Book of Daniel

Apocalyptic Literature

Two important questions to ask when reading any book in the Bible are "who was this written for?" and "what genre is this?" The Book of Daniel contains apocalyptic literature, a genre of writing that was commonly full of strange visions, cryptic symbols, and divine secrets revealed to human beings.

Some modern readers look at the symbolism in apocalyptic books like Daniel and Revelation and joke that it is so bizarre, the authors must have been hallucinating. In reality, this style of writing was well-known by earlier Jewish and Christian audiences. Just like we are familiar with genres like self-help, fantasy, and romance, Jews and Christians were familiar with apocalypticism.

According to Bible scholars, the Book of Daniel was meant to encourage Jewish people facing oppression. The stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego showed they were each saved by God at various points in time, so God also had the power to save all of his people from oppression.

The Millerite movement, Investigative Judgment doctrine, and Ellen White’s "Great Controversy" narrative were all built on largely literal interpretations of the Bible and the assumption that Daniel contained prophecies for modern-day Christians. But in reality, the Book of Daniel was apocalyptic literature written specifically for Jewish people living during the second century BCE.

Ex Eventu Prophecy

"When was Daniel written?" is a question that has been debated for a very long time. Traditional and fundamentalist theologians have argued that Daniel was written before the events it predicted, possibly completed some time after 537 BCE. They believe the book truly prophesied future events.

However, the majority position among Bible scholars is that Daniel was completed much later, c. 165 BCE, after the events had already happened. The earliest known manuscripts of Daniel were created c. 100 BCE, around 65 years after the book was likely completed.

In other words, the authors of Daniel pretended to predict future events. They wrote about real historical events after they had already happened. This is called an ex eventu prophecy, from the Latin term vaticinium ex eventu ("prophecy from the event"), and multiple examples exist in various ancient writings.

Fundamentalists reject the scholarly consensus, insisting that Bible scholars who categorize Daniel as an ex eventu prophecy "do not believe in a God who can foresee the future." In reality, both Christians and non-Christians can accept the fact that ex eventu prophecies exist in and outside of the Bible.

The Marduk Prophecy about the statue of the Babylonian god Marduk is just one example of an Assyrian ex eventu prophecy. The Word History Encyclopedia describes how this worked:

Nebuchadnezzar I defeated the Elamites and brought the statue back to Babylon, and the work was most likely commissioned to celebrate his victory. The author would have constructed the narrative to place the events in the past in order to allow for a 'prophetic vision' in which the present king would come to restore peace and order to the city by bringing home the statue of the god. This form of narrative was commonplace in the genre now known as Mesopotamian Naru Literature where historical events or individuals were treated with poetic license in order to make a point.

Similar to Christian fundamentalists today, people living hundreds of years after the writing of the Marduk Prophecy likely believed it was a divine prophetic message. Takuma Sugie, a lecturer at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, wrote the following in a 2014 article:

First, the text was perceived to contain predictions which had been fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar I in the past, as the author originally intended... This means that the Marduk Prophecy still held prestige as an authentic predictive text even more than 400 years after its composition; the readers of that period did not regard it merely as vaticinium ex eventu, but as a divine message foretelling their contemporary realities as well.

The Book of Daniel and the Marduk Prophecy are both examples of ex eventu prophecies that have been considered true by many people, even hundreds of years after they were written. Notably, the Book of Daniel was not included in the Hebrew Bible’s canon of the prophets.

Daniel also contains multiple historical inaccuracies, especially when discussing the time of Jewish exile in Babylon. For example, Daniel 1:1-2 dates the attack on Jerusalem to the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign (~605 BCE). However, historical evidence shows Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon did not attack Jerusalem until 8 years later in 597 BCE, and then a second time in 587 BCE.

Darius the Mede

Another historical issue with the book Daniel is king "Darius the Mede." This king supposedly ruled Babylon between the reigns of Belshazzar and Cyrus the Great, but there is zero historical evidence for the existence of a king named Darius the Mede. The Hermeneia Commentary on Daniel says the following on page 30:

No such person as Darius the Mede is known to have existed apart from the narrative of Daniel. The Babylonian Empire did not fall to Medes but to Persians.

Adventist scholar William H. Shea disagrees with this conclusion, arguing that Darius the Mede was the same person as a man named “Ugbaru” (referred to as Gobryas in Greek sources). Shea believes this man was king of Babylon for just one week, and his extremely short reign could explain why historians have not found evidence of a king named Darius. This apologetic is not widely supported by Bible scholars.

Either way, the most detailed and historically accurate events in the Book of Daniel happened closer to when the book was likely written. The authors of Daniel got details wrong about events from hundreds of years earlier, and were more accurate when describing events that happened during their lifetime. This supports the view that Daniel was completed around 165 BCE and did not actually predict the future.

Failed Prophecies

When the Book of Daniel made real predictions about future events, they turned out to be failed prophecies.

‍Daniel 10:1 to 12:4 explains the conflicts between the "kings of the south" (Ptolemies in Egypt) and the "kings of the north" (Seleucids in West Asia). The Jewish people in Palestine were stuck between these two kingdoms at war, and eventually faced persecution from one king in particular.

Daniel 11 focuses on the Greek Hellenistic king Antiochus IV, whose title "Epiphanes" means "God Manifest" in ancient Greek. Antiochus IV Epiphanes was an eccentric and extravagant ruler of the Seleucid Empire, who stole the throne and possibly murdered his own nephew to remain in power.

During this time, various lands—including Palestine—had been conquered by his father, Antiochus III. But the Ptolemies also claimed those lands belonged to them. Antiochus IV wanted to conquer the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt and won multiple victories, but Rome threatened war against him if he continued.

As the story goes, an elderly Roman ambassador delivered the threat of war to Antiochus IV in person. When the king requested time to think about it, the old ambassador used his walking stick to draw a circle in the dirt around the king, and demanded an answer from Antiochus IV before he could leave.

After this public humiliation, Antiochus IV turned his attention to the Jewish people. Before and during his reign, this king strongly supported social and economic initiatives promoting Greek culture and religion throughout his kingdom. He helped build the temple of Zeus in Athens, along with other major projects.

When his father Antiochus III was king, the Jewish people had "extensive autonomy" under their chosen high priest. But under Antiochus IV, the office of high priest was apparently sold to the highest bidder. Joshua, who went by the Greek name Jason, became the new high priest by promising higher tax revenues to the king and promoting Greek religion and culture. Jason was later outbid by his own brother, who took his place by offering even more money to the king.

Antiochus IV eventually outlawed the worship of Yahweh and all Jewish practices. Anyone who disobeyed faced the death penalty. The king also desecrated the Jerusalem temple by building an altar to Zeus inside the temple. According to the historian Josephus, Antiochus IV even killed and sacrificed a pig in the temple and forced the Jewish people to sacrifice pigs to idols "in every city and village."

These extremely cruel and brutal events took place as the Book of Daniel was nearing completion, so they are mentioned in Daniel 11. In verses 30-31 we read:

For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall lose heart and withdraw. He shall be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and come to an understanding with those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces sent by him shall occupy and profane the temple and fortress. They shall abolish the regular burnt offering and set up the desolating sacrilege.

This desolating sacrilege—erecting an idol in the Jerusalem temple and sacrificing pigs—is more commonly referred to as the "abomination of desolation."

Many traditional Adventists reject this historical data and insist the abomination of desolation was specifically about "breaking the Sabbath" and "the work of the papacy during the Middle Ages." They point to the Catholic church and not to Antiochus IV, despite the historical evidence.

Traditional SDA theology ignores the fact that Daniel was an apocalyptic text written specifically for the oppressed Jewish people, to whom it provided a message of hope that their oppressors would be destroyed, and that the resurrection of the dead was near.

For a more in-depth comparison of the Adventist position and why Antiochus IV Epiphanes is the correct answer, see the 2018 article in Adventist Today titled Why the Little Horn of Daniel 8 Must Be Antiochus Epiphanes, written by former SDA pastor Winston McHarg.

In Daniel 11:40, we read that "At the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him", meaning that Egypt would attack Antiochus IV. Verses 42-43 say Antiochus IV would then attack Egypt and have total victory this time, gaining "control of the treasures of gold and of silver and all the riches of Egypt."

Finally in verses 44-45, we read that "reports from the east and the north" would "alarm" Antiochus IV, so he would "bring ruin and complete destruction to many" before eventually dying "between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain" in Palestine.

However, we know from history that Antiochus IV never attacked Egypt again, and he did not die in Egypt or in Palestine as Daniel predicted. Instead, the king died in Persis, located in the Fars region of Iran. His death took place in 164 BCE, just one year after the Book of Daniel was likely completed.

Bible scholar John J. Collins covers this on page 137 of his book The Apocalyptic Imagination:

In fact, the concluding prophecy of the death of the king was not fulfilled, and so David 11 provides a clear indication of the time when the book was composed... Its general effectiveness was undoubtedly enhanced by the willingness of common people to accept the ancient authorship of newly promulgated books.

So the actual predictions at the very end of Daniel, which had not yet happened, turned out to be failed prophecies. This is one of multiple reasons that most scholars believe the Book of Daniel was completed in 165 BCE and not hundreds of years earlier as fundamentalists claim.

Knowledge Increases?

Did you ever hear that Daniel 12:4 successfully predicted modern technology and the "Information Age?" This verse has been referenced in Adventist sermons, articles, paintings, the SDA Bible Commentary, and even hymn #213 in the SDA Hymnal: "Knowledge increases, men run to and fro; Jesus is coming again!"

While some Adventists have criticized this interpretation, many of us were taught that Daniel 12:4 predicted modern transportation and technology. Most translations, including the King James Version, translate the Hebrew word found in the Masoretic Text as "knowledge"

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (KJV)

However, Bible scholars and more accurate Bible translations like the NRSV actually use the word "evil" instead of knowledge:

But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be running back and forth, and evil shall increase. (NRSV)

Why are they so different? The translation "evil" comes from the Old Greek translation of Daniel; this was written much earlier than the Masoretic Text and resulting translation of "knowledge." The New English Translation of the Septuagint, published by Oxford University Press, similarly translates Daniel 12:4 from the Old Greek as "many rage violently and the earth is filled with injustice."

Even though the Hebrew found in the Masoretic Text is commonly translated to English as "knowledge," it’s important to note the written Hebrew words for knowledge (hada’at - הדעת) and evil (hara’at - הרעת) can be so visually similar that subtle differences between the letters could be indistinguishable. This is explained by Bible scholar Dan McClellan, who has experience as a scripture translation supervisor:

"Knowledge will increase" is not what most critical scholars would say that passage originally said. That word knowledge would be hada’at, that's what we read in the Masoretic Text. But the Old Greek translation of Daniel, which is much, much earlier than the Masoretic Text, says that evil will increase, and that would be hara’at in Hebrew. That would be the difference between a dalet and a resh, and after the Aramaic script was incorporated into Hebrew, the difference between those letters is, in some cases, indistinguishable.

This position is not extremely new; Bible scholar S. R. Driver's commentary on Daniel, originally published in 1900 and included in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, acknowledged the possibility of translating the original text as "evils shall be increased."

The translation "evil shall increase" also makes perfect sense in context. Daniel 12:9-10, just a few verses after Daniel 12:4, repeats the instruction to keep the words secret and says "Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked shall continue to act wickedly."

Additionally, the phrase "run to and fro" is not predicting modern transportation like cars, airplanes, or spacecraft. This phrase comes from a single Hebrew verb, shuwt, which is also found in Amos 8:12. Bible scholar Dan McClellan explains that Daniel 12:4 is actually referencing Amos 8:12.

Amos says people will "run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it." That further supports the "evil shall increase" translation, especially since Daniel is told to "keep the words secret." The authors of Daniel may be saying that people can’t find God’s word, so evil will increase.

Even if you completely disagree with the "evil shall increase" translation, multiple Bible commentaries (e.g. Ellicott and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) also say that Daniel 12:4 refers to searching the Bible and not modern transportation. Ultimately, Daniel 12:4 was never a prediction of modern technology or transportation.

• The Book of Daniel contains apocalyptic literature, a genre of writing that was familiar to ancient audiences. It commonly included strange visions, cryptic symbols, and divine secrets. Daniel was written to encourage Jewish people facing oppression—it was not written as a prophecy for modern Christians.
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• Daniel contains ex eventu prophecies—the authors pretended they were accurate predictions, but in reality, they were written after the events already happened. When writing about events from hundreds of years earlier, the authors of Daniel got multiple historical details wrong. When writing about events that happened during their lifetime, they were much more accurate. This supports the scholarly consensus that Daniel was completed around 165 BCE.
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• A major historical inaccuracy in Daniel is a king named "Darius the Mede" who supposedly ruled Babylon between Belshazzar and Cyrus the Great. Bible scholars agree there is zero historical evidence for a king named Darius, and that the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persians, not the Medes.
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• Unlike the ex eventu prophecies found earlier in Daniel, the end of the book contains actual predictions about future events—and these predictions turned out to be failed prophecies. The authors of Daniel predicted that Greek Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes would attack Egypt again, and that he would die in Palestine. The historical record shows both of these predictions failed.
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• Daniel 12:4 did not predict modern transportation or technology when it said "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." A more accurate translation of this verse says evil will increase, and the phrase "run to and fro" is a reference to Amos 8:12 and searching the Bible.
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• Traditional Adventist interpretations of Daniel have distorted the authors' original intent and messages meant for the Jewish people facing persecution during the second century BCE. Daniel was never meant to be a coded prophecy for Christians living thousands of years later.