Like ezekiel, the book of daniel contains a number of enigmatic prophecies. In more mundane language, it is an account of the activities and visions of daniel, a noble jew exiled at babylon, its message being that just as the god of israel saved daniel and his friends. Through a series of dreams and visions and their interpretations daniel is shown an outline of future kingdoms of the world. Daniel is a bit of a battle ground in evangelical circles over dating. Daniel is the story of the people of israel in exile, longing to return to the land of israel. Kitchen 1970, the aramaic of daniel, in notes on some problems in the book of daniel london. Collins situates the old testament in its historical context and offers a full explanation of the text, especially its religious imagery.
Each section of commentary begins with a chapter from the bible and then a versebyverse analysis follows. Jesus warned his disciples about coming events when he talked about the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet daniel. A commentary on the book of daniel by pastor galen l. It also records the his apocalyptic visions, actions as well as his prophesies. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The most comprehensive englishlanguage commentary on daniel in 65 years. He is the prophet who determined the times for the events. Daniel explained a commentary on the book of daniel overview. There is uncertainty as to when the story may have taken place, but most scholars contend that its stories occurred in the second century bce. In the septuagint, the vulgate, and many other ancient and modern translations of the bible, it comprises both its proto and its deuterocanonical parts, both of which have. In the other 6 chapters, we read about daniel s dreams. The book says that daniel is its writer in several places, such as 9.
Uncovering the book of truth from daniel until all. The writer of this chapter is nebuchadnezzar himself. Its prophecies of worldruling empires are closely related to revelation. Chapters and 14, which are not included in all versions of the book of daniel, are included in this summary. Read daniel commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible complete. Study the bible online using commentary on daniel and more. An examination of the best commentaries can be helpful in sorting through the issues. In more mundane language, it is an account of the activities and visions of daniel, a noble jew exiled at babylon, its message being that just as the god of israel saved daniel and his friends from their enemies, so. He ends up taking back the cream of the crop, the most elite and noble israelites, to serve at his court in babylon.
The single best inductive study in my opinion is the precept ministries international study on daniel, the. Overview of the book of daniel third millennium ministries. To assure the exiles and early returnees to the land that god was in control of history and that his prophet daniel spoke the truth about prolonged troubles before the final stage of gods kingdom. For those of you interested, goldingay does hold to a second century date and sees many of the prophetic portions as ex eventu prophecy. For each story about daniel and his friends, it fills in the historical background and develops spiritual applications. List of books and articles about book of daniel online. In the third century ce, these additions were accepted as scripture by all extant christian writers except jerome. Yamauchi 1981, daniel and contacts between the aegean and the near east before alexander, evangelical quarterly, 53. Sir isaac newton in his observations upon the prophecies of daniel and the apocalypse of st. In the other 6 chapters, we read about daniels dreams. The book of daniel part four church of the great god. Daniel gains renown as an interpreter of dreams and receives a series of apocalyptic visions. Daniel overview james burton coffman commentaries on the.
Doughty southside christian church june 2015 introduction. Available online at and see under the option for daniel studies. There is considerable disagreement on how the book of the daniel should be interpreted. The book of daniel is a 2ndcentury bc biblical apocalypse combining a prophecy of history with an eschatology a portrayal of end times which is both cosmic in scope and political in its focus.
This commentary is based upon my personal devotional notes and reflections on the book of daniel. Much of the book is even written in aramaic, the language that was spoken in babylonia during the seventy years of exile following the destruction of the first beit hamikdash. This objection is easily answered as the babylonians used the accession year system of. Daniel explainedone of the most extensively researched commentaries on the book of daniel ever writtenoffers a thorough treatment of both the dramatic episodes and the prophetic visions. The book of daniel is the only book in the old testament which prophesied in details about kings and kingdoms, which he had declared by name like persia and greece. The text of these chapters is found in the koine greek septuagint, the earliest old greek translation. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you consider performing your own inductive study prior to consulting any commentaries. In conclusion daniel the prophet books countdown to. The lack of consensus presents a challenge for the reader, but it is not necessarily an insurmountable one. It is intended to help you better understand some of the background and issues in daniels prophecy. The book of daniel is one of the books in the old testament. God is in control, no matter how things look, and his kingdom will one day fill the earth. With an introduction to apocalyptic literature forms of the old testament literature fotl. Daniel summary we have detailed a brief summary of the book of daniel for bible study or sunday school lessons.
He is the prophet of dreams and visions, who enjoyed a divine gift, a heavenly wisdom and a surpassing understanding. Daniel belongs to the latter group, a type of writing that in many respects sharply contrasts prophetic literature. Best daniel commentaries updated for 2020 best bible. The book of daniel is often read for its contribution to our understanding of endtimes events, but sometimes christians have been so obsessed with this that we have missed its main message. Daniels friends shadrach, meshach and abednego served as advisers to king nebuchadnezzar of babylon. The book is written in a mixture of hebrew and aramaic.
Daniel a commentary proceeds linearly through all twelve chapters of the book of daniel. The widely held view that the book of daniel is largely fictional rests mainly on the modern philosophical assumption that longrange predictive prophecy is impossible. A summary, synopsis or recap is a shortened version of the original. This was made to assess how well you know the book. The traditional jewish and christian identification of the author of the book of daniel is, of course, daniel himself. You will also find options for commentaries on daniel that help pastors, teachers, and readers with application of the bible, commentaries that approach the scripture versebyverse, classic christian commentaries, and much more. How can we have a positive impact on those around us. The book of daniel has many incredible prophecies in its 12 short chapters. Daniel and his three companions refused to compromise their convictions, and even though that kind of stand could have cost them their lives, it ended up ensuring their protection and. In the midst of such forces, how can we remain loyal to biblical values.
The purpose of the book of daniel in the book of daniel the scriptures foretell how the lord will deal with the people of daniel the jews and the gentile nations. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the book of daniel. The book of daniel, one of the volumes of the bible, is found in the section of scriptures. Members of the bahai faith see daniel as being a prophet. The book opens with the exile of daniel and his contemporaries from the holy land to babylonia.
An examination of the best commentaries can be helpful in sorting. And like ezekiel, the difficult nature of these prophecies has resulted in a wide variety of conflicting interpretations. The book of daniel is a 2ndcentury bc biblical apocalypse combining a prophecy of history with an eschatology a portrayal of end times cosmic in scope and political in focus. It is often claimed that the date given by daniel for the first year of nebuchadnezzars reign contradicts that given by jeremiah so pfeiffer, 1948. The book of daniel is one of the most significant prophetic books in the bible. The book of daniel, originally written in hebrew and aramaic, is a book in both the hebrew bible and the christian old testament writer. Daniel commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. In the first 6 chapters, we read about daniel and his friends. In the hebrew bible, and in most recent protestant versions, the book of daniel is limited to its protocanonical portions.
The book of daniel part four daniel chapter 5 and 6 martin g. The contents of the first verse in daniel have been challenged on two counts. Martin collins, reiterating that gods sovereignty is a major theme in the book of daniel, reminds us that if we submit unconditionally to his sovereignty, we have a winwin situation even when initially, it looks. A permissive society, a powerhungry people, a nation without god. Daniels situation in babylon sounds a bit like our own. There are amazing accounts of triumph from trial and deliverance from execution. Before the formal commentary begins, there is a sizable section devoted to the books literary, historical and social considerations. The guardians of the faithinterpreters like the son of bahaullah, abdul baha, and shoghi effendihave all worked with and interpreted prophecies stemming from the book of daniel, regarding things like the coming of world peace on earth. The book of daniel begins with king nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of babylon, ransacking jerusalem. Prophecy for today from daniel kindle edition by stendal, russell. Daniel, as many other authors of the antiquity and the bible, writes of himself in the third person throughout the first part of the book. The book of daniel has sometimes been classified with the prophetic books of the old testament, a mistake owing largely to a failure to distinguish between the predominant characteristics of prophetic and apocalyptic writings.
1653 901 954 862 832 1333 590 652 1248 406 1525 100 128 517 1434 1528 1301 483 1285 1321 1241 352 869 1433 885 129 1002 964 1009 295