Daniel

The day of the LORD and the times of the Gentiles: world empires rise and fall until the God of heaven sets up His kingdom.

Daniel was taken to Babylon as a teenager in 606 BC, in the first deportation under Nebuchadnezzar. He and his three friends purposed not to defile themselves with the king’s meat, and God gave them knowledge and wisdom. Daniel served in the courts of Babylon and Persia for about seventy years, interpreting dreams, reading the handwriting on the wall, surviving the lions’ den, and receiving visions of the future.

The book divides into history (1–6) and prophecy (7–12). The historical chapters show God ruling over Gentile kings: Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great image, the fiery furnace, the king’s humbling madness, Belshazzar’s feast, and Darius’ decree. The prophetic chapters reveal four world empires as beasts, the ram and the he-goat, the seventy weeks, and the kings of the north and south to “the time of the end.”

Daniel is the Revelation of the Old Testament. It provides the framework for understanding the times of the Gentiles, the rise of the Antichrist, the seven-year Tribulation, and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom. The Lord Jesus referred to “Daniel the prophet” when describing the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15).

Writer: Daniel
Written: Sixth century BC; recorded across Daniel’s ministry, about 606–533 BC in the traditional chronology.
Name: God is my judge

Title and authorship

Daniyyel means “God is my Judge.” In Babylon he was renamed Belteshazzar, “Bel protect him,” an attempt to change his identity.

Daniel wrote the book, speaking in the first person in the prophetic chapters (7:1–2, 28; 8:1; 9:2; 10:2; 12:5). The Lord Jesus affirmed him as the author and prophet (Matthew 24:15). Ezekiel, his contemporary, names him with Noah and Job (Ezekiel 14:14).

Historical background

Babylon and the Persian court, from Jehoiakim’s third year (606 BC in the traditional reckoning) to the third year of Cyrus (about 533 BC). Daniel 2:4b–7:28 is written in Aramaic, the international language of the Gentile world whose history those chapters describe.

The exiles, assured that God rules the nations, and the faithful of the last days, for whom the book was “sealed... even to the time of the end” (12:4).

Babylon to Persia

Nebuchadnezzar (605–562 BC) built Babylon into the wonder of the world; its walls, gates, and palace inscriptions boast of his works, echoing “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?” (4:30). Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC during a feast, as chapter 5 describes.

Belshazzar

Critics once denied that Belshazzar existed, since ancient lists named Nabonidus as Babylon’s last king. Cuneiform texts later showed that Belshazzar was Nabonidus’ son and co-regent, ruling in Babylon while his father stayed in Arabia. That is why he offered Daniel only the position of “third ruler in the kingdom” (5:16, 29).

The Aramaic chapters

Daniel switches from Hebrew to Aramaic at 2:4, when the Chaldeans speak to the king “in Syriack,” and continues in Aramaic through chapter 7. Those chapters concern the Gentile world; the Hebrew chapters (8–12) concern Israel’s future under Gentile rule.

Key passages

Daniel 2:44

The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; it will break in pieces all these kingdoms.

Daniel 4:17

“The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”

Daniel 7:13–14

One like the Son of man receives an everlasting dominion from the Ancient of days.

Daniel 2:20–22

Wisdom, power, times, and kingdoms belong under God’s sovereign authority.

Daniel 7:14

The Son of man receives enduring dominion over all peoples.

Outline

1–6 · Faithfulness under Gentile kings

Daniel and his companions face pressure, interpret revelation, and witness God’s rule and deliverance.

7–8 · The kingdoms revealed

The beasts, ram, and goat portray the succession and character of world powers.

9 · Prayer and the seventy weeks

Daniel reads Jeremiah, confesses national sin, and receives revelation concerning Jerusalem.

10–12 · Conflict and the time of the end

Angelic conflict and detailed prophecy lead to final trouble, deliverance, and resurrection.

Original language

בַּר אֱנָשׁ (bar enash, H1247) — “Son of man”

Aramaic for “son of man.” The one like the Son of man comes with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days (7:13). Christ took this title and quoted this verse before the high priest (Matthew 26:64).

שָׁבוּעַ (shavua, H7620) — “week”

A unit of seven, here seven years. Seventy sevens (490 years) are determined upon Daniel’s people and city (9:24). Genesis 29:27 uses the same word for Jacob’s week of seven years.

מָשִׁיחַ נָגִיד (Mashiach Nagid, H4899) — “the Messiah the Prince”

The only places in the Old Testament where Mashiach is used absolutely as a title for the coming Deliverer are Daniel 9:25–26. After sixty-nine weeks “shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.”

עַתִּיק יוֹמִין (attiq yomin, H6268) — “Ancient of days”

Aramaic for the Eternal One seated on the throne of judgment, whose garment is white as snow. John sees the same description of the glorified Christ (Revelation 1:14).

Doctrinal study

The four empires

Nebuchadnezzar’s image (2) and Daniel’s beasts (7) present the same four kingdoms: Babylon (head of gold, lion), Medo-Persia (silver, bear), Greece (brass, leopard), and Rome (iron, the terrible beast), followed by a ten-part final form (toes, horns) out of which the Antichrist rises. The stone cut out without hands destroys it and becomes a mountain filling the earth. Daniel 2 shows man’s view of world empires as precious metals; Daniel 7 shows God’s view of them as wild beasts.

The seventy weeks

Seventy weeks of years were determined upon Daniel’s people. From the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2) to Messiah the Prince are sixty-nine weeks (483 years), after which Messiah is cut off. The seventieth week—seven years—remains, when the coming prince confirms a covenant and breaks it in the midst of the week. This final week is the Tribulation.

Resurrection and reward

Daniel 12:2 is the clearest Old Testament statement of resurrection to everlasting life and to shame and everlasting contempt. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (12:3).

Commentary notes

Identity under attack

Babylon renamed Daniel (“God is my Judge”) Belteshazzar (“Bel protect him”), Hananiah (“beloved of the LORD”) Shadrach, Mishael (“who is as God?”) Meshach, and Azariah (“the LORD is my help”) Abednego (“servant of Nebo”). The world still tries to change the believer’s identity. Daniel purposed in his heart (1:8).

Daniel the man

Daniel was of royal blood, handsome, cultured, and intelligent. Scripture notes his purity (1:8), wisdom (1:17), courage (6:10), humility (2:30; 9:5–8), prayerfulness (6:10; 9:3), and love (10:11). He was visited by both named angels, Gabriel and Michael, and he speaks more of the coming Antichrist than any other Old Testament writer.

Sealed and unsealed

Daniel was told to shut up the words and seal the book “to the time of the end” (12:4), and he did not understand all he wrote (12:8–9). John was told, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand” (Revelation 22:10). Revelation unlocks Daniel.

Christ in the book

• The stone cut out without hands (2:34–35, 44–45)
• The fourth man in the fire, “like the Son of God” (3:25)
• The Son of man receiving the kingdom (7:13–14)
• Messiah the Prince, cut off but not for Himself (9:25–26)
• The man clothed in linen (10:5–6; Revelation 1:13–15)

Applications

Historical

• The testimony and prophecy of Daniel during the captivity in Babylon and under the Persians.
• Daniel’s service places him inside the imperial governments that hold authority over Judah.
• The book spans the captivity and reaches the Persian decree of return; the personal narratives and visions are not arranged as one uninterrupted chronological sequence.

Doctrinal

• The future of Gentile world power from the captivity to the Second Coming: the four empires, the ten-kingdom confederacy, the little horn (Antichrist), the covenant and its breaking in the midst of the seventieth week, the great tribulation, the resurrections, and the kingdom of the Son of man.
• The kingdoms of men are temporary; the Messiah’s kingdom is everlasting. Daniel 2 and 7 view the same broad movement through different images.
• The seventy weeks are weeks of years, with the final week corresponding to the future tribulation.

Devotional

• Daniel is one of the greatest books on practical godly living. A man or woman who lives for God’s kingdom is not moved by current events; nations rise and fall. Satan tried to change the young men’s names and diet, but he could not change their hearts.
• Daniel’s early resolution concerning purity prepares him for later trials, while prayer, humility, and courage characterize his continuing service.
• Daniel’s life demonstrates faithfulness under rulers who do not share his allegiance to God, with ultimate hope resting in the promised kingdom.

Answering the critics

No book has been attacked more than Daniel. Critics date it to about 165 BC, during the Maccabean crisis under Antiochus Epiphanes, claiming that its detailed prophecies (especially chapter 11) were written after the events. They allege historical errors, late Greek words, and doctrinal development.

The critic’s real objection is predictive prophecy. Daniel’s supposed historical errors, such as Belshazzar, have been answered by archaeology; the few Greek loanwords are names of musical instruments, which traveled early; and copies of Daniel from Qumran date to the second century BC, too soon for a late composition to be accepted as Scripture. Above all, Christ called him “Daniel the prophet” and placed the abomination of desolation still in the future.