rich and kingly”, and this was the regnal name of several Persian rulers. The point is that Persia took over whatever this ruler’s given name was.

6:3 Daniel would have been about 83 years old at this time.

6:7 The lions would have been kept there for the royal hunts. Daniel’s time in there foreshadows Jesus leaving the tomb.

6:8 Some prophecy schemes divide the Medes and the Persians into separate groups/metals, but they’re treated consistently as one group in context.

6:10 Facing the city as in 1 Kings 8:44-45. The prayer they prayed three times daily became the “Amidah” or “18 Blessings” (a “19th” was added in response to Christian “heretics”) in the synagogues. Jesus’ summary of this proto-Amidah is what you may know as the Lord’s Prayer. (The element that He added to it was the part about conditional forgiveness that was already in contemporary Judaism via Sirach 28:2; it must be understood as part of the entire Sermon on the Mount about how they couldn’t be as perfect/set-apart/holy as God.)

6:13 See Acts 5:29.

6:22 like Psalm 34:7, Psalm 91:11, and Hebrews 1:14.

6:23 “because he had trusted” Faith saves.

6:24 See Deuteronomy 19:19. Royals routinely wiped out the entire families of their enemies to prevent coups later.

7:1 This took place before Daniel 5. Daniel would have been about 67 years old. Before we get too deep into this vision, see Leviticus 26:22, read what an earlier prophet said about suspiciously similar animals (Hosea 13:7-8), and read what having the same vision twice means (Genesis 41:32). This vision reiterates the statue vision of Daniel 2. The chimeric beasts convey uncleanliness (Leviticus 19:19).

7:2 The sea is often associated with Gentiles (Revelation 17:15) and/or primordial chaos. Normal wind blows in mostly one direction.

7:4 The winged lion was a well-known Babylonian symbol. The loss of wings and the gaining of a human mind demonstrates Nebuchadnezzar’s personal journey.

7:5 Persia had Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt between its teeth.

7:6 Leopards are fast, like Alexander the Great conquering the known world in less than ten years. His realm was divided by four of his generals after his death.

7:7-8 God’s people’s experience of being ruled by the Seleucids (the post-Alexander regime based in Syria) under Antiochus IV “Epiphanes”, some Roman emperors, and Satan and his Watchers is all pretty similar. There were ten Hellenist/Seleucid rulers ahead of Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” (counting Heliodorus and Demetrius that don’t appear on many lists). After the father of Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” died, his older brother Seleucus died. Seleucus’ alleged assassin Heliodorus was briefly regent until he was taken care of as well. Seleucus’s son Demetrius was a hostage in the Roman Republic at the time, and Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” usurped him; that’s three horns down. Calling yourself “Epiphanes” (“God Manifest”) and demanding worship is speaking boastfully.

7:11 He was said to have horrible bowel pain. Reportedly, his worm-eaten (like Acts 12:23) body was also broken in a chariot wreck (2 Maccabees 9).

7:13 “like a son of man” The Son of Man’s kingdom is humane compared to that of the beasts. Jesus is “like” a man because He’s fully God and fully human. Since the word for humanity is “Adam”, and Adam’s son Abel was martyred for righteousness, it is fitting that the Son of Man was, too. This verse happens at the same time as Acts 1:9; “coming with the clouds” consistently refers to the Ascension.

7:14 John also saw this event in Heaven in Revelation 5. See Isaiah 9:7, Isaiah 53, and Psalm 2. You cannot truly kill a Christian; we are “everlasting” and “will never be destroyed”. This promise came true.

7:18 You have it (Ephesians 2:6) and will one day realize greater control over it (1 Corinthians 6:2). Revelation 20:6 is the appetizer. Yes, it applies to you. We died with Christ, so all believers are martyrs.

7:20-24 See Daniel 7:7-8 note.

7:25 Read 1 Maccabees 1 for some of his measures to suppress Judaism (taking the Temple implements, sacrificing a pig on the altar, setting up an altar to Zeus in the Holy of Holies, bringing in Temple prostitutes, forbidding the Sabbath, destroying Scriptures, forcing people to eat non-kosher food sacrificed to idols with horrific maiming and death, killing families for circumcising babies and hanging the babies from their mothers’ necks, etc.). 2 Maccabees 7 details the torture and death of a family that refused to eat the food; our word “macabre” is thusly derived. Regarding “time, times and half a time”, or three and a half years like Elijah’s drought, the Temple was in a defiled state for only three years, but this is about the length of the persecution. This amount of time keeps coming up (Luke 4:25), and we’ll see it again in Revelation.

7:26 “will” We’re seated (Ephesians 2:6), and there’s nothing between us and Revelation. Satan, “his power”, is destined for the lake of fire. It all ends well and God sets everything right; this is a comfort to us, and it was a comfort to Daniel under the Babylonians and to the Jews under Antiochus IV “Epiphanes”. As we will discuss in Daniel 9, Leviticus 26 allows sevenfold extensions of punishments, so any of these “happily ever afters” seen hot on the heels of the Seleucids predicted before Daniel was in his eighties were subject to delays.

8:1 The text goes back to Hebrew from Aramaic like it’s returning from exile. This part is set before Chapter 5. Daniel would have been about seventy years old here. Belshazzar’s reign ended in 537 BC and Alexander the Great of Macedonia started ruling in 336 BC. Daniel saw events two hundred years in the future accurately.

8:3 Medes and Persia.

8:5 Alexander the Great’s military offense strategy was based on a phalanx with longer spears than his enemies had encountered before.

8:8 Four generals divided Alexander the Great’s realm after he died. Alexander’s civilization of one culture with one language paved the way for the spread of Christianity.

8:9-14 Some see similarities in the rise of Emperor Titus who had been a Roman general who led the army that razed the Temple after a three and a half year rebellion in 70 AD. History rhymes with itself, and prophecies get reused. The fulfillment of passages like 2 Thessalonians 2:9, Revelation 13, and Revelation 19 will sound familiar to those who’ve heard the song before. See Ecclesiastes 1:9.

8:10 Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” was powered by Satan (Daniel 8:24, Revelation 12:4, Isaiah 14:13-14). Stars are also sometimes a metaphor for government. See Daniel 11:22.

8:14 The 1,150 days of missing evening and morning sacrifices corresponds to the length of time the Temple was in a defiled state due to Antiochus IV “Epiphanes”. The Maccabees reconsecrated it in 164 BC. 1 Maccabees covers from the time of Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” to at least eighteen years after the Jews signed a treaty with Rome. (Pompey conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC. Herod the Great, an Edomite, became king around 37-36 BC – within a generation, the Messiah came.) As we’ll discuss in Daniel 9, Leviticus 26 allows for several sevenfold extensions of punishments, and 7x7x3.5 years of persecution from the events in Maccabees (the Hebrews used a lunar calendar, so we can round to 360 days per year) brings us to Jesus.

8:16 The angel Gabriel shows up again in Daniel 9:21 and in Luke 1.

8:17 “son of man” is used to address the mortal Daniel as it was employed in Ezekiel. You’re living in the end times, because everything since the coming of Christ has been the end times. The Cross is the dividing line of human history.

8:18 Another mini-resurrection.

8:23-25 sounds a lot like Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” or someone powered by Satan like him. It looks like Paul had this passage in mind in 2 Thessalonians 2.

9:1 Daniel would have been about 81 years old.

9:2 in Jeremiah 29:10. Jeremiah said there would be 70 years of punishment, but Leviticus 26 allows several sevenfold extensions for bad behavior.

9:13 The curses were in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 the whole time.

9:16 See Ezekiel 36:22.

9:18 Ask Him because of His great mercy instead of anything we can merit.

9:21 The evening sacrifice was at 3pm, the same time that the Crucifixion ended.

9:24 “anoint the Most Holy One” The point is for Israel to give up and accept Jesus as the Messiah (followed by Him eradicating evil on their behalf, having already defeated sin and atoned for everything) as seen in Hosea 5:15 and Revelation.

9:25 See Ezra 7:11-26. This is the first command by Artaxerxes, not Ezra 1, Ezra 6, or Nehemiah 2. The construction of 7 and 62 is important as significant events happened at the sum and in between. 483 (69x7) years after the command to restore Jerusalem, Jesus the Anointed One was baptized and began preaching, healing, etc.

9:26-27 After only 62 “weeks”, during a three and a half year period Onias (an “anointed one”) was out as High Priest (2 Maccabees has his murder), Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” made a deal with the Hellenist Jewish faction, the city walls came down, the Zeus/Jupiter statue went up (the “abomination of desolation” or “desolating sacrilege” of 1 Maccabees 1:54 is like 2 Chronicles 33:7; Jesus used the same phrasing to predict the doom of Jerusalem again in Matthew 24), and the Jewish sacrifices stopped. Three and a half years after that, Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” was dead.

10:1 Daniel was about 84 years old.

10:5 This is an angel, not Christ, because He would have needed no help in Daniel 10:13. Angels and High Priests seem to share a dress code to have an audience with God (Exodus 28:4). It’s like dressing up like the fancy locals at embassy parties.

10:12-13 See Daniel 9:23. God answers believers’ prayers (in His will 1 John 5:14 and in faith James 1:6) at once. The prince or king of Persia in this verse is the fallen angel Watcher whose jurisdiction was an issue in this pre-Cross anecdote (Colossians 2:15). Michael is Heaven’s equivalent angel for God’s people; Satan (Revelation 12:7-9) is not in Jesus’ weight class. Be patient with opposition in the unseen realm (Ephesians 6:12). There are times that faith changes circumstances, and there are times faith sustains you and allows you to outlast the opposition while still honoring God as the saint you are.

10:19 You are greatly blessed, heavily favored, and deeply loved by our Father. See Ephesians 1.

Daniel 11 – There are other interpretations, but it sure seems like this highly detailed prophecy references Ptolemy I, Seleucus I, Ptolemy II, Antiochus II, Princess Berenice, Ptolemy III, Seleucus II, Seleucus III, Antiochus III, Ptolemy IV, Cleopatra I of Syria, Seleucus IV, and more. By this reckoning, the “Kings of the South” are the Ptolemies and the “Kings of the North” are the Seleucids. They were at war frequently over modern Lebanon and parts of Syria (as a profitable and strategic route to Egypt), especially between 274 BC and 168 BC. See “The Syrian Wars” in your encyclopedia of choice if you’d like to know more. The fighting weakened both of these parts of Alexander’s former realm, which made gains by Rome and Parthia easier. The way I read Daniel 11, this covers regional historic events from about 539 BC almost up to the birth of Jesus Christ.

11:1 We begin in around 539 BC.

11:2 “fourth” Ahasuerus in around 486 BC.

11:3 “king” Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 333 BC.

11:6 “daughter” Berenice.

11:16 “invader” Antiochus III. The Battle of Panium near the Jordan River ended Ptolemaic rule in Judea.

11:17 “daughter” Cleopatra I of Syria.

11:18 “commander” Scipio Asiaticus, the Roman. The terms of surrender for Antiochus III the Great’s loss at the Battle of Magnesia would have made his advisor Hannibal (yes, the Carthaginian general and Roman Enemy #1 in his post-Zama career) a hostage to Rome. Hannibal fled and later committed suicide.

11:21 “contemptible person” Antiochus IV “Epiphanes”.

11:22 “prince of the covenant” High Priest Onias III, who opposed Hellenization.

11:30 “western coastlands” Rome. People say the prophets were silent between the Testaments, but Daniel covered basically everything up to Jesus.

11:31 “abomination that causes desolation” See 1 Maccabees 1:54 (a statue of Zeus/Jupiter in the Temple, Temple prostitution, and sacrificing a pig on the altar).

11:33 “wise” the Jews who remained true, in comparison to those who compromised with the godless, foolish Gentiles. The rebels initially did not fight on the Sabbath and got slaughtered until someone explained pikuach nefesh.

11:35 See Paul’s argument about why the Jews were temporarily hardened to the Gospel so the Gentiles could be saved too in Romans 9 through Romans 11.

11:37 “one desired by women” seems to be Tammuz, a dying/rising Mesopotamian god mourned at the summer solstice. He was said to go to the underworld to rescue Inanna/Ishtar. This is how they explained the seasons resurrecting yearly. This is another false Christ that Satan offers similar to Baal. You may have heard of the remake, Adonis.

11:40-45 “At the time of the end” can involve any gap in the timeline you want for your preferred interpretation. For example, if the “him” is Antiochus Asiaticus in the latter days of the Seleucids, the the South in this bit is Egypt and the North is Rome. Pompey took Jerusalem and Crassus fought the Parthians.

12:1 “distress” like Zechariah 13, Zechariah 14, and most of Revelation. Jesus references this concept in Mark 13:19. “There will be” is another nice phrase in the future tense that allows you interpretive wiggle room. “Will be delivered” You’re going to be okay.

12:2 like Psalm 71:20, Isaiah 26:19, and Ezekiel 37. Have you seen multitudes rise from the dead to everlasting shame yet? I have to get off the preterism train and ride with the futurists on the rest of Daniel 12. Also, it's raining cats and dogs, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse, and I'm so tired I could sleep for a week. I've told you a million times about the need to think poetically in the prophets, but some people laugh their heads off. Remember all the similes, metaphors, and allegories we read in Psalms about, for example, David’s relationship with God? Therefore, when God said “never before and never again” in Ezekiel 5:9 about the events of 586 BC (which Jesus references along with Daniel 12:1 in Matthew 24:21 about a similar catastrophe that occurred in 70 AD), it’s clear that this “never before and never again” keeps happening. It’s poetic language for a remarkable occurrence, like Jeremiah 30:7. The world drowned earlier in the book, and people still waste time comparing death tolls for two sieges, a world war, etc. We have a similar phrase to “never before and never again” in English: “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

12:3 “wise” Again, not godless fools.

12:4 See 1 Corinthians 2:14 and Revelation 5:5.

12:5 Daniel’s been alone since Daniel 10:8. Since John saw Daniel 7 too, perhaps these two extras are other guest-starring prophets.

12:7 Saying the same length of time as earlier in the book (and other trying times in the Bible like the drought Elijah prayed for – Luke 4:25) communicates “you’ll get through that just like you made it through similar things”. Seven signifies completion, like the week in which God made the world; three and a half years is longer than forty days and forty nights, but neither span of time is forever. The back half of the verse in the Septuagint reads: “when the dispersion is ended they shall know these things.” Combined with Daniel not understanding in verse 8 and the promise that the wise (not godless fools) will understand in the future, we can all sing that old hymn “Farther Along”. Farther along we’ll know all about it; farther along we’ll understand why.

12:11 Various attempts have been made to identify these times with events that occurred around 70 AD and whether those fit or not has no bearing on whether future fulfillments remain. Since Daniel 12:2 hasn’t happened yet, I’m not going to detail those. Even if we knew perfectly what tomorrow held, knowing Who holds tomorrow (and that He delivers – Daniel 12:1) is much better.

12:12 Blessed is the one who looks ahead 3.5% (45 days) past the 3.5 years.

12:13 “you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance” And so will you (1 Peter 1:4).

Feel free to skip this next bit if you are not interested in deuterocanonical texts, but wise Daniel has a few detective stories starring him in the Apocrypha. Notably, he handles these cases using the common sense God gave him.

Chapter 13 Susanna

Two peeping Toms threatened to accuse Susanna of adultery unless she committed adultery with them. When she refused and was about to be put to death, Daniel caught them in their lies by cross-examining them.

Chapter 14 Bel and the Dragon

Daniel solved a locked room mystery about where the food offered to an idol went by dusting the floor and looking for footprints. He also killed a large reptile the Babylonians worshiped without the aid of a sword (per the terms of a bet) by feeding it something to make it burst.

This concludes the Major Prophets. The Minor Prophets are no less important; their books are just shorter. Some overall themes, again: Many prophets delivered the same messages (albeit in different ways) to no avail. The things they harped on were in the Law the whole time along with the promised punishments. Many of the things they predicted, apart from dooms God relented from, can be seen in the books of Kings and Chronicles as well as in the history articles in your encyclopedia of choice. With all of those prophecies being fulfilled, they should have had their eyes peeled for Jesus as there were many hints about Him as well.

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