Introduction to Daniel

There is nothing quite like the book of Daniel anywhere else in the Bible. In the Hebrew bible it was not placed with the prophets but in a section called “the Writings,” a section that included Psalms and Ecclesiastes. This is because it doesn’t contain “oracles” like the prophetic books (Thus says the Lord . . .). Instead, it is about a prophet. Half of it is taken up with stories about Jews in Babylonian and Persian courts, the other half with dreams and visions.

The dreams and visions. Not only were they written long ago and far away, as is the rest of the Bible, but also, they were not written for us. They were intentionally hard to understand even for people of the time.

They are in a genre which we call “apocalyptic,” from a Greek word which means “to uncover” or “reveal.” Apocalyptic belongs to periods when God’s people are under persecution from foreign adversaries when a revelation of the future needed to be expressed in coded language. It is written to give encouragement to suffering people to “hang in there” in the knowledge that a day will come when God will take his rightful place on earth and everyone will worship him. We are still waiting in prayer for his kingdom to come.

Daniel, like the book of Revelation in the New Testament, has given rise to much disagreement among Christians today. It is wise not to spend time trying to figure out the details of the visions but instead to grasp the big picture. These notes will help you do that.

You will notice that the readings for the book of Daniel cover only chapters 1-9, and you may wonder what happened to the last three chapters, the longest section of the book. They make for difficult reading and don’t lend themselves to devotional reflection. If you would like to study them anyway, I would urge you to get a copy of John Goldingay’s Daniel and the Twelve Prophets for Everyone.

Annabel Robinson